Amherst Audio 
 
  • New US Distributor for JMR. Amherst Audio is passing import/distribution responsibilities for JMR to Musical Sound of Millford, Conneciticut but will remain an active and passionate dealer for the line.
  • JMR Duets: Review on Positive-Feedback
  • Reviews of Orfeos and Offrande Supremes coming this summer on Positive Feedback

 

amherstaudio@comcast.net
(413)549-6171



ongaku
Trente2
The Sound of Music

The main question (for all of us) that I’d like to try to answer up front here, if only for our collective self-respect, is: Why do we or why should we care about investing fairly serious money in something that the great majority of the world consider at best a curious luxury and at worst a wasteful silliness? The comparison most often made by critics is to model railroaders, who spend enormous amounts of time, effort, and a surprising amount of money on assembling (and playing with) a miniature reproduction of railroads. Having dabbled in their hobby as a youngster, in some limited way I get what they’re about. And it’s mainly about something other than a love of 100 ton locomotives. Just as audio, for a great many audiophiles, is about something other than the fine art of music. What both groups seem to share at the extreme is a passionate quest for ever greater degrees of verisimilitude and lovingly rendered detail.

The fact is true we don’t need a high-end audio system to understand music better. After all, many composers get more (and more accurate) thrills from reading a score to themselves than being distracted by an approximation or interpretation of it by musicians. But some of us audiophiles are not extreme, compulsive miniaturists or hobbyists but still love high-end audio. What are we about?

We are a subset of music lovers who are unable to separate the sound of music from music itself: from melody, harmony, counterpoint, rhythm. Unlike many purer music lovers who get sufficient pleasure from their FM radios because they hear through or around the quality of the sound to the notes. Many professional musicians are in this category. They will tell they don’t need sonic verisimilitude in their sound systems to get the music: they already know what instruments sound like: even very accurate reproductions bring them no especial pleasure. But we sort are different. The sound of the instruments is a huge part of music for us. The timbre of instruments (and voices) excites us. We crave that magic compound of ease, warmth, and clarity of texture that is the sound of ‘live’ music. Our sense of hearing is an emotional organ that seems to connect directly to our very being.

Are we nuts? No, we are simply highly tuned, to be pretentious about it, to the incarnation of music into the physical bodies of instruments. We get significantly less pleasure from badly reproduced music. We try to be thrilled by recordings of extraordinary performances made back when recording technology was in its infancy, and sometimes we can almost make it. But more often than not, we fail. We can’t bear listening to music through a closed door. Our ears and minds are not just on the music, they are on the sound. The medium is essential to us.

I don’t want to dignify us more than we deserve, just to defend us from both the purists and the boors. And I want to defend the existence of Amherst Audio as more than a business, which in a financial sense it barely is anyway! Amherst Audio is one man’s indulgence, on his own behalf and that of his friends and customers, many of whom are the same, in the love of the sound of music.

Gear

As an audiophile and as Amherst Audio, I have found my way to some extremely satisfying equipment for retrieving and reproducing the sound of music. Which equipment we prefer has mostly to do with our sonic preferences: how our particular sense of hearing is tuned. I have found two approaches that work for me and many of my customers. Each seeks a different balance among the various aspects of sound, which in turn corresponds to who we are. The two approaches are not opposites, just two quite distinct places on a long continuum whose extremes are far from either.

If you prefer a sound that is refined, clear as an autumn morning but as forgiving as an autumn afternoon, and that has nearly as much beauty as Aerial herself, you need to hear Audio Note equipment – you need to hear an entire Audio Note system. All-Audio Note systems do the best job I’ve ever heard of getting the seemingly transcendental clarity of 'live' music, while also achieving coherence and beauty. A musical performance coming through and Audio Note System seems less spread out and delineated than through more monitor-like systems, more engaging, with a good deal of liquidity. Audio Note is the perfection of the British sound (Quad, Spendor, Harbeth, etc.), which was the predecessor of and is the successor to the New England sound (Acoustic Research, KLH, Advent).

