HIFICRITIC ISSN AUDIO REVIEW MAGAZINE 15 Vol7/No3 JUL-SEP 2013

Transcription

1 ISSN AUDIO REVIEW MAGAZINE 15 Vol7/No3 JUL-SEP 2013 REVIEWED THIS ISSUE: TEAC UD-501, BENCHMARK DAC2 HGC, MYTEK STEREO192-DSD, KRELL CONNECT, TOWNSHEND SEISMIC CORNERS, BURMESTER 036, NAIM NAP300, AURORASOUND VIDA, ROKSAN CASPIAN M2, AVALON COMPAS, AUDIOLAB M-DAC, MUSICAL FIDELITY V90-DAC, MUSICAL FIDELITY M1CLIC, RESOLUTION AUDIO CANTATA MUSIC CENTRE, RING AUDIO MASTER HORN-JAZZ, SPENDOR D7, NAIM NACA5, STILLPOINTS ULTRA SERIES, PANDA FEET SEVEN DACs A mixed bag of seven DACs include three with DSD capability and two that stream STREAMING KRELL Assessing the Krell Connect, the company s first streamer, complete with DAC and fresh from the solder bath FLOATING THE SPEAKERS Speakers and stands need spikes, right? Max Townshend disagrees and reckons floating them on springs is the answer NAP300 REVISITED In revisiting the Naim NAP300, Martin Colloms discovers the benefits of an extended running in period CLASSIC BURMESTER Stan Curtis tries out Burmester s least costly and most compact 036 power amp AURORASOUND VIDA A high quality Japanese solid state phono stage examined by Chris Bryant AVALON COMPAS The Avalon Compás is a substantial floorstander that puts the emphasis firmly on dynamic performance LONG TALL SPENDOR Spendor s unassuming looking D7 has impressive but well hidden depths MUSIC & MUCH MORE JUL AUG SEPT

2 Vol7 No3 July Aug Sept 2013 Like the music we play on it, hi-fi is a broad church. My taste in music is not the same as yours, or Joe Bloggs for that matter, so why should I presume I like the same things about music reproduction? I try not to make such assumptions, but am not sure it s possible to avoid doing so. Editor Paul Messenger Writers Colin Anderson Chris Bryant Martin Colloms Stan Curtis Greg Drygala Nigel Finn Jason Kennedy Andrew Harrison Paul Messenger Mark Prendergast Publisher Martin Colloms Design Philippa Steward Published by 29 Flask Walk London NW3 1HH info@hificritic.com Printed in the UK by Premier Print, London is a printed publication available by subscription only. Ltd All rights reserved. Any unauthorised editing, copying, reselling or distribution of the whole or part of this publication is prohibited. The views expressed in any articles in this magazine should be taken as those of the author or the person quoted unless indicated to the contrary. While endeavours to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, its accuracy cannot be guaranteed and.com accepts no liability for any use of, reliance on or the accuracy of such information. We re well aware that music has considerable effects on the human psyche, but don t really know either how or why. All manner of open questions remain about the way we interact with music, and by implication our hi-fi systems. I first got into hi-fi, simply because I d become obsessed with the music of the time, and wanted to get as much out of it as possible. I d already figured out that I had no natural ability playing musical instruments, but could play the record player (and the open-reel tape recorder too for that matter), and that didn t seem a bad substitute. Many years on I still love my music, and also the fact that hi-fi system improvements continue to get me closer to it as time goes by. But the changes that particularly turn me on aren t necessarily going to be the same as those that will appeal to another individual, any more than we re likely to have similar record collections. Some kindred spirits will doubtless share my tastes, but I only have to wander around any hi-fi show (taking care to keep lip well bitten) to appreciate that they re relatively few and far between. One intriguing and usually overlooked factor concerns the age (as well as the tastes) of an individual. For example, I was very sceptical when CD first came on the scene, and realise with hindsight that sound quality issues were only partly to blame. Other factors included the fact that I d already collected a lot of vinyl over 20 years and didn t see much need for change; I wasn t into classical music so didn t appreciate the lack of background noise; and didn t like the fact that those early CDs were much more costly than vinyl equivalents (plus ca change!). Those born after 1980 may well have missed out on the vinyl era entirely, and have little knowledge of