JUNE 2009
We just got back from a short trip up to Chicago to celebrate my younger
daughter’s 21st birthday.
Using the knowledge of the CTA system that I gained last spring, I took the EL out
to Music Direct while I was there. I had found some really good deals on close-out
CDs and SACDs last year and hoped I would do as well again this trip.
Actually, I did better. I picked up eight CDs including Holly Cole’s Girl Talk and
Baby It’s Cold Outside, her Christmas album, as well as Viktoria Mullova playing the
Beethoven and Mendelssohn Violin Concertos. I also got an opened SACD of
Stravinsky’s “Petrouchka” and “Fire Bird Suite” by Mackerras and the London
Symphony. All of these recordings were on sale and averaged about $4 each.
The only regularly priced recording I bought was Vivaldi’s La Stravaganza featuring
Rachel Podger and the Arte Dei Suonatori Baroque Orchestra on two SACDs.
I had heard part of this recording at Audio Karma’s AKFest and decided I had to
have it.
I was there the last day of Music Direct’s May 10%-off sale so everything was an
even slightly better deal. While Music Direct is not oriented to walk-in sales, they
seem to enjoy having some actual customers in the store. Maybe it provides a
break from being on the phone all day.
On the way home from Chicago, I made my usual stop at Glen Poor Audio Video in
Champaign to look around. Jeff Poor was there and showed me a prototype
Balance Audio Technology (BAT) stereo tube amplifier that is going into production
soon.
I spent some time listening to this amp in a system with an Esoteric universal
player, BAT preamp, and Wilson Audio Watt/Puppy 8 speakers.
The sound was extremely lifelike. I listened to an older live Count Basic Orchestra
CD and was impressed with how the system, and the Watt/Puppy’s in particular,
offered drum hits with the sort of dynamics and realism that you only get live.
While doing this, they also made hearing very low level sounds extremely easy. I
heard a soft cough just to my left. It sounded so realistic that I could not resist the
impulse to look over to see where it came from even knowing that it was part of the
recording.
This is the first time that I have heard the Watt/Puppy speakers and been really,
truly impressed with them. Obviously, the new BAT amplifier is doing a lot of things
right as well.
Jeff informed me that Wilson is discontinuing the Watt/Puppy 8s, which will be
replaced with the “Sasha” speaker. The Sasha will be slightly less expensive,
around $26,000 per pair, as compared to the W/P’s $29,000.
This reduction in price won’t do me a lot of good but if you are considering the
W/P’s, Wilson is closing them out at around $22,000, according to Jeff, a good
deal if you are purchasing in that price range.
I would have liked to have gotten some photos and specs for the BAT prototype
but time was limited and it wasn’t possible to do so.
UPCOMING REVIEWS
I have a number of interesting items in the listening room and am turning my
attention to reviewing them.
I just received a Serbian-made Korato preamp and amplifier. The preamp is all
tube with a separate power supply. The amplifier is solid state but runs in Class A
for the first 40 Watts of its 180 Watt output. This should be very enjoyable
equipment to listen to as well as compare with my Dodd/Rogue reference set up.
I also have some Swedish Supra Sword interconnect and speaker cables. These
are Supra’s top-of-the-line cables.
A new Zentara AC cord has also just arrived from Canton…Michigan.
Coming soon from Grant Fidelity is a Chinese Jungson JA-88E solid-state
integrated amp ($800) and some GF MBS-1 monitor speakers. The amp and
speakers will come with speaker and power cables as well as an AC line conditioner
to comprise a $2,000 system. The amp is said to be very “tubelike” so hearing it
should be very interesting. I still have the Shengya A-216 I reviewed here for
additional comparisons.
I am also getting some TJ Full Music 12AX7 tubes for my Dodd preamplifier. These
are not inexpensive at $110 per pair but are carefully matched and graded for low
noise and microphonics. They are still less expensive than many supposedly NOS
tubes.
I am sure the Dodd will benefit from upgrading its tubes and I am looking forward to
hearing what changes the new tubes make.
With it getting hot and humid here in the St. Louis area, I am looking forward to
spending as much time as possible in my basement listening room. I have plenty to
keep me busy.
