AUDIO NOTE  

Audio Note systems pursue the kind of clarity we immediately recognize as ‘concert hall’ clarity as opposed to ‘studio clarity.’ They have all of the clarity we crave but none of the analytic quality we fear.

Peter Qvortrup believes that most technological ‘advances’ in audio for the past couple of decades have served to put more between us and music. By working with established designs significantly predating current high end equipment, his company has designed single-ended tube electronics; filterless and non-oversampling dacs; turntables with several motors and lightweight platters; and broad-fronted, two-way speakers designed to sit in corners, all of which together take us closer to the whole sound of music than many of us ever thought was possible. 

Qvortrup's eloquent and complete line of audio equipment often makes many of us feel that his competition is getting just the shell of the music. Though they tend to sound best in all-Audio Note systems, some equipment travels very well. The CD players, digital transports, and dacs match up extremely well with all other lines of equipment I have heard. AN cable is also very versatile, providing an engaging roundness and refined beauty. AN electronics and speakers have all of the eloquence of their tubed dacs but generally prefer to work with each other, or at least with other tubed gear. Audio Note single-ended triode amplifiers are especially remarkable for the solidity and wholeness of their presentation. Most of them are, predictably, low powered and are usually paired with efficient speakers like Audio Note’s own. Together they can do extremely musical things.

Audio Note electronics give the sense of coming at music more from the inside, resulting in a less robust, but subtler, more refined presentation than Blue Circle electronics, for example. Both approaches are extremely effective, and with most listeners the choice comes down to differences in priorities and taste. Audio Note fans find Blue Circle electronics insufficiently refined; Blue Circle fans find Audio Note electronics too beautiful. So it goes.

Audio Note speakers provide an interesting alternative to Reynauds. Considered by many to be the perfection of the British sound – as appealing as Spendors but more authoritative from top to bottom, as ‘accurate’ as Harbeths but less staid and diplomatic, and as assured in their sense of touch as Quads but both more ‘rounded’ and more liquid in their presentation, AN speakers make friends easily and tend to keep them. Their sound is more refined and less physically immediate than that of Reynauds. They tend to set us back a few rows deeper into the concert hall than the French speakers do, which as a rule aim for intimacy. With Audio Note speakers we hear everything but are aware of having a perspective on it. We are often aware of how clear and beautiful the music sounds. With Reynauds, the instruments are closer, though interestingly, not at all bright. We are aware of their physical presence. With Reynauds we are often more excited by what we hear than aware of how beautiful it is. I like both speaker lines enormously and enjoy seeing what sorts of listeners are drawn to each.

My journey to Audio Note's digital products, which is how I met the company, began, in its serious stage with a Krell MDT2 & SBP64X, zigged wildly to a Sonic Frontier SFT1 & SFT2-II, zagged partway back to a Naim CDX/XPS and then on to a CDS2, sampling a Meridian, a better Krell, a BAT, an Audio Aero, a Wadia, and an Accuphase along the way! The arrival at Audio Note was a delightful surprise that dramatically altered my expectations and increased my happiness. It is the first digital front end I have heard that does full justice to both new state of the art recordings and early 60's jazz. And perhaps more important, every AN digital front end I've heard so far outperforms comparable SACD players, comparing separate CD and SACD recordings. Yes, CD's on the AN rigs beat SACD's on the SACD players.

Audio Note Analogue. In the spring of 2004, I was a guest of Peter Qvortrup in England and got to hear a premier Audio Note analogue rig, the first time I had heard LP’s in over ten years. As a result, I have now installed an old Voyd turntable with an AN arm and Io1 moving coil cartridge and AN-S4 step up transformer in my reference system; and an AN Turntable Two, Arm Three/AN-Vx, and IQ3 moving magnet cartridge in my "small room" system in an effort to reacquaint myself with the unassuming but utterly convincing power of analogue. My aural memory is not a great one, but based on what I’ve heard so far, I would not have abandoned analogue in 1990, as I did, if I had owned these rigs, which are far from the top of the line.

Audio Note interconnects and speaker cable – AN-Vx or the far more costly Sogon - used either as digital or regular interconnect, are superb. Lexus speaker cable is so good I used it with AN-E/SPe speakers while I waited for my AN-SPx to arrive and was startled at how good it sounded. It is an all-copper cable with the same structure as the many, many times more expensive Sogon – and possibly the best sound-per-dollar available anywhere. Lexus is naturally full, SPe and SPx speaker cable are more open sounding and articulate from top to bottom.

AUDIO NOTE COMPONENTS

Audio Note returned to the digital transport field in spring, 2005, with an upgraded version of the reference quality CDT-2 called the CDT 2 II and in spring 2006 with the CDT 3. In the near future, we expect a CDT 4, which, like the M3 series of preamps, will make use of the Galahead Power Supply. The CDT 2 II, CDT 3, and CDT 4 will continue to make use of the top-loading Philips CD 12 Pro drive, have a sliding top cover, and manual controls on the faceplate in addition to control by remote. Prices: CDT 2 II: $5700. CDT 3: $8700. CDT 4: $13,125.

