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2006 Product of the Year Awards
S T E R E O • M U L T I C H A N N E L A U D I O • M U S I C
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January 2007
CoverStory
126
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49
The AbsoluTe sound
’S2006
ProduCtoftHeyearaWardS
Our annual picks for the year’s best gear.
equiPmentrePortS
36
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January 2007
The Absolute Sound
Contents
marantztt-15Sturntable
PaulSeydortakesatripdownmemorylane.
Jonathanvalinonaterrificandaffordableamp.
neilgaderonasmallbritishspeaker.
neilgaderreports.
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Contents
founder; chairman,
editorial advisory board
editor-in-chief
editor
executive editor
managing and
music editor
acquisitions manager
and associate editor
art director
Harry Pearson
08
Letters
7
Manufacturer Comments
Robert Harley
Wayne Garcia
Jonathan Valin
Bob Gendron
Neil Gader
6
From The Editor
8
Industry News
Future TAS
Torquil Dewar
senior writers
John W. Cooledge, Anthony H. Cordesman,
Robert E. Greene, Chris Martens,
Dick Olsher, Andrew Quint, Sallie Reynolds,
Paul Seydor, Alan Taffel
6
Start Me Up
Oppo Digital DV-970HD Universal Disc
Player and Usher V-601 and V-604
Loudspeakers
33
reviewers and
contributing writers
Chris Martens and Barry Willis.
Soren Baker, Greg Cahill, Dan Davis,
Andy Downing, Jim Hannon, Jacob Heilbrunn,
Sue Kraft, Mark Lehman, Ted Libbey,
David McGee, Bill Milkowski,
Derk Richardson, Don Saltzman,
Max Shepherd, Barry Willis
Mainstream Multichannel
Deinitive Pro Cinema 1000 Loudspeakers
Chris Martens.
0
TAS Journal
hp’s equipment setup
Danny Gonzalez
Basic Repertoire: Hard Bop
managing editor,
avguide.com
web producer
Monica M. Williams
Bill Milkowski.
Ari Koinuma
Music
68
Recording
of
the
Issue
Mark Feldman:
What Exit.
Thomas B. Martin, Jr.
Mark Fisher
Cheryl Smith
(512) 891-7775
Marvin Lewis
MTM Sales
(718) 225-8803
reprints and e-prints:
Jennifer Martin, Wrights Reprints
toll free:
(877) 652-5295, Outside the U.S.: (281) 419-5725,
jmartin@wrightsreprints.com
subscriptions, renewals, changes of address:
phone:
(888) 732-1625 (US) or (815) 734-5833
(outside US), or write
The Absolute Sound
,
Subscription Services, PO Box 629, Mt Morris,
IL 61054. Ten issues: in the US, $36; Canada $52
(GST included); outside North America, $71 (includes air mail).
Payments must be by credit card (VISA, MasterCard,
American Express) or US funds drawn on a US bank,
with checks payable to Absolute Multimedia, Inc.
editorial matters:
Address letters to the editor,
The Absolute Sound
, PO Box 1768, Tijeras, New Mexico 87059,
or e-mail rharley@absolutemultimedia.com.
classiied advertising:
Please use form in back of issue.
newsstand distribution and local dealers:
Contact IPD, 27500 Riverview Center Blvd., Suite 400,
Bonita Springs, Florida 34134, (239) 949-4450
publishing matters:
Contact Mark Fisher at the address
below or e-mail misher@absolutemultimedia.com.
Publications Mail Agreement 40600599
Return Undeliverable Canadian Addresses to
Station A / P.O. Box 54 / Windsor, ON N9A 6J5
e-mail:
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Absolute Multimedia, Inc.
4544 S. Lamar, Bldg. G-300
Austin, Texas 78745
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(512) 892-8682 ·
fax:
(512) 891-0375
e-mail:
tas@absolutemultimedia.com
www.theabsolutesound.com
Rock
Etc
.
Reviews of the latest albums by Tom Waits,
John Legend, Robert Randolph, The Who,
David Grisman, and Kasey Chambers. Plus,
compelling Lucinda Williams, Johnny Cash,
and Tony Joe White reissues. And, the
lowdown on 2006’s best box sets.