analogue audio. CD was their adolescent format, and today they re probably well into computer-based audio. I don t much like computers, as the sector seems obsessed with change. (My current MacBook Pro won t even open files I created a mere 17 years ago, whereas I ve 60 year old vinyl treasures.) But I ll happily concede that they re exceptionally convenient (just like the cassette was, 20 or 30 years ago!). I ll therefore continue to spin my vinyl and play my FM radio and CD player, but in our digital age it seems that we all need a decent DAC my own system currently uses three. Which is why we re busy trying to keep up with this rapidly changing field, devoting 13 pages of this issue to reviewing seven of the latest examples. Paul Messenger Editor 2 JUL AUG SEPT 2013

3 Contents 4 STAN S SAFARI No23 Stan Curtis examines the theoretical and practical issues surrounding the idea of a digital loudspeaker 6 THREE DSD DACs Computer-sourced DSD is the new hi-res download. Andrew Harrison tries three relatively inexpensive DSD-capable DACs, the TEAC UD-501, the Benchmark DAC2 HGC and the Mytek STEREO192-DSD 10 STREAMING KRELL Krell s first streamer/dac, the Connect, is scrutinised by Martin Colloms 12 FLOATING THE SPEAKERS Speakers and stands need spikes, right? Max Townshend disagrees, preferring to control them with springs. Paul Messenger investigates the Seismic Corners 14 CLASSIC BURMESTER Stan Curtis tries out Burmester s latest power amp the ten-year-old NAP300 REVISITED Martin Colloms discovers the benefits of running in a Naim NAP300 for an extended period, and is driven to review it again 22 AURORASOUND VIDA A radical Japanese high quality phono stage examined by Chris Bryant 24 HIGH CLASS INTEGRATION Roksan s Caspian set a quality integrated amp agenda more than a decade ago. This latest M2 variant is well worth a close look 26 AVALON COMPÁS Avalon s new Compás floorstander puts the emphasis firmly on dynamic performance 31 PANDA FEET! Martin Colloms tries out a unique accessory component for the serious enthusiast 32 FOUR DACS (AND MORE!) Chris Bryant gets to grips with four very different D-to-A conversion approaches: the Audiolab M-DAC, Musical Fidelity s V90- DAC and M1CLiC, and the Resolution Audio Cantata Music Centre 41 RING A DING Paul Messenger tries out the RingAudio MasterHorn-Jazz, a unique part-active speaker system from Croatia 44 LONG TALL SPENDOR Martin Colloms uncovers hidden depths in Spendor s unassuming looking D7 floorstander 47 NACA5 REVISITED Given time, Naim s speaker cable proves capable of some surprising results 48 STILLPOINTS Martin Colloms tries out these costly some say controversial range of US isolators 49 THE AMBIENT ODYSSEY The first part of Mark Prendergast s history of Ambient music runs from Mahler to Eno 52 FAVOURITE THINGS Jason Kennedy struggles to sort out his favourite ten discs 54 JAZZ PICKS Greg Drygala s six interesting Jazz releases 56 THE BEST OF CLASSICAL Colin Anderson discovers a new handful of classical releases 58 ROCK, POP & OTHER NICE MUSIC Nigel Finn of the Chord Company with six new releases 60 SUBJECTIVE SOUNDS Paul Messenger gets stuck into speaker cables Avalon s new Compás floorstander - page 26 Martin Colloms uncovers hidden depths in Spendor s D7 on page 44 JUL AUG SEPT

4 REVIEW Classic Burmester BURMESTER DOESN T BELIEVE IN CHANGE FOR CHANGE S SAKE, SO ITS LATEST 036 POWER AMPLIFIER HAS ACTUALLY BEEN ATOUND FOR A DECADE. STAN CURTIS CHECKS IT OUT Review System Roksan Kandy K2, Naim CDX2, Burmester 061 CD Players; Author s own passive control unit; Eclipse td712, Acoustic Energy Aelite 1, Tannoy Definition DC10T loudspeakers; Atlas Asimi, Mavros cables Burmester Audiosysteme was founded in Berlin in 1977 by Dieter Burmester, and is to my mind the premier high-end audio company in Germany. However, its products have been difficult to find in the UK in recent years; a difficulty solved in recent months by the appointment of a small but enthusiastic network of dealers. Burmester manufactures four models of stereo power amplifiers. The biggest is a model 909, a 600W behemoth, while this smallest (and newest) model is designated 036, costs 6,198, is rated at 170W/channel (into 4ohms; circa 100 watts into 8ohms), and is part of the company s more affordable Classic line of products. As expected from Burmester, construction and finish are to the