Playlist Update - Kelly McFarling

Hello again, and welcome back to my infrequent Playlist Update! Last Sunday, my girlfriend and I went to a local fundraiser for local cyclists hosted by some good friends of ours from Yoga. The event was held in the backyard of their apartment complex, and featured a number of local SF bands. Two were real knock-outs in my opinion - Kelly McFarling, and Con Brio.

I'll start with Kelly McFarling. Her debut studio album is "Distractible Child" which is spinning as I write. I talked with her for a little while before and after her performance, and from what I could tell she's a woman who is easy to talk to, who has great style (I loved those metallic gray leggings under a pink short skirt, which somehow worked with the weathered cowboy boots - the same pair she's wearing on the album cover, I think), and who has a musical gift. Her instruments are the banjo and her amazing voice. The music is folksy-country, I guess... I'm not very experienced in those musical styles, so I'm winging it big time. The album is not particularly well-recorded technically, but it manages to convey her emotion and musical beauty. I would say her lyrics and her voice are infused with a certain melancholy. All together, the music makes me feel like it's early in the Fall, when the feeling of summer still lingers in the air but is quickly receding to the coolness and particular pleasures of Autumn. This is not to say that the music is a downer - in fact, it has quite the opposite effect on me - but consider that Autumn is my favorite season. Kelly McFarling is my new favorite local artist. Check her out.

More Coverage of the CA Audio Show to Come!

I have a small handful of more rooms I plan to write about including photos, but please be patient while I keep my day job going in order to support this wonderful audiophile hobby of ours and my blog!

Cheers.

CA Audio Show - Tannoy and Linn Room

I spent an enjoyable Saturday at the 2011 California Audio Show, hosted by Dagogo. Tracy and I met up at 8am at the local coffee shop, headed over around 8:30, and were in full swing with badges and program booklets by 9am sharp. Eight hours later, I stumbled out of the Crowne Plaza hotel, tired but excited about all the great gear I'd seen as well as some of the cool people I had either re-acquanited myself with or met for the first time.

The first room I'd like to mention was hosted by Steven Lester, who was making music through a Tannoy Definition DC-8 ($3600) "monitor" speakers sitting on Pangea stands which in turn rested on budget stone slabs to keep the whole kit steady on the hotel room carpet. All electronics were Linn Akurate, including the Akurate 2200 power amp ($5200) which in turn was being controlled by the Akurate Kontrol pre-amplifier ($6500).  Feeding the preamp was an Akurate DS ($6990), which is a digital music server and DAC all in one box. A Qnap NAS drive was linked digitally into the Akurate DS, and a iPad running Plugplayer provided the user interface for track selection. Cabling was mostly mid-level MIT. He also had Linn Akurate speakers hooked up, but I didn't hear them.

I thought the Tannoy/Linn room setup was well thought out, with the speakers located against the long wall to the left of the room entrance, and a handful of chairs facing them and located a foot or two away from the rear wall. Almost all other rooms were arranged with the speakers shooting down the long wall at the listener as you entered the room. I felt the Tannoy/Linn room arrangement allowed for enough spacing behind the speakers while letting them breathe to the left and right. In any case, the Tannoy Definition DC8's demonstrated surprising bass extension which was well articulated, controlled and tuneful. On one electronic music track, the deep synthesizer notes moved quickly and powerfully along. One other track featured a male singer whose voice was deep and the system captured its texture and power very well. To these ears, the system sounded overall smooth and surprisingly punchy considering the size of the speakers (though they do have an 8" woofer cone). I felt good PRAT as my foot naturally bounced along to a few tracks. The high frequencies were nicely extended as far as I could tell. Overall it was a fun and enjoyable room!

I also had the pleasure to meet Jason Victor Serinus while listening to music in this room, and we adjourned to the hallway for a brief but interesting chat about this and that audio. What a nice guy.

A High Resolution Room for Your Consideration

Recently I skipped out of work early on a sunny Friday afternoon, and made my over to my audiophile buddy's room for a listen to his most recent setup. He has high-end equipment that he was eager to share with me, and the good fortune of having a dedicated room that he can setup exactly as he pleases, or I should say as his system dictates. I have been to his room before, when he had a similar setup as he has today, except that previously he owned Salk HT3 speakers in a superb black ash finish. In fact, it was through the common touchstone of Salk speakers (I own the HT1-TL in case you missed that) that we originally connected. Anyway, here's a quick rundown of his current equipment along with a photo of his pad.

The digital bits are decoded by a Sony SCD-1 VSE-modded Level 7, which is connected to a Joule-Electra LA-450ME preamp, on to Spectron Musician III Mk. II monoblocks, and ending with the eFicion F300 speakers.

Synergistic Research is used to connect almost all components - interconnects and speaker cables are from the Apex line. Power cords are Hologram D connected to the CD player, with a pair of T-3 cords connected to the monoblocks. The exception to the all-SR lineup is an Elrod Silver Statement power cord attached to the preamp. All power cords hook into a SR Powercell 10SE. The speaker cables are connected via SR Speakercells, and SR Galileo MPCs are employed on all interconnects. All of his cables have been "cooked" using an Audiodharma Cable Cooker 3.0. Various acoustic panels and bass traps are strategically employed to help counteract the usual trouble spots of corner loading and first and second order reflection points, and the floor is covered with a large plush rug. The room is fairly large, with speakers and listening chair placed in what I believe is an equilateral triangle configuration spaced roughly ten feet per side. Speakers are distanced about five feet from either sidewall and the front wall. The back wall behind the listening chair is at least ten feet away. Such was the state of the system as I settled into the Captain's chair (the ONLY chair in this room!) for a listen to my demo CD, which included the following tracks:

• Damien Rice, "Then Go", from Live From The Union Chapel
• Pink Martini, "Amado Mio", from Sympathique
  