If on the other hand you prefer a sound that is robust, immediate, savory, warm, and as earthy as Pan himself, you need to hear Jean Marie Reynaud speakers fed by Blue Circle electronics. JM Reynaud loudspeakers in conjunction with the latest Blue Circle electronics do the best job I’ve heard at getting the weight, emotional density, immediacy, and expressiveness of a live musical performance with the least loss of clarity. No system I know of can combine warmth and clarity as effectively. Blue Circle hybrid electronics contribute mightily to this success, providing a touch of humanity and exciting backbone. BC dacs are camera-like. Where AN dacs tend to pull our focus in, fitting everything together, Blue Circle dacs spread the music out before us, aiming for total information retrieval. In the context of a BC/JMR system, this can be eye-opening and pleasing at the same time.

I have listened to a lot of gear out there and have lived with and enjoyed, for short but ultimately unsatisfying periods of time, a lot that is more solicitous, staid, lush, punchy, and alas - duller or more overbearing than Audio Note and Blue Circle/JMR. But these two approaches, as different as they can be from each other, are the only two I can recommend with a clear conscience and an enthusiastic heart. Neither is better than the other, each with its distinct personality gets a great deal of the sound of music. If neither of these approaches as I describe them strikes you as ‘right’, pass by with my best wishes. But if they sound compelling, read on.

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

What follows is a selected survey of Audio Note products I have heard and come to admire. This will list will doubtless grow as my experience of the line increases. The complete line of Audio Note products is available through Amherst Audio, including analogue equipment and speakers. Check the manufacturer's web site (http://www.audionote.co.uk) for more details.

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: $6250. CDT 3: $9550. CDT 4: $14,500.

Also new are two new one-box (integrated) CD players: a CD1.1x, $2750; a CD2.1x II, $3850. 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.

Some Listening Notes on the CD2.1x II

I have had my eyes on this unit since I first saw the brief description above. I know what adding Tantalum resisters, Black Gates, and copper foil output capacitors can do to a basically sound design. I saw this player as the likely entry point for serious audiophiles on a budget.

I had it right. If the design benchmarks were the earlier CD2.1x and CD3.1x, I would say they have been surpassed. What I’d hoped for was a Honda Civic that was recognizably a little cousin of an Acura TL. It’s better than that. It will serve well in ‘smaller’ systems and is easy to recommend to those of you with more taste than money. I would say it would take more than twice its cost to better it – and in a small room, perhaps not. With an Audio Note OTO and K/SPe’s, using AN-Vx interconnects and either Lexus or SPe speaker cable in my 10’ x 10’ study, the combination was excellent. Of all the combinations I tried, though all were very good, this one is the one that stood out.

In all of the systems I tried the player in, what I heard primarily is the always satisfying AN midrange clarity: not at all analytical or clinical, just naturally there – almost tactile - and highly transparent. It gets instrumental timbres extremely well. All of the combinations had more than respectable bass, which is clear rather than window rattling. (None of the speakers I used have deep bass response.) With the OTO and K’s, there was natural warmth and great immediacy – the latter being a specialty of K’s; highs were both crisp and sweet (!). With a Manley Stingray and pair of JMR Twin Signatures (same cable), midrange was fuller, breathier, and slightly less clear. Highs were fine, neither noticeably rolled off nor noticeably sweet. There is also the expected extra degree of warmth from the Reynauds that the Stingray plays effectively to, which is not present with the Audio Notes, and which I wouldn’t expect to hear from Harbeths or most Spendors. With my Blue Circle NSCS and Twins, the midrange was clearer than with the Stingray, less tactile and refined than with the OTO and K’s. The bass had a bit more authority and the overall presentation was weightier. Again, what was most noticeable in all of these combinations was an appealing and naturally clear midrange.

For fun, I subbed the player into my reference system (Audio Note M6, Neiros, E/SPx SE’s) in place of a CDT3 and Dac 4.1 Balanced Signature – and held my breath. Huh. Same virtues the reference front end has, which was a nice surprise. Emphasis on surprise. A bit less of everything but a lot more than I expected. And, of course, the Magic is dialed back a bit. Magic is expensive and hard to quantify. That is what we pay for when we spend more on Audio Note front ends. But again, as a whole, an extremely good imitation of my reference source. And this is a tougher test than it will ever have to pass in real life. So I’m impressed.

