TONEAudio MAGAZINE The Concierge of High End Audio

This entry level phono preamp from BAT is so substantial in size and weight that you might mistake it for a power amp! The VK-P5 was “a joy to listen to,” offering an amazing helping of resolution for a $2000 product. The tubed BAT is also tonally neutral and very quiet, even when used in single-ended mode.

Small but exceptionally stylish, these stand-mounted monitors from B&W feature an aerodynamic speaker enclosure, a Kevlar woofer cone, a dimpled port and a curved cabinet that looks great in any d_©cor. They offered neutral sound as well and performed particularly well in small rooms. We felt that the “drop dead gorgeous” looks and stellar performance made this speaker “tough to beat.”

“A fully balanced and differential design from start to finish,” CX-7e is a simple yet elegant CD player that hinted at greatness, even at its relatively affordable price. When used in balanced mode, the Ayre produced a “magic” quality that’s usually found in much more expensive machines. The beefy power supply also provided additional heft and power to the presentation. It’s also extremely easy to use and operate.

The Volvere was extremely easy to get up and running, and within minutes we were impressed with “how much more music was lurking in the grooves” compared to more affordable analog rigs. An upgrade path will allow owners to take the performance even further, but in its stock form this Avid “will get you more than waist high into the waters of great analog performance.”

We called the gorgeous Ascendants “masters of detail,” and found that these $13K floorstanders came fairly close in overall performance to the $70K Avalon Sentinels. “Finesse” seems to be the operative phrase here, with the Avalons providing an extraordinarily clear window into the original music event. You’ll get “fooled into thinking that it just might be the real thing.”

For less than $2000 you can have these beautifully designed floor-standing speakers that are four feet tall, weigh 100 pounds and even have an active subwoofer inside the cabinet that’s powered by an honest-to-goodness 350wpc Class AB amplifier. The four-way Strata Minis not only pass the WAF with flying colors, but they offer a sound that’s “very impressive for the money.”

These slim floorstanders have an exceedingly small footprint (just 10″ by 6″!) , but they offer tight, punchy bass that is more typical of a single 8-inch woofer than a pair of 5 1/4″ drivers. In fact, these nicely-finished speakers may trick visitors into thinking you’ve stashed a subwoofer somewhere in the room. For the price of a decent pair of speaker stands, the EL525Ts work with even moderately low-powered amps and have “more than enough juice to get the job done.”

Very similar in design to the Technics SL1200, this $300 direct-drive turntable actually surprised us with its “low-frequency slam and solidity.” We dug the fact that it played 78s or could serve as a DJ ‘table if we wanted to get our scratch on. As long the internal phono stage is disabled, the Audio-Technica is “hard to beat” if you’re a vinyl lover on a budget.

Built into a chassis that’s bigger than many power amplifiers, the PH7 offers an unusually high amount of features for a phono stage such as remote-controlled cartridge loading, which we found particularly enjoyable. This tubed unit also enjoys ARC’s legendary reputation for reliability and ease-of-use, and does “everything you could ask, providing you only have one turntable.”

How good can a $100 pair of interconnect cables be?¨Ü “Damn good!” we concluded. While they don’t offer the same amount of clarity and resolution as the expensive stuff, we felt that these cables would be perfect for systems under $10K and allow music lovers to spend their hard-earned cash elsewhere, like on music. The IC-3s are “a steal at this price.”

If you’re looking for a great pair of speaker cables for around $100, your search has ended. Audio Arts uses a simple 14-gauge silver-coated OFC copper wire and places it in an attractive blue jacket, making these the best-looking cables for the money as well. While there was a trace of grain compared to the expensive stuff, these cables will make DIYers put away their soldering irons for good.

These cables from Audience were relatively inexpensive and flexible, making them the perfect choice for audiophiles who frequently swap equipment around. We found them to be neutral as well as picked them whenever we didn’t want to change the overall balance of an existing system.

This battery powered solid state phono stage with “op amps under the hood” defied our expectations by “knocking one out of the park.” This two-box unit has an acrylic case and looked “very racy” on our equipment racks while offering one of the quietest presentations we’ve heard from vinyl. We determined that the tone, pace and ultimate dynamics from the ASR Basis will “capture your soul.”

