Welcome to Audiophilia. We publish honest and accurate reviews of high end audio equipment and music.
Danish manufacturer Ortofon, highly regarded by audiophiles for fair value, wonderful sounding cartridges, has produced a ‘colour coded’ set called the Ortofon 2M magnetic cartridge system. Entry level Red is followed by the subject of this mini review, the Blue and up through Bronze, and finally Black. The Blue retails for a very reasonable $225
Speakers are, as my closest audiophile friends and colleagues always remind me, the most important component of any high-end audio system. But unlike, say, an interconnect cable or a DAC, or even an amplifier, speakers are not easy to slip into a New York City apartment unnoticed. More importantly, they usually come with certain serious constraints attached to them by others who live with you, such as one’s wife. Speakers are viewed like furniture: a curio cabinet, a dinner table or even a couch — they are not supposed to be (or allowed to be) visually intrusive in the general ambiance of your home.
Tri-Planar has been producing some of the world’s finest tonearms for the past fifty years. The late Herb Papier, the founder of the company, introduced the original Wheaton Tri-Planar arm at the 1981 Consumer Electronics Show, but he had been making tonearms for some twenty years for family and friends. It is not surprising how many high-end audio manufacturers are musicians, and Herb was no exception—he expressed his love of music as a trumpet player—and he turned his talents as a precision watchmaker to the manufacturing of tonearms.
I had come to the realization some time ago that I would never again have the slightest desire to change any of the components in my two channel system. Not that I had lost any of my lifelong enthusiasm for music but my component system was totally fulfilling.
DACs have made a huge comeback. With the advent of music servers and computer file delivery, a good quality DAC with USB support is now the most invited piece of kit to the cool audiophile party. In truth, DACs have never gone away.
The Axia replaces the Aria as entry level cartridge in the Transfiguration line. It features an aluminum body to control resonances in addition to a boron cantilever and Ogura diamond stylus. With a tracking force of 2.0 grams and an output of .38 mV, it should be easy for most phono stages to handle without a step up device. The balance of the Transfiguration line consists of the Phoenix at $4,250.00 and the top of the line Proteus at $6,000.00. According to the manufacturer, the Axia shares the basic sonic attributes of its higher priced companions.
Chario was a company hitherto unknown to me. I happened upon their speakers during the 2012 Toronto Audio Show (TAVES). They looked amazing in beautifully finished wood and artisinal cabinetry and even under show conditions, sounded quite wonderful. A review pair was requested.
For those of you who own record collections and spend hours enjoying the listening that records bring, it is no surprise how important proper care and handling of your precious vinyl is to maintaining performance. One of the major problems that raises its ugly head is record warp. One has to deal with the muddying effects warped records produce including throbbing, overblown bass, and, if really bad, miss-tracking.
I think it’s in every Englishman’s DNA that the gene ‘Must love Elgar’ exists. I have it, but as an identical twin, it was halved and diluted at birth. Therefore, I love Elgar’s Violin Concerto, In The South, and the 1st Symphony. Froissart, the Cello Concerto and his oratorios I can do without (ever played The Music Makers?!).
The two most recent audio shows, Toronto and Denver were instructive both aurally and visually. Yes, the equipment was great and much of the sound. But, sometimes the ‘front of house’ and many times, the back was sorely lacking. In this day, audio sex sells. You have to get the educated listener coming and going.
Before Martin gets started, I’d like to say thank you to him for rekindling this popular series on Audiophilia. It’s been the longtime opinion of Audiophilia that dealers have the most difficult task in our business — the very sharp tip of the high-end triangle of Manufacturers, Editorial and Dealers.
Last weekend was spent in the delightful company of Audiophilia writers and our wives. The destination for this annual ‘audiophiliacamp’ is Saugerties, NY, about ninety minutes up the Hudson from the city. Nestled in seven peaceful acres, Mike and MaryAnn Levy’s gorgeous home sits atop a bluff overlooking the Saugerties Lighthouse and the meandering Hudson River.
Angie Lisi is an audiophile force of nature. I’ve known her for almost twenty years and have not found many people who are more knowledgeable about our business. She is especially gifted in the ultra important art of system synergy. As such, many of her clients are repeat customers and treat her suggestions like the gold standard. She’s always available for customers, both audiophile ingenues and the most jaded, opinionated hard cases.
Conrad Mas, the guru of turntable design and creative force behind Avid HiFi emailed me about a year and a half ago to tell me about his new, “amazing” phono-preamplifier, the Pulsare. Normally, when manufacturers contact me about their new, best in the world gizmo, I’m very skeptical.
Focal asks on its website whether the Grande Utopias are the best speakers in the world. It’s an almost impossible question to answer given audiophiles’ tastes, style, etc, but in other ways, it’s almost a simple question. I figured out my answer quite quickly, so resplendent are these extremely expensive monoliths from France.
I don’t believe in trickle down economics. Ronald Reagan and the 80s saw to that. Robert Suchy of German company Clearaudio obviously does. And his form of the free market works. I have been listening intently to Clearaudio products for many years. I reviewed a few for Audiophilia. They have always made outstanding analogue products, from fairly inexpensive to technological, pricey marvels.
Michael Bublé is a very fine vocalist. Let’s make no mistake about that. He has arrived on a scene which has lain pretty much fallow since Frank Sinatra’s vocal decline in later years and eventual death in 1998. The splash made by Harry Connick Jr. has largely abated, and Bublé is the flavour of the month, so to speak, for those who have enough appreciation to understand and appreciate good popular music and good singing.
Dieter Burmester has been a force in the high-end audio business since 1977, but North America has experienced his particular brand of brilliance for only the past few years. I first heard about Herr Burmester and his glittering equipment through the pages of The Absolute Sound – hp raved about digital and power gear alike. The look of the equipment was intriguing and certainly espoused an expensive aura; if the look was commensurate with sound, then winners had arrived from the Federal Republic of Germany.
I’ve been listening to JM Lab products for many years, primarily at shows and at a few Canadian dealers. They always seem to be on show. They look magnificent, feature top quality components and are in the upper echelon of high end pricing. Interestingly, they have never been among my favorites. Sure, all the models, from stand mounted monitors to the aptly titled Grande Utopia sound grand, indeed, but to my ears they miss some of the clinical nature of other similarly priced loudspeakers.
I must have had a weak moment a few days ago, for I was wandering around a video/CD store in Bang Saen, Thailand, where I’m on staff at Burapha University’s western music department, and much to my surprise, among the Thai pop CDs, I spied Diana Krall’s new release, Quiet Nights. Checking out the tunes, largely standards and bossa novas, with arrangements by Claus Ogerman, I put aside my inherent distaste for Krall (I had reviewed her live) and bought the CD.