Also new are three new one-box (integrated) CD players: a CD1.1x, $2500; a CD2.1x II, $3500; and a CD4.1x, $8500. See my listening notes on the CD2.1x II below.

Audio Note analogue is the owner’s pride and joy. Peter is in the process of reinventing his analogue line, but at the moment there are the TT1 and TT2 at the entry level of the line and the TT3 Reference at the top. We expect to see two more TT3 tables over the next year or two, priced above the TT2 and comfortably below the TT3 Reference.

TT2, with Arm 3/AN-Vx and IQ3 moving magnet cartridge. This has been my analogue rig off and on since I returned to analogue in late 2004. It dramatically outperforms my long lost Linn LP12/Itok/Kharma outfit, mainly by being airier and more transparent, with no sacrifice in bass authority. It makes my LP12 sound plumy in contrast. This is presumably because of its light-weight platter and dual motors, but I can’t do the audio-physics on this, so I’ll leave it to others. This combination will take you back to analogue in a hurry if you let it.

TT2,with Arm 3/AN-Vx, IO1 moving coil cartridge, AN-SL4 step-up transformer. If you’re feeling both flush and ambitious, put an I0l moving coil cartridge into the Arm 3, add an Audio Note step-up transformer, and listen to the whole experience go up at least a level – two levels if you go with the SL4. Among the step-ups, the AN-SL3 is excellent, the AN-SL4 a knockout. As always with Audio Note, you don’t notice anything missing until you move up and it arrives!

CD 1.1x . A one-box player, using a Philips front-loading transport mechanism and DAC with a 6111WA tube and tin foil output capacitors. Non-oversampling and filter-free, of course. Both front controls and remote. Housed in a new full-width chassis, which is not as high or deep as the standard DAC chassis.

CD2.1x II. Like the CD1.1x but with Audio Note tantalum resistors, some Black Gates, and copper foil output capacitors.

CD4.1x. Audio Note’s best one-box player, using the Philips CD Pro top-loading transport mechanism of the CDT 2 II and an improved version of the Dac 2.1. My new 4.1 is due here soon. I’ll report out soon.

New Audio Note CDT 2 II and Dac 1.1x Signature II

CDT TWO-II transport . The MK II version of the highly regarded CDT 2 is an even more startling upgrade than the new Dac 1.1x Signature II. It is so good I urge you to consider the seemingly radical idea of putting it at the head of even fairly modest systems, from which its price would seem to exclude it. For example, pairing it with the Dac 1: you won’t know how good the new Dac 1 truly is until you hear it with a CDT 2 II. The new CDT 2 is significantly more dynamic and open sounding than its predecessor. It unleashes remarkable quantities of clean, authoritative bass, and its treble region has less grain. Like all of the best Audio Note products, this new transport solves audio problems we were not aware we had. A breakthrough product that challenges the notion that the dac is more important than the transport.

CDT 3. I expected the 3 to be a bit better than the 2, but with a bit over 200 hours on my new one, frankly I am flabbergasted. I would say the biggest difference is verisimilitude: everything sounds more real and more present. The whole presentation has more authority. All of my CD’s sound appreciably better, which I have to take into account now when I do CD reviews! The CDT3 demonstrates as well as anything in the Audio Note line what upgrading in a predictable way – better parts mainly but also intelligent implementation – really means. The basic products are so thoughtfully designed that upgrading parts dramatically upgrades performance. The CDT 3 is better at everything the excellent CDT 2 II is good at, just as my Dac 4.1 Balanced Signature is better at everything my Dac 4.1 Balanced was good at. The improvements at that level are not at all subtle. If you can only afford a CDT 2 II, relax, you are in good hands. But if you can stretch to the 3, you will hear its benefits throughout your system. I would even consider putting it on an AN dac below its presumed level of performance, just to see if the old saw about source is still true.

CDT 4. I am told it should be production soon and Tadas, its designer and builder, tells me it is “notably better” than the 3. That is a frightening thought, but then so was the 3 when it was first announced. Fare forward!

The Audio Note Dacs are the key to the natural magic of Audio Note digital. I have yet to hear them all but as soon as I have I will augment the notes below.

DAC 1.1x Signature II . The Signature II’s predecessor, the DAC One.1x Signature, was a fine sounding dac, especially given its extremely reasonable price. It captured the middle of notes better than the competition. Paired with a CDT TWO it could sing, boogie, and roar - easily outperforming two $5000 CD/SACD players in my house, making the whole "hi-res" phenomenon a non-issue. The new Signature II is astoundingly better in audible ways. I have used it in my reference system without fear that anything essential would be lost and have not been disappointed. Moving up the Audio Note dac line always brings revelations that justify the added investment. But I expect more and more audiophiles to find the new Dac 1 Sig II good enough.

DAC 4.1 Balanced. The 4.1 is the Audio Note product that introduced me to whole the Audio Note line and until I heard the Signature version, it was the best single component I'd ever heard of any kind. It still sounds extraordinary to me, even when I come to it from the Signature. My review on Positive-Feedback.com says all I can say. (See Reviews section below.) Compared with the 3.1, it is more open through the middle and on top, firmer and clearer on the bottom, and more refined overall. Where funds allow, it should sit at the head of any ambitious music system.

