tas 174, The Absolute Sound
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S T E R E O • M U L T I C H A N N E L A U D I O • M U S I C
TURNS 25
A Retrospective
2 Fabulous Speakers Under $800
•
DALI’s New Mentor
Speakers
•
Audio Research’s CD7
•
7 Disc Players
Reviewed
•
18 Pages of New Music Reviews
ArcAm’s PlAyer Does it All
ArcAm’s PlAyer Does it All
The CD
The CD
TURNS 25
September 2007
“
22
Behind the Wheel
Hi-i on wheels? Neil Gader reports
on three truly high-end systems from
the well-known audio irms of Lexus,
Mercedes-Benz, and Audi.
Arcam has carved out a niche making
high-quality players that deliver
great sound and are compatible with
multiple disc formats.
28
Six Great-SoundinG
and affordaBle
SyStemS
More music for less money! We put
together six high-end systems ranging in
price from $827 to $4968.
22
taS GoeS diGital!
84
Robert Harley brings you a comprehensive report on how the compact
disc started and how far it’s come in the last twenty-ive years.
58 the last Cd player?
Tom Martin thinks about what matters—and how much—in digital playback.
67 the
Crème de la Crème
in digital discs
Our staff picks the best-sounding CDs, SACDs, and DVD-As.
equipment
reportS
95 Van alstine transcendence 8
Dick Olsher on a new hybrid preamp
from old audio hand Frank Van Alstine.
99 dali mentor 2 and mentor 6
Robert Harley reports on two new
additions to DALI’s outstanding product
line—the stand-mounted Mentor 2 and
loor-standing Mentor 6.
70
SeVen Cd, SaCd, and uniVerSal playerS for any BudGet
70 oppo dV-981hd
Chris Martens on this extraordinary (and affordable) new universal player.
74
yamaha
dVd
-
S1700
Neil Gader on a great deal in a uni-player.
76
Cambridge audio azur 840C
Robert Harley on what might be the best value in high-end audio.
80
nad
m55
Chris Martens listens to NAD’s upscale new universal player.
106
the Cutting edge
audio research reference Cd7
JV on the irst CD player ARC has
designated a “Reference” product.
84
Cover Story: arcam dV139 and dV137
Robert Harley reports on two uni-players that handle any format with aplomb.
.
88
marantz
Sa-7S1
Robert E. Greene explores a unique SACD player that lets you have it your way.
114
hp’s Workshop
Further Thoughts, Sneak Previews, and
Capsule Reviews from HP.
September 2007
The Absolute Sound
Contents
43
CoVer Story: you’Ve Come a lonG Way, BaBy!
the CompaCt diSC turnS 25
Contents
founder; chairman,
editorial advisory board
editor-in-chief
executive editor
managing and music
editor
acquisitions manager
and associate editor
proofreader
art director
Harry Pearson
Robert Harley
Jonathan Valin
Bob Gendron
Neil Gader
14
Mark Lehman
Torquil Dewar
senior writers
John W. Cooledge, Anthony H. Cordesman,
Wayne Garcia, Robert E. Greene, Chris Martens,
Dick Olsher, Andrew Quint, Sallie Reynolds,
Paul Seydor, Alan Taffel
6
Letters
Music
19
RECORDING OF THE
ISSUE
S.S. Wesley: Organ Works.
11
From The Editor
reviewers and
contributing writers
1
Industry News
Soren Baker, Greg Cahill, Dan Davis,
Andy Downing, Jim Hannon, Jacob Heilbrunn,
Sue Kraft, Mark Lehman, Ted Libbey,
David McGee, Bill Milkowski,
Derk Richardson, Don Saltzman,
Max Shepherd
1
Future TAS
1
Rock
Reviews of new CDs and LPs
from Mary Gauthier, Kim
Richey, Jason Isbell, Nina
Nastasia, Tiny Vipers, Fionn
Regan, Bruce Springsteen, Paul
McCartney, Tomahawk, White
Stripes, Shellac, QOTSA, Wilco,
Dungen, and more. Plus, box
sets from Frankie Valli and
Genesis, and reissues from
the Pixies, Byrds, and Grateful
Dead.
17
Start Me Up
Neil Gader on two affordable
loudspeakers: the Silverline
Audio Minuet and the Mission
Elegante e80.
hp’s equipment setup
Danny Gonzalez
web producer
Ari Koinuma
absolute multimedia, inc.
chairman and ceo
vice president/publisher
advertising reps
0
Book review
Thomas B. Martin, Jr.