• Rodrigo y Gabriella, "Master Maqui", from 11:11
• MIDIval PunditZ, "Electric Universe (Acoustic)", from Hello Hello
  
• CeU, "Lenda", from CeU
  
• Adele, "Set Fire To The Rain", from 21
• Adele, "He Won't Go", from 21
• Wild Beasts, "Albatross", from Smother
  
• Si*Se, "Mariposa En Havana", from More Shine
  
• Ojos De Brujo, "No Somos Maquinas", from Techari
  
• Ojos De Brujo, "Respira", from Techari
  
• Massive Attack, "Paradise Circus", from Heligoland

We also listened fairly extensively to some of his recordings. We discussed that his primary goals for audio reproduction are the highest possible fidelity and precision. To that end, his CD selections were not only good music, but are beautiful audiophile recordings as well. I contrast that against my main interests which are for the system to clearly communicate the ebb and flow, the rhythm, of the music. To that end, PRAT is a key component for me.

From a technical standpoint, one of the first qualities that struck me, even awed me, was the razor quick transients - for example, drum shots were filled with tremendous energy and snappy-ness. To my ears, there was little-to-no rounding of transient information, neither was there pre- or post-ringing in the notes. This was a fun and exciting experience! Interestingly, this did not seem to translate to a strong sense of PRAT. While some songs had me swaying in time which was good, none really set my toes to bouncing along to the music as I would have liked. Another characteristic that was impressive was the extremely black background, which I believe helped contribute to this system's sense of dynamic snap. I believe that the physical separation of the electronics, as well as their high build quality and electrical design, were major contributors, as was the sonically black room. By contrast, in my much smaller space which employs a few key room treatments (due to domestic considerations, as my room is also our living room), where the TacT RCS2.0 shoulders most of the "treatment" duties, my listening couch is situated against the back wall, and the system is asymmetrically placed, I can detect the room interfering with the music in a way I was not as aware of until after this recent visit.

Instruments and musicians were readily identifiable within the soundstage, their locations well articulated. The soundstage was rendered as nicely as the recording allowed, which means in some cases the acoustic images were constrained to between the speakers, while at other times they pushed far outside to the left and right, and also expanded high and low in height. In the depth direction, the sound reached out as if trying to touch my nose, while it did not extend nearly as far back behind the speakers. In sum, the system generated a large soundstage box with a center of gravity positioned well forward of the speaker plane. While I would have ultimately preferred more depth behind the speaker plane, overall this was an expansive, layered soundstage presentation that was thoroughly enjoyable.

Powerful and articulate, well-defined bass was present when the recording included it, which is one of my favorite parts. High frequencies were nicely extended with copious air. I thought that the midrange was a touch more forward in the frequency spectrum and at times ever-so-slightly less clear compared with the completely clear remainder of the spectrum. This prompted a discussion during a pause in the music, and my friend mentioned that his speaker manufacturer has a new upper-unit crossover circuit that will be installed in the near future. Perhaps a return visit will help this listener understand what differences, dare I say improvements, the new circuitry may have.

Technical aspects dispensed with, let's discuss the arguably (for some) more important musical side. Jazz, acoustic, vocal, and what little classical music we listened to, were very well represented. When I put on some of my "rock" recordings (admittedly, and in particular with the American music, these tracks are fairly compressed) the system did its utmost to reveal every detail in the recording. Unfortunately, this rendered some of my more favorite musical selections less interesting to listen to than at my home. My friend confirmed his preference for technically well-recorded jazz, classical, and the like - with that music, his system sings. My preferences are to other musical genres which unfortunately usually include the standard recording flaws, and in that regard his system was not as gracious to those recordings. Nonetheless, some of my rock recordings, particularly the World Music selections, were tremendous fun to listen to, with solid dynamics, punchiness, and deep bass slam. Later at home, listening to the demo tracks in familiar surroundings, I understand some of why this may be true - namely, my system's bass response is slightly elevated below about 150Hz (intentionally, per my TacT correction curve) and there is a small hump between 200-700Hz (part of my natural room/speaker interactions), which together seem to give compressed music a little more life but which are artificial in the sense that the frequency response of my system is not entirely flat (but who's is?). I wager that my friend's system would measure flatter in it's overall frequency response, or at least in these areas of the frequency spectrum. In his system, music had life and breath and let me hear what the musician was communicating, but it was presented in a straightforward way - no bells and whistles, just the facts, ma'am. The soul and swing of the music, the subtle shifts of the musical rhythms, were also there but not conveyed as strongly as I would prefer.

During three hours we listened and chatted, traded music selections, and generally BS'd about equipment and audio in general. Given what I heard that day, he has progressed down his stated audiophile path admirably and it has opened my eyes to the heights of resolution and purity to which our audiophile hobby aspires. I understand he will be making some key component changes in the upcoming weeks and months, and I am looking forward to a return visit soon. I also look forward to the day when I have a larger dedicated room to spread out my electronics, optimize speaker locations, and apply some more treatment!

Listening to the BC3000mk2 versus BC21.1

For the past eight or nine years, I have owned a Blue Circle BC21.1 tubed preamp. This used to be BC's entry level preamp, but is now discontinued and has been for some time. Every once in a while one of these puppies pops up on Audiogon, but not that frequently. Perhaps that attests to the love its owners have for it, that they keep it around for a long time, like I have. Perhaps five years ago, I sent it back to Gilbert at Blue Circle for a few upgrades - namely, a Level 1 outboard power supply, a new selector switch (same as that used in higher models), and to bypass the balance control which I never used anyways. Last year, I had another 10,000uF of cap added inside the chassis. While it is not as tricked out as a BC21.1 can be, it is fairly far along in that department. Certainly, a significant change from its first baby steps in my system.