4.1 Balanced Signature. The Dac 4.1 Balanced Signature is in another game. To be honest, as much as I love the 4.1 Balanced and could be happy with it forever, the 4.1 Sig is the first DAC I’ve heard that truly does enable digital to compete on an even playing field with very good if not state of the art analogue. While the 4.1 Balanced is great digital and an appropriate goal for all but the most self-indulgent audiophile, the Signature version does seem to cross some sort of invisible (and expensive) threshold and take us to a place where the choice of what to play, CD or LP, can be based, as we once hoped it would be, on the music rather than the medium. It does not emulate analogue’s beguiling softness but offers comparable smoothness in the treble and stunning overall clarity and transparency. It can turn a good system into an extraordinary one all by itself. That it takes this level of investment to get to this point with digital tells us all we need to know about the medium’s difficulties in musical communication relative to analogue, doesn’t it!

DAC 5 Special and Signature . More information and commentary coming someday!

OTO SE . Single-ended, EL 84 based, 10 watt integrated amp. Available with or without phono stage. The best amplifier value in the Audio Note line for efficient speakers. Likely designed with the Audio Note K’s in mind, it makes a wonderful match with the 93dB J’s and lately has also been driving my 94 dB AN-E/SPe's quite happily. I have used it with it with both the JMR Twins and Arpeggiones, getting from them a more refined presentation than most of us are accustomed to hearing from JMR speakers. The OTO is satisfyingly full, dynamic, and clear, sounding and wonderfully informative through the midrange. An excellent choice for a $10,000-15,000 system with efficient speakers, it is a fine competitor for the Manley Stingray and the Audiomat Arpege, among others. I am sure I have yet to hear all that it can do. I have not found that after-market cords improve the OTO.

Soro SE. 18 watt, 6L6G tube based single-ended integrated amplifer with a more robust and fuller presentation than the OTO. Available with or without a phono stage. An ideal mate for Reynaud speakers in particular and a fine contrast to the Blue Circle integrateds for those who prefer the flavor of tubes. I run it with great success on Twins, Cantabiles, and Offrandes, and expect it will also be a fine match for the forthcoming Emeraude, successors to the Evolution 3. Price: $4650

Meishu, Meishu Silver, Meishu Silver Signature . 9 watt SET, 300B based integrated amplifier. Available with or without phono stage. This is the best way to bring 300B tubes into your system if you’re a prudent rather than self-indulgent audiophile. Naturally, warm, and full sounding, it can be upgraded with NOS tubes to take it pretty much any direction you like. Its natural mates are Audio Note AN-J’s or AN-E’s. Its three different models parallel the Quest monoblocks amplifiers below in its internal components. The Meishu Silver is a great upgrade. 

M3 single-ended, tubed preamplifier. Available with or without phono stage. With its new improved power supplies, whose technology has trickled down from the M10, the new iteration of the M3 has made it the great preamplifier value in the line. Dave Cope and I agree it sounds miles ahead of its predecessor. A natural match with a P3, P4, Quests, or Conquests.

M6 single-ended, tubed preamplifier. Available with or without phono stage. The M6, which has also acquired new power supplies derived from those in the M10, is the finest preamplifier I have heard at what it does. I consider it a reference component. It is the perfection of the M3 school of preamps.

Quest . The Quest amplifier is a 9 watt SET monoblock amplifier, which gives us the rich glory of the 300B tube. It comes in standard, Silver, and Silver Signature models. As the Conquest, it offers us 18 watts with paralleled 300B's.  

Conquest Silver Signatures
Conquest . 18 watt SET monoblocks amplifier. More information and commentary coming.

Neiro. 8 watt SET monoblock amplifier. A pair of Neiros offers the passion, penetration, and deeply saturated colors of parallel 2A3's coupled with a C-core transformer with copper primary and silver secondary windings. More elegant, informative, and possessed of firmer and clearer bass than the 300B based Quests and Meishus in the line, the 2A3 Neiros are also a bit less meaty and sensuous. They sound startlingly more powerful than their meager eight watt rating suggests. In conjunction with the M6 preamplifier and a DAC 4.1 Balanced, they soundstage wonderfully with depth and air, putting a natural finish on notes that is strikingly real. 

Shinri. 10 watt monoblock amplifier, identical to the Neiros, but with a single 300B output tube in place of parallel 2A3’s to provide a more nuanced, disciplined, and refined perspective than their 2A3 brothers. They are Mozart to the Neiro’s Beethoven. Great sense of control on harpsichords and pianos. Remarkable delicacy and suavity overall. Where the Neiros are notable for drama and contrast, the Shinris lead with poise and control.

Jinro . 20 watt SET integrated amplifier with Chinese 211 tubes. More information and commentary coming.

Tomei . 25 watt SET integrated amplifier with 211 tubes. More information and commentary coming.

Ongaku. 25 watt single-ended integrated amplier with VT4-C tubes. Information and commentary forthcoming.

 

SPEAKERS 

Audio Note’s are the only speakers I have yet to hear that present a truly viable different perspective than Reynaud’s. Peter Qvortrup says they are "correct and accurate to the recording," an argument I have heard in favor of a great many speakers I admire but am not (any longer) drawn to. Harbeths, most recently. But Audio Note speakers are extremely persuasive, whatever the philosophy behind them. Perhaps Peter has sprinkled some fairy dust on them and not told us.