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
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. $6250

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. $9550

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! $14,500

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. $2600

DAC 2.1 Signature, and DAC 2.1 Balanced. The 2.1 Signature, with its tube rectifier, is a nice step up in refinement over the 1.1x Signature II. In its new Mk II configuration I’m told is mightily improved, forcing an upgrade to the 3.1! More soon. $4350 and $6275

DAC 3.1 Balanced. Coming to the 3.1 from anything other than a more expensive Audio Note dac will put an enormous smile on your face. Up until a year or so ago, with its analogue filters still in place, it was a very decent sounding dac but not significantly better than the 2.1 balanced. When they were removed, it pulled well ahead of the 2.1 in all respects. Naturally rich, smooth, refined, and clear. Just out, is a new iteration of the 3.1 Balanced that should be a corker. While it gets better as you move up the line, this is where a goodly number of ambitious audiophiles will be happy to settle. $8575

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. $15,500

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! $28,000

DAC 5 Special and Signature . More information and commentary coming someday! $40,425 and $76,500

OTO 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. OTO SE Line, $3275. OTO SE Phono, $3850.

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. Soro Line SE, $5100. Soro Phono SE, $5675.

Meishu

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. Meishu Line, $6850. Meishu Silver Line,$9350. Meishu Line Silver Signature, $14,950. 

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. M3 Line, $7250. M3 Phono, $9350.

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. M6 Line, $15,500. M6 Phono, $19, 250.

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. Quest, $7050. Quest Silver, $9625. Quest Silver Signature, $17,250. 

Conquest Conquest Silver Signatures
Conquest . 18 watt SET monoblocks amplifier. More information and commentary coming. Conquest, $11,500. Conquest Silver, $14,500. Conquest Silver Signature, $21,250.

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. $25,025

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. $28,875

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. $95,000

 

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 you don't need to go 'up range' in the product line to hear it.  As with the OTO integrated amplifier and Dac 1.1x Signature II, the magic is there from the beginning. One of my favorites is the modest K/SPe, though I'll confess I am indulging in legendary K/SPx SE's to give myself a present!

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. $3000

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. $5000

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,  but with the new hemp HE woofers...Well see below. $6100

AN-E/SPe HE. An AN-E/SPe with hemp 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; but the speed of the hemp woofers seems to make these E's demonstrably more exciting on the same amps you'd use with the standard E/SPe's.  I have just gotten a pair in and they have already become my favorite Audio Note speaker. They strike me now as the sweet spot in the line. Not as absolutely resolving and refined as the more than two and three times as expensive E/SPe SE's and E/SPx SE's, but a bit sweeter and absolutely endearing. No wonder Art Dudley fell for them. $7600.

AN-E/LX Signature. A copper wired 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...written before he heard the E/Spe HE's...http://www.stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/506an/index1.html For those who love copper wired speakers or whose overly bright listening rooms require them, these are jewels. $15,500.

AN-E/SPe SE and AN-E/SPx SE.   With silver wired inductors in the external crossovers, these two beauties are the first of the upscale silver wired E models. More resolving and thus more articulate across their entire range, they can be stunning with the Level 4 electronics they invite. Audio Note afficionados will insist on this level of refinement. The rest of us will find great satisfaction with E/SPe HE's. ] $17,500 and $24,250

INTERCONNECTS 

Audio Note cabling can compound the virtues of both AN and non-AN systems. Modestly priced copper Lexus is terrific in a modest system, offering a naturally warm, detailed, and full presenation. I prefer it to the less weighty sounding, silver-based AN-v, which costs more. But when you get to AN-Vx the game begins to change. Everything begins to open up without any loss of the Lexus solidity or smoothness.  SOGON with twice as many strands of silver is simply astonishing in its clarity and sweetness. And the new Sootto, with twice as many strands as Sogon (!) can take your breath away. Big, hugely present, and still beautiful. It clearly crosses an invisible line into territory where adjectives flail and reality seems to begin. The strategy, unless you're rich, is to put the best cable you can afford at the head of the system chain, say between a digital transport and dac or between a CDP and amp: that way its advantages get passed along. Even putting a single run of Sogon between the transport and dac in a system with all Lexus delivers a dramatic improvement.