very highest standards, and a lot of substantial machined aluminium helps account for much of this amplifier s hefty 25kg (55lb) weight. The company logo is proudly machined into the top cover and all the aluminium casework is etched and anodised. The overall appearance is very smart although one should be aware of a few sharp edges when first lifting it out of the packaging. Inside, construction is again of the anticipated top quality. The bulk of the space is taken up by a power supply board, no fewer than 24 reservoir capacitors, and a toroidal transformer in a screening can. Another board sits across the rear panel, carrying all the input & output connections, together with some RF filtering and transient suppression of the incoming mains supply, and the comprehensive protection circuits. The power amplifier boards are bolted to each of the side heatsinks via solid copper slabs. Each has two pairs of very fast Toshiba power transistors that are operated well within their ratings. No information was offered about the design, but since the amplifier draws 60W in its idling state and so runs quite warm to the touch, it s fair to assume that the output runs several watts into Class A. The front panel carries a power button alongside two LEDs: one for power, the other indicating standby. The rear panel has a single pair of hefty 3- way binding posts for each channel output, together with XLR balanced inputs (unbalanced phono to balanced adaptors are also provided). Burmester recommends balanced operation, and it ties in with the wiring methods of their other products. As well as a power socket and switch there are remote in/out connections for a Burmester linking system, and a 6.3mm headphone jack, the use of which mutes the loudspeakers. It is some years since I last listened to one of this family of amplifiers outside of an exhibition, so I was keen to see if the brand had maintained its earlier standards. I needn t have worried. Barely half 14 JUL AUG SEPT 2013

5 REVIEW STAN CURTIS an hour after switching on, while still just checking all was well, I was immediately taken by what I was hearing and settled down to an hour s impromptu listening. Regular readers will know that I do like my organ music, yet all too often organ recordings can sound quite bland or heavy. But this is an acoustic instrument, and not only does every organ sound different in the flesh, but they can often sound different day to day, as the tuning drifts, the temperature changes, and tiny air leaks start to do their worst. So there is often a lot to be heard during an organ recital. I listened to Christopher Herrick playing Edwin LeMare s Concertstuck No1 in the form of a Polonaise, and it was portrayed full of life with almost a rasp from the pedal pipes. I could imagine the grand old showman throwing same organist playing Alfred Hollin s A Trumpet Minuet demonstrated his mastery of the really complex pedalwork in this piece. And instead of a booming muddle of bass work, I heard some really clean articulation of the notes, as if it had been well played on the lower keys of a piano. don t get much bluer than Elmore James singing Dust My Broom. OK, so it s not the greatest recording technically; probably transcribed from an indifferent direct-to-vinyl recording. But it has life in shovel loads and here the distortions and colorations blended in as though he d simply smoked too many of those full strength tar-laden cigarettes. By this stage I knew the plus and minus scores of this amplifier, and so far it was all pluses. First, given a half decent recording, this amplifier portrays everything in 3D. It creates an exceptional soundstage with depth and width, and even delivers that very rare commodity: space between the instruments. I could recommend it for that alone, but we are not looking at a one trick pony here. with that comes a slight tonal brightness. Nothing to worry me here, I should add, thanks to the natural roll-off that years of listening to rock and roll brings, but maybe it s something that others impression that the overall sound might be bass light, but that impression is soon dismissed. Rather it has a bass that is clean, really detailed and has so much control that any hint of additional boom is banished. I began to suspect that we had here an amplifier which could unpeel the layers of complex recordings so I turned