Kent Johnson
June 3, 2009
We just got back from a short trip up to Chicago to celebrate my younger
daughter’s 21st birthday.
Using the knowledge of the CTA system that I gained last spring, I took the EL out
to Music Direct while I was there. I had found some really good deals on close-out
CDs and SACDs last year and hoped I would do as well again this trip.
Actually, I did better. I picked up eight CDs including Holly Cole’s Girl Talk and
Baby It’s Cold Outside, her Christmas album, as well as Viktoria Mullova playing the
Beethoven and Mendelssohn Violin Concertos. I also got an opened SACD of
Stravinsky’s “Petrouchka” and “Fire Bird Suite” by Mackerras and the London
Symphony. All of these recordings were on sale and averaged about $4 each.
The only regularly priced recording I bought was Vivaldi’s La Stravaganza featuring
Rachel Podger and the Arte Dei Suonatori Baroque Orchestra on two SACDs.
I had heard part of this recording at Audio Karma’s AKFest and decided I had to
have it.
I was there the last day of Music Direct’s May 10%-off sale so everything was an
even slightly better deal. While Music Direct is not oriented to walk-in sales, they
seem to enjoy having some actual customers in the store. Maybe it provides a
break from being on the phone all day.
On the way home from Chicago, I made my usual stop at Glen Poor Audio Video in
Champaign to look around. Jeff Poor was there and showed me a prototype
Balance Audio Technology (BAT) stereo tube amplifier that is going into production
soon.
I spent some time listening to this amp in a system with an Esoteric universal
player, BAT preamp, and Wilson Audio Watt/Puppy 8 speakers.
The sound was extremely lifelike. I listened to an older live Count Basic Orchestra
CD and was impressed with how the system, and the Watt/Puppy’s in particular,
offered drum hits with the sort of dynamics and realism that you only get live.
While doing this, they also made hearing very low level sounds extremely easy. I
heard a soft cough just to my left. It sounded so realistic that I could not resist the
impulse to look over to see where it came from even knowing that it was part of the
recording.
This is the first time that I have heard the Watt/Puppy speakers and been really,
truly impressed with them. Obviously, the new BAT amplifier is doing a lot of things
right as well.
Jeff informed me that Wilson is discontinuing the Watt/Puppy 8s, which will be
replaced with the “Sasha” speaker. The Sasha will be slightly less expensive,
around $26,000 per pair, as compared to the W/P’s $29,000.
This reduction in price won’t do me a lot of good but if you are considering the
W/P’s, Wilson is closing them out at around $22,000, according to Jeff, a good
deal if you are purchasing in that price range.
I would have liked to have gotten some photos and specs for the BAT prototype
but time was limited and it wasn’t possible to do so.
UPCOMING REVIEWS
I have a number of interesting items in the listening room and am turning my
attention to reviewing them.
I just received a Serbian-made Korato preamp and amplifier. The preamp is all
tube with a separate power supply. The amplifier is solid state but runs in Class A
for the first 40 Watts of its 180 Watt output. This should be very enjoyable
equipment to listen to as well as compare with my Dodd/Rogue reference set up.
I also have some Swedish Supra Sword interconnect and speaker cables. These
are Supra’s top-of-the-line cables.
A new Zentara AC cord has also just arrived from Canton…Michigan.
Coming soon from Grant Fidelity is a Chinese Jungson JA-88E solid-state
integrated amp ($800) and some GF MBS-1 monitor speakers. The amp and
speakers will come with speaker and power cables as well as an AC line conditioner
to comprise a $2,000 system. The amp is said to be very “tubelike” so hearing it
should be very interesting. I still have the Shengya A-216 I reviewed here for
additional comparisons.
I am also getting some TJ Full Music 12AX7 tubes for my Dodd preamplifier. These
are not inexpensive at $110 per pair but are carefully matched and graded for low
noise and microphonics. They are still less expensive than many supposedly NOS
tubes.
I am sure the Dodd will benefit from upgrading its tubes and I am looking forward to
hearing what changes the new tubes make.
With it getting hot and humid here in the St. Louis area, I am looking forward to
spending as much time as possible in my basement listening room. I have plenty to
keep me busy.
Kent Johnson
June 3, 2009
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