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118
Manufacturer’s
Comment
17
19
Classical
The scoop on Howard Hanson’s
Merry Mount
, Emerson String
Quartet’s take on Brahms,
Silvestrov’s Symphony 6,
Gruber’s
Frankenstein!!
, a
Gershwin SACD, two Decca
opera reissues, Stravinsky’s
The
Soldier’s Tale
reissue, and Cisco’s
latest Tchaikovsky audiophile LP
repressing.
18
Jazz
Coverage of hot releases from
Stefano Battaglia, Nels Cline,
Mark Soskin, and Daniel
Bernard Romain. And newly
unearthed treasures from
Charles Mingus/Eric Dolphy
and Trio of Doom, plus reissues
from Mingus, Jaco Pastorius, and
Coleman Hawkins.
168
15
Back Page
10 Questions for Lars Worre of
DALI.
2007 Absolute Multimedia, Inc., September 2007.
The Absolute Sound
(ISSN#0097-1138) is published ten times per year, $42 per year for U.S. residents.
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September 2007
The Absolute Sound
Letters
e-mail us:
rharley@absolutemultimedia.com
or write us a letter:
The Absolute Sound
,
po Box 1768,
tijeras, new mexico 87059
do hard drives
Sound Better
than Cd?
I just read “A Transparent Window on
the Source” [RH’s review of the Esoteric
P-03/D-03 in Issue 171] and found it
very interesting. I’d like to read an article
about the sonic differences when music
is recovered by reading a ile from a disk
drive instead of from a CD. I suspect this
will soon be happening.
When music is read from a disk drive
(or memory stick), I would guess that the
quality of the mechanism reading the ile
would make little or no difference, but I
may be wrong.
for example, do the Meridian 808 and
other reference-quality units compare?
Also, it would be good to know what
HP is going to be reviewing in future
issues. If some indication could be given in
advance, it would anchor his contributions
more deeply and consistently.
John Penturn
cannot be distinguished from the sound
of a CD player (or, since RH wrote the
review, cannot be distinguished from
the sound of the Esoteric player); 2) the
reason the iLink works so well is that the
signal on the iPod was produced by the
CD drive of a computer, making multiple
passes of each section of the CD until
a lawless signal is obtained.
Is the iLink/iPod equal to the Esoteric,
or any player, because of the multiple
reads from a CD drive?
John B. Arango
do hard drives
Sound Better
than Cd?
(part three)
Sometimes it’s the conjunction of reviews,
rather than an individual review, that most
attracts my interest. This happened over
the last two issues.
Two months ago, the messages, as I
understood them, were: 1) In the future,
our music will be sourced from a hard
disk; 2) the Esoteric player extracts more
information from a CD than any other
player (and became RH’s reference). This
led me to wonder whether I should buy
a better player before I start transferring
my CDs to hard disks.
Last month, the messages were: 1) The
MSB iLink, processing the signal from
a modiied iPod, produces sound that
robert harley replies:
These are all
good questions, and ones that I intend
to explore in more depth in Issue 177
with a major feature on high-end music
servers. I will also write a follow-up
report on the MSB iLink.
To address Mr. Arango’s question
directly, I did not have the Esoteric on-
hand when I reviewed the MSB iLink
(the units had to be returned, temporar-
ily); I compared the digital output of
an Arcam DV139 (reviewed this issue)
to the iLink’s digital output, with both
feeding a digital input of an Arcam AV9
controller.
With hard-disk-based music servers
looking like the future of music storage,
these questions warrant investigation
Glenn Luecke
do hard drives
Sound Better
than Cd?
(part two)
Robert Harley, you have one of the most
deeply knowledgeable ears regarding
digital, so your opinion counts for more
than a little. I’m not clear, however, what
is meant when you say that there is no
audible difference between CD and the
Apple lossless format with the MSB iLink
wireless iPod docking station [reviewed
in Issue 172]. Was that with a stand-
alone CD player? Or DAC? MSB claims in
the same issue that the iLink compares (in
conjunction with its own DAC) with
any
digital playback system. Since
The Absolute
Sound
can compare it to anything, why not
show your readers the truth (or falsity) of
this claim, given that your review seems
to imply it may have some validity? How,
this month on aVguide.com
• Cedia 2007: See videos of the
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• more picks for recommended
Budget Systems
• Golden ear awards: taS picks the
best of the best
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The
Perfect Vision
6
September 2007
The Absolute Sound
Letters
and deinitive answers. I hope that
my feature in Issue 177 resolves these
uncertainties.
lp and master-
tape Controversy
Robert Harley states in his LP Primer
on page 39 of the June/July 2007 is-
sue that “some have even suggested that
the LP in many ways sounds better than
the mastertape from which it was cut.”