They did not take me by storm. I expect this is mainly because they don’t sound at all like Reynauds, which is the speaker voice that had occupied my head for the last couple of years. Reynauds generate a sense of almost palpable emotional atmosphere about them: they are wonderfully breathy, naturally warm, and full of musical presence. They are so effective at this that they can make other, quite excellent, speakers sound lean in direct contrast. Which is exactly what they did to a pair of AN E/SPe’s the first few weeks I had them here.

Audio Note speakers are not at all lean, they are as clear as a New England fall day and, once the transition from JMR speakers is made, exhilaratingly open and gloriously transparent. Violins in particular are transcendent. Human voices are strikingly clear, instrumental voices remarkably lifelike. Unlike Reynauds, they are not especially indulgent of bad digital transfers. But to most of mine, and I have a great many, they sound fine and are full of nice surprises. I have never much enjoyed the sound of Chandos CD’s for example, and they sound very good on AN speakers. They seem to give all decent recordings more than a fair chance to show what they’ve got. The best recordings sound extraordinary. Every recording sounds distinct from every other recording, which is their designer’s criterion for excellence and has become mine.

Like Audio Note electronics, they are eloquent rather than ingratiating. This seems to have a great deal to do with their speed, their responsiveness to an audio signal. I have never quite understood the importance of this attribute until now, and I expect it has a great deal to do with the simplicity of the signal path. It seems to be what gives AN speakers their extraordinary verisimilitude. Music coming through them sounds a great deal like what I heard in the spring of 2004 at the Aldeburgh Festival in Norfolk, England. (http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue14/festival.htm) Notes break the air with great speed and little effort, giving them great immediacy.

All Audio Note speakers are designed to be in the corners of the room, toed in such that their ‘lines’ cross about a meter in front of the listening position. This said, I have found that most AN speakers work fine out in the room, especially the K’s; so the fact that your room has no useable corners does not rule them out at all. My main listening room’s corners are eighteen feet (!) apart, so the toe-in here is absolutely essential. Set up properly, Audio Note speakers create a very broad sweet spot. Peter Qvortrup likes to demonstrate this attribute of his speakers by pointing out to visitors that his accustomed listening position is to the far right! They love low-powered SET’s. Once I got my demo E’s (and J’s) snugged back into the corners, the full length drapes (behind them and in front of my floor to ceiling glass wall) drawn a couple of feet past them (to take the glass out of the equation) and pulled away from their rear-firing ports, they began to have their way with me. I drive mine with parallel 2A3 Audio Note Neiros, while many AN speaker owners prefer 300B based amps, of which Audio Note makes a great many.

The sonic universe that Audio Note speakers propose has taken me over. Their openness and clarity throughout their surprising range can be magic. And, as with all things Audio Note, the magic increases as you move up the line, mainly adding more silver wiring and external crossovers. But, as with the OTO integrated amplifier and Dac 1.1x Signature II, the magic is there from the beginning.

All of the Audio Note speakers are based on classic Snell designs, improved upon by Audio Note designers. They are available in an extraordinary variety of finishes and degrees of technical refinement. The notes below refer to the SPe models which strike many of us as the best AN speaker values.

AN-K/SPe

While there are speakers, (notably Audio Note J’s and E’s) that go lower and higher with more ease, and make a bigger and arguably more accurate impression, the 90 dB K’s have a special quality that larger, more effortlessly full-range speakers generally lack. Those who remember with fondness the KLH Six (compared with the Five and Twelve), the larger Advent, and the Celestion SL6 will know what I’m talking about. The K/SPe’s are better speakers than any of those classics; but they share their appeal, their ability to speak incisively and almost personally through the essential midrange, which, because of the K’s lighter low end, is where their balance is centered. They have an immediacy, a presence, exciting leading edge behavior, and tactile musical excitement, along with a beguiling hint of opacity (!), just as their predecessors had. The smaller Reynauds have some of this strange blend of tactile immediacy and opacity. The K’s have sealed cabinets, which clearly account for some of their sonic quality. The KLH, Advent, and Celestion were all sealed; the Reynauds (and Audio Note J’s and E’s) are ported. A substantial benefit of the K’s is that they perform superbly on the modest OTO integrated amp. Designed with smaller rooms in mind, they also sound excellent in my 18’ and 28’ living room.

AN-J/SPe

The considerably larger, ported J’s are unquestionably "better" speakers than their little brothers, in the sense that they go lower with more authority, go higher with more ease – they are smoother and more open sounding; and they create a larger image. They have less ‘personality’ than the K’s (as KLH Fives and Twelves had less than the Sixes) because they make fewer compromises (cabinet size mainly, which means the smaller speakers have to work harder to cover the spectrum) – and it is compromises that bring personality to a speaker, for better and for worse. The J’s bass comes remarkably close to that of their big brother E’s. In small and large rooms alike, with their 93 dB sensitivity, they are quite happy on the OTO. Actually, the OTO/J-SPe combination is one of my most popular.