While not the last word in resolution, these small and affordable monitors excel at providing detail at low to medium listening levels (which is not an easy thing). They are “exceedingly musical,” however, and you may not miss those occasional details. If you’re a beginning audiophile or are building a second system, we “can’t recommend them highly enough.”

These small and relatively affordable monitors from Wisconsin surprised us their precise imaging and their ability to completely disappear in a room. We gave them an Exceptional Value Award for their transparency and musical accuracy, and we found that they’re very easy to match to a subwoofer even though the bass is nicely extended without one.

Back in 2006 we gave the $1700 ACI Sapphire XL loudspeakers one of our Exceptional Value Awards, and we were curious to see if the $800 Emeralds would do the family proud. This small stand-mounted two-way excelled in smaller rooms and found its calling as a nearfield monitor or part of a desktop system. When supplied with quality amplification, the Emeralds defied expectations.

A Wisconsin native, Jeff built his first amplifier from a schematic in the RCA tube manual at age 14. His hi-fi sales career came to an abrupt end when he told a customer to take his big check up the street to the local Levinson dealer for much better equipment. 15 years as a commercial photographer led to writing about the rapidly expanding world of digital imaging at the turn of the century, writing for Macworld, CNet, Studio Photography and many others.

He has also been a consultant to Adobe, Roland DGA and Olympus Cameras. He still takes a very active role in the images produced for TONEAudio, contributing a major portion of the magazine’s visuals.

These days, the Pacific Northwest is home, where you can find him in the local record stores, or under the hood of a car, working on an article for his latest venture, Heel & Toe Magazine

You can also follow him on Substack, talking about anything BUT audio, here…

Lindsey Buckingham is one of those rare musical geniuses that defy categorization. Much like Prince or Todd Rundgren, Buckingham is a man with a multitude of talents that is very comfortable on either side of the mixing board and has been responsible for a large part of the Fleetwood Mac sound for the last 30 years. Not to mention he’s a hell of a guitar player.

He opened his set in Portland with a few cuts from his new CD, Gift of Screws, which will be released September 16, and moved seamlessly into “Go Your Own Way”. He bounced in and out of his past solo efforts along with many of his favorites from the Fleetwood Mac days all evening, sprinkling in the new material along the way. Read More »

Hey all,

Sorry about the long delay in posting. As our music editor likes to say, it’s been “Crazy” around here, just lost track of time with the holidays. Read More »

Club Mix columnist Scott Tetzlaff is flying into town tomorrow to join us for the Portland showing of The Herbaliser at the Doug Fir Lounge. It should be a great show, so if you live in our neighborhood, drop by and say hello. Just look for the old gray haired guy in the bright yellow hoodie, that will be me! Read More »

What can brown do for me? Find my Naim CD555, and pronto!

I was informed today, that my Naim CD555 player that was due to arrive today had not been entered into the UPS system since the 21st of this month and that they had no idea where it is or if I would get it anytime soon. Read More »

After a solid week of play, and me getting next to nothing done, I must admit the MartinLogan CLX is quite amazing. Adding the Descent i subwoofer with one more on the way, I’ve got some more heavy lifting to go, but this is an incredible speaker.

I had an absolute blast on my visit to MartinLogan yesterday. The place is huge!

You couldn’t ask for a nicer group of people to buy speakers from, the ML mothership has the same level of organization of the Ferrari F1 team. Nothing is out of place, everyone knows their job and their attention to detail is awesome.

But at the end of the day, I got my reward. Read More »

Staff writer Jerald O’Brien and I took a quick road trip up to Seattle to check out the beginning of Todd Rundgren’s new tour to support the album “Arena”.

If you are a Todd fan, do not miss this tour. He is at his best, doing all of the Arena album live with some fun Todd oldies mixed in. Read More »

Getting ready for the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest in Denver next month, I was looking over the photos we took driving (ugh) to RMAF two years ago.

This one stood out.