This is a good thing? The mastertape
is the last step upstream next to the mi-
crophone—thus, by deinition, as close as
we can get to the “absolute sound.” If the
LP sounds better than that, then it must
be adding or subtracting some part of the
mastertape sound, and what we’re per-
ceiving is euphonic coloration, distortion,
or noise. I don’t call that “better,” no
matter how pleasant it sounds, because
it is not faithful to the tape. Sounds like
we’re returning full circle to the “hi-
i” years of Magnavox consoles and
Collero changers. They sounded great,
but in no way represented what the mas-
tertape offered. (By the way, I love the
magazine!)
tion device, which massively alters the
signal’s frequency response, degrade the
signal or improve it? The changes made
by the DSP are certainly a deviation
from the source, but result in latter
response—a response closer to what’s on
the source—when that signal is repro-
duced by loudspeakers in a room.
With all due respect to TAS’ “Ultimate
Analog” issue, the ultimate playback
experience does not come from vinyl, but
from analog tape.
I used to work at Ininity when we
used reel-to-reel tape recorders with
mastertapes for reference playback.
We had “connections” and a supply
of second- and third-generation tapes
from the “big companies,” as well as
homegrown stuff. I am here to tell you
unequivocally that vinyl does not match
tape. A comparison between the two
reveals the obvious superiority of tape.
No ifs ands or buts about it.
For obvious reasons, it is not practical
to create tapes like these for general
distribution. This is a shame, because
they can provide an experience that is
the audio equivalent of driving a new
Bugatti.
more lp vs.
mastertape
Controversy
The “Ultimate Analog” issue of TAS
[172] is interesting for what is says and
what it does not say. It extols the virtues
of vinyl but does not provide a digital-
analog shootout. In my experience, vinyl
does give more of a “you are there” sense
than digital. It seems, however, that the
best digital systems, DVD-A and SACD,
should be knocking on the door.
It should be a valid assumption that
the sound reproduced from vinyl must
be lawed simply because of all the
mechanical steps and transducers in the
process. This makes sense to me. Then
why doesn’t the best digital blow away the
best vinyl?
Digital must have its own set of
“errors”—big errors—that one would
think are identiiable. Do we not know
everything that is in live sound or not
fully understand audio perception? Are
we still unable to accurately measure
audio recording systems? These things
have been beaten to death, and yet the
reality gap continues.
John Miller
robert harley replies:
Analog tape will
soon be made available to consumers
through The Tape Project. Subscribing
to The Tape Project gets you a modiied
Technics SL1500 half-track machine
along with second-generation copies
made in real time of selected master
tapes on a subscription basis.
Jonathan Valin will be reporting on
The Tape Project in a future issue, and
comparing the tape playback to vinyl
and digital.
By the way, the word “ultimate” in
the title of Issue 172 modiied “issue”
rather than “analog.”
Ken T. Kern
robert harley replies:
The idea that
an LP can sound better than a master-
tape comes from Doug Sax, who has
perhaps the most experience listening to
mastertapes and the LPs cut from them
of any living person. (Sax founded The
Mastering Lab, and as co-founder of
Shefield Lab, is considered the “father
of the modern direct-to-disc recording.”)
His theory is that because the cutting
head converts an electrical signal into
mechanical motion, the signal has been
“pre-conditioned” (Sax calls it “predi-
gested”) so that the loudspeaker (which
must also convert an electrical signal to
mechanical motion) has an easier job.
You can read Sax’s full comments in Issue
149.
Here’s another way to look at the
question. Does a DSP room-correc-
upcoming in
The Absolute Sound
issue 175
• 2007 editors’ Choice awards—
a deinitive compendium of every
product we recommend
• Verity’s new rienza loudspeaker
• recording the national
philharmonic of russia in high-
resolution surround
• affordable tube ampliication
from primaluna
• pS audio’s new power plant aC
conditioners
• Superb new one-touch digital
room/speaker correction from
Copland
The Absolute Sound
September 2007
9
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