to a few pan-potted studio JUL AUG SEPT 2013 HFC_issue31 10.indd 15 recordings where the entire soundstage had been synthesised at the mixing desk. On went the Art My Brain of Noise s Crusoe Is Like a Sieve, and finally the relatively unknown William Orbit version of Pavane pour une Infante Defunte, entirely created on electronic keyboards. In each case the delivery verged on revelatory, creating space between the musical strands and letting previously unheard sounds just peep through. After trying this amplifier with a number of different sources and loudspeakers, I d already concluded that the 036 was in the very good-toexcellent class. But there was more to come. When finally coupled with a matching Burmester CD player in fully balanced mode, results were magical. therefore inevitably drawn into a late night listening session where old discs, rarely seen in recent years, were brought out. So from 1968 I had Stevie Winwood singing No Face, No Name, No Number, which went from 2D to 3D and dragged me into the session complete with the audible but unimportant tape distortion. Yes, I could almost smell that recording session. Top s Gimme All Your Lovin, which demonstrated that the 036 could play very loud yet still hold everything together. Yes, the sound was hard, punchy and aggressive, but that s the way ZZ Top plays, and I loved it. My other great musical weakness is female voice and here it doesn t matter if we are talking Joan Sutherland, Karla Bonoff, Dolly Parton, Faryl Smith or Debbie Harry. And listening through this system, I simply loved the fact that these voices came across with so much texture and reality. Many tracks later I decided to tone things down with a real old favourite; Rickie Lee Jones singing I Won t Grow Up. Of course she always delivers and her voice seems to have been designed for demonstrating hi-fi systems, but rarely have I heard this song sound so intimate yet with ton of vibrancy and sheer pizzazz. And that was enough subtlety for one day, so it was onto the Floyd s Dark Side of the Moon, and I listened through the whole album end to end. Who said hi-fi is dead?! As a power amplifier the Burmester 036 is simply excellent. No ifs, no buts and no excepts for. It just does its job. But put it into a complete Burmester system and it s a revelation. I ll simply conclude by pointing out that you probably understand that audio designers inevitably have a bit of an ego where their own designs are concerned. On this occasion I can only sum things up by saying I wish I d designed this amplifier! RECOMMENDED Manufacturer s Specifications Power output (8ohms): 88W/ch Power output (4ohms): 170W/ch Mono bridged (4ohms): 350W Input impedance unbalanced (via XLR to RCA adaptor): 13.5kohm Input impedance balanced: 1.9kohm (Note: these very low values are unsuitable for valve pre-amps) THD + Noise: <0.005% Damping Factor: 1006 Signal-to-noise ratio: >105dB Dimensions (WxHxD): 48.2x10.5x48.2cm Weight: 18kg Price: 6,198 Contact: Midland Audio X-Change See: /9/13 20:14:43

6 Subjective Sounds PAUL MESSENGER AUDIO AND MUSIC JOURNAL BECAUSE IS FUNDED BY ITS READERS THE SUBSCRIPTION COST IS NECESSARILY HIGHER THAN FOR MAGAZINES SUBSIDISED BY ADVERTISING REVENUE, THOUGH CERTAINLY NOT AS HIGH AS PROFESSIONAL SPECIALIST JOURNALS. Our budget is directed towards obtaining the very best research and writing from the very best freelance authors, whom we encourage to express themselves fully in print, an opportunity not always available via established publishing regimes. Through the use of a virtual office, we aim to be exceptionally cost effective. Subscription management, production, printing, editorial, design, laboratory measurement and journalism are scattered around the world, yet are also efficiently and almost instantaneously linked at the touch of an send button. Our independence from product advertising allows us to criticise and comment without fear or favour. The team scrutinises interesting and internationally important issues and equipment in depth and detail, technically and subjectively, and provides comprehensive investigations into the key issues facing high quality stereo music recording and reproduction today. Martin Colloms, Publisher SUBSCRIPTION DETAILS: Full details are provided on the website, including foreign rates and secure electronic payment. If you prefer to pay direct