Not only has the BC21.1 been trusty and true, but I have loved its beautiful music. The presentation is fairly dynamic in the bass department and full of PRAT (Pacing, Rhythm, and Timing). Put another way, it is full of life and passion. Not without its flaws, it can also tend to get a little bogged down when a musical passage becomes too complex, and it was not the last word in high frequency extension, with cymbals being the most obvious victim. But these errors are forgivable given its modest price point. In my system over time, it had never felt like the weak link. That is, until recent system upgrades such as the discerning and fast Bryston BDA-1 DAC, the TACT RCS 2.0 room correction "computer", the brilliant Salk HT1-TL ribbon speakers, and BC22mk2 POT+LOC monoblock amplifiers, have forced me re-evaluate and consider a more expensive alternative - the BC3000mk2.

I choose to stay with Blue Circle because I like their house sound, and I like knowing that Gilbert is up early and up late (I assume) working on all manner of pedestrian (read: stock) and exotic (read: as custom as you want to go) gear. I follow the BC blog regularly, and Gilbert is always innovating. And it's all handmade - by Gilbert. Fun.

So one day, a BC3000mk2 became available on Audiogon, for sale by one of the BC forum members. I leapt and bought it. But before I spend any time describing the differences between my old and new preamplifiers, let me first give a little more history. Since I have been contemplating a preamplifier upgrade, I contacted Gilbert with my likes/dislikes and he suggested a BC109. This is Blue Circle's only solid state preamp, and judging from the BC forum, it's a doozy. The BC109 has so much capacitance that, after a complete charge-up, it can run without connection to the wall for many hours, depending on how much capacitance it has. This supposedly yields an incredibly smooth, grain free, distortion-free sound that is pure heaven to hear. I am paraphrasing what I have read, of course. I haven't heard it yet, but I plan to do so in the not-so-distant future. Before I do, I first wanted to hear what the BC3000 was all about.

What does a more than doubling of price get you? Well, it offers tremendous technical improvement in almost every area of listening performance. In the bass region, notes are taught, starting and stopping quickly with little or no overhang, and reveal good texture (as the recording allows). In my system and even with the TACT, some low frequencies can suffer at the merciless hands of my room. With the BC21.1, certain bass notes are either lower or higher in volume, or are fast or bloated and slow. Switching to the BC3000mk2, these issues are nearly completely resolved. I am sure there are several reasons why this is the case, including the circuit design itself, but I suspect that the fairly large outboard power supply (roughly twice the size of the BC21.1 power supply) also plays a big role here. This also means that large swells in the music are indeed subjectively louder and more powerful thru the BC3000 than the BC21.1.

The midrange vocals are also well served, more polished and refined, less grain. High frequencies are clearly and without doubt more extended. Any song with cymbals in it easily demonstrates this fact. Interestingly, the sound from the BC3000mk2 appears to be more dynamic with regards to drums and acoustic guitars. It is as if these instruments hit you in the face, thru the higher level preamp. As they should. I am not saying that the presentation of the BC3000 is necessarily more forward compared with the BC21.1. Instead, it's more like the music is pushing up against the soundstage boundary more forcefully, as if it's filling the acoustic "room" of the recording more fully.

In my system, the front of the sound stage was a couple feet in front of the speakers, and extends by another couple of feet behind the speakers to the back wall boundary. If music is recorded with good left-right or vertical staging, then the BC3000 easily reproduces that, often extending outside the speaker boundaries. Vocals are well layered, separating the main singer from backup vocals. The sound space is somehow more densely populated in the BC3000 compared with the BC21.1, yet there exists more space between performers and instruments. The background of the BC3000 is extremely quiet - you could hear a pin drop in the recording venue.

The one drawback I have found is the way BC3000 presents its bass. I contrast this against the very positive bass qualities I commented on above. It's most expedient to say that, with the BC21.1, my feet were bouncing along with the song; with the BC3000 my body was swaying but the feet tended to be more still. Perhaps this is because the BC21.1 is more bass heavy while the BC3000 is more balanced over the frequency range. Probably the BC3000 is more correct in its presentation. But the BC21.1 wins me over in this area.

The BC3000 is staying in my system for the time being because it offers (nearly) everything. Can the BC109 solid state preamp offer me everything I want.... the best of both the BC3000 and BC21.1 worlds, plus an even more refined presentation? Or, would an even larger outboard power supply (like the Gzpz, or KQ) mated with the BC3000 completely win me over? I don't know yet. Until then, I will continue to enjoy the amazing Blue Circle preamps!

Measuring the TacT RCS 2.0 Performance - Part Two (Time Domain)

It's been a while since my last post. I chalk it up to an eclectic combination of factors. First and funnest, I received the BC3000mk2 preamp about 6 weeks ago, and have been immersed in listening to my system as if for the first time. More details of the BC3000's capabilities to follow in another post (no, really - I'll get to it!). Second, the work I do that pays the bills has been kicking me in the gnads and my weekends have recently been relegated to Rest & Recovery. While the siren call of adding more blog entries has never ceased - I hear her voice calling insistently - what really pushed me over the edge to continue writing is that a good audio friend recently commented over email "Your blog is getting stale". Wow! He is right!! So, as the dying light of a clear but chilly early summer Sunday evening in San Francisco illuminates my keyboard, I sit in the sweet spot with randomly selected songs streaming in thru Jody's MacBook and will attempt to illuminate you, my reader, with a second installment of TacT measurements. All of these measurements are with the BC21.1 in the system. Since then, of course, I have replaced the BC21.1 with the BC3000, and also subtly altered the TacT target response curve.... that, someday, could constitute another set of comparisons, another blog post. Will it never end!?! Apparently not.

The first TacT measurement installment concerned the improvements in frequency response that the TacT rendered. But that doesn't tell the whole story. According to the TacT website, their approach is to correct in the time domain, which naturally correlates to frequency domain improvement (I'll let you read more details there if you are so inclined). So let's see how the TacT performs. First set of three graphs are the Impulse Response Envelope (ETC) Traces with a 10mS smoothing applied. The goal of the first two plots is to show what the impulse responses looked like before (Bypass) and after TacT correction. Finally, the third graph demonstrates the left channel before and after correction. I am not showing you the right channel because the before and after responses are fairly similar as expected, but the left speaker, which is shoved (for lack of a better word) into the corner of my room, reveals by far the more dramatic changes.

