tas 158, The Absolute Sound
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IN THIS ISSUE
ISSUE 158
n
JANUARY 2006
108
COVER STORY
Krell Evolution Two Preamp and One Amplifier
Anthony H. Cordesman
listens to Krell’s statement gear—starting
at a cool $90k.
48
Rocky Mountain High (End)
Jonathan Valin
,
Chris Martens
, and
Robert Harley
report on North
America’s premier high-end audio event.
EQUIPMENT REPORTS
24
Absolute Analog
Jim Hannon
reviews two turntables—Music Hall’s MMF 2.1LE and
Thorens’ TD 190-1—and the affordable Bellari VP129 tube phono preamp.
70
Monitor Audio Silver RS8 Loudspeaker
Monitor Audio updates its Silver Series.
Chris Martens
and
Sallie Reynolds
listen to the flagship RS8, with a CM sidebar on the RS6.
75
Cyrus 8vs Integrated Amplifier, CD 8x Player,
and PSX-R Power Supply
Three new items from Cyrus deliver good things in small packages,
says
Jim Hannon
.
16
78
Vienna Acoustics Mozart Grand Loudspeaker
Sallie Reynolds
on a year-long quest for a great-sounding speaker at a
real-world price.
82
NuForce Reference 9 Monoblock Power Amplifier
A report by
Chris Martens
on what may be a new benchmark in
affordable excellence.
88
McIntosh MC275 Series IV Stereo Amplifier and
Quad II Classic Monoblock Amplifier
Vintage retro-classics from McIntosh and Quad, by
Paul Seydor
.
95
TacT Audio RCS 2.2X
Robert E. Greene
goes about getting the bass right with the TacT
corner-woofer system.
101
Focus Audio FS 78SE Loudspeaker
Neil Gader
on a classic small monitor reinvented for a 10th
anniversary.
104
2nd Rethm Loudspeaker
Mr.
Greene
again, this time on one company’s new way with a very old
driver technology.
THE CUTTING EDGE
118
Music-Minded Controllers, Part 2: Theta Casablanca III
and Six Shooter
In his quest for musical multichannel controllers,
Alan Taffel
checks out
the latest from Theta Digital.
148
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JANUARY 2006
HP’S WORKSHOP
127
Music, music, music (and a few surprises for the reviewer). Updating the
Super Disc List; Super Discs Redux, and two more surprises.
VIEWPOINTS
8
Letters
125
Manufacturer Comments
148
COLUMNS
12
From The Editor
14
Industry News
16
Future TAS
New Products on the Horizon
20
Mainstream Multichannel
KEF KHT6000 ACE 5.1-Channel Speaker System
Chris Martens
checks out a neutral multichannel music system
from England’s KEF.
TAS JOURNAL
32
Next-Generation High-Resolution Digital Formats
Two new disc formats may finally deliver high-res digital audio—and end
the CD, SACD, and DVD-Audio debate.
Robert Harley
reports.
38
The Quest for Great Sound on a $2000 Budget
One audiophile’s comparative shopping experience, by
Barry Willis
.
MUSIC
138
Recording of the Issue—Brad Mehldau:
Day Is Done
138
Jazz
Derek Bailey’s
Carpal Tunnel
, Herbie Hancock’s
Possibilities
, Marty Ehrlich’s
News on the Rail
, plus a pair of new Tommy Dorsey sets, a Dylan van der
Schyff SACD, and two new Acoustic Sounds 45rpm LPs.
148
Rock Etc.
2005’s Best Rock and Pop Box Sets, plus 16 more CDs and LPs reviewed,
including the latest from Wilco, Fiona Apple, Richard Hawley,
Franz Ferdinand, Bonnie Raitt, Wynnona, Ali Farka Toure, Tim O’Brien,
Atmosphere, and Silver Jews.
181
Classical
EMI’s big-budget
Tristan und Isolde
, Renée Fleming’s
Sacred Songs
, two
projects from Gidon Kremer, Roger Waters’
Ça Ira
SACD, and the full
scoop on four other new CDs.