Upgrading from Vx to Sogon to Sootto interconnects is like opening sonic doors. At each step we feel we are hearing it all and then suddenly, in each case, there is more. More instrumental and spatial detail, more pure physicality and presence, more beauty, and more shear excitement. This is directly attributable to the near doubling of strands of silver, the doubling of channels through which musical information can travel:  it is as if twice as much on a recording is being unleashed. I can't tell you now exhilerating it is to hear more of a cello than you've been accustomed to thinking there is: the prodigious sound of its physicality accompanied by the stunning beauty of true timbre. This is what this whole enterprise we are involved in truly is.

With Audio Note cable, each step of the progression is a revelation, so there is no need to complete the journey through the last door. But I promise you there is no other way to get it all. If all of the musical information can't get into your system, it ain't going to come out!

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. One meter pair, RCA's, $235.

AN-V. 99.99% pure silver, 15 strand litz wire symmetrical interconnect, copper screen. A respectable interconnect for modest high end systems for those who have to have silver but can't afford AN-Vx. I have used it between a CDT1 transport and Dac 1.1x Signature II dac and sometimes between the dac and an OTO integrated. Less full sounding than copper Lexus but just enough silver to throw a bit of natural light over everything. One meter pair, RCA's, $525.

AN-Vx. 99.99% pure silver, 27 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 truly ambitious but definitely worth stretching to from AN-v and from Lexus if you can. A good choice in even a perfectionist’s system that requires a long run, say to monoblocks. One meter pair, RCA's, $1250.

SOGON . 99.99% pure silver, now 50 strands, up from 42 strand litz wire symmetrical interconnect, copper screen. Wide open and as refined as I have ever heard. A great cable to run from a transport to a dac to give a VX based system a great start. More and more listeners are considering this option even in modest systems because of the startling degree of improvement it provides. One meter pair, RCA's, $3175.

PALLAS. A new cable introduced in 2008 for even more dramatic improvement in the run from the digital transport to the dac. Better than Sogon in this role, if those of you who have heard Sogon can believe it. One meter, single run for digital IC, RCA's, $2137.50.

SOOTTO. 99.99% pure silver in 110 strands. Big, bold, clear, and still beautiful. Arguably the most 'real' sounding AN cable. Head to head with Sogon, it sounds less refined and less sweet because it is holding absolutely nothing back. Not at all clinical, just stunningly present. Scarey good stuff. Even a one-meter pair near the head end of a system can be an existential joy. In my current reference system, I run from Pallas to Sootto to Sogon. One meter pair, RCA's, $7050.

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 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.

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.

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.

New review of Duets on Positive-Feedback

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.

I do not consider them redundant. I find the Trente a recognizable sibling of the Twin and Offrande, which is to say possessed of a beguilingly natural warmth, its center in the lower midrange. Robust, spirited, and immediate when called upon to be, mellow and comfortable when not, with a tendency to blend instrumental textures rather than separate them. The Cantabile Signature is a notably more open sounding speaker: more articulate and informative from top to bottom than the Trente, with a less obviously warm presentation centered farther up toward the center of the midrange. It is less weighty sounding than the Trente, primarily because of greater clarity in the bass (the Cantabiles actually go down to 40 hz, which is 5 Hz lower than the Trentes). Audio Note speakers have this same characteristic. A solo cello is exciting as well as sonorous.

I was sorry to see the Trentes go, but as must be evident, I have come to prefer these new Cantabiles. (I’m told they are a considerable improvement over the earlier Cantabile: hence, the Signature designation.) They are telling me more of what I want to hear from musicians; but, in the JMR tradition, they are not in the least analytic. Like all artists who truly understand tradition, Reynaud knows that even his own cannot simply pass from one generation of speakers to the next: it must be recreated through continuing creative effort that is closely tied to first-hand experience of live music. I find the Cantabile Signatures recognizably Reynauds but captivatingly new.

