Greetings friends, I hope you are well. 🙂

I've really felt the thrill and satisfaction of adventure and discovery in my audio hobby this year.

Level Five Audio Note (UK) M8 RIAA phono preamplifier.

Listening to vinyl through the Audio Note (UK) M8 RIAA phono preamplifier & AN-S8L SUT Level Five combination has been thrilling and rewarding to experience.

This M8/S8L combo has made it clear to me that the vinyl ceiling of performance is much higher than I had originally thought it was, and most of us audio nuts have not experienced vinyl playback at the level this combo is capable of. 

Level Five Audio Note (UK) AN-S8L step-up transformer.

Any remaining thoughts I had of Red Book CDs being able to play at an elite sound quality level comparable to vinyl have been completely crushed by the M8/S8 duo.

Audio Note (UK) CD 5.1x CD player.

That's not to disparage Red Book CDs though, as cutting-edge CD players like the Audio Note (UK) CD 5.1x are able to play at a level of sound quality that betters many / most vinyl front ends I've heard, but not this Level Five Me/S8 combo. 

Also, one of the unique Audio Note (UK) traits in all their products I have heard, is how strongly they communicate the emotional fidelity of recorded performances.

Somehow Peter and his crew have been able to deliver elite level emotional fidelity in a parallel audio universe from sound quality, so when listening to an album of lesser sound quality from any of the recording eras, said album still delivers elite level emotional fidelity in a rather mind blowing fashion.

Once you hear & feel that clear distinction between sound quality and emotional fidelity, you and your listening will never be the same, as it opens up a whole new world of listening from our recorded music canon that otherwise might not be accessible to the audiophile listener.

That is why I'm still of the mindset that a good CD player is an essential listening source for accessing the widest possible spectrum of our recorded music canon, from all the eras of the recording arts, which are all available as Red Book CDs. 

But my CD listening has been put aside for a while, even as the stacks of CDs I want to listen to grows, as I am in the middle of listening to enough albums to complete the bedding-in period of 100 hours for the M8/S8 combo. 

To achieve the full bedding-in of 100 hours, that's about 134 record albums that have to be played, which is a lot of LP playing. That takes time! 

I'm at 78 albums as I write this for the Level Five M8/S8 combo, so a little more than half way.

Opera box sets from the Golden Age of Recording.

One of the things I've been enjoying exploring as I work through the bedding-in time are vintage opera box sets from the Golden Age of Recording.

While I enjoy listening to a broad spectrum of music genres, I am coming to the conclusion that opera performances may be the ultimate test of audio system performance, both in terms of sound quality and emotional fidelity.

"How so?" you ask.

London OSA-13118; recorded at Kingsway Hall, London, in 1975 with the National Philharmonic Orchestra. 3 LP box set with a 31 page booklet describing the opera, the singers, etc.

Operas are dramatic. Operas are a distinct form of the theatrical arts. Each opera has its own unique storyline, and the focus of the performances are to deliver dramatic storytelling to the audience, powered by the star singers, choirs, and orchestras.

Operas make for a good drama test. If the performances don't stimulate your feelings with their dramatic content, then it is likely your audio system needs some work. 

Turandot opera by Puccini, featuring Nilsson, Tebaldi, Bjoerling, and Tozzi. Conducted by Erich Leinsdorf at the Rome Opera House with the Rome Opera House Orchestra and Chorus. RCA Living Stereo (Red Seal, LSC-6149), 3 LP box set. Recorded in 1959.

Operas are complex. There is so much musical information - there's all the musical information associated with singers, choirs, and orchestras coming through, which can be a real challenge for audio systems to resolve and turn into an engaging listening experiences.

Due to the complex musical nature of operas, they are a good test of audio system clarity and resolution.

Madama Butterfly. Angel Records, SCL-3702. Recorded August 1966 at Teatro Dell'Opera Di Roma, Italy. 3 LP box set. Sir John Barbirolli conducting. Features singers Renata Scotto, Carlo Bergonzi, Anna Di Stasio, Rolando Panerai, Paolo Montarsolo, and the Rome Opera House Orchestra & Chorus.

Feeling the drama. Operas are most commonly sung in Italian, but operas are also performed in various other languages, including German, French, and English.

When you don't understand the language of an opera - like me typically - what we as listeners primarily respond to are the dramatic elements of the performances, those elements that generate feelings. 

Operas are a good test of how well the emotional content is delivered to the listener. Can you follow the emotional ups and downs of the storyline? If not, well then ... 

Sir Georg Solti Conducts Bizet’s Carmen: with Troyanos, Domingo, Te Kanawa, Van Dam, London Philharmonic Orchestra, John Alldis Choir, Boys’ Chorus from Haberdasners’ Aske’s School, Elstree. Recorded at Henry Wood Hall, London, England in July 1975. London Records, OSA-13115 (1976).

Operas are dynamic. The dynamic range in operas can be quite wide, often varying significantly between the quietest and loudest moments, typically around 120 dB.

This wide dynamic range allows for dramatic contrasts, which enhances the emotional impact of the music and performances.

Conductors and composers vary dynamics in terms of loudness and intensity throughout the performance, in order to create purposeful dramatic effects and emotional depth.

Composers often use a wide dynamic range to enhance the storytelling, with sudden shifts from soft to loud passages to engage the audience.

Operas are a good test of an audio systems dynamic range, and when coupled with clarity & resolution, even the quietest passages become full of life and feeling.