AN-E/SPe

The E was the first Audio Note speaker I heard and as much as I like the J and K, if you have the room for it, the E is the speaker to have. Its additional half-octave on the low end clarifies the low bass fairly dramatically. It also gives the impression of being more open and easeful from top to bottom, likely the result also of the clearer low end. The E’s like a bit of space, but seemed just fine in Peter Qvortrup’s approximately 12’ x 16’ study. Most folks put at least a Meishu or M3/P3 on E’s, but as I reported above, my modest little OTO does them proud. They love the 2A3’s in my Neiros! The standard E’s are 94 dB; with the HE woofer, they jump to 98dB.

AN-E/SPe HE. An AN-E/SPe with High Efficiency woofers taking them to 98 dB. A great upgrade which makes possible use of one of the new 45 or 2A3 stereo amps due out from Audio Note soon. More commentary coming.

AN-E/LX Signature. An AN-E with the High Efficiency woofers and external, separately boxed crossovers using solid copper wired inductors with Audio Note copper foil capacitors. Wired with Lexus cable. Excellent review of the E/LX Signatures by Art Dudley in Stereophile: http://www.stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/506an/index1.html

AN-E/SPx SE. An AN-E with the HE woofers, wired with SPx silver cabling, and using silver wired inductors in the external crossovers. My new reference speaker. Compared with the AN-E/SPe’s that preceded them in my house, they are a significant improvement across the board. Bass is more articulate and the rest of the range is purer sounding and more radiant. SPx is not a dramatically better cable than SPe but it adds a degree of clarity and lack of "splash" in the treble range that is hard to give up once you’ve become accustomed to it.

INTERCONNECTS 

Audio Note cabling can compound the virtues of both AN and non-AN systems. AN-V is good with affordable gear. AN-Vx is superb for everything. SOGON is simply astonishing. My first experience was with a single .75 meter run of Sogon from my transport to my dac: extraordinaire. It's less expensive than Valhalla and richer overall with no loss of clarity.

Lexus . All all-copper interconnect with the same architecture as Sogon. Probably the best buy in IC’s around. Full and smooth sounding, it has more clarity than we usually find in copper cable.

AN-V. 99.99% pure silver, 15 strand litz wire symmetrical interconnect, copper screen. A good interconnect for modest high end systems. I have used it between a CDT1 transport and Dac 1.1x Signature II dac and sometimes between the dac and an OTO integrated. Just enough silver to throw natural light over everything.

AN-Vx. 99.99% pure silver, 20 strand litz wire symmetrical interconnect, copper screen. A significant jump in openness and refinement from AN-V, this is the interconnect of choice in most reasonably priced systems. No need to go beyond AN-Vx unless you’re a perfectionist but definitely worth stretching to from AN-v if you can. A good choice in even a perfectionist’s system that requires a long run, say to monoblocks.

SOGON . 99.99% pure silver, 42 strand litz wire symmetrical interconnect, copper screen. The perfectionist’s interconnect. As open as and as refined as I have ever heard. A great cable to run from a transport to a dac to give your system the best start imaginable. More and more listeners are considering this option even in modest systems because of the startling degree of improvement it provides.

SPEAKER CABLE 

Lexus XL .Pure copper Lexus cable and all a modest system will ever need. Way better sounding than it has any right to be. A great cable value. An all-copper wire but built with the same architecture as Sogon, so it offers the classic warmth with detail.

AN-SPe. 99.99% pure silver litz conductor, 17 strands. AN-SPe is comparable to an interconnect halfway between AN-V and AN-Vx: a great sounding cable that will satisfy most audiophiles

AN-SPx. 99.99% pure silver litz conductor, 27 strands. Better yet, especially in the upper midrange, and will upgrade a highly resolving system.

SOGON. 99.99 pure silver conductor, 44 strands. Sogon is, I presume, SOGON. Probably the best there is but prohibitively expensive for anyone I know. I haven't heard it yet but will report out when and if I do.

JM REYNAUD

JM Reynaud speakers pursue the natural warmth, body, and immediacy that give some listeners their chief emotional charge from music. They are warm and robust but there is also, especially with current Reynauds, a crisp quality to the leading edges of instruments and voices that gives them more clarity than most other warm speakers can provide.

Reynaud, who spends most of his "spare" time in the concert halls of Europe, has successfully pioneered an approach to loudspeaker design demonstrating that monitor-like 'accuracy to source' resolution is not necessarily the way to the truth of what live music really sounds like. His least expensive speakers often embarrass the competition's best.

Reynaud speakers have a way of providing the perfect marriage of sonic information and musical expressiveness that seems to elude so many other designs. The zig-zag to Reynaud began with Kefs, proceeded to Meridian M-2 actives, Linn Saras and DMS Isobariks, B&W Matrix speakers, Spendors (BC1's and 1/2's), and on to Harbeths. The arrival at Reynaud was both satisfying and definitive. No speaker I have heard does as well at getting the elemental emotional feel of a live musical performance into our living room, which is their designer's express goal. In contrast to the vivid kind of clarity that distinguishes some of the most popular contemporary ‘for a clear day you can hear forever' speakers, Reynauds offer a naturally warm but also spirited and energetic version of transparency, resulting in a physical immediacy that can take your breath away. To my ears, had the Spendor BC-1 evolved in a straight line rather than thinning out its heritage into the current Classic line, it would have turned into a Reynaud.

