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I recently read your two reviews on the Grand Veena and the Tanto loudspeakers. I'm searching for that last elusive and most difficult part of my system, the loudspeaker. It's difficult these days to audition everything one is interested in so one must, to a certain degree, rely on reviewers. I find myself agreeing with much you say about what's important in a speaker and music reproduction. Not limiting yourself to the speakers mentioned above what would you suggest, from what you have heard, for someone with an 18' by 16' room. I have 60 "tube" watts a side to power the speakers (Thor Crescendo monoblocks which use 4 EL34 tubes per amplifier). I have had Audio Note speakers in the past and currently enjoy restored Quad ESL 57s. I just realize as good as the Quads are, I am missing dynamics, image height (even though mine are raised off the ground), extended high frequencies and the ability to play loudly without fear. I do love that they reproduce what I consider to be real imaging, not pinpoint razor sharp images, so I don't need that kind of pin point imaging in my next speaker. I would, however, like to retain the realistic image size that Quads reproduce, the realistic size of a bass drum or tom tom that is whacked by the musician, where you get that illusion of the vibrating skin of the drum. The instruments, even the triangles, have weight behind them. Can I get this with a Grand Veena or some other dynamic speaker or, do you recommend another electrostatic? Lawrence Weinstein
Hi Lawrence, I think the Grand Veena may well be a good fit - it should be a friendly load for your tubes and certainly has the upper frequency extension you are looking for. But you may need a bigger room to optimize the imaging, and I would recommend you also take a look at the slightly smaller Episode speaker ($5500) that Reference 3A introduced at CES 2008. It should bring the same kind of sound quality to a smaller space. I've heard it and it sounds very good. I can think of nothing that I would prefer in this price range. Enjoy the Music, Phil
I bought a Hyperion 938 speakers based only on reviews, because I live in Croatia and there is no dealer nearby, and I didn't make a mistake, I love them. Now, I would like to run them with some single ended amp, and I know that 300B vacuum tube is too modest in power, (and I love the way the 300B sounds) so, could you please write something about sonic difference between 211 and 845 tubes? I know that you like Consonance Cyber 211 monoblocks and I'd like to consider them, but, again, there is no dealer anywhere nearby. So please if you can help me, I have been reading you for a long time and I have full confidence in your judgment. Thank you in advance, Kresimir Mikic
Kresimir, Congratulations on your new joy in music with the Hyperion loudspeakers! Alas, it is impossible to say one type of tube sounds one way while another sounds different, as the design of the electronic amplifier that the tubes goes in to makes a very large difference. With that said, the reason I love the 211 over the 845 is that the 211 sounds more natural to my ears. The 854 is like a KT88 whereas the 211 (GE VT4C version) is more like a modern 300B yet with more power begin it. Of course these descriptions are very generalized and probably not 100% pure in truth as things can vary from one amplifier to another. If I was you, I would seek out the Consonance 211 tube amplifier and buy some GT VT4C/211 output tubes. This is a matching I do know about, and it sounds wonderful! Enjoy the Music, Steven R. Rochlin
Cheers, Sean
Sean, The Aliante needs a bit more power and I suggest at least 40 watts to begin 'driving' them... with 75 being really good UNLESS you have a super high current solid-state amplification or 211/845 tubed unit. The 3a is fine with 25 watts... unless you want super ear-splitting loud volume levels. Both are smooth and very harmonically correct. The Aliante throws a slightly more precise soundstage as I recall, but more tweaking/setup could have made them both equal. The Aliante was a bit more 'clean sounding' so perhaps this is more a personal preference or a cable choice. It is not that the 3a is 'dirty,' it is perhaps a small tilt in the midrange of the Aliante as compared to the 3a. Guess what I getting at is that as I recall, as the Aliantes are no longer here while the 3a speakers are, is that the Aliante may have a bit more dynamic jump and needs the power backing it up to do it, but lacks a bit of the microdynamics the 3a excels in. Midrange and bass are about equal give or take so am hard-pressed to state a winner, more than say it is up to personal preference and probably system/cable and system synergy that could make one 'better' than the other. If you have a chance, try them both! Either speaker is really darn good. Enjoy the Music, Steven R. Rochlin