Figure 1. Uncorrected (Bypass) left and right channel responses.

In Fig. 1, notice that there is a good amount of pre-ringing particularly in the left channel. After the impulse is applied, the channel responses do not decay together as the left channel reveals a longer delay.

Figure 2. Corrected (after TacT) left and right channel responses.

In Fig. 2, pre-ringing is GONE! The main impulse response is uniform and decays very consistently between channels. There is a some "roughness" evident in the right channel decay, which could be due to the fact that the 2nd order reflection point of the right speaker for the wall to my left was untreated when these measurements were taken. Today, an EchoBusters panel absorbs the reflections at that point, so future measurements may reveal a smoother decay for the right channel.

Figure 3. Uncorrected (Bypass) vs. corrected (after TacT) left channel response.

Finally, Fig. 3 is demonstrating the left channel uncorrected versus corrected responses, to highlight the dramatic improvement by the TacT unit.

The last two figures are the spectrogram frequency vs. time decay plots for the bass region from 20Hz to 200Hz. These graphs are with both channels driven simultaneously. Figure 5 with TacT correction demonstrates reduced pre-ringing, a more evenly distributed frequency response across the range, and superior damping at all frequencies. One more point of interest is that, before TacT (bypass mode), the frequency response extends strongly down to 20Hz. However, after TacT, the bass response begins to drop significantly below about 25Hz. This is by design, and reflects the TacT correction curve that was applied (see the first installment of this series). My system correspondingly has a much faster and cleaner bass response.

Figure 4. Spectrogram plot of the uncorrected (Bypass) response.

Figure 5. Spectrogram plot of the corrected (after TacT) response.

Blue Circle BC3000 Mkii To Replace My BC21.1

So I took the plunge and bought a used BC3000 mkii tubed preamplifier to replace my trusty heavily modded BC21.1. It should arrive in about a week or two. I am psyched!!

I am writing this painfully slowly on my iPhone so I will keep it short for now. More detailed info on why I made this decision, and where I hope to take my system, in a soon to follow installment.

Measuring the TacT RCS 2.0 Performance - Part One (Frequency)

I am posting exciting measurement results comparing the SPL room response before and after TacT correction, compared to the target curve I asked TacT to meet. I haven't personally seen this type of comparison done online (though it may well exist somewhere), perhaps because it requires two separate steps: first, measurement and correction with TacT; second, a way to measure the post-correction response. For those not familiar with the TacT unit, this machine does not allow you to measure the system response after correction has been applied. I have already showed in a previous blog entry the original room response (i.e., pre-correction) using TacT's measurement method compared to the target curve which is my goal.

For this exercise, I used REW software along with M-Audio hardware and microphone to measure the response both before (Original Response) and after (TacT Correction) of my system. The microphone has a calibration curve applied, specific to the microphone model. I directed REW to send the test sweep signal through both speakers simultaneously. This is contrary to advice, or maybe you would say common wisdom, that the averaged R+L response is "closer" to what we, as listeners, perceive to be the tonal balance of our system. However, what I have found is that when I compare the REW results of both speakers against the R+L averaged response, that the results of both speakers being driven are closer to the target curve. This is not conclusive proof of anything, but has led me to use this REW result in the graphs below. For the reason why my Target TacT curve looks the way it does, please check out my previous blog entry on TacT Curves - but, in summary, here is my rationale: 1) below 300 Hz, I want to tailor the bass response to slowly rise as frequency decreases, and then drop off quickly below about 25 Hz. This imparts a powerful character to the bass notes and balances the overall frequency response, while also respecting the physical limitations of my modestly sized speakers; 2) above 300 Hz, I like the overall balance in my system and choose to basically preserve the original response. Note: I believe the dip in response above about 8kHz is an anomaly in this graph, since it is not seen in some of my other measurements when the original response has been measured.

Fig. 1. Original response of my system before TacT correction, shown against the target response that TacT is asked to achieve.

Figure 2 shows the result after Tact correction has been applied, shown with the target response. Overall, the target has been met, which is amazing to my eyes and to my ears! However, there are a few points worth mentioning. First, the response below about 150 Hz is almost exactly what I have specified. The goal here is to optimize (reduce) the demand on the amplifier and speaker in this region, which simultaneously frees up more power for the higher frequencies. Listening comparisons reveal that these goals have been achieved and result in a cleaner presentation of the music overall. Yeah for me, and yeah for the music.

Second, in the region between 150Hz and 300Hz, the TacT did a valiant job to help tame the suck out, but ultimately there is a still a sizable dip in frequency response. Generally this is to be expected since it isn't recommended to use an equalization tool (ultimately, that's what TacT is) to help fill in the dips too aggressively; however, the depth of the dip has been reduced. Whether this is due to TacT "filling in the hole" or whether the amplifiers are simply better able to compensate due to less demand in the lower bass region, I don't know. Either way, it's a win for my ears.

Finally, in the frequencies above 300Hz, the characteristics of my system have been well maintained. Score.

Fig. 2. Corrected response of my system using TacT, shown against the target response that TacT is asked to achieve.

Of course, the graphs so far are the system response with both speakers driven simultaneously. If we think just a little deeper, we might wonder what the individual Left and Right responses look like, both before and after TacT correction. In other words, is TacT also helping to equalize the channels individually, a particularly relevant question for my off-center setup. Glad you asked! Let's take a look...

Figure 3. Individual Left and Right speaker responses, before TacT correction (Original response)

Fig. 3 shows the Left and Right individual speaker responses, before TacT correction is applied. Below 300 Hz and even up to 700Hz, there are fairly large discrepancies in the response of the two channels. Perhaps not surprisingly, above 700Hz, the responses are fairly well correlated.

