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NOVEMBER 2009
October has really flown by. I spent the two weeks after I got back from
Rocky Mountain Audio Fest writing an article about RMAF, finishing a
review of the Grant Fidelity MBS-1 speakers, and doing a short Writer’s
Choice article. These last two articles will be on Positive Feedback Online
in November. I then spent last week taking care of my wife, who was
home sick with some sort of crud. Now, suddenly, it’s already the end of
the month.
Still, a few things went on this month that I thought were worth
mentioning here.
RMAF
I had an enjoyable time at RMAF. The show was smaller this year, but still
too large to cover in only two and one-half days. As I had no actual
assignment from PFO, I visited those rooms that had equipment that
interested me. My report can be read here.
I also came back from RMAF with some interesting equipment, toys, and
music.
I brought back a Hegel H100 integrated amp and CDP2A CD player for
review. Hegel, which is made in Norway, has new US distribution and is
very nice looking equipment. I have been running these components in
my living room system and they sound very good. I will do some serious
listening in my main room in the very near future. A review will follow.
I also took advantage of some very good show specials while I was at
RMAF.
I purchased a PS Audio Soloist; I have wanted to try one of these for
quite a while. I got the model with the Power Port Premier duplex outlet.
This lists for $249 but was half price as it was a demo unit. I have it
installed and my Rogue amp is plugged into it. I think the Soloist makes
a definite improvement. I want to run it for a while and then do some A/B
comparisons between it and an identical circuit with a standard outlet. I
hope to be able to report more exactly as to what the Soloist is doing.
There was also a very good deal on Shunyata Diamondback Platinum AC
cords from Colorado dealer The Audio Alternative. These list for $250 but
were on sale for $110. I got two. They are in use on the Hegel
equipment at the moment. I realized that for reviewing, I really had to
have some good quality AC cords available if there is to be any chance of
actually hearing what a component sounds like. I think these will do the
job.
I also purchased a number of CDs and SACDs that I expect to both enjoy
and use for reviewing.
So I shot most of the profits I made from selling the Nakamichi Dragon
but got some fun stuff in return.
THE SONY SCD-XA5400ES FINALLY ARRIVES
My Sony SCD-XA5400ES SACD player finally arrived on October 7th. I
had ordered it on the 18th of June and paid $1,100. The company I
ordered from blamed Sony for the delay. They said that these players
were in short supply and Sony was hoarding them for their own boutique
stores and not getting them out to their dealers.
Whatever the situation, I finally have the player, it sounds wonderful, and
I got what I hope proves to be a good deal on it. I plan to do a review of
it for PFO as soon as I can.
MY LISTENING ROOM WALL IS FINALLY FINISHED
I finally have finished my listening room wall renovation begun last April. I
completed the interior finish using cardboard tiles from a company called
MIO. I used their "ripple" pattern. www.mioculture.com
These tiles are 12 by 12 inches, are made of 100% recycled paper, have
some nice relief to them, and are about the same thickness as an egg
carton. I installed them using staples figuring that it would be easier to
remove them if I made a mistake. Now that they are painted, removing
them will probably be a mess but will still be easier than using wall paper
paste as MIO suggested doing. I like the look. Sonically, I can’t hear any
clear difference with them in place, but they should provide some diffusion
of the sound in the room and that should be a positive thing.
What is clearly detectable is that my listening room is already noticeably
warmer. The sliding glass doors were letting far more cold air in than I
realized.
Here is where I started and here is where I finished.
My thanks to Thad Aerts of the HI-Fi Reader for mentioning the MIO
products in his magazine and making me aware of them. The Hi-Fi Reader
is available by subscription. One year, five issues, is $16 in the USA,
$24 outside it, payable via Paypal. Here is Thad’s contact information:
The Hi-Fi Reader
PO Box 85783
Lincoln, NE 68501-5783
Thad6000@hotmail.com
SHELVES
I mentioned in my October article that I was installing shelves in my
listening room. That, too, is finished and here is a photo. Equipment no
longer has to sit on the floor when it’s not in use. These shelves are wire
racks, so to keep them from scratching equipment or having it fall
through the gaps, I covered each metal shelf with an inexpensive
floor mat. These were $2.98 at Lowe’s and I trimmed them down to fit
the shelves using a template made from one of the shipping boxes. So
far this setup is working extremely well.