Sanjay Sahani
It seems my particular concern of wanting to discern between a "heavy" but good sub which was rated as fast and musical such as the Velodyne HGS and the Von Swchwiekert got a little misunderstood or lost. For instance, I thought the Velodyne did not integrate whereas others thought it did. I had to establish that as a reference point to understand where this one stood and having "nothing to add" did not delineate my concerns in regard to the need for a relative comparison which I could have interpolated for my own taste. I just talked to a guy who sold two Von S. subs and he wasn't able to get it to integrate. Maybe I will get it anyway. No loss if at a good price. Peter
Peter, I understood your question perfectly clearly. The problem was that you were asking a question that I could not answer to your satisfaction. Why? Well, to start with, I've never reviewed a Velodyne sub. I did try what was likely a first-generation Velodyne briefly, some 15 years ago before I started reviewing, and didn't care for it. But it would be irresponsible for me to trot out that dimly remembered incident years later, when I presume the company has improved their products--even if you still don't like them. My review of the VSA S/1, I say again, did address the qualities you say you want. But that review was done in the context of a different listening environment and different system, and it was three years ago! What new information could you reasonably expect me to add at this point? I get correspondence from time to time where the gist seems to be something like: "I read your review. Now what do you really think? Honest, folks, the review is my best effort to characterize the product under review as helpfully as possible. I ain't holding back any juicy insights for the chosen few. The fact is that any audio review is a snapshot of a given individual's reaction to a unique set of circumstances that will almost certainly be quite different from the reader's situation. On top of that, reviewers vary widely in listening ability and the ability to clearly express their judgments. I pity the audiophile who makes purchase decisions based solely on reviews. My advice -- hardly new -- is to use reviews to select possible choices, but let your own ears make the decision. Well, enough venting. And again, good luck in your quest. Wayne Donnelly
A simple question about de Linn Classic Musik. Do you think the unit have power to drive Magneplanar Mg12 ? Somebody told me the Magneplanar need a very good amplifier. I really like the sound of the Linn Classic Musik and the sound of the Mg12 is very addictive. But i don't know the sound of the Linn with the Mg12. Thanks, Simon Beaudoin
Simon, Thanks for your e-mail and have reviewed the Maggie 3.6, which needed quite a bit of power from large Bryston monoblocks. Looking at the specs of the Maggie 12QR they are 4 Ohms and 86dB/W/m. Judging only from my experience of systems with specs near those, I would thing you would need more power to reach good listening levels and still have plenty of headroom. Perhaps a 100 watt amplifier with very good current capability, with 200 watts being a bit better. While I realize that the technical difference between 100 and 200 watts is very little on a electro-acoustic scale, the real matter is you want something that can deliver high current. Think of wattage as horsepower and current and torque. Torque wins races due to the ability to 'push' things hard/heavy. And another car analogy would be that in racing horsepower is how fast you hit a wall, torque is how far you can take the wall with you! With apologies, saw a high torque car hit the wall at the track this weekend, his enormous torque meant he not only hit the wall, he took down two more barriers after it (the driver is fine and was laughing about how good his car took down the walls... three deep!). So no, I have a feeling the Linn Classik will come up a bit short on paper. Of course there are always exceptions to the rule so perhaps if you can try them before you buy, then you can know for sure either way. Another option is to use the Classik's power for the upper panbels and use the preamplifier output to feed another amplifier to drive the woofer panel. Of course in the end what really matters is that you... Enjoy the Music, Steven R. Rochlin