While I can’t remember where this was, I do remember that it was very windy outside and we immediately turned on Led Zeppelin very loud when we all got back in the car. What else do you do at the Point of Rock?

What the heck am I doing up on the roof of the TONEAudio office with power tools and no shoes? You will never know. It’s a Northwestern thing.

However, we did get something productive today.

Watch our website tomorrow for concert updates and a review of the IeGO power cord.

The man responsible for most of Fleetwood Mac’s commercial success showed the Portland crowd he’s still got it tonight.

With no opening act, Buckingham took the stage and left everyone screaming by the time he was done almost 2 and a half hours later.

Watch for more pictures on our website in the concert section and a full concert report and review of his new album in the October issue of TONEAudio. If you are a fan, the tour just started on the 7th. Check his website for tour details.

Always the sucker for advertising and spicy food, I had to check this one out. Watching a few TiVo’d episodes of The Jon Stewart Show back to back, I was bombarded with about 300 commercials for Taco Bell’s newest creation, The Volcano Taco.

So I gave in. Read More »

Just got back from the CEDIA show in Denver and back at my desk.

In addition to seeing all of the people in the industry that we work with on a regular, there was some fun stuff to see as well. While this show does not provide the listening environment that CES or RMAF does, everything is in one place, so it is very easy to navigate.

Here are two products that really caught my eye, the new compact system from McIntosh and the Utopia Be from JM Labs/Focal. All that Mac needs is a handle! It’s a serious compact though, with the internals from their 301 player and 75wpc of discrete power, no class-D here!

The new Utopia flagship speaker will come in at about $175 K and will debut for all of us to hear at the RMAF in Denver, beginning of October. It will be in the Audio Unlimited suite matched with a stellar system, so make sure you see this one if attending the show.

The new REGA Elicit integrated amplifier is here.

80 watts per channel, on board MM phono stage and very beefy.

It is part of the new series of upscale components from REGA that started with the Ios phono stage. And we all know how great that was!

Watch for a full review in the next few weeks on our website in the spotlight section.

www.rega.co.uk

It’s been somewhat of a lost six weeks here at TONE, but we’ve been very busy getting organized for the fall season of shows.

We will be attending CEDIA next week in Denver, the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest and of course CES in January. So if you see us zooming around, stop and say hello. We look forward to talking with you.

And to top it off, I now have a clean desk. I’m savoring this picture because this doesn’t happen often.

Where else do you get maximum rock and roll combined with mostly naked women?

At CrueFest, of course.

Trapt, Sixx-AM, Papa Roach and Buckcherry got the party started for the legendary glam rockers, but when Motley Crue hit the stage, the fireworks went off and the sound level went up dramatically.

A good time was had by all. The Crue rocked the house, playing a good combination of their hits mixed in with most of the tunes from their newest album Saints Of Los Angeles. And it just wouldn’t be a Crue concert without Tommy Lee getting out the boob cam. Cool as this is in theory, I get the feeling that this plays a lot better in Los Angeles. Not that the Portland crowd was any less willing to take their top off for Tommy, it wasn’t necessarily in the best interest for many of them.

But hey, that’s rock and roll.

Finishing up the final setup on the Spiral Groove SG-2 and TriPlanar arm.

This turntable is a work of art! Initial listening impressions are fantastic. Stay tuned for more on this analog masterpiece.

You can also check out www.immediasound.com to get more information.

Took a ride up to Seattle to meet with Randy Wells and zoom over to Magnolia HiFi, where they were showing off the new CLX from Martin Logan.

This is one hell of a speaker! CLS devotees (used to be one, myself) will be thrilled with this speaker. M-L has taken everything they’ve learned in the last 25 years and created an electrostatic tour de force.

Our pal Ron Cornelius from McIntosh was their with their new coolio 300 watt tube monoblocks and a big stack of other goodies from Mac. David Allen from ML was on hand for two days to demo the speakers and answer hungry fans questions. Magnolia even had special 36 month financing on hand!

If you love ‘stats, this could be the last speaker you’ll ever need.

Hey, it took em 25 years to come up with this one.

Spending the day with the new Bentley Continental Spur Speed was an awesome experience, and you can read all about it in our August issue.