They sound best, natural, and appealing on the Blue Circle SBT/SBM combination; robust, full, and smooth on an Audio Note Soro (which I have finally got to hear); refined, smooth and less rich on an Audio Note OTO integrated tube amp; firm, dynamic, and most informative and authoritative with the Blue Circle integrateds, the FtTH in particular. My first impression of the Blue Circle amps on Cantabiles was not great, but once both the amps and speakers became well broken-in, my view changed. Price: $3995.

Informative review of the Twin Signatures and Cantabile Signatures:
http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue25/reynaud_cantabile.htm

Another even more informative review of Twin Signatures just out on Six Moons: http://www.sixmoons.com/audioreviews/jmreynaud/twinsignature.html


Emeraude.   These replacements for the extremely popular Evolution 3’s may be the most overtly appealing speakers in the Reynaud line by virtue of their Spendor-like midrange. And unlike those lovable British Classics, the Emeraudes have commanding bass. So if this sounds like your game, this may be your ideal speakers.  Reynaud is using a new fabric tweeter (still top-mounted) for this model which has a neodymium magnet with a "w" shaped suspension: it is likely responsible for the wonderfully clear and smooth quality of the Emeraude's treble range.

Jean Claude Reynaud considers Emeraudes smaller Orfeos – and while they are certainly closer in personality to their big brothers than to the more immediate and direct sounding Offrande Supremes, these speakers have a distinct identity that doesn’t remind us of Orfeos at all. Like all Reynauds, they are naturally warm and clear; but their smaller scale results in a more lithe, more intimate, and less grand, presentation especially well suited to moderate sized rooms, say 12’-14’ x 16-18’ or so. Remember, their predecessors were the floor-standing version of the everybody’s mother loves them Trentes. Emeraudes sound like floor-standing versions of significantly more informative Trentes.  "Imaging is very wide open and deep. It has a sound that is both fast and warm, as we like." JCR. They are wonderfully easy to drive - 8 ohms compared with the EV 3's 4 ohms and sensibility is now up to 91 dB. They sound extremely happy on my 95 watt Blue Circle FtTH hybrid integrated. A great match. $5495.


Offrande Supremes replace the Offrande Signatures. Still 8 ohms, still with the ribbon tweeter. Price $6995 (still). But likely not much past early 2009.

 

Offrande Supreme: Phoenix Rising

Just two years after the introduction of the stunning new Offrande Signature comes another new Offrande, the sixth version of this famous, much loved stand-mount that has always been so much more than a stand-mount. Why so soon?

According to the Reynauds, while a goodly number of music lovers (and recording engineers), found the Signatures to have an ideal balance of increased resolution and traditional JMR warmth, the world of Reynaud lovers at large missed something in the new Offrandes that had drawn them to succeeding iterations of this definitive Reynaud for going on thirteen years. They heard, correctly, that unlike previous Offrandes that had been the essence of the entire JMR line, the Signatures stood somewhat apart from its siblings. Not so much as to be different in kind but clearly different in degree: they were more objective sounding through the upper midrange, making them superb recording monitors, but a tad less friendly in small domestic situations with side walls close by to reflect (and boost) the first wave of treble sound. In my large listening room in Massachusetts, with walls some six feet away (and a ceiling ten), they were excellent. In our room at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest in 2006, when people stood along the walls they were equally impressive. But when the crowd thinned, exposing the flat, hard walls, they became a bit overwhelming. As presumably they also did in small rooms in Paris and Lyon as well. Clear and accurate but less "Reynaud-like," as Jean Claude concedes.

And so, Jean Marie returned to the drawing board (and listening lab) and has emerged with a reinvented Offrande that retains the widely acknowledged advances of the Signature – more authoritative bass response and a miraculously clear, wide dispersion, ribbon tweeter – but with a voice and overall balance closer to what has characterized Offrandes since their arrival into the audio world. On first hearing, I would say the Supreme is a significantly improved version of the last model before the Signature, maintaining its much-loved natural warmth but adding an even more dramatic sense of presence and immediacy and the best imaging of any Reynaud ever: its ability to represent space is uncanny.