How are you? First of all great website. I have thoroughly enjoyed it. What a great hobby. I am a friend of Tom Maker of Edge Electronics. I was asking Tom if he had heard the AvantGardes and how you had written a lot of nice words regarding them. He gave me your email address and thought maybe to email you to some follow up thoughts regarding the Duo's. I enjoy my Edge amp but also have a pair of 300B monoblocks in which I have tried different high efficient speakers. I have had different Klipsch, Coincident and Infinity PRF Prelude speakers and there was something missing, yet there were some things they all did well. I do like the efficiency and dynamics of a horn. From different articles and reviews I have read the AvantGardes look great to me, yet we have no dealers around to demo. I am looking for a used pair of Duo's, which would be the max I can swing financially for a pair of speakers. Are you still using the Duo's in you system and would you have any suggestions to offer regarding them? Any thoughts would be really appreciated. Thank you for your time, thoughts and the great website. Take care, Alan Winslow
Alan, The Duos are really the way to go and, alas, my pair of Duos no longer reside here. Like fast cars, even the 'great Ferrari' my friend know i track and drive finds new homes as other choices are made. The Duos are amazing speakers and wish i had kept them, yet as i have over 10+ pairs of speakers there are times to make hard decision. It is not that i found something 'better,' it is simply a change for something different. To paraphrase your e-mail, there is always a search for something... different. If you love SE and horns, i feel everyone should consider the Duos as they are in the very top classification of horn loudspeakers. Of course in the end what really matters is that you... Enjoy the Music, Steven R. Rochlin
Awesome site! Al
Thank you for the email on the new reviews for the October 2007 issue of Enjoy the Music.com. No other audio magazine I read updates me the way yours does, very nice service! BTW, I greatly enjoyed your review of the Van den Hul Frog in last month's Superior Audio. I have to say that one of the most magical vinyl moments I've had in the past included a cartridge from him, the Colibri. We don't see much discussion on his cartridges in the US anymore, and it was nice to be reminded of how great his designs can be. His many and varied audio interests (e.g. audio wires, etc.) remind me of a recent analog experience (no pun intended) l would like to pass on to you: I am sure that you get many recommendations from readers raving about some new product or thing; and that this must be very tedious. So I apologize if this adds to your list, I don't normally write these kinds of things. You may or may not pay much attention to the many audio cables out there, personally I have never had much of the patience nor long term interest required. In spite of this, I have heard a number of the various designs out there, largely due to audiophile friends bringing their new "purchase" over to try them out on my system or to hear them in their own. I could always hear differences, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worst, but often just different. These experiences for the most part revealed to me that wire was indeed important, but difficult to predict and challenging to resolve. On this point, and most significantly, I recently had the chance to hear a pair of the new speaker wires from (believe it or not) the turntable company Basis Audio. Let me just say, that I was not only pleasantly surprised to hear that they were good, but genuinely shocked to hear how good they were. I'll say it plainly, they were by a large margin better in every parameter than any other speaker cable I have ever heard before, regardless of price. I don't know if this holds any interest for you or not, but the sonic improvement from a simple piece of wire was so far greater than any other wire that has come thru these doors that I felt it worth mentioning. At the end of the day, everyone's tastes, systems and so forth are different... and if I have learned anything in audio over the years its that one has to hear it for oneself. I would never have guessed that something so impressive in wire would have come from a turntable manufacturer, but truth is stranger than fiction. Van den Hul, the cartridge designer as mentioned above, also ventured into making wire and good wire at that. Maybe analog guys know something the others don't? I suggest it to you merely because you seem more open minded than most, and you actually "enjoy" listening to music and not equipment. These wires allowed the most natural and musical result in my system that I have ever heard; something to consider. Sincerely, David Vair
David, Thanks for your wonderful letter. VDH makes some very magical cartridges and The Frog is a great relatively entry-level for him. Fully agree, there are some very magical moments when listening to music with it. As for cables, I keep an open mind yet have so many here that I prefer to not add to the huge snake pit already piled in my home. Will keep an eye out for them at shows, and perhaps inquire accordingly. Thanks again and as always, in the end what really matters is that you... Enjoy the Music, Steven R. Rochlin