But, I’ll tell you this much: The Naim Audio system is the best I’ve ever heard in a factory install. I’ve heard a few car stereos that revealed a bit more music, but they were 30-50 thousand dollar installs.

The only catch with Naim is that to get such a great deal on this system, you have to buy a new Bentley. Which isn’t such a bad thing.

With a 600 hp 12 cylinder, twin turbo W-12 motor, this car can coddle you in British luxury and go into warp drive the second you put the pedal to the floor.

The old 3-series just won’t be the same.

Well folks, after a few days off from finishing issue 16, we are back in action.

Here in Boston to test drive the new Bentley Continental Flying Spur. Not just any Bentley, I might add, but one outfitted with the new Naim HiFi System made specifically for Bentley.

I’ll keep you posted with more pictures and initial sound impressions tomorrow evening.

I’m placing an advance bet that this is a winner.

For a little more information click here:
http://www.bentleymotors.com/Corporate/display.aspx?infid=1292

This is why it’s so great to be Snoop Dogg.

I took my good friend Ken Ball from ALO Audio to check out the show in Portland last night and we had a blast. Snoop did about an hour and a half set and had the whole place up and bouncing.

At the end of the show when he said “how many of you bitches want to get down with Snoop Dogg” about fifty women jumped right up on stage. Awesome.

Read the whole report with more pics on our website in the new section (to be unveiled on Tues) called concert watch, which will be presented by Music Giants.

Last night, staff writer Jerold O’Brien and I took a stroll down to Esther Short Park, here in Vancouver to grab a couple of brats, drink some beer and check out the scene. Legendary guitarist Peter Frampton was the headline act and we were very curious to see if he was just another geezer cashing in on former fame or the real deal.

A great time was had by all, but Frampton looked like he was having the most fun. He played a tight set and proved that he’s still a legendary guitar powerhouse.

From now till the end of the year, he’s got a full calendar. If he’s in your town and you are curious, you won’t be disappointed.

www.frampton.com

This is just bitchin. Takes you back, doesn’t it?

Somehow, the stress at deadline is easily cured by a trip to my favorite used hifi shop, Echo Audio in Portland, Oregon

I dragged the Vinyl Anachronist out for some chow at the Thai Peacock, right down the street from Echo and after a hearty bowl of curry,, we wandered in to see what goodies lurked on Kurt’s shelves.

As usual, it was treasure time. This mint Nakamich 700 ZXL was staring me right in the face. You’ll be reading about this one in TONE one of these days. It’s a keeper.

Lew Johnson likes to say “You can never have too much Conrad-Johnson gear” and I couldn’t agree more. Echo just happened to have a mint specimen of their first amplifier, the MV-75. I’ve owned all of the EL-34 based C-J power amps at one time or another, so it was time to graduate to this one with 6550’s under the hood.

The MV-75 was C-J’s first amplifier back in 1979 and this one still sounds darn good!

Seems like everyone is getting out of physical media these days.

Another good friend stopped by with a few big boxes of CD’s that are now living on a music server. Being the friend of physical media that I am, his 500 CD’s found a happy home. Well, at least 400 of them. The rest are getting passed on to friends. Gotta spread the love around.

If you have a record or CD collection to get rid of, let us know!

Today the Spiral Groove SG-2 turntable arrived along with a black Triplanar arm.

It’s going to have to wait until the new issue is done to set up, but it is gorgeous there!

Having spent some time with the SG-1 when I went to the Immedia offices earlier this year, I know these guys are on to something really good with the SG-2. There’s also a nice new Skala from Lyra to listen to as well, so stay tuned for more analog bliss.

Sorry about the latin that was up here, not trying to be clever, just screwed up!!

With all the rain this week, it was a great time to go through the first shipment of albums that arrived last week and found some great treasures! Nothing like the smell of old albums to make your day.

Surprisingly enough almost everything was in great shape. Some of the covers were a little tattered, but the vinyl inside was good. Nothing a quick pass on my trusty Clearaudio record cleaning machine. Even found a few rarities, a pink Pink Floyd Animals album and an AA British pressing of Steely Dan’s AJA.