A GOOD DEAL ON CDS
The Barnes & Noble stores around here in the St. Louis area have a
$7.99 CD section in which I have discovered some very interesting CDs.
Normally, I expect bargain CDs to be off-brands with unknown artists but
the B&N selection is composed of major labels. It appears to me that all
of these recordings are back-catalog but many of them have also been
remastered so the sound quality can be quite good.
Here are some examples of $7.99 jazz CDs that I have found:
The Intimate Ella (Verve 839 838-2). This is a reissue of the 1960
album, “Ella Fitzgerald sings songs from the soundtrack of ‘Let no man
write my epitaph.’” Ella is accompanied only by solo piano and the sound
quality is very good. This is one of the best Ella CDs that I have heard.
Our Love is Here to Stay, Ella and Louis sing Gershwin (Verve 314 539
679-2), is drawn from a number of sources with an interesting
assortment of supporting musicians. A nice compilation with good sound
quality.
Prestige Profiles John Coltrane (Prestige PRCD-5809-2) is mostly mono
tracks but has excellent sound quality. The soundstage fills the area
between my speakers and whether it is mono or stereo is of no
consequence, considering its musical quality.
Wes Montgomery’s Finest Hour (Verve 069 490 668-2) provides one of
the largest soundstages that I have heard in my room. Totally great
playing.
On the classical music side, B&N is carrying a couple of different reissue
catalogs.
From Royal Philharmonic Masterworks (RPM) comes their “Audiophile
Collection” and the two performances that I have heard definitely are.
Rimsky-Korsakov, Scheherazade, Capriccio Espagnol, Barry Wordsworth
conducting (RPM 28030)
Elgar, Cello Concerto, Nursery Suite, and Chanson de Matin, Yehudi
Menuhin conducting (RPM 28680)
From BMG comes the High Performance label of Audiophile Recordings.
Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra, Kodaly: “Peacock Variations,” Leinsdorf,
Boston Symphony, (BMG 09026-63309-2
The Fantastic Philadelphians, Ormandy, Philadelphia Orchestra, numerous
composers and selections (BMG 09026-63313-2)
I am sure I have other $7.99 CDs in addition to these but I just can’t find
them at the moment.
Anyway, the point I wanted to make is that for $7.99 ($7.29 as a B&N
member), these CDs are well worth checking out. There are rock, pop,
and other genres of CDs as well.
While discussing CDs, I want to mention two recordings that I highly
recommend.
The first of these is Joshua Bell’s new CD, At Home with Friends (Sony
Classical 88697 58979 2). This is a very eclectic selection of music that is
extremely well recorded. Friends as diverse as Sting, Edgar Meyer, and
Kristen Chenoweth sing and play equally diverse types of music.
Whatever the music, Joshua’s playing is exquisite. For sheer beauty of
intonation, he is remarkable.
A CD that got a lot of use at RMAF was Nils Lofgren’s Acoustic Live and,
in particular, the song “Keith Don’t Go” (Vision Music VMCD 1005). I
purchased a copy of this CD when I got back home. While we are all
chauvinistic about our own music systems, I played this back on mine
with the new Sony 5400, the PS Audio Soloist in place, and my wall
finished and I thought it sounded as good or better than anything I
heard at RMAF. Really. The soundstaging was fantastic, there were
superb dynamics, the sound was fast and detailed and yet Nils' voice was
easily intelligible. It is truly a fantastic demonstration track. If you have
not heard it, you are in for a real treat. The rest of the CD is excellent as
well.
That pretty much covers things for this month. I need to get some
reviews done between now and Thanksgiving. In addition to the Hegel
equipment, I also have a Jungson integrated amp and some Grant Fidelity
LS3/5A speakers. These should prove interesting to hear as well. And,
with my wall finally finished, I now have a quieter and warmer room in
which to get that done. Such luxury!
Have a nice Thanksgiving.