I have Merlins that are single-wired with jumper's
(recommended Howard
Hi Howard, As far as I know, Jack Bybee answers all e-mail inquiries. But since you ask -- I'd say a single set would suffice. In effect your jumpers accomplish the same function as any internally single-wired speaker. Best wishes, Wayne Donnelly
Great article on EMM Labs CDSA SE player. I really appreciated the later part of the article which provides contrasting information on EMM compared to Meridian G08 and 808 and different formats. Where is the innovation from other manufactures of CD Players? Except for Esoteric new VRDS-NEO advanced transport used in the upper end single-box player X-03SE I have not read about a lot of innovate designs for CD/SACD playback. Is the Phillips drive unit custom made for EMM labs? And what are the sonic differences when you switch from high to low level analog output? Pierre France
Hi Pierre, I’m glad to know you enjoyed the review. I understand the Philips drive unit is a standard Philips part, used also by a number of other manufacturers. I did not try the high level output which would have overloaded my preamplifier (7.2Vrms balanced – my preamp is good for 5.5Vrms). Enjoy the music, Phil
If No, then which other Pre-amps you've heard recently (solid state, tube or hybrid), would you consider as being sonically superior, especially in dynamics and transparency. Thanks for info you can provide. Regards,
Hi Steve, This kind of question is always a bit tricky, as it's now been two years since i heard the Wavac PR-T1. Since then I have moved to a new city with a vastly different--better--listening environment, and most of my equipment has changed as well. But the Wavac was a truly spectacular-sounding line stage, wit a sonic palpability that I had not at that time ever experienced--especially with the tube upgrades described in my review. In the past year I have heard and reviewed some very good preamplifiers costing far less than the Wavac. The transformer-coupled Antique Sound Lab Flora actually reminded me of the PR-T1 in its performers-in-the-room qualities, again with upgraded tubes. Perhaps the coupling cap upgrade that I mentioned but did not have a chance to audition would take it even further in that direction. The Ray Samuels Emmeline B-52 reviewed in October, like the Wavac a bare-bones purist design, is a champ dynamically, and a special bargain if you're also interested in headphone listening. I am planning a full review of the Series II upgrade to the VTL TL 7.5, my all-time favorite preamp for user interface convenience & ergonomics. Without blowing my entire review, I'll say that the upgrade is sonically quite significant, adding color and liveliness, and has put that unit back on the very top shelf, where the Wavac also belongs. Their presentations do differ, and I think you would need to compare them directly to decide which sound you prefer. I wish you good hunting! Wayne Donnelly
I have red your review in Enjoy the Music.com of Meridian G08. I am about to purchase new stereo: Electrocompaniet AW250 Poeramp, 4.8 Preamp, Dynaudio Contour 3.4 speakers, but am debating a CD. I have two questions if you don't mind: 1. How G08 and Electrocompaniet EMC-1 compare (or do you know anything of a new ECC-1) and 2. Is it worth spending extra 1,000 for SACD EMP-1? Thanks for your thoughts and regards, Zeljan Pavicevic
Hi Zeljan, I like to keep my recommendations for equipment I have listened to extensively, so I’m not going to comment on the Electrocompaniet. I will say the G08 is excellent, and if your budget runs to it, the EAR Acute player works extremely well when connected directly to a power amp. If the budget is bigger still, the EMM Labs CDSA SE is superb. Enjoy The Music, Phil
I read your review on the Ultimate Ears UE-10 Pros and I am curious to how they sound in a live music/performance. I am a worship pastor at a church in North Carolina. I play keyboard and sing as well. We have very loud and contemporary music – electric guitars, bass, drums, multiple keys (piano, organs, synth, strings and horns), background vocals, etc…. How do these perform and sound in that setting? What do the UE Pro 7s sound like in comparison for the price difference? Thanks so much for the great review...it has helped. Now I just need to know if it will be the right in-ears for my setting. Kelly Allsopp
Hi Kelley, I wish I could help you here, but I don’t have experience under live music conditions. What I can say is that they are very easy to insert and remove and provide good isolation. These are important factors for any usage. I use them on a daily basis. I haven’t tried the UE-7 Pro. There is now a UE-11Pro at $1150 which might be better suited to your application. Enjoy The Music, Phil
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