192
TAS BACK PAGE
Audiophiles Anonymous, by
Wayne Garcia
.
70
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THE ABSOLUTE SOUND
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JANUARY 2006
founder; chairman, editorial advisory board
Harry Pearson
editor-in-chief Robert Harley
editor Wayne Garcia
associate editor Jonathan Valin
managing and Bob Gendron
music editor
copy editor Mark Lehman
acquisitions manager Neil Gader
and associate editor
news editor Barry Willis
equipment setup Danny Gonzalez
editorial advisory board Sallie Reynolds
advisor, cutting edge Atul Kanagat
LETTERS
Of Sound and Art
In regards to the discussion between
Robert Harley and David Chesky on the
use of iPods in October/November’s
The
Absolute Sound
, I think Mr. Chesky does
not fully do music justice when he says it
is “just the organization of sounds.”
Music is an art form that uses sound as its
conveyance; sound can almost be thought
of as music’s medium, although strictly
speaking the media are the instruments
that manipulate musical sounds.
This distinction is important because
art is about the transference of an emo-
tional experience from one human to
another, not about sound, light, color, or
any of the other ways artists convey these
emotions. Artists will use whatever is at
their disposal to convey artistic emotion.
Bach wrote for the harpsichord before the
piano had been invented. We can only
guess that he would have chosen the
more modern, more dynamic instrument
if he’d had the option. Yet the emotional
experience of his music can be conveyed
on either instrument.
Artists are constantly testing new
ways of conveying artistic emotion, but
the artistic drive will find a way to be
expressed with whatever is at hand.
Similarly, the hunger of an observer to
partake in the artistic experience is just
as creative and resilient. Millions of peo-
ple have enjoyed the art of Van Gogh
without having ever seen a real Van
Gogh painting. I mention Van Gogh
specifically because he used textural
aspects of paint to convey his artistic
emotions; however, viewers who have
only viewed prints of Van Gogh’s work,
without having ever gotten the full ben-
efit of seeing first-hand Van Gogh’s
heavy brush strokes, are still able to
appreciate Vincent’s work.
Millions of people enjoy classical
music without ever having heard a live
performance of that music. Granted, the
recordings of this music are a pale repre-
sentation of the real thing, and yet some-
how artists have managed to connect to
listeners without the full, live experi-
ence. This is because of the wonderful
magic of art, which transcends its medi-
um, much as the soul of a person is said
to transcend that person’s flesh.
I have been to more live classical
performances than I can count. Yet none
of them has compared in the intensity of
experience to the first time I listened to
the
Firebird
Suite on a $100 Sears
Silvertone portable stereo my father
bought for me in 1963. In that particu-
lar moment I was a very hungry listener,
and my hunger for the artistic experi-
ence made the limitations of the techni-
cal conveyance seem insignificant.
In my mind, art is a unique aspect of
the human experience. Artists will find
whatever they can to share art: stones to
bang together, sticks to write on walls,
the voice to tell stories if no system of
writing is available. The drive to convey
artistic emotions and the hunger to
receive those emotions will not be
diminished by a new invention to store
music, even if that invention somewhat
diminishes the dynamics of expression.
senior writers
John W. Cooledge, Anthony H. Cordesman,
Gary Giddins, Robert E. Greene, Fred Kaplan,
Greg Kot, Andrew Quint, Paul Seydor
reviewers and contributing writers
Soren Baker, Greg Cahill, Dan Davis, Andy Downing,
Stephan Harrell, John Higgins,
Sue Kraft, Mark Lehman, Ted Libbey,
Derk Richardson, Dan Schwartz,
Aaron M. Shatzman, Alan Taffel,
Arnie Williams
design/production Design Farm, Inc.
publisher/editor, AVGuide Chris Martens
web producer Jerry Sommers
Absolute Multimedia, Inc.
chairman and ceo Thomas B. Martin, Jr.
vice president/publisher Mark Fisher
advertising reps Cheryl Smith
(512) 891-7775
Marvin Lewis,
MTM Sales
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Upcoming in TAS
2005 Golden Ear Awards
Audio Research Reference 3 preamplifier
An interview with conductor Benjamin Zander
Kuzma Stogi/Stabi arm and ’table
BAT VK-600SE
Dynaudio Focus 220 speaker
© 2005 Absolute Multimedia, Inc., Issue 158, January 2006.