40
58
Classical
Coverage of new discs from Frank Peter
Zimmerman, Paul McCartney, Renée
Fleming, and Danny Elfman, as well as
operas by Rossini and Wagner. Plus, a
Beethoven SACD box and single-disc Mahler
and Beethoven SACDs.
68
Jazz
The scoop on the newest discs from Bill
Frisell, John Patitucci, Omer Avital, and Ray
Charles, plus an SACD from Stu Goldberg
and an audiophile LP by Wes Montgomery.
8
TAS Back Page
11 Questions for Bob Stuart of
Meridian Audio
184
2007 Absolute Multimedia, Inc., January 2007.
The Absolute Sound
(Issn#0097-1138) is published ten times per year, $42 per year for Us residents.
Absolute Multimedia, Inc., 4544 s. Lamar, Bldg G300, Austin, Texas 78745. Periodical
Postage paid at Austin, Texas and additional mailing ofices. Canadian publication
mail account #1551566. POsTMAsTER: send address changes to
The Absolute Sound
,
subscription services, PO Box 629, Mt Morris, IL 61054.
Printed in the USA
.
Neil Gader.
January 2007
The Absolute Sound
Absolute Multimedia, Inc.
chairman and ceo
vice president/publisher
advertising reps
I
have been a subscriber to and a reader of
The Absolute Sound
Letters
replication, if the CD (of LP) was truly not mastered, there
would be no record to review. Many years ago, I encountered a
similar situation where all the tracks on the album I was working
on required some EQ, except for one, which sounded ine as it
was. The producer asked, “So you’re not mastering that one?”
The decision to
not
change something is as valid a
mastering decision as boosting a given frequency by so many
decibels. And if the recording gets mass produced, be assured
that someone, somewhere did in fact master it.
Mr. Gendron said, “While customary frequency boosts are
absent and levels require an additional turn of the volume knob,
the results have wonderful bite....” To me that suggests the
mastering engineer did a good job.
since Issue 17 and have since seen any number of design and
format changes to the magazine. But with the latest, Issue
166, the layout and design has reach its nadir. Page after page
after page of 8 or 9 point type superimposed over out-of-focus
halftone backgrounds and blocks of tiny unreadable white san-
serif type against red panels disrespect the written words. Your
designer should issue an apology to Kevin Voecks for messing
up his shirt and tie in the virtually unreadable column of the
Back Page layout. I do not know what audience you are trying
to reach by presenting your magazine laid out in this manner,
but 18–24 year-olds don’t seem to it your demographics. Golden
Ears: Put your glasses on. We are interested in what you have to
say and are never bored by reading the well-written word.
Steve Rosenblatt
Barry Diament
Balanced Circuits
I
noted with interest Mr. Tomlinson’s comments about the
Presbyopia
I
’ve been through a couple of format changes at TAS and,
Ampzilla in the August issue [TAS Retrospective]. There is
a comment in the second to last paragraph that is blatantly
untrue, however: “While ‘so-called’ balanced amps are common
today, not one carries it this far.”
In fact, our ampliiers use a similar operating principle (the
Circlotron, fully differential and balanced from input to output),
and have since their inception in 1978. More recently, BAT has
been using this principle too, as has Graff and a few others.
I would appreciate it if you would pass this information on to
Mr. Tomlinson. If he is interested we have information on our
Web site, which has been there for about the last 13 years: http://
www.atma-sphere.com/papers/theory.html.
from an aesthetic point of view, I don’t feel strongly one
way or another about the one inaugurated in Issue 165.
However, from a practical point of view, there is a problem. A
large percentage of high-end audio readers are at or over the age
(40s) when presbyopia occurs, which makes reading small fonts
dificult. The new font in TAS is smaller than it used to be and
harder to read than the prior one, which was not very large or
distinct itself. On another matter, in Issue 163 Andrew Quint
reviewed Edgar Meyer’s latest CD. In “Further Listening” at the
end of the review, he suggested “Meyer/Ma/Marshall:
Uncommon
Ritual
.”
