I have achieved a level of musical nirvana over the last week that I haven't experienced since the departure of the wonderful ASR Emitter II Exclusive Version Blue amplifier designed by the talented Friedrich Schaefer in Germany.
In fact, my system is performing at a level quite a ways above even what I was experiencing when that wonderful amplifier was here. "Now what brought this about?" you ask.
It's a number of things really. The first being the outboard Duelund CAST crossovers for the Westminster Royal SE loudspeakers. The Duelund CAST crossovers are getting some time on them and they are getting so good its scary!
The second is the uninterrupted runs of Sablon Audio Panatela cabling that connects directly to the WRSE's Dual Concentric driver and the Duelund CAST outboard crossovers (as well as the run of Panatela from the crossover to my vintage McIntosh MC240 amplifier). As you know if you read my review of Mark Coles' Panatela component speaker cables in Issue 63 of Positive Feedback Online, the Panatelas are magic cables that can really make loudspeakers sing.
With an uninterrupted set of Panatela component cables from the Dual Concentric driver to the Duelund CAST crossovers without any degrading connectors in between, and from the Duelund CAST crossovers to the MC240 amplifier, the performance of the WRSE's goes off the charts!
Thirdly, there is my newly acquired vintage McIntosh MC240 amplifier with its vintage tube set that includes the incredibly good RCA 6L6GC black plates. As I've mentioned before, the McIntosh MC240 has an interesting history that has it being loved & coveted by audiophiles, music lovers, recording studios, and musicians. Now I know why.
For example, Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys used the MC240 to master Pet Sounds in 1966, one of the most famous albums in rock & roll history. The Grateful Dead also used MC240 amplifiers in their 1966 practice system to power Voice of the Theater loudspeakers. They plugged their musical instruments into MC240s strapped for mono and ran them directly into Voice of the Theater loudspeakers and rocked out! Now that's high fidelity!
It turns out that not only was the vintage McIntosh MC240 loved by the Beach Boys & the Grateful Dead for its ability to make their music come alive, but its also an incredible match to my Westminster Royal SEs and the rest of my system making it come alive in ways I'd only hoped for in the past.
If you've been following along, you know that in my audio reviews I have been breaking out my review criteria into two primary categories: Firstly, the ability of a piece of equipment to portray the classical audiophile-style non-musical structural features encoded in recordings like imaging, soundstaging, soundspace, transparency, and the like. Secondly, the ability of a piece of equipment to have ‘a nearness to the truth’ when portraying the musical structural features encoded in a recording like timbre, tone color, tempo, melody, harmony, rhythm, dynamics, and loudness, for example.
But lately I've added in a third category of emotional connection to the music, and I've been thinking a lot about how the specific structural features of music contribute to evoking an emotional response. There are a number of music’s structural features that musicians specifically use to evoke emotions in listeners. Tempo is usually considered to be the most important factor for evoking an emotional response, but certainly loudness, melody, and tonality (major or minor) play an important role as well.
It turns out that prowess in reproducing tempo, loudness, melody, and tonality play a major role in how well a given component can connect you to the music. The McIntosh MC240 happens to do all of these things exceptionally well, which is probably why it found so much favor in the past, but it was largely forgotten as time marched on. Get this: the MC240 is better even than the the wonderful ASR Emitter II Exclusive Version Blue amplifier when it comes to portraying audiophile-style non-musical structural features encoded in recordings, as it is with its ‘nearness to the truth’ portrayal of the musical structural features encoded in recordings.
I would say that these two musical giants - the MC240 and the ASR Emitter II Exclusive Version Blue - are also very close to being even in their ability to evoke an emotional response with the music. Perhaps the ASR has an edge to evoking an emotional response, I can't be completely sure with it not being here any more, but in any case both of these amplifiers are remarkable in that regard. The fact that the vintage MC240 can best the ASR in terms of sonics & musical attributes - and draw up even in emotional connection - I find absolutely astounding. They are both works of audio art to be sure.
The next items that have pushed my system to that next level of performance are the addition of Acoustic Revive CB-1DB receptacle base plates, CFRP-1F carbon fiber outlet plates, and modified Oyaide R-1 receptacles (above) to both of the outlets that power my reference system.
The combination of the Duelund CAST crossovers, the Panatela speaker cabling, the vintage McIntosh MC240, and the Acoustic Revive AC accessories brought me to a state of listening nirvana that is unprecedented. Whew!