Figure 4. Individual Left and Right speaker responses, after TacT correction (Corrected response)

Fig. 4 shows the Left and Right individual speaker responses, after TacT correction is applied. In the lower frequency domain, the responses are now very well correlated, though there are still some discrepancies between 30Hz and 70Hz. But, certainly, the magnitude of the differences is much less than before TacT was applied (Fig 3), and of course the overall bass response is as expected. Above 300 Hz, the channels are definitely even better correlated than before TacT, though there is now a difference in the region around 1kHz that doesn't exist in Fig. 3.

As you can see, the TacT has made a world of difference over the entire frequency response of my system, and is certainly doing an excellent job of correction when we review the measurement data. If you don't have one already, and you have bass problems that you can't tame - who doesn't? - then I recommend that you get one of these units as soon as possible. You will not regret it! 

 Next time - what do the time domain measurements look like??? Stay tuned for more measurement updates in an upcoming installment....

New Music - Adele

Check out Adele's new album, 21. We've only listened to a few tracks, but her voice is AMAZING! I guess the album releases on Feb 22. I'm going to pre order it tonight.

Has anyone heard of her already?

ps - we found her from the song on the "I Am Number Four" movie trailer...

Digital Cable Shoot-Out: Cardas Neutral Reference. Finally, the Results Are In

Finally, I am ready to post the results of my first digital cable shoot-out. As a refresher, here are the contenders:

1. Cardas High Speed Data digital cable (S/PDIF, 1.0m) - retail $77 for 0.5m
   
2. Cardas Neutral Reference Digital cable (AES/EBU, 0.5m) - retail $236 for 0.5m
   

I had originally planned to also include results for a Toslink cable, but bailed in the interests of time (or, laziness?). However, I do feel that the current comparison was well worth the effort. As usually happens when comparing two pieces of good equipment, albeit at different price points, my listening sessions did not indicate a winner per se, but rather revealed cables with different strengths. I did not say "strengths and weaknesses" because I believe that what one person identifies as a weakness, another might identify as a strength, or a plus. So, I will do my best to describe what I heard and what I chose, and let you be the judge.

Before I begin, a summary of today's listening conditions is in order. The BC21.1 preamp is out of order probably until next weekend, when I plan to perform the needed repairs. This means that the analog outputs from the Bryston DAC are routed directly to the inputs of the BC22 monoblocks, and the TacT performs the (digital) volume control duty. I now have an all solid state system for the first time since entering high-end audio proper. This has been an eye-opening experience - some good, some bad - but I will leave a detailed write-up until after the BC21.1 is back in the loop. The music is Ceu's self-titled album Ceu (2006), a punchy but chill Brazilian sound with clear, expressive vocals played through the Arcam. My trusty dog Brodie is lying at the other end of the couch, and I have just started a glass of the fairly good Chalone Vineyard 2007 Pinot Noir.

The Neutral Reference (NR) cable lives up to its name, and its main strength lies in the bass region. Bass notes are more clearly delineated and textured, with a quicker start and stop. Voices are presented slightly forward of the speaker plane, and background vocals are more distinct, or separated in depth, from the main vocal. Background silence between notes is decidedly blacker, though only by a shade. Overall, the NR cable conveys quickness and precision. The HSD cable is also very good, with a nearly equal dynamic performance to the Neutral Reference. Its presentation is more inline with the speaker plane, not forward of it. A main differentiator is that the HSD cable imparts a breathy, glow-y quality to vocals. I would even go far as to say the HSD yields more vocal emotion in that tube way, while the NR is more akin to a solid state sound. Somehow, the HSD seems also to give a more funky, almost laid back, rhythm to Ceu's tracks, like this is a cable that is more in sync with the musical sense she's trying to convey.

As you can see - strengths and weaknesses, plus's and minus's. In my current all solid state setup, I prefer the High Speed Data cable for its more tube like presentation. My choice will probably swing back the other way to the Neutral Reference cable when the tubed BC21.1 is back in service. In fact, when I had a detailed listen a couple weekends ago when the Blue Circle preamp was in the driver's seat, the Neutral Reference cable was my choice.

Major Ignition!

Last night when I turned on my preamp, I smelled smoke! Holy cow. Bending down to take a close look, I actually saw some wisps leaking gently from the top of the preamp cover. I have owned this preamp for 7 or 8 years, and it has performed flawlessly in every way, so - to put it mildly - this was unexpected and elicited quite a bit of alarm. I unplugged the beast, removed the cover, and found the culprit. I confirmed with Blue Circle that it is a blown filament regulator (a what??). After nearly a decade of faithful service, it just plain wore-out. Anyways, the plan is to buy a new regulator, which costs a few dollars from an electronics supply house, and install it myself with the blessing of the designer. The only operations are a couple of snips, unscrew, re-screw in the new part, then solder two leads. Simple - right? Right.


Here is a picture of the exploded device.

Lastly, I now have the Bryston DAC analog output connected directly into my amps. Digital volume control is provided by TacT. Hmm... Interesting. I don't want to write anymore on that right now, but I just know there will be plenty to report on the way this new configuration sounds when I get my preamp up and running again.

Tube Shoot-out: Genalex and JJ Tesla. The Final Verdict

Now that the Genalex have resided in my system for a couple of weeks and have plenty of burn-in time, I decided to revisit their performance and sound vs. the JJ Tesla. The main set of tracks used for today's listening is from Bebe's album Y., with which I have spent considerable time in the last week or so, and in particular this morning as I prepared for my previous Playlist Update! post.

