Gear

I had my first experience with LFD  in 1998 when I purchased their Mistral amplifier on the suggestion of my dealer, Gene Rubin, of Gene Rubin audio.  It was such a good amplifier, that even after upgrading my analog front end to five-figure territory, I was still very pleased with the Mistral.

Last year, Gene sent me the LFD Zero LE III, which was basically a Mistral with higher quality parts throughout.  At $2,495 it was an incredible bargain and even at the current price of $3,195 this is still one of my favorite integrated amplifiers.  I am still haunted by the high level of performance by that modest, minimalist amplifier and regret not buying the review sample.

The current offering from LFD, the NCSE (New Chassis, Special Edition) has taken their design even further using Vishay bulk-foil resistors, Shinkoh tantalum resistors, silver internal wiring and a very robust case that adds eight more pounds over the LE III. The faceplate is unusually thick for a British integrated and is similar to what you might see on a big American monoblock.
The four rubber feet from previous versions have now been upgraded to three isolation devices that consist of a viscoelastic foot that fits into a milled aluminum cup. Power output has taken a jump to 70 watts per channel, up from 60wpc in the LE II and 50wpc in the original Mistral.  Even with the power increase, the LFD runs cool to the touch, so it will easily fit in tight spaces without a problem.

Act now!

At $7,500, the NCSE is not inexpensive, but there is an introductory price of $6,000.  LFD had a similar pricing policy with their past models, so if you are intrigued, I suggest getting in at the beginning of the production cycle before the price goes up or something else wacky happens in the currency markets.

LFD is a low profile company that takes pride in hand assembling their amplifiers, but part of what makes the NCSE so special, is that designer Richard Bews assembles each unit personally.  Every aspect of the amplifier exudes craftsmanship with understated elegance. The compact size and dark grey casework will blend into your decor quite nicely.  If you need the approval of your audiophile buddies that own gargantuan amplifiers and huge heatsinks, the NCSE may not pass muster, but the minute you turn it on, I guarantee they will be impressed.

Items for the wish list

I only have two complaints with the NCSE; the lack of a remote control and the crowded rear panel.  I can certainly understand the purist approach taken by LFD, eliminating every bit of unnecessary circuitry from the main board, but an amplifier at this price point should provide a remote, even if a very basic one with volume and mute options.

The RCA jacks and speaker binding posts are very close on the rear panel, too close to use some premium cable with the amplifier, and this amplifier’s performance is worthy of the best cable you can afford.  The speaker binding posts are so close together that many of the larger cables will be difficult if not impossible to use with spade lugs.  If you do not have a lot of room behind the LFD, sticking to banana plugs will be best.

The NCSE features five line level RCA inputs along with a tape monitor input and output.  As you can see from the front panel, there are no markings for the various inputs, so you will have to commit your sources to memory.  A phono stage is not available as an option, so an outboard phono stage will be necessary for LP lovers.  I found excellent synergy between my Lehmann Black Cube SE and the NCSE, using Audience Maestro interconnects.

On to the good stuff…

Anyone who has owned or used LFD gear knows that these criticisms are minor and those willing to forgo some functionality in search of performance won’t find any of this an issue.  As with past LFD amplifiers, the NCSE required about three days of continuous play to settle into its character and sound its best.  Initially, I found the presentation slightly laid back, but with a very wide-open soundstage that spread out behind the boundaries of my room.  Once adjusted to this new perspective, I was reveling in the detail, noticing the sizes and shapes of the presentation in my favorite records.

The NCSE was a fantastic match with the Harbeth Monitor 40.1’s (which you can also get from Gene Rubin), doing what only the best gear does - offering ever bit of nuance your recordings have to give without sounding analytical or harsh. Many have called the LFD amplifiers “tube-like” and I think the NCSE comes even closer to that description than its predecessors.

After hearing “Prophecies” used in the film Watchmen, I had a hankering to go home and listen to my Nonesuch pressing of Koyaanisqatsi. Even though it had been a while since I last listened to this LP, I was immediately struck by the fact that I could make out individual voices in the choir and follow each person all the way through certain passages. While listening to folk-singer Sarazin Blake’s newly repackaged 2007 CD, The Air Your Lungs Forced Out, I was treated to a wealth of information that was downright surprising, relishing the way Blake’s guitar amp would make the snare drum rattle and buzz on certain notes or the way the four musicians would move and shift their positions slightly throughout each tune.