The Haydn opera 'La Fedelta Premiata' on the Hungaroton label is a peach of a box set. A beautiful performance and excellent recording quality too.

Spatial information. Spatial information refers to the position, area, and size of objects, as well as the perception of relationships between them.

There's all kinds of fascinating visuospatial cues for audiophiles to enjoy in an opera. All the singers, the choirs, and the orchestras all have visuospatial elements associate with them.

The singers, for example, are often moving about on the opera house stage as they sing, creating a new visuospatial component - image movement - for the soundstage imaging enthusiast to listen for. 

Operas are an excellent test of soundstage & imaging performance in an audio system. 

Richard Wagner, Der Ring des Nibelungen: Recorded by Decca live at the 1955 Bayreuth Festival, conducted by Joseph Keilberth.

Excellent recording quality. For many of these operas, no expense was spared during the recording sessions, and information about the recording is typically included in the large and deluxe booklets that come with opera box sets. 

Operas tend to be huge productions that are recorded in two ways, the first being a recording of a live performance in an opera house (think opera recorded at the Bayreuth Festival, as above), and the second a recording style that is specifically optimized to be listened to over a home audio system. 

Verdi's Aïda, with singers Price, Vickers, Gorr, Merrill, Tozzi, et al, Rome Opera House and Chorus, Solti conducting. Living Stereo (LSC-6158).

In the accompanying booklet about the recording of Verdi's Aïda on Living Stereo, for example, Richard Mohr says:

"Fortunately, for today's recording crew, modern technology enables one to re-create the illusion of Verdi's artistic purpose more closely than in the opera house. It is a mistake to think recorded opera preserves the illusion of theatrical performance. That is not its intention. Its aim is higher: to present a performance, specifically designed for the phonograph  medium, to shrink within the confines of the average living room all the grandeur and panoply inherent in the score, with its musical values properly related each to the other, to achieve even more dramatic and impression than one possibly can have as part of an audience in the theater."

When attending live operas, they are so visually engaging that it is mesmerizing to see, but in a recording you don't see that, except in your imagination.

To compensate for the missing visual element of opera recordings, many opera recordings include dramatic imaging of instruments and vocalists that are so spectacular they remind me of fireworks displays. Like in Schoenberg's Moses Und Aron (photo below).

Schoenberg's 'Moses Und Aron' in a 2 LP box set. Philips 6700 084, 1974.

If you have never listened to an opera, give a few a try. You might be surprised at what you hear and feel from them. I was. 

Operas stimulate the imagination. They are rich with drama, complexity, dynamics, singers, choirs, orchestras, and visuospatial information that make for riveting listening sessions.

Operas are also true tests of an audio system's performance. Operas are good audio system tests of audio system's ability to deliver dramatic content convincingly. Can you identify the emotional ups and downs of the storyline? Due to the complex musical nature of operas, they are a good test of audio system clarity and resolution. Operas are a good test of an audio systems dynamic range. Operas are an excellent test of soundstage & imaging performance in an audio system. Operas are a good test for recorded sound quality and emotional fidelity. Can you discern both?

Vintage Altec 832A Corona loudspeakers.

I haven't mentioned the upcoming Duelund - Corona 832A Project in a while. Frederik is working on building the crossover components for the Coronas, and it takes a while.

Here's a photo of the Duelund crossover components for the Stokowski Altec crossovers project we did a while back to tide you over. 

Duelund CAST Sn-Cu inductors, capacitors, and resistors for the Duelund-Altec Project.

I've really been enjoying listening to LPs in the vintage inspired audio system in my office with the Ortofon SPU GTX S moving coil photograph cartridge.

The Ortofon SPU GTX S moving coil photograph cartridge brings out the color and life of recordings in spectacular fashion in my vintage-inspired office audio system.

I love what I'm hearing from it, and I think it is a fantastic idea to include a step-up transformer inside the SPU's body to make SPU moving-coil cartridges an easy addition to an audio system. 

Ortofon says it takes about 30 hours of playing time for the Ortofon SPU GTX S to get fully bedded in, which translates to about 40 LPs.  I've played 20 LPs so far, so I'm about halfway through the bedding in process. 

Keep it simple: My vintage-inspired audio system with my Thorens TD-124 as the source (restored by Artisan Fidelity), the Ortofon SPU GTX S cartridge, the amazing Duelund-Altec Project loudspeakers, the more modern Leben RS-30EQ vacuum tube phono stage, and the amazing little Triode Lab 45 EVO SET integrated amplifier makes for a simple audio system that is an incredible performer. 

As always, thanks for stopping by, and may the tone be with you!

Links to previous publications related to this update.

Audio Note (UK) M8 RIAA phono preamp & AN-S8 step-up transformer:

• Today's Fresh Catch: The Audio Note (UK) M8 RIAA phono preamplifier and AN-S8L step-up transformer! HERE.
• Listening: The Audio Note (UK) M8 RIAA phono pre & AN-S8L SUT! HERE. 
• Audio Note (UK): M8 RIAA & M6 RIAA phono preamplifiers photographic "walk-through"! HERE.

Ortofon GTX S moving-coil phonograph cartridge with internal step-up transformer:

• Today's Fresh Catch: The New Ortofon SPU GTX S moving-coil phonograph cartridge! HERE.
• The New Ortofon SPU GTX S moving-coil phonograph cartridge - a nuevo classic! HERE. 

The Duelund-Corona 832A Project:

• A new audio DIY project announcement: The Duelund-Corona 832A Project! HERE.