Reading back over my previous Tube Shoot-out posting, my impressions are still more or less on-target, but I have a few final observations. The Genalex does "unstick" the music from the speakers a bit more than the JJ Teslas, push the soundstage back by comparison, and also - unlike my last posting - I feel the Genalex does perhaps widen the soundstage a smidgen. Sticking the JJ tubes back in the circuit yields a more exciting, up-front presentation with much more coherent PRAT, which to this listener is of first importance.  By PRAT, I mean "Pacing, Rhythm, and Timing", and manifests as better bass timing, probably due to their faster, or more nimble, bass response. Dynamically, the JJ tubes shine head and shoulders above the Genalex in this system. Harmonic content with the JJ's is slightly leaner than with the Genalex's, but in retrospect I feel that the Genalex are on the lush side, so the net effect is that the JJ's restore harmonics to a better balance to my ears. To sum up - with the Genalex, I am listening attentively to the music and enjoying various audiophile aspects of the sound. With the JJ Tesla's, I am off the couch, dancing and smiling. Can you guess which one wins?

I can easily imagine how one audiophile, who values the nth-degree of detail from his or her system and/or a lusher, more laid-back presentation, would prefer the Genalex, which is a fine tube. My brand of audiophile might have a different opinion. To each, their own!

Playlist Update! Bebe, Y.

Bebe's latest album from 2009 is titled Y.. To my knowledge, this is only her second album - her first, Pafuera Telaranas, released in 2005 - has been one of my favorites for years now, and I mentioned it briefly in my inaugural Playlist Update last week. So, this second album had a lot to live up to in my mind... did it succeed?

Well, the answer is a resounding YES! In fact, to this music lover, the new album surpasses her previous effort. The songs on Y. continue to feature Bebe's electric, riveting vocals front and center, providing an anchor to each song. I cannot help but be drawn to her voice. For the most part, she controls it, keeping her voice under control. But occasionally, she really lets it fly and reveals an edgy, biting quality which helps propel a song to its apex. The compositions range from more relaxed, acoustic guitar-driven tracks (e.g., "Sinsentido" or "Nostare"), to harder electric guitar driven rock-style pieces like "Que Mimporta" , to others with a distinct pop'ish sound, such as "Se Fue", and everywhere in between (see "Pa Mi Casa"). All songs are of high musical quality, and all are a joy to listen to.

Other tracks of distinction include "Me Fui" and "Busco-Me", which features a cool out-of-phase nylon stringed guitar melody that opens the track and anchors it throughout. If it's possible to pick a favorite track, it might be "La Bicha", which has a compelling bass-heavy underpinning and a layered "chorus" of back-up vocals from Bebe herself.

I have mentioned eight of thirteen tracks by name! And it's not as if the other five tracks are slouches, either. In fact, there is a not a single track that I don't think is of high quality in the musical sense. The recording quality is also pretty good, devoid of muddy bass or rolled-off highs, with clear vocals, which all told serves to propel her excellent songs. Buy it, and enjoy!

Playlist Update! Inaugural Post

Welcome to the Playlist Update. This is where I will talk about new CDs that I've ordered, and discuss how I found them, which are my favorite tracks, what I think of the recording quality, and more. Here's my MO - I like to have CD quality, but it's unfortunately rare that a site will offer CD-quality downloads. So, I order physical CDs, rip them into iTunes, and then have the option to listen directly to the CD or thru wireless streaming. I also have the advantage of holding the CD case in my hands and reading the liner notes. Call me old fashioned!

I've recently ordered about 15 CDs from Six Degrees Records and CD Universe. However, I'm not yet ready to comment on any of those albums, so let me start with a recommendation of five titles that I've actually owned for a while and listen to fairly regularly...

Si*Se, More Shine. Carol C.'s voice has such an alluring, sexy quality. I enjoy every single track on this album, but of note are Mariposa En Havana and Sometimes.

Bebe, Pafuera Telaranas. Bebe is such an amazingly talented artist, and her voice is electric and edgy. Two of my more favorite tracks include Corre and Siempre Me Quedara.

Ceu, Vagarosa. I am new to Ceu, having discovered her on the great label called Six Degrees. She's Brazilian, and so is the music. Try it.

Ralph Myerz and the Jack Herren Band, A Special Album. Cool. Cool. Cool. Great beats and some funny lyrics. Try Think Twice, a great track.

Supreme Beings of Leisure, 11i. The music is upbeat and, again, I love pretty much every track. The recording quality is decent, but overall it's a little bright sounding. But, that's ok - it's well worth it.

Enjoy!

Tube Shoot-out: Genalex vs. JJ Tesla

The Genalex tubes have arrived!!  Let the competition commence! In the blue corner, the Incumbent: JJ Tesla Gold Pin E88CC. In the red corner, the Challenger: Genalex Gold Lion E88CC.

First off, I am NOT a big-time tube roller. Years ago, I did a little tube rolling when I first got my BC21.1 preamp. It was a fun and instructive experience, comparing ElectroHarmonix, Philips, JAN-Philips, and JJ Tesla brand tubes. I chose the JJ Tesla's because they gave me the best bass performance - namely a solid, tuneful, punchy performance - without sacrificing detail or mid-range smoothness. I have since used this brand almost exclusively, and haven't given further tube rolling much thought.  But a recent post on the Blue Circle Forum got me back in the groove. So, an order for a pair of matched, high gain Genalex tubes went out to thetubestore, and a few days later they arrived via US Mail.

I used a handful of my long-time favorite songs that also often act as demo tracks since I know them well:

Si*Se, More Shine, "Mariposa En Havana"
Bossacucanova, Uma Batida Diferente, "Essa Moca Ta Diferente"
Tori Amos, The Beekeeper, "Sweet the Sting"
Feist, Let It Die, "One Evening"
Toy Division, Visage II, "Budapest Resonance"
CeU, Vagarosa, "Cangote"

A theme common to all of these tracks is fairly articulate, bass-heavy rhythms, with fairly wide soundstages. The artists Si*Se, Tori Amos, Feist, Toy Division, and CeU highlight female vocals. Bossacucanova highlights male vocals. I let the Genalex tubes burn in for about 24 hours before doing any serious listening.