Kent Johnson
October 29, 2009
October has really flown by. I spent the two weeks after I got back from
Rocky Mountain Audio Fest writing an article about RMAF, finishing a
review of the Grant Fidelity MBS-1 speakers, and doing a short Writer’s
Choice article. These last two articles will be on Positive Feedback Online
in November. I then spent last week taking care of my wife, who was
home sick with some sort of crud. Now, suddenly, it’s already the end of
the month.
Still, a few things went on this month that I thought were worth
mentioning here.
RMAF
I had an enjoyable time at RMAF. The show was smaller this year, but still
too large to cover in only two and one-half days. As I had no actual
assignment from PFO, I visited those rooms that had equipment that
interested me. My report can be read here.
I also came back from RMAF with some interesting equipment, toys, and
music.
I brought back a Hegel H100 integrated amp and CDP2A CD player for
review. Hegel, which is made in Norway, has new US distribution and is
very nice looking equipment. I have been running these components in
my living room system and they sound very good. I will do some serious
listening in my main room in the very near future. A review will follow.
I also took advantage of some very good show specials while I was at
RMAF.
I purchased a PS Audio Soloist; I have wanted to try one of these for
quite a while. I got the model with the Power Port Premier duplex outlet.
This lists for $249 but was half price as it was a demo unit. I have it
installed and my Rogue amp is plugged into it. I think the Soloist makes
a definite improvement. I want to run it for a while and then do some A/B
comparisons between it and an identical circuit with a standard outlet. I
hope to be able to report more exactly as to what the Soloist is doing.
There was also a very good deal on Shunyata Diamondback Platinum AC
cords from Colorado dealer The Audio Alternative. These list for $250 but
were on sale for $110. I got two. They are in use on the Hegel
equipment at the moment. I realized that for reviewing, I really had to
have some good quality AC cords available if there is to be any chance of
actually hearing what a component sounds like. I think these will do the
job.
I also purchased a number of CDs and SACDs that I expect to both enjoy
and use for reviewing.
So I shot most of the profits I made from selling the Nakamichi Dragon
but got some fun stuff in return.
THE SONY SCD-XA5400ES FINALLY ARRIVES
My Sony SCD-XA5400ES SACD player finally arrived on October 7th. I
had ordered it on the 18th of June and paid $1,100. The company I
ordered from blamed Sony for the delay. They said that these players
were in short supply and Sony was hoarding them for their own boutique
stores and not getting them out to their dealers.
Whatever the situation, I finally have the player, it sounds wonderful, and
I got what I hope proves to be a good deal on it. I plan to do a review of
it for PFO as soon as I can.
MY LISTENING ROOM WALL IS FINALLY FINISHED
I finally have finished my listening room wall renovation begun last April. I
completed the interior finish using cardboard tiles from a company called
MIO. I used their "ripple" pattern. www.mioculture.com
These tiles are 12 by 12 inches, are made of 100% recycled paper, have
some nice relief to them, and are about the same thickness as an egg
carton. I installed them using staples figuring that it would be easier to
remove them if I made a mistake. Now that they are painted, removing
them will probably be a mess but will still be easier than using wall paper
paste as MIO suggested doing. I like the look. Sonically, I can’t hear any
clear difference with them in place, but they should provide some diffusion
of the sound in the room and that should be a positive thing.
What is clearly detectable is that my listening room is already noticeably
warmer. The sliding glass doors were letting far more cold air in than I
realized.
Here is where I started and here is where I finished.
My thanks to Thad Aerts of the HI-Fi Reader for mentioning the MIO
products in his magazine and making me aware of them. The Hi-Fi Reader
is available by subscription. One year, five issues, is $16 in the USA,
$24 outside it, payable via Paypal. Here is Thad’s contact information:
The Hi-Fi Reader
PO Box 85783
Lincoln, NE 68501-5783
Thad6000@hotmail.com
SHELVES
I mentioned in my October article that I was installing shelves in my
listening room. That, too, is finished and here is a photo. Equipment no
longer has to sit on the floor when it’s not in use. These shelves are wire
racks, so to keep them from scratching equipment or having it fall
through the gaps, I covered each metal shelf with an inexpensive
floor mat. These were $2.98 at Lowe’s and I trimmed them down to fit
the shelves using a template made from one of the shipping boxes. So
far this setup is working extremely well.