When auditioning the LE III, I was always impressed with the quality of low bass information present, but the NCSE offered more extension and slightly more warmth. On the new MFSL LP pressing of Linda Ronstadt’s Prisoner in Disguise, Kenny Edwards’ bass sounded unusually rich and full without being boomy or over-extended. Low frequency information continued to be tactile and textured throughout a variety of recordings, with just a little more pluck, a little more flesh-against-string and a little more interaction with room boundaries clearly evident.

Into the sunset…

Boxing the NCSE back up at the end of the review, I’m reminded of the ongoing conversation I’ve had with fellow audiophiles about the “Golden Years” system, the one that you retire with after you are finished keeping up with the Joneses and playing the upgrade game. This is an amplifier that I could live with forever.  If sound quality is your priority and you can forgo the remote control, I highly suggest the LFD NCSE.

The LFD NCSE integrated amplifier

MSRP:  $7,500 (introductory price, $6,000)

Where to purchase in the US:

Fidelis AV (the US importer)  www.fidelisav.com

Gene Rubin Audio   www.generubinaudio.com

If you love tubes as much as I do, you know the lure of finding great NOS tubes.  There aren’t that many lurking in garage sales anymore, so the chance of finding a cache of Mullards or Telefunkens for five bucks is slim to non-existent.  Even the old ham radio operators know about eBay now and price their booty accordingly.

The designer and end user face the same dilemma; where to get the good tubes without breaking the bank.  Many love the sound of the old Telefunkens, Mullards and Phillips 12AX7s, but the best examples can fetch 200 - 300 dollars on the right day.  Just like buying parts to restore a vintage Porsche 356, there are only so many NOS parts to go around and those remaining get more expensive by the day.  Fortunately all but the very best 12AU7’s are still below 100 dollars each, but again as supply goes down and demand goes up, the end result is inevitable.

New New Stock

Having had excellent luck in the past with the TJ Music 300B’s, I was anxious to try their small signal tubes and was pleased with the results.   The folks at Grant Fidelity are now the North American importers for these tubes and you can see their full selection at www.grantfidelity.com  These are brand new tubes, manufactured in Tianjin City, China.

Both the 12AX7 and 12AU7’s are 55 dollars each and for an extra 10 dollars per tube you can get the standard 30-day warranty extended to 12 months.  If you listen to your system fairly frequently, I suggest spending the extra 10 dollars, as tubes will usually fail around 1000 hours if they do not exhibit immediate defects.

First test: Phono

The low noise requirements of a moving coil phono preamplifier seemed like the best place to start with the TJ’s, if they could pass this test, I figured they would probably ace serving as driver tubes.  Unfortunately, my Nagra VPS phono stage uses a 12AX7 and a 12AT7, so I’m going to keep my fingers crossed that TJ comes out with a 12AT7 (and a 6922) soon.

The Nagra VPS is a rare component that does not respond well to tube rolling.  I’ve yet to use a vintage NOS tube that has done a better job than the standard, handpicked EH tubes that Nagra chose for duty in this preamplifier.  Swapping the EH 12AX7 for a very expensive Telefunken just muddied up the midrange and switching to a Mullard slowed down the presentation and increased background noise.

The TJ was a much different story, this tube showed an improvement across the board.  Dynamics were increased, with extension at both ends of the frequency scale, without any harshness.  I dragged out a few favorite warhorses that I’ve heard quite a few times to make the judgment as easy as possible. Right from the first record, Dire Straits Communique, I was impressed.  My copy of this is just an average pressing that you can purchase in any used record store for about $5 and is somewhat compressed.  Just swapping in the TJ 12AX7 gave this record much more impact and I was hearing some low level detail throughout the record that I had to strain to hear before.  Moving on to the second Chicago album (the current Rhino remaster) had the same result.  When using the stock 12AX7, the horns in “25 or 6 to 4″ seemed to be on the same plane as my MartinLogan CLX’s, but with the TJ 12AX7, the horns jumped out of the speaker plane and were right in front of me, with the image having much more front to back dimensionality.

Second test:  Driver

The next step was to pop a pair of TJ 12AX7’s and 12AU7’s in one of my Prima Luna Dialogue 7 monoblocks while leaving the other one as it came from the factory.  This time switching to the Harbeth Monitor 40.1’s, I played a handful of Classic Records recent mono jazz releases and switched back and forth between the left and right channels, both receiving the same mono signal, leaving no doubt to the change.

In case you are not familiar with the Prima Luna amplifiers, they are somewhat on the warm, lush side of the tonality scale, which is more often than not a good thing.  You can get a slightly more modern tube amplifier sound by swapping the KT88’s for some NOS Tung Sol’s or similar, but those tubes are fetching upwards of 250 dollars each these days.  That shakes out to almost half the original purchase price!