The Music
Ok, enough about hardware, now let's talk about software for a bit. Let me tell you about three LPs that I picked up: one is amazing, one is good, and one is a dud.
First up is the amazing LP, the Dave Brubeck Quartet's Time Out 45 RPM LP set reissue on the Analogue Productions label that is worth its weight in gold. I even went out to the Acoustic Sounds website and gave it 5 stars in the review section - its the best Analogue Productions 45 RPM reissue I've listened to yet, and that's saying something because they're all incredible.
Here's what I wrote about Time Out on the Acoustic Sounds web site:
"Time Out is one of my all-time favorite jazz albums and Analogue Productions did a wonderful job on this album. In fact this may be the best 45 RPM album from AP I've got yet.
Dave's daughter & son used to be the organist and choir director at the Cathedral of the Rockies Methodist church my parents went to in Boise, Idaho. Even the grandkids are fine musicians. Dave and the quartet did a benefit concert at the church to help it out in a time of need, and it was a treat to hear the whole family - all three generations - playing music, and they're all wonderful musicians in their own right.
The DBQ played most of the songs on this album that night and it was really spectacular to hear in the acoustic of that fine old church.
This album is a must have for jazz lovers everywhere!"
Next up is the good LP, or I should say LP box set: Miles Davis - Live At The Plugged Nickel, 22-23 December 1965. I love the music of Miles Davis. This box set includes 5 LPs so you get a lot of music for your money, but the recording is only 'good' in quality as opposed to 'great', and the performance is the same way. I'm glad I have it in my Miles Davis collection, but if you are new to Miles Davis I'd stock up on the Analogue Productions remasters of Miles Davis first. If you don't already have Kind of Blue make that your first priority.
Now that I've talked about the amazing & good LPs, let me mention the dud: Elvis Presley - Stereo '57 (Essential Elvis Volume 2). This is an Analogue Productions 45 RPM remaster so I had high expectations. I was pissed off about how bad it was for a couple of days. Here's what I said in my review on the Acoustic Sounds website:
"I was really looking forward to this album after reading the other two reviews, but I'm really disappointed in this album and wish I'd bought something else from the normally wonderful Analogue Productions 45 RPM series. To be fair, the recording quality is great, and of course Analogue Productions did a masterful job on this LP set like they always do. But the music? If you want to listen to song after song of screwed up takes in the studio with wonderful sound quality this album is for you, but otherwise I don't recommend it. There's maybe two songs on this album that are musically worth listening to. There's a reason that most of the tracks on this album were never released, as they were bungled in the studio and weren't intended to be heard. If you want a behind the scenes collection of Elvis bloopers in the studio in ultra-high fidelity this album is for you, those hoping for an album of music should stay clear."
Chapter 10 of the Acoustic Revive Chronicles
I just finished up writing Chapter 10 of The Acoustic Revive Chronicles, and I submitted it to ye olde Editors Dave & David of Positive Feedback Online for publication. I'll post a link to the review as soon as it goes live.
Upcoming Reviews at Positive Feedback Online
I am working on the review of the New Valve Order SPA one phono equalizer right now. I can tell you this: it's really good! More soon!
Next up is the Duelund-WRSE Project! As you know, this has been an amazing project! The project has consisted of replacing the internal crossovers of the Tannoy Westminster Royal SE loudspeakers with the ultra-quality Duelund CAST external crossovers that use a full set of Sablon Audio Panatela cabling to replace the stock internal wiring harness, and the result has been fantastic!
The Westminster Royal SEs ...
The Duelund CAST components ...
The Duelund CAST crossovers ...
The Panatela wiring harness ...
After the Duelund-WRSE project comes the Mhdt Labs Stockholm USB DAC ...
After the Mhdt Stockholm comes the Sophia Electric 91-03 integrated 300B SET stereo amplifier ...
After the Sophia 91-03 comes a comparison of some high performance AC receptacles: I will compare a generic AC receptacle, the Acoustic Revive modified Oyaide R-1, the Oyaide R-0, and the cruzeFIRST Maestro.
Well it's time for me to quit writing for the evening, and to sit back and listen to a little music for fun, while sipping a superb glass of the rare (and spendy) Smasne Cellars 2008 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon - Cheers!
From my home to yours, may your Hi-Fi listening be grand - thanks for stopping by!