A GOOD DEAL ON CDS
The Barnes & Noble stores around here in the St. Louis area have a
$7.99 CD section in which I have discovered some very interesting CDs.
Normally, I expect bargain CDs to be off-brands with unknown artists but
the B&N selection is composed of major labels. It appears to me that all
of these recordings are back-catalog but many of them have also been
remastered so the sound quality can be quite good.
Here are some examples of $7.99 jazz CDs that I have found:
The Intimate Ella (Verve 839 838-2). This is a reissue of the 1960
album, “Ella Fitzgerald sings songs from the soundtrack of ‘Let no man
write my epitaph.’” Ella is accompanied only by solo piano and the sound
quality is very good. This is one of the best Ella CDs that I have heard.
Our Love is Here to Stay, Ella and Louis sing Gershwin (Verve 314 539
679-2), is drawn from a number of sources with an interesting
assortment of supporting musicians. A nice compilation with good sound
quality.
Prestige Profiles John Coltrane (Prestige PRCD-5809-2) is mostly mono
tracks but has excellent sound quality. The soundstage fills the area
between my speakers and whether it is mono or stereo is of no
consequence, considering its musical quality.
Wes Montgomery’s Finest Hour (Verve 069 490 668-2) provides one of
the largest soundstages that I have heard in my room. Totally great
playing.
On the classical music side, B&N is carrying a couple of different reissue
catalogs.
From Royal Philharmonic Masterworks (RPM) comes their “Audiophile
Collection” and the two performances that I have heard definitely are.
Rimsky-Korsakov, Scheherazade, Capriccio Espagnol, Barry Wordsworth
conducting (RPM 28030)
Elgar, Cello Concerto, Nursery Suite, and Chanson de Matin, Yehudi
Menuhin conducting (RPM 28680)
From BMG comes the High Performance label of Audiophile Recordings.
Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra, Kodaly: “Peacock Variations,” Leinsdorf,
Boston Symphony, (BMG 09026-63309-2
The Fantastic Philadelphians, Ormandy, Philadelphia Orchestra, numerous
composers and selections (BMG 09026-63313-2)
I am sure I have other $7.99 CDs in addition to these but I just can’t find
them at the moment.
Anyway, the point I wanted to make is that for $7.99 ($7.29 as a B&N
member), these CDs are well worth checking out. There are rock, pop,
and other genres of CDs as well.
While discussing CDs, I want to mention two recordings that I highly
recommend.
The first of these is Joshua Bell’s new CD, At Home with Friends (Sony
Classical 88697 58979 2). This is a very eclectic selection of music that is
extremely well recorded. Friends as diverse as Sting, Edgar Meyer, and
Kristen Chenoweth sing and play equally diverse types of music.
Whatever the music, Joshua’s playing is exquisite. For sheer beauty of
intonation, he is remarkable.
A CD that got a lot of use at RMAF was Nils Lofgren’s Acoustic Live and,
in particular, the song “Keith Don’t Go” (Vision Music VMCD 1005). I
purchased a copy of this CD when I got back home. While we are all
chauvinistic about our own music systems, I played this back on mine
with the new Sony 5400, the PS Audio Soloist in place, and my wall
finished and I thought it sounded as good or better than anything I
heard at RMAF. Really. The soundstaging was fantastic, there were
superb dynamics, the sound was fast and detailed and yet Nils' voice was
easily intelligible. It is truly a fantastic demonstration track. If you have
not heard it, you are in for a real treat. The rest of the CD is excellent as
well.
That pretty much covers things for this month. I need to get some
reviews done between now and Thanksgiving. In addition to the Hegel
equipment, I also have a Jungson integrated amp and some Grant Fidelity
LS3/5A speakers. These should prove interesting to hear as well. And,
with my wall finally finished, I now have a quieter and warmer room in
which to get that done. Such luxury!
Have a nice Thanksgiving.
Kent Johnson
October 29, 2009