In comparison to the JJ bottles, the more than twice as expensive Genalex tubes offer slightly more inner detail which was clearly evident in vocals, individual instruments such as horns, as well as in bass notes. You can only imagine how exciting this change is from the audiophile perspective. Also, the sounds seem to even further detach, or maybe a good word is "unstick", themselves from the speaker locations - i.e., letting the speakers disappear even more convincingly than before. I believe this also leads to a slightly more 3-dimensional soundstage, in that its depth has increased a little. The soundstage width does not seem to change, as far as I could determine.

The downside is that, in the time domain, the bass performance seems not quite as aligned with the upper frequency spectrum, as in the JJ's. The net effect is that I am not as driven to tap my toes with the Genalex in the system. Also, the bass amplitude comes across as ever so slightly shelved down with the Genalex, as if bass had been turned down by a dB or two.

Keep in mind that these observations are with the TacT calibrated when the JJ tubes were in the preamp and well burned in over several months. To even up the playing field, I re-measured the TacT with the Genalex tubes in the system, and then re-calibrated using the same response curve (see Fig. 2 in my TacT post from January 1). Looking at the measured frequency response between the JJ and Genalex, there is not an appreciable difference; yet, after the re-calibration of the TacT, the sound did change somewhat, with a slightly more open mid-range balance. The frequency extremes didn't seem to change significantly.

How does this all translate into whether I prefer the JJ or the Genalex? It's a coin toss at this point. I prefer the seeming inner detail and soundstage improvements offered by the Genalex, but prefer the bass performance of the JJ's. Since I'm a PRAT kinda guy, then I may end up transitioning back to the less expensive JJ's. But I am first going to let the Genalex burn in a few more weeks before making any final determination.

If you have any stories to share on your own tube rolling experiences, please add your comments!

New Photos in "In the Listening Room"

Check out newly-added photos of my system, in "In the Listening Room".

Cardas Neutral Reference Digital cable on its way!

The Cardas Neutral Reference Digital cable AES/EBU cable I ordered a couple of weeks ago was backordered from AudioAdvisor. Finally, it's on its way! The digital shoot-out will commence as soon as it arrives...

New Tubes On Order. Genalex

I ordered a matched pair of Genalex Gold Lion E88CC/6922 tubes from thetubestore.com today, after a positive nod from a member of the Blue Circle forum. I currently use Tesla JJ E88CC gold pins, which I feel are more rhythmically inclined than the stock Sovteks, with bass being a little punchier and better PRAT. They had better arrive soon!

Pangea AC9 and AC14 Power Cables

Yesterday my order of two each of these power cables arrived. Today, I worked from home, and so - of course - took a "break" and installed them in my system. One each AC9 for my mono blocks, one AC14 for the TacT, and one for the Bryston DAC. Actually, the power hookup setup is more complicated than that, but I will explain that in more detail another time. They replaced some old PSAudio Prelude cords, and one stock cord that came with the Bryston.

First impressions? Thanks for asking! Noise floor has dropped significantly. The speakers have disappeared a little more, by that I mean they are harder to locate as a sound source when I close the eyes. Bass is a touch more controlled, and I noticed inner detail on a bass line that had never struck me before. Yum.

Tone audio online magazine

I am looking thru Tone Audio online magazine for the first time. Its the issue with the Black Crowes on the cover. I've gotten only a little bit into it, but it has a fresh feel. I particularly like the photos of live music events from around the country plus the short accompanying articles about the concerts themselves.

It's available thru the Zinio iPad app too. I currently use Zinio for my Stereophile subscription... I love it and highly recommend it. Anyways, I want to take a closer look before shelling out a few $$ for the ezine subscription.

Blue Circle BC22 Monoblock Amplifier Review

Originally posted on the Blue Circle Forum on Dec 19, 2009

So here I am, on a sunny warm San Francisco morning, sitting inside listening to Portishead’s Dummy. I have collected notes on the sound of my new exciting new BC21.1 and BC22mk2 monoblocks, but it’s more natural for me to write as I listen to music because I’m reminded of what I hear and can more easily put it down on paper.

This journey started something like half a year ago – I could go back and look but don’t feel like it - when I started asking around on the BC forum about what part of my system I should upgrade next. At one point Gilbert chimed in to say he could make BC22mk2 monoblocks, and that there might be a member with one for sale. After negotiations and waiting (story of life), a second 22 was purchased. My 21.1 preamp (previously modded with an outboard power supply) and 22 amp soon joined it, and after an upgrade party, the trio was back in my dirty paws for a complete system make-over. The preamp was in for a check-up, but G offered to double its internal cap… what the heck – yes. The amps were in for POT/LOC upgrades and their transformation to mono. G offered to add 30,000uF more cap to each amp…. what the heck – yes. “By the way, G, can you upgrade to pretty LED’s all around and repaint the covers to matching black?” “Sure.” I’m greatly simplifying the story and every day felt like eternity while I waited, but now that the new gear is here, all of that seems so long ago. The preamp is being fed from the analog output of a TacT RCS2.0AAA DSP unit, which is fed a digital signal from an Arcam FMJ DV29. I enjoy the punchy, rhythmic house sound of Arcam DACs, but find the TacT to be an indispensable component in my system, where the shape of the room restricts setup options and domestic considerations must be, well, considered. Next step is an outboard DAC, but I digress. Enough about the TacT for now, but I will revisit its role later on.

The new gear seems to have undergone a short break-in period since I received them a week or so ago. The bass has firmed up a little, and music is presented in a more integrated manner now. I define not-integrated as meaning that the music was almost literally being thrown at me by the speakers. It was a wonderful but overwhelming experience that I had not previously had listening to any system – either mine or others. Now, the sound pours from the speakers in the most natural, captivating, integrated manner.