I came to like the Offrande Signatures a great deal, as my report on them here made clear; but I understand their departure. They could only achieve their musical goals in spaces most of us do not inhabit. So when I got the news of their departure, rather than feel regret, I just held my breath and waited.

 

A Perfectionist’s Duets?

Offrandes have always moved us in closer to the musicians than the JMR floorstanders, like the Orfeos and Concordes. That is what Offrandes do. They move us up so we can hear everything each instrument is saying before it blends with the others, in exchange for a bit less of the hall: less fullness, less reverb. The Orfeos and Concordes are speakers that capture the sound we hear just after instruments begin to blend, where the treble just begins to taper off and where the overall sound is fuller, richer, and more reverberant. Not quite "mid-hall" – fresher sounding than that – but getting there.

Jean Marie’s favorite perspective has always been closer in, which is where his favorite speakers take us. The Offrande Signatures, to some ears, took us all the way in, closer than most were ready to go. You could say that in that sense, for many listeners, they overshot the mark, as many recording engineers do these days! The new Duets, his other favorites, take us in but not quite so close. Those with foresight might have seen in the Duets where new Offrandes would eventually go.

Some will doubtless characterize the new Offrande Supremes as a perfectionist’s Duets, which is actually a way of reminding us how good the Duets are. The new Offrandes provide a dramatically enhanced version of the Duets’ clear, naturally warm and immediate presentation. With the Offrandes we get scads more timbral detail, a still clearer and more liquid presentation, and immediacy to die for: they are full of the presence of musicians making music. We get more of everything the Duets have. The Supremes are less absolutely transparent than the Signatures were, less absolutely objective sounding monitors of recordings; but they are more transparent than the pre-Sig Offrandes. To my ears, they are closer to what a ‘live’ musical performance actually sounds like, thanks, I’m sure, in significant part to the ribbon tweeter. Where the new Offrandes are conspicuously better than previous Offrandes is in their imaging and in their stunningly engaging and descriptive midrange. What they can so with solo violins, cellos, and woodwinds – not to mention human voices – is quite literally enchanting.

Having lived with these speakers for quite a while now, it is clear to me that the Offrande Signatures were a departure from the direct development of the Offrande tradition and that we are now back on the main track. If I were a recording engineer, I might mourn the passing of the Offrande Signature. As a music lover who must persuade other music lovers with living rooms rather than studios, I welcome the Supremes.

Looks: As you can see from the image, we have returned to the traditional Offrande shape, perhaps to signal the return to a more traditional sounding JMR speaker. I recommend them in the new light cherry stain. Lovely creatures.

Amplifiers: The new Offies are 91 dB, a dB more sensitive than the Sigs. You will get a good deal of what they are capable of with a good hybrid integrated like the 95-watt Blue Circle FtTH, a good deal more with something on the order of my BC3000II/GZpz and BC204. The FtTH is a tad smoother, mainly because it’s not getting as much information through. The 3000/204 is more dramatic, authoritative on the bottom, and both more present and more liquid through the midrange, which it should be for nearly four times the price! I could be happy with either amp on the Offies and am.

Room size: Offrandes have always been designed for moderate (not very small) sized rooms – 12’-14' to 18’-24’ maybe. In this size space their overall balance should be perfect. In large rooms – 18’ x 36’ and larger – they can lean out a little, depending on ceiling height, furnishings, and the like. That is Orfeo and Concorde territory. Even the best stand-mount speakers in the world with 7.5 inch woofers can have trouble loading a very large space, though all of my comments above are based on listening in my fairly large living room (18' x 28' x 10'), so who knows?  

The Offrande Supremes are as good as the Orfeos, they simply offer a different perspective. All you have to decide is where you want to sit.


 

Orféo. Ostensibly a smaller scale Concorde Signature for rooms that can’t accommodate the Big Boy, the Orfeos are a triumph on their own musical merits. They have become my favorite Reynauds. The Orfeos are a perfect complement to the Offrande Supremes and will choose their fans accordingly. Where the Offrandes provide more immediacy and the intense excitement of an intimate perspective, the Orfeos give you a grander, fuller, and more beautiful picture. Both are great speakers. The Orfeos have a warmer overall balance and fuller, more authoritative presentation than Emeraudes, by virtue of their considerably deeper bass. Their scale is orchestral, perfect for rooms too large their little brothers, and, fed with something comparable to my 150 watt Blue Circle hybrid stereo power amp, they achieve it with great ease. What they do for the left hand of a piano is a mighty thing to behold.