Fortunately, you can get very close to the same effect with the TJ’s.  If you like the more vintage sound of the Prima Lunas, stick with the stock tubes, but if you would like more punch, this is a great investment that won’t break the bank.

TJ’s for me!

The only thing that can’t be verified at this time is how long these tubes will last.  My experience with current stock Russian and Chinese tubes has shown a lifespan of about 3000-4000 hours with a failure rate of about 25%, so this will remain a question mark for now.  I’ve been running the 12AX7 in my Nagra VPS, which sees about 12 hours a day duty and my trusty Radio Shack stop watch is up to about 1400 hours with no problems so far.  I’ll be sure to report back in about a year, when I’ve run the clock beyond the 5000-hour range.

For now, the TJ’s are highly recommended if the tonal changes I’ve mentioned sound like a plus to you.  I’ve always had great luck with the folks at Grant Fidelity, so you can shop with confidence.

http://www.grantfidelity.com

The recently updated version of Clearaudio’s Goldfinger cartridge weighs in at 18 grams; a heavyweight by any measure and in part due to the body being made from 16 grams of pure gold.  The coils making up the generator are also wound from 24 karat wire.  This cartridge will require a heavier than standard counterweight, so even if your wallet is up to the task,  be sure your tonearm will be also be up to it.  The big question is what does the GF2 bring to the dance and do you want it as a partner?

If one accepts the principles of audio Darwinism, then Clearaudio cartridges have survived because they have continued to adapt to the higher resolution playback systems that can brutally expose the flaws of moving coils, cantilevers and stylus tips.   In the 1990’s, the Clearaudio Insider Wood changed how I listened to vinyl.  It extracted information from the well-traveled grooves of my lps that had been kept waiting in the wings for the proper cues.

When the original Goldfinger was released in 2006,  I took the Clearaudio plunge again with some trepidation. The Goldfinger was heavy and I was always nervous about its vulnerable, exposed canteliver; not to mention the high sticker price (about $8,500 back then).  I lived with the Goldfinger for 3 years.  It rejuvenated my record collection, particularly discs that I have had since the 1950’s and 1960’s.  When the GF2 was announced, my curiosity was piqued and I was anxious to see how much higher Clearaudio had raised the bar.

Setup

I followed Clearaudio’s suggestion and let the GF2 play for about 100 hours with a load of 47k ohms before switching to 200 ohms and eventually settling on 100 ohms. VTA was set to be level, with the body of the cartridge perfectly parallel to the platter.  The cartridge was mounted on a VPI HRX with the 12.7 arm, rim drive, and the SDS speed controller.  Nordost Valhalla interconnects went between my Pass X-ONO phono stage and Pass XP-3 linestage.

From the beginning,  I could hear something special with the cartridge and it improved considerably over time.  After some experimentation, I settled on the factory tracking force setting of 2.8 grams.  The GF2 has an output of .9mv, so it should be very easy to mate with most MC phono preamplifiers.

A definite improvement

Though I could not compare the cartridges side by side, as I had to remove the original Goldfinger and remount the GF2, less than 24 hours had elapsed between auditions.  I felt that after three years of listening to the original on a daily, its sonic signature was well burned into my memory.  What the original did best was bring out the subtle details in my favorite recordings without being harsh and etched; it still had that lovely analog warmth.

The GF2 takes all of these characteristics to the next level with no downside.  Groove noise is lower with the detail and warmth of the original still in place.  However the GF2 peels one more big layer away from the presentation, offering a more holographic soundstage with the images and placement of acoustic instruments having a better and more realistic size relationship than before.

Voice reproduction is the standard that I use for auditioning any component that I am seriously considering.  The GF2 does the best job in exploiting the human quality of vocal recordings that I have ever heard in my system.  On the opening cut of the Tony Bennett and Bill Evans Album (Analogue Productions Original)  “Young and Foolish” has a touch of Tony’s vocal rasp that is perfectly reproduced by this cartridge.  The unique qualities of Sheila Jordan’s voice (Sheila, Steeplechase Records) are characterized by her wavering around the notes which she eventually hits; another bulls-eye for GF2.

Sonny Boy Williamson’s Keep it to Ourselves (Analogue Productions Original) was recorded in a hotel room in Copenhagen. It has an immediacy that few studio recordings can match, including the sound of spittle on the harmonica and the accompanying tap of leather-soled shoes on a wooden floor. The GF2 does an amazing job at retrieving these details as well as the extraneous room noises present.