Too many more to list. But the sun is coming out soon.

If you are a fusion fan, Return to Forever was probably at the top of your playlist in the 70’s. I know it was for me. Al DiMeola, Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke and Lenny White not only redefined the genre, but after RTF disbanded, they all went on to successful solo careers.

In a move that you rarely see with older acts today, Return to Forever is back in action with all the original members. Nothing is worse than going to see one of your favorite bands from a while ago and it’s only half (or even a fifth) of the guys you remembered and a bunch of new, no-name guys in their place.

This is the real deal folks and these guys haven’t lost an ounce of virtuosity. Matter of fact, they are like that really expensive bottle of wine that you bought before it’s proper serve date and is now perfect.

Check out the official website at www.return2forever.com to get tour dates and see a few clips of the guys rehearsing, you will see what I mean. You rarely get to see four jazz greats at the top of their game on the same stage. This is as good as it gets!

Nothing like coming home to 24 cartons of records waiting to be unboxed!

Yep, I live for days like this. One of our writers decided to get out of LP’s for good and wanted to make sure they would have a good home.

The only bad news is that I’m on deadline and I pretty much have to stare at these for about 10 more days till the issue is done. But I did crack open a few boxes and there are some definite treasures lurking.

Got LP’s you want to get rid of, let me know!

And that’s how I found them, asleep in the office.

After a grueling week of finishing the new website, I found our chief designer asleep in her office with the company mascot.

But it’s done!

The new site has some new features that we hope you will find compelling. Now, along with every cover, there is a complete table of contents that you can open up for every issue. We’ve added more music and links for you to purchase said music.

And we have more goodies coming later this summer, so stay tuned and thanks for reading!

Audiophile PR person extraordinaire, Paul McGowan from PS Audio has a new project that will benefit all of us in the high end audio community and hopefully help the new arrivals to our world as well.

He has gone to great lengths to launch the Audiophile version of Wikipedia, called appropriately the “Audiophile Wiki”. This project just started, but should become a virtual repository for all things related to audio.

Already, yours truly is joining the likes of Michael Fremer, our pal Chris Connaker from Computer Audiophile and others to help explain what makes our hobby so exciting to those less informed.

You can find this fledgling project at:
audiophilewiki.org

Stay tuned, it should be fun!

If you read my feature on slack key guitarist Makana in the April issue and are curious about hearing more, now’s your chance. Wildly popular in his native Oahu, Makana has started his tour of the United States to spread his slack rock message to us malihinis (newcomers). We got to check out his live show last night at the WoW Hall in Eugene, Oregon, and I have to admit that everything I’ve heard about the energy at his live shows is true.

While the crowd was probably small compared to what Makana is used to back home, one audience member said it best when he shouted, “Promise to come back, and we’ll each bring five people to show them how great you are!” After the show, we got to meet Makana, and he’s as warm and genuine as his songs. He even dedicated one of his songs to Jeff’s daughter Monique, who was celebrating her 14th birthday.

Check out makanamusic.com to see if he’ll be coming to your town soon. And tell him your brahs at TONEAudio sent you!

Just got the new Running Springs Dimitri off the UPS truck an hour ago!

From the guys who make the award winning Haley, Duke, Danielle and Jaco, this takes everything they’ve learned at RSA to the next level. Along with more goodies on the inside, the Dimitri has a cool carbon fiber face plate, which will look more at home on your rack.

As I own at least one each of all the other RSA boxes, I am anxious to see how much of an improvement the Dimitri will be. I’ll keep you posted and expect to see a review in TONE online in about a month.

The Dimitri is $4000 USD without power cord, $4500 with a RSA Mongoose power cord and $5800 with their new top of the line cord. (don’t know what they are calling it yet!)

You can get more information at:
www.runningspringsaudio.com

Sorting through some past family pics, I came across this shot from 1983.

While things have come a long way since then, things were pretty good back in the early 80s.  It’s a bit hard to tell from this small picture, but next to my trusty Conrad Johnson PV-2a, is my complete CD collection!  Only 10 little shiny discs.

Who knew?