Compared with Audio Note speakers, Reynauds seem considerably more physical in their presentation, putting the primary focus on the body of instruments. Where Audio Note speakers have favor a complex, and inflected presentation, Reynauds sound weightier and a bit simpler and more straightforward.

 

JEAN MARIE REYNAUD LOUDSPEAKERS

Again, for more detail and a look at the full JMR line, go to the manufacturer's website, http://www.jm-reynaud.com . All JMR equipment is available through Amherst Audio, which has become the official US sales contact for the company. See links to other JMR dealers at the end of this section.

Below are subjective descriptions of my favorite Reynauds. Amherst Audio offers the full line of Reynaud speakers.

 

The Duet. After thirteen years and four different versions, JMR decided it was time for the famous romantic Twin to retire to make room for something altogether new. Well, not absolutely altogether. The drivers are the same and the enclosure is almost the same --slightly smaller in volume (2 inches shallower, 1 inch wider). But the interior of the enclosure has been completely re-engineered to take advantage of what was learned from creating the Offrande Signature. There is a new crossover. And the sound! Still naturally JMR warm and expressive but much more immediate and clear. The ideal for JMR has always been that elusive marriage of warmth and clarity we hear in the concert hall and jazz venue and that has eluded speaker designers for years. Over the half-dozen or so years that I have been listening to Reynauds JMR has steadily and conspicuously moved closer to this goal. But in his latest speaker iterations he has taken a giant step - and with the new Duet he has brought this level of improvement to his entry-level speaker. I loved the MK III Twins, I loved and admired the Twin Signatures. But I am floored by the Duets - and mine are not even half broken in yet. The most dramatic improvements are in the immediacy of the midrange and the clarity and authority of the bass. Where the Twins used to seduce with a degree of beguiling opacity, the Duet amazes with the warmth, speed, and immediacy of a 'live' performance. And where the Twins sometimes wanted a subwoofer to fill them out, the Duets often sound as if they are already subs somewhere in the room. Still no hint of the brightness or over-asertiveness that often accompany great presence. Just there-ness. The Duets are warm, immediate, smooth, passionate, and fast.

They strike me as more versatile than the Twins. Within reason, you can get almost any sound out of them you like. So far my favorite combination has them with the Blue Circle 6922 based FtTH hybrid integrated, which brought the house down at the recent audio show in Montreal; and the SBT preamp (also with 6922's) and SBM solid state monoblocks. The FtTH brings out their dynamic capacity and phenomenal low end; music has great weight and body through this amp. The SBT/SBM combination seems to maximize the Duets' potential for clarity, speed, and brilliance with no loss of smoothness. The 6SN7 based Blue Circle DAR integrated, brings out their romanticism: a fuller and more blended sound, a more fluid midrange, increased holography & deep sound stage, and lots of energy, all at the cost of some tightness in the low end and some overall definition. The SBT/SBM and Duets sound truthful and exciting; the FtTH add to this truthfulness increased dynamics and authority;  the DAR and Duets are more enveloping than either but lack some of their command. The Manley EL 84 based amps (Stingray and Mahi's) and Duets give us a tighter and faster presentation than the DAR, less definition and clarity than the SBT/SBM,  and less authority than the FtTH but offer a unique combination of air and drive.

I am getting the sense it will take me quite a while to discover all that these little miracles can perform, especially on the JMR Magic Stands. More than even their predecessors, the Duets are the kings of the under $2000 speaker market. Merci, Jean Marie. Merci, Jean Claude. $1895 .

Euterpe. Floor-standing version of the Duet, replacing the Arpeggione Signatures.  They use the same drivers as as their little siblings, but with more space for the woofers to work with, they provide an additional 5 Hertz on the low end. And no need for stands! $2895 .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cantabile Signature. The new Cantabile Signature, which has taken sole possession of the slot in the JMR line its predecessor shared with the Trente, is a more interesting speaker than that much-loved standmount. Jean Marie himself considers the two speakers very close in overall performance and dropped the Trente from the line in part because his European customers were finding them redundant.

Emeraude.  The Emeraude is the replacement for the much-loved Evolution 3. It is named for the emerald gemstone, and the Reynauds remind us that it is the name of the 40^th anniversary for a wedding, though they do not say whose it celebrates! Reynaud is using a new fabric tweeter (still top-mounted) for this model which has a neodymium magnet with a "w" shaped suspension. Jean Claude Reynaud says the new speakers "sound really natural." They are using the Concorde woofer with a phase plug that reportedly gives "incredible results in the midrange." It is an 8 ohm system compared with the Evo3 that was 4 ohms and its sensibility is up to 91 dB, and so "can be driven by any kind of amp." The cabinet is a few inches higher than the Evolution 3. Where does it fit into the JMR line sonically? "It sounds like a small Orféo," reports JCR, which means it is a tad sweeter and warmer than the Offrande. "Imaging is very wide open and deep. It has a sound that is both fast and warm, as we like." So if the Offrande and Orfeo are a bit out of reach, here's your speaker. $5495.