The Absolute Sound
(ISSN #0097-1138) is published ten times per year,
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8
THE ABSOLUTE SOUND
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LETTERS
What will diminish artistic expression
much more is a closed mind that does
not hunger for art in whatever form it is
being offered.
JV replies:
The idea that the iPod is killing
classical music—essentially by helping
to make MP3 sound the
de facto
norm
and turning listening into something
you do while you’re doing something
else—was voiced by David Chesky in a
letter in Issue 156. Though I don’t think
you can blame the Pod People for the
death of classical music, as David does, I
do agree with him that listening to clas-
sical music should ideally be a “destina-
tion activity” rather than a peripheral
one. This isn’t to say that I don’t enjoy
hearing Beethoven or Bartók through a
car radio or in a coffee shop or—away
from home—on an iPod, or that I don’t
take a sip of wine or booze now and then
while I’m listening to my home stereo.
What it does mean is that, at its best,
great music commands our full attention
and should be given it.
Killer Pods?
I read with great surprise Jonathan
Valin’s editorial asserting that some
claim the iPod is killing classical music.
Not only had I not heard that before, but
of all the possible forms of music pirated
on the Web classical appears to be the
most immune. I think it is a bit like why
there are no Apple viruses: What is the
glory in infecting 2% of the computer
population? As Valin says, only a small
fraction of the population listens to clas-
sical and (perhaps a yet smaller sub-
group) really enjoys it.
But there is something fundamen-
tally ironic about classical music: Why
does anybody care to record anything
that has already been recorded to perfec-
tion? That is like a Stones tribute band
trying to outdo the Stones. This is not to
say that classical music should be record-
ed less frequently. There are many non-
mainstream compositions that have
never had their due, and sometimes
extraordinary new recordings pop up.
There are also new compositions. But
another Beethoven Ninth? Yet when I
look at reviews in music and hi-fi maga-
zines, that is all I see.
What also surprises me is how
many great past performers’ works are
not available. Listening to the end-
credits soundtrack of Claude Chabrol’s
Que La Bête Meure
, I recently discovered
the English lyric soprano Kathleen
Ferrier. I was able to find the particular
song from the movie only on a 1960s
Ace of Clubs record-club issue on the
British eBay! Yet she was a phenome-
non in her day and she sounds it. It
should cost EMI pennies to make that
available for download, yet I can count
the available classical downloads on the
fingers of two hands.
The iPod (and its brethren) is a god-
send for the classical music lover. You
can listen to the entire
Ring
cycle with-
out getting off your chair (you may, of
course, perish from hunger).
Ali Elam
Warped
One reader’s correspondence about the
SME 30/2 prompts a thought about
turntables. The warps on a few, very few
in fact, of my LPs can actually be heard,
and the effects coordinated visually with
the tonearm bobbing up and down dur-
ing playback.
Although this is a rare occurrence, I
opted to purchase an Outsider Record
Weight from Sound Engineering (others
are available from VPI and Clearaudio).
The audible warp-wow is cured when
clamping the offending LP’s periphery,
and now I am looking into the audibili-
ty of other supposed benefits: damping,
flywheel effect, etc.
I wonder why this beneficial tool is
not more popular? It is more effective
than center clamps, which do not flatten
warped LPs, and whose audible benefits
are probably marginal.
Carlos E Bauza
Defining The Word “Supervisor”
I felt obligated to comment on a couple
of things in the recent issue:
Michael Fremer using his credential
as a “supervisor” of the
Tron
soundtrack
to add credibility to his name in his
argument with Jonathan Valin. Having
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THE ABSOLUTE SOUND
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JANUARY 2006
David Del Bourgo
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