for the UK please copy this page and send the filled in form, including a cheque payable to Ltd and send it to:, 29 Flask Walk, London NW3 1HH. Our website supports the day-to-day activities, reports, archive and download material, while the Journal contains the primary contemporary output of our editorial team. The audio journal is a full colour print magazine with about 40,000 words of original editorial content per issue. To see what is in our most recent issue, see our current issue page. Name... Address Town... Post Code... Country Please give your choice of issue number for start of subscription (see above) Issue no.... UK SUBSCRIPTION PRICES: (mail included) 1 Year 60, for four, quarterly issues Do hi-fi enthusiasts spend too much time going round in circles? It s all to easy to effect a modest improvement on one element in the performance of a system while not noticing that some other parameter has suffered a minor deterioration. It s never likely to be a deliberate oversight, but it is easily done, and is all too public if a reviewer commits findings to print. By and large I m cautious and conservative side in making hi-fi system changes and component judgements, which is one reason why I try to avoid the sort of internet chatter that all too often seems to involve mistakes (and all too rarely subsequent retractions). And because the timescales involved are so much more extended, hopefully giving time for some mature reflection, I ve long felt much happier writing for monthly (in this case quarterly) magazines than for weeklies or dailies. One advantage of having a decent interval between editions is that it allows at least a fair amount of time to run in components. When Martin Colloms told me of his NACA5 speaker cable epiphany, I still had a reasonable amount of time to prepare a set and arrive at my own opinions. I don t normally check up on MC, I should add, but I was particularly intrigued by his NACA5 findings as I d spent some twenty years using this cable and stubbornly resisting the many blandishments of a very profitable cable sector. The last few years I have used Chord Signature for a while before purchasing some mechanically damped Vertex AQ cables. Going back to NACA5 would be interesting as well as nostalgic. I managed to find an unused run of NACA5, carefully flexed it section by section along its length, then plugged in both ends. I was then able to run in the cable for a couple of weeks before starting to write, and have to admit it was an entirely pleasant experience much of time I wasn t even particularly aware of the change during low level casual listening. Winding up the volume and paying more attention did render the differences more obvious, and also incidentally the reason why I d made the changes. That s not to put down the Naim cable, which is actually a thoroughly solid performer that sells for an exceptionally competitive price. It shows brilliant time-coherence and fine dynamics, and also became significantly better when I took the precaution of cleaning the various Burndy connectors that link the external power supplies to the Naim pre- and power amps. (This merely involves unplugging and replugging both ends of the lead a few times in order to clean the contacts, and is a procedure that ought to be carried out roughly every six months or so.) Despite its undoubted good points, NACA5 also has some less enjoyable characteristics, which is why I started looking elsewhere. The top end sounds rather untidy and edgy, so I started searching for something a little sweeter, eventually settling on Vertex AQ s Hi-Rez Moncayo cable, which has silver conductors and incorporates vibration absorption and RFI shielding. This Vertex cable is a rather different proposition: the mechanical damping and shielding make it sound significantly quieter and tidier than NACA5, with notably better imaging, while the silver conductors also give a rather brighter tonal balance. Thus far I haven t found a good reason to go back to NACA5, though I m currently giving it another go, still like much of what it does, especially in its coherence and dynamic expression. And I guess two weeks may not be long enough, so I ll persist for a bit longer. But like I said in the editorial: hi-fi is a broad church, and it needs to accommodate a similarly broad range of individual tastes. 60 JUL AUG SEPT 2013