 

 

 

 

Offrande Signature. The Signature replaces the Offrande. It has a ribbon tweeter and is 8 ohms where its predecessor was 4 ohms. The U.S. Price: $6995.

 

Orféo. A brand new speaker in the line, with no antecedents I know of. Ostensibly a smaller scale Concorde Signature for rooms that can’t accommodate the Big Boy, it is a triumph on its own musical merits. Along with the new Duets, it is now my personal favorite Reynaud. It sounds as articulate as the Offrandes but it is actually a bit less immediate. It is sweeter, more solicitous, and much fuller sounding.

 

Concorde Signature . JMR's top of the line Concorde has been given the Signature treatment and then some, with new ribbon tweeters. I have yet to hear them and will report here as soon as I have. Its predecessor has been described by some as supreme EV3's and by others as an Offrande with more extended bass and the ease and authority that comes with a true three-way speaker. I expect no less from the Signature and am eager to hear what will clearly be an improved high end. I am told improvements in the design of their enclosures makes them more suitable for normal sized listening rooms than their predecessors were. In a system that is up to them, I expect them to be at least as authoritative, smooth, musical as the earlier Concordes, while retaining the warmth and presence of their smaller siblings. They will be comparatively easy to drive, but JMR tells us they will reward an amplifier that can feed their woofers well, like a Blue Circle BC206 or pair of BC208’s… or a pair of Manley Snappers! Price: $11,000.

 

MAGIC STANDS. JM Reynaud has granted Amherst Audio the rights to build and sell in the US his patented Magic Stands, designed specifically to improve the performance of Twins and Trentes and now the new Duets. Making use of the principle of the Helmholtz Resonator, Magic Stands not only improve low end performance of these JMR speakers dramatically, they also have the effect of evening up response in the midrange. Magic Stands are hand-crafted by Amherst, Massachusetts cabinet-maker E.S.Fair. They are identical to the originals, though I find these a bit sturdier. Price, $400

For a definitive presentation of the theory behind the Magic Stands, go to:
http://www.jm-reynaud.com/jmr_us/archives/magic.html

 

BLUE CIRCLE

Gilbert Yeung's quest to reproduce the essence of 'live' music has led him to design electronics with a combination of authority, dynamic energy, natural warmth, and clarity. His career has yielded some of the most satisfying (often hybrid tube/solid state) preamplifiers and amplifiers in the world.

Amherst Audio began with Blue Circle. The zig-zag that got me to this musical line of preamps and amps followed one of the predictable routes: zig from Krell to Conrad Johnson, zag halfway back to Plinius. It could just as well have zigged from Bryston to Cary and zagged halfback to Plinius. To my ears, Blue Circle, especially in its current designs, comes remarkably close to achieving the mean between an accurate version of what's on recordings and a presentation of what ‘live’ music really sounds like. Avoiding both the clinical and the cloyingly colored, Blue Circle preamps and amps, in both single-ended and balanced, in both solid state and tubed topologies, have pleased me for many years. There are stars in the line – the new mini SB series, the FtTH hybrid integrated amplifer, the MKII versions of the classic BC3 series tubed preamps, the new 200 series hybrid power amps, and especially the reference quality dacs and a new BC6000 line conditioner. But I have yet to hear any Blue Circle component that does not have a musical point to make. With Blue Circle, the preamp is the key: this is where designer Gilbert Yeung speaks most meaningfully. To compare any digital front end direct to amp system with one that has a Blue Circle preamp in it will tell you a lot of what you need to know about Blue Circle. Blue Circle used to sound warmer and softer than most of its components do today. Lately, the designer has moved to a more realistic balance of warmth and transparency, which his widespread use of balanced topology has helped to mature. Especially when paired with JM Reynaud speakers, they are dynamic, weighty, and present. Yang to Audio Note’s Yin?

In the last year or so, in an effort to broaden the Blue Circle palette, two new series of electronics have been introduced, both of which impress me very much. The SB series of compact preamplifiers and amplifiers, while clear cousins of the FtTH and 200 series amplifiers, have an SET like clarity and sense of touch that has turned many heads. The DAR and 400 series amps, making use of the much-loved 6SN7 tube, bring back some of holographic qualities of the classic BC 2 and BC6 amps of yore. Stay tuned.

BLUE CIRCLE ELECTRONICS

For full and more objective descriptions of Gilbert Yeung's line of electronics, see the company's web site: http://www.bluecircle.com . What follows is my subjective opinions of a selection. All Blue Circle products are available through Amherst Audio.

Preamplifiers

BC3PLS. New preamp for those can’t quite stretch to a BC 3 Despina II. Not a replacement for the no longer available BC 2l.1 but a whole new design. Price: $3095. For more information go to: http://www.bluecircle.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=69&Itemid=67

BC 3 Despina II. Tubed, single-ended. The "original" Blue Circle preamp, now upgraded to MK II status, which tightens its low end and adds dynamics, reflecting its designer's move toward more incisive, bolder, and somewhat faster reproduction. Retains enough of the classic Despina sensuousness and remarkable midrange clarity to keep the BC3 faithful in the fold. Mates especially well with the BC 26 II solid state amp, as well as with the BC28 hybrid. The BC Despina II, Galatea II, and BC3000 II also make excellent mates for cooler solid state amps. The Despina II is available in balanced topology for an additional $700. The BC 3 Despina is at the heart of many fine music systems. List price: $4195.