Jean Claude Reynaud’s view:
The Orféo is the most versatile speaker in the range, with extraordinary energy and a strong and tight low end…The Offrande provides a lot of intimacy to the performance of music, the Orféo’s presentation is thicker (in a good way), and of course can handle more power. It is able to reproduce the energy and the fullness of a symphony orchestra with incredible ease. The total range is incredibly fluid and consistent with no distortion and a real dynamic range that gives the impression that they have no limit. Don’t misunderstand my words, it is still a JMR in terms of getting the musicality, tone, and the life… It is warm and fast, as we like… But it’s because of its range and ease it is better able to do any kind of music. The Offrandes, as all truly good bookshelf speakers, have great immediacy because of their small surface of radiation which can make them seem to disappear... A floor stander gives more body and a stronger relationship to the ground… Acoustic and vocals are really amazing on the Offrandes, while a big orchestra and rock 'n' roll sound will sound better to some on the Orfeos...
 
While you can run Orfeos are an amp as modest and versatile as the Blue Circle FtTH, it gives you much more on higher powered separates. I am currently running mine on a BC3000 II GZpz and a 150 watt BC204 hybrid stereo amp, and they are incredibly satisfying in all respects. $7995.

 

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: $12,000.

 

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: $3295. 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 $750. The BC 3 Despina is at the heart of many fine music systems. Price: $4495.

Note: The original BC3 Despina, Galatea, and BC3000 are once more available as an option – at the following prices. Prices: BC3 Despina: $4495. BC3 Galatea: $6295. BC3000: $7995.

BC3 Galatea II

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. The Galatea II is available in balanced topology for an additional $750. List price: $6295.

BC 3000 II. Tubed, single-ended. The 3000 II represents a huge sonic upgrade from the Galatea II and is probably the most sound per dollar in the preamp line. When it is coupled with the optional GZpz power supply, it gets more refined and picks up an astonishing sense of ease on large orchestral and big band music. The BC 3000 GZpz is currently the top of the BC preamp line. List price for stock 3000 II: $7995. With GzPZ power supply: $9995. The BC3000 II is also available in balanced topology for an additional $750. Pair this reference preamp with one of the new BC200 series hybrid amps.

Amplifiers

GDC. Brand new entry-level integrated solid state amp. 95 watts. Considerably clearer from top to bottom than the former CS, it changes JMR Duets into more penetrating and faster sounding speakers, at a bargin price. $1795.

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.

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 powerful (160 watts into 8 ohms, 260 into 4 ohms) all solid state integrated designed for those who need more power in a one-box amp. Warmer, fuller, and punchier than the FtTH. Informative review on SixMoons: http://www.sixmoons.com/audioreviews/bluecircle2/bluecircle.html. $5395 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. $5595.

Backbone and Grace: Listening Note on the Blue Circle FtTH Integrated Amplifer

Listening to a Blue Circle FtTH on either my Reynaud Duets or Offrand Supremes, I do not get the sense that everything is especially beautiful, refined, sexy, or radiant, but that it is naturally and forcefully present, as it should be. The music falls simply falls into the room with grace and authority. When I listen to live music, I’m not smitten with beauty or radiance, I’m smitten, when I am, by the firm, clear presence of real instruments. I am not taken, at least consciously, by aspects of sound but by music. There is nothing diverting me, positively or negatively, from the music. The instruments have their full character, nothing more. And most especially, nothing less. It is a very reassuring experience. I invariably find myself saying, "oh, of course." That is why I will always have Blue Circle electronics in my house. This is the way they present music. They remind me what instruments sound like. I admire this amplifier enormously. It is my Reality Check amp. That does not mean it is Plain Jane, clinical, dry, solid-state-like, or dull. It is