The GF2 was equally at home with big orchestral recordings.  The opening of the legendary Solti/VPO recording of Wagner’s Das Rheingold (Decca) exposes an unearthly progression of low string chords that gradually build to a crescendo before the first Rhinemaiden’s voice is heard. This effect is nearly inaudible with lesser cartridges but is rendered beautifully by the GF2.  The original 3-microphone Mercury recordings are another great way to road test the GF2; it and the original model were the first to tame the aggressive Dorati recording of Aaron Coplands’s Rodeo on Mercury.

For those of you that delight in microdyamics, Mamba Percussions (Pierre Verany) is one of my touchstone albums for many years. It features unusual South American instruments and a big soundspace.  The GF2 brings these sounds at you with an immediacy that is rhythmically engaging and an in-your-room image that is the essence of “being there.”

If you can’t find this album (no surprise, it never jumped off the shelves in its hey-day), there’s still the old reliable Jazz at the Pawnshop (Proprius). I rarely make it past the first track, just because the performance and musical values of this venerated 1970’s set are a cut below.   However, there is something to be said for listening to something repeatedly on many different analog setups that makes it easy to judge a new component.  Putting that aside, you will hear standing bass articulation which was mercifully overpowered by the upfront reed and percussion players when heard through lesser phono transducers.

How does it sound with the new WB pressing of the first Van Halen album?  For that, you will have to wait until our publisher gets his hands on a Goldfinger, as that is not my cup of tea.

Excellence with a few caveats

Even if this cartridge is well within your budget, there are still a few items to consider before you call your favorite analog dealer and order the GF2.  Tonearm matching is critical; not all arms can handle such a heavy cartridge.  The fragile, exposed cantilever demands great care in mounting and stylus cleaning.  Finally, your phono stage must be fairly flexible in loading to acommodate the break in procedure and ultimate loading.  What worked best in my system may need some fine tuning in yours to achieve perfect tonality.

For those of you that find the GF2 intriguing but are not quite ready to spend $10k on a phono cartridge, the Clearaudio Stradivari offers a decent helping of the GF2 sound for $3,500.  I use one with excellent results on my second table. (a VPI Aries with flywheel, HRX Acrylic Platter/Stabilizing Ring, and running into a second Pass X-ONO). For those who have already invested in a Clearaudio cartridge, many retailers offer an upgrade path that makes moving to either of these cartridges that much easier.

In summary, many would not consider a $10k cartridge a “best buy.” However, if you audition this cartridge in a properly set up playback system,  be prepared to redefine your priorities.  I suspect you will immediately begin working on a strategy to amass the requisite capital for its purchase.

The Clearaudio Goldfinger v.2
MSRP: $10,000

Musical Surroundings
5662 Shattuck Avenue
Oakland, CA 94609
510-547-5006
www.musicalsurroundings.com

Peripherals

Turntables         VPI HRX w/12.7 Arm/Rim Drive, VPI Aries w/10.5i Arm w/Flywheel, SDS Controllers
Phono Cartridges           Clearaudio Goldfinger v.1, Clearaudio Stradivari
Phono Preamplifiers       Pass X-ONO (2)
Preamplifier         Pass XP-20/Lexicon 12HD-B
Power Amplifier     Pass X-350.5/Pass X-3
Speakers        Martin Logan Summit/Stage/Script-i/Descent-I (2)/Descent (2)
Interconnects         Nordost Odin/Valhalla
Speaker Cable     Nordost Odin
Power Cords/Conditioning Nordost Thor/Nordost Odin/Valhalla
Vibration Control     Black Diamond Racing
Room Treatment    Echo Buster/ Corner busters/Bass Busters/Double Busters

For many audiophiles, using the words small and subwoofer in the same sentence doesn’t resonate.  However, there are many of you in the audience that require more weight at the lower end of the frequency spectrum and have a great pair of small mini-monitors, panels or even a set of single driver speakers that you don’t want to abandon; you just want some more bass.  If you fall into one of these categories, I submit the Aperion Bravus 8D as the perfect solution. At $499, with shipping included, you can’t go wrong.  If you don’t like it, Aperion even covers the return freight, so what’s not to love? Read the complete review »

Issue one of TONEAudio featured Monarchy’s SM-70 Pro amplifiers and I felt they offered great sound at a great price, so I was very intrigued to listen to his 300B monoblocks, as I love SET amplifiers. Unlike other Monarchy products which are designed and built at the Monarchy facility in California, these amplifiers are built by Dignity Audio in Hong Kong and imported by Monarchy.

For this price you get a great little pair of amplifiers that come shipped with a pair of EH300B tubes, which are also quite a good value.  The circuit is pretty simple using a 6SN7 for a driver and the 300B for the output.  There is a level control on the front panel, so you can use it directly from your CD player or phono preamp if you do not have a linestage. Read the complete review »