Note: The original BC3 Despina, Galatea, and BC3000 are once more available as an option – at the following prices. List prices: BC3 Despina: $4195. BC3 Galatea: $5895. BC3000: $7595.

BC3 Galatea II

BC 3 Galatea II. Tubed, single-ended. The upgrade from Despina II to the Galatea II, which amounts to the substitution of the 3.1 II for the 3.0 II external power supply, takes this extremely popular preamp a significant step forward. Bigger power supply means better bass and a bit more refinement through the midrange. Arguably the most excellence per dollar in the preamp line. The Galatea II is available in balanced topology for an additional $700. List price: $5895.

BC 3000 II. Tubed, single-ended. The MK II upgrade to Blue Circle's premier and still widely loved and admired single-ended tube preamp makes what may be the best of both SE and balanced worlds for those not ready to give up single-ended magic. The 3000 II (when coupled with the optional GxPZ power supply) is currently the top of the BC preamp line. List price for stock 3000 II: $7595. With GzPZ power supply: $8595. The BC3000 II is also available in balanced topology for an additional $700. Pair this reference preamp with one of the new BC200 series hybrid amps.

Amplifiers

FtTH

DAR. A new 100 watt integrated hybrid using the 6SN7 tube to achieve a warm, appealing but still delightfully clear sound reminiscent of the vintage BC2 and BC6. It made its debut at the 2007 Rocky Mountain Audio Festival and was extremely well received playing with Reynaud Cantabiles.

The DAR midrange is open and full of musical timbre. There is a slightly warm, airy and breathy immediacy and clarity in the mids and upper mids that mates predictably well with JMR speakers. So far I’ve heard it on the Cantabile Sigs and the Offrande Sigs and while it sounds very good on both, I prefer it slightly on the Cantabiles which seems the more appropriate and natural match. Duets:

The DAR is a bit richer sounding and more solicitous than the SBT/SBM combination. They in turn are firmer sounding and a bit more penetrating. But they are recognizable cousins. Both have an emotional directness that sets them apart from most other electronics I know. Both of these Blue Circle amps have a way of making many other amps sound evasive. $2995.

BmPH. A new, more powerful all solid state integrated with more headroom than the former the NSCS: 160 watts into 8 ohms, 260 into 4 ohms. Informative eview on SixMoons: http://www.sixmoons.com/audioreviews/bluecircle2/bluecircle.html. $4195 with single Shallco volume control.

FtTH. Hybrid integrated using 6992 tubes, one for each channel. 95 watts into 8 ohms, 125 watts into 4 ohms. True-balanced typology. Separate external power supply. A more open sounding and sophisticated amp than its former stable mate NSCS, the FtTH has an upper mid and treble range that gives strings and woodwinds more room to strut their stuff. This is the integrated we music-loving audiophiles have been waiting for. $4895.

 

BC 28. Hybrid, single-ended, 120 watt stereo amplifier. (200 watts into 4 ohms) The 28 is predictably better than the former 24: a bit smoother with more power for more demanding speakers. It's worth the additional $1550 it costs, just as its ancestor, the BC2 was than the BC6. Paired with a BC3 Galatea II, I can imagine it as the end point of a superb system. List price: $4795.

BC 26 II. Solid state, true balanced, 200 watts stereo amplifier. The least well-known Blue Circle amp, it is also among the most popular among those who want Levinson/Krell/Plinius power but Blue Circle musicality with solid state clarity. Paired with a BC3 Despina II or Galatea II, it has caused many of the aforesaid amps to return to Audiogon. Performs especially well with Harbeth speakers, which tend to frown on tube amps. List price: $5895.

 BC 204

BC 202, 204, 206, and 208. I have yet to hear these new hybrid and balanced stereo amps, but they are rapidly becoming the new stars of the line. More soon.

BC 501ob with optional purple-heart walnut faceplate.

BC 501, BC501ob. I have finally had an opportunity to hear one of Gilbert’s dacs and I am mightily impressed. The ob version, with its monumental power supply, can hold its own with any dac I have heard. Both bold and smooth, it presents music with remarkable ease and authority. Music has natural weight and roundedness through this all-solid-state dac. Match it with an Audio Note CDT 2 II or CDT 3 transport and you’ve got a great digital front end. I have yet to hear the baby dac. The BC 501 retails for $4095, the 501ob for $7395.

Blue Circle Line Conditioners

Blue Circle’s Music Ring line conditioners have been around for a while now and do a very creditable job. I have used an MR800 in the past and was pleased with it. But I wanted more, so I brought in an Audience AdeptResponse and got a LOT more. I got more of everything I wanted but also an uninvited boost in testosterone. I liked that – it improved the performance of both my Blue Circle and Manley amps, so I didn’t complain. In its new, revised version it is even better and has less testosterone, good enough to merit an award from me on Positive Feedback for 2007. But.