The beefed-up power supplies in the 22’s, and maybe also the 21.1, must be responsible for the absolute black hole that almost sucks you in before the music starts and also exists between notes. The extended trail of decaying notes is evidence of the quiet background. Subtle rhythmic changes are immediately apparent now, taking no effort to decipher. Each song’s unique mood is clearly presented; if a song has a more laid-back mood, or a faster more exciting pace, then either is equally obvious to the listener. Contrast this against the previous BC incarnation which, in retrospect, didn’t allow these subtleties to present themselves nearly as clearly. The beautiful part is that these changes are detectable even without specifically listening for them. Overall the notes are presented in a fresher, crisper, even cleaner manner. I mean cleaner almost in a literal sense, as if the notes have been carefully scrubbed to reveal their beauty and shininess, without robbing them of their soul or musical intent. Every instrument or voice is more distinctly placed in the soundstage and has a more obvious physical presence, seeming to hover in its own space within the whole. Each has its own life breathed into it. The soundstage has not necessarily increased in width – maybe a little - but its depth is very obviously redefined. The stage doesn’t extend too much further back (due, I am sure, to the fact that I have a TV about a foot behind my speakers, and a wall a couple of feet behind the TV), however it definitely extends more forward, resulting in an overall deeper stage.

The bass portion of the audio spectrum has been the most interesting and difficult to get a handle on. Several simultaneous changes have happened, and truthfully I’m still getting my mind around them. Here’s my current attempt to describe it. While waiting for the 21.1/22s to arrive, I was using another manufacturer’s integrated amp. Bass was fairly tight and authoritative but lacked qualitative substance and was harmonically lean. Today, the bass is harmonically richer (as I like it) and notes are clearly delineated and have good physical impact. “Is there more bass than before?” Yes and no, and there are a couple of ways I can attempt to explain this bipolar state of mind. Yes #1: Bass-heavy tracks (e.g., Massive Attack’s Angel, from Mezzanine) now push the speakers to their limit of bass extension and output of sound – literally windows can rattle. Those notes are tuneful, controlled, deep, powerful, coherent. Yes #2: Previously I had used the TacT to reduce room resonances with careful editing of the correction curves, even going so far as to “notch down” certain frequencies while “bumping up” others. The Tact curve I am now using passes more bass through than before and does not need any specific editing as before. This means that the bass being produced by the amps is more powerful and well controlled than before; room resonances are naturally attenuated by the amp’s seemingly more powerful grip on the woofers. I am a little bit of a bass junky, so overall this is a truly amazing, wonderful, and invigorating experience. No #1: On some songs, I find myself wanting to turn up the bass – “Where’d the bass go?”. I now believe this is because of better bass control as I mentioned above, resulting in a more accurate portrayal of the recording content.

In sum, I am enjoying the hell out of my new gear. My understanding of Gilbert’s audio vision is to reveal the soul of the music. True to that vision, every technical change I hear and enjoy – clearer bass, cleaner notes, deeper soundstage, distinct placement of voices and instruments, subtle rhythmic shifts, etc – seem to be steps in the direction of revealing the musical soul. I actually asked Gilbert in one email, what would be next for me – a new preamp, for instance? He replied that we can talk about it when I get there, and that as long as he’s alive, the sky’s the limit. I believe it.

Latest TacT RCS 2.0 Response Curve Tweaks

Ah, one of my audio joys - tweaking the TacT response curves. The goal? Perfect sound in my room, of course! Anyways, over the past few days, I've further tweaked the target response of my TacT. Of course, you - my new readers - don't have any reference for the TacT curves I've used in the past, so I'm first posting the curve I was using for the past couple months, and the second pic is of the curve I am using as of today.

Fig 1. Previous TacT curve (green). Right channel in yellow. Left channel in grey. Click on the picture for a larger version.

Fig 2. Current TacT curve (green). Right channel in yellow. Left channel in grey. Click on the picture for a larger version.

In each picture, the green curve is the target curve that I have asked TacT to match. The grey curves are the left channel speaker response without any room correction; the yellow curves are the right channel speaker response (again, without room correction applied). I don't have any measurements to show the result after the TacT room correction has been applied, but I will post them as soon as I have a few minutes to make those measurements with the help of REW software.

In the first figure, my goal was to produce a mostly "flat" response curve across the audible spectrum. We all know by now that a room response that is hotter in the bass and a little rolled-off in the highs produces a more natural sound to the human ear. So, when I say "flat", that's what I mean, and that's what this curve was designed to do. In the bass, notice that I tailored the target curve for a maximum boost at 27 Hz, with a boost of around 1dB still being applied at 20 Hz, and a fairly steep roll-off below 20 Hz.

In my most recent attempt (Fig 2), the goal is for TacT to do its correction only in the bass region (less than about 200 Hz), while maintaining the natural response of the speakers above 200 Hz. In previous experiments where I did not roll off the response curve below 20 Hz, I could literally see that the speakers were working very hard to reproduce the extreme low frequency information. So, I have been progressively attenuating the extreme low frequencies, so that the speakers aren't working so much beyond their natural abilities. Generally, this approach has resulted in faster and more tuneful bass, with less overhang or bloat. Correspondingly, the new response curve has a maximum boost at 39Hz, and by 20Hz I am applying a bass cut of 10dB (!).

My latest curve sounds amazing! The result is a more natural midrange and high frequency presentation - this is a quality that I loved about the Salk speakers to begin with, and now that quality is back in spades. Drums and vocals sound fairly more dynamic and powerful, with the vocals placed more forward in the soundstage than before. Overall, the presentation of the music is more exciting and energetic. In the low frequencies, the bass is ever so slightly more taut and tuneful than before, with even less bass note overhang, though the improvements in the bass are of a fairly subtle nature.

The TacT tweaks will continue, I am sure. Stay tuned!