Uncommon Ritual
did feature Meyer and Mike Marshall,
but the third performer was Bela Fleck, not Yo-yo Ma. Ma did
appear with Meyer and Mark O’Connor on two CDs,
Appalachian
Waltz
and
Appalachian Journey
.
Ralph Karsten
CEO, Atma-Sphere Music Systems, Inc.
Doug
Crowley
What Is High End?
I
read both the letters in the latest edition (November 2006)
We have revisited the new graphic design and made some
changes, starting with this issue, which include larger type
and improved type contrast. —Robert Harley
on “growing the high end,” and while I found many of the
ideas interesting there is one point that is never taken up.
What makes a high end? It certainly is not mass production,
which always diminishes quality. Yet that is what these writers
seem to suggest we need. I for one do not care about full
acceptability by the masses. I do care that what I purchase has
the quality and sound that I am looking for—and not whether
others feel it’s worth the price. I can only make comparisons to
things I know. I am a very small ice cream manufacturer in the
Northeast. We individually batch our ice cream and because we
do I am limited in the quantity I can produce, but I know the
quality is exceptional. I could move up to a continuous batch
freezer and produce 10 times the amount in one-quarter the
Mastering
T
he review of Iron Maiden’s
A Matter of Life and Death
in
Issue 166 (November), says, “At co-producer Harris’ sug-
gestion, Kevin Shirley did not master Maiden’s record.”
Since mastering is essentially the creation of the part used for
8
January 2007
The Absolute Sound
Harder to Read
Mysteries of
Letters
time, but not with the same result in taste and quality. Which is
truly the high end? I am a true believer that the quality of the
product comes irst and the rest will take care of itself. People
always seek out the best, maybe not all people but enough to
make it worth the trouble. If affordability is your goal, great.
Mine is to be the best at what I do.
to personal computers, yes; do they listen through earplugs at
volumes that may damage hearing, yes. Is it all dreck [that spells
the end of] the true audiophile, well, maybe. But if they do
appreciate music and can learn about quality, there is hope.
My son recently discovered Dave Brubeck. I heard him listening
one day on his little computer speakers by MP3. I said, “Hey, you
know I actually have that CD (as well as vinyl…but I didn’t want
to be way over the line), and it sounds a lot better than MP3 on
your computer.” “Oh, yeah, it does?” “And, say, let’s get you some
better PC speakers.” “Wow, that does sound a
lot
better!” Then
I made my move, “How about listening to this on my system?”
“Yeah, I’d like to, but not right now. I’m in the middle of a raid in
World of War Craft”
—an on-line computer game. Nevertheless, I
considered that a victory; the seed had been planted.
The opportunity is out there, and others see it, too. Just look
at Apple and its “hi-i system” for the iPod. Some might snarf,
“Oh, it’s not much more than half of a Bose 901.” But it’s a start.
And it’s a lot better than the Magnavox console that many of
us used when growing up. So the opportunity is there. This is a
responsibility for current audiophiles (a child who grows up with
audiophiles becomes an audiophile) as well as manufacturers.
That brings us to product. I am astounded by the breadth
and depth of audiophilia today; the number of really esoteric
high-end choices in electronics, turntables, and speakers, not
to mention the voodoo of cabling and interconnects. Just look
at the product reviews and advertising in any audio mag. Lots
of small companies trying to log the new and the best. And
undeniably, the high-end sound is wonderful today and sounds
better than the past.
However, I do wonder, “How are these guys going to survive,
make money, and grow?” And that is the rub—most won’t. The
audiophile landscape today is all about R&D funded by cottage/
garage operations, with some good ideas and seed money from
friends and family, that turn out incredible products (in quality
and price) with no chance of ever really being a big commercial
success. It’s just like the high-tech businesses in Silicon Valley:
Deferred R&D by all the little guys on shoestrings for whom an
exit strategy is not commercial success (much less an IPO) but is
being licensed or acquired by somebody bigger. Because… only
the big have the revenue stream to fund large-scale sales, marketing,
and support of products to end-customers. R&D is usually no
more than 20% of revenue, while sales and marketing are 70%.
So it really is the game of the little ish getting eaten by the big
ish: all the big retailers owned by conglomerates like Federated,
Allied, etc. And we’ve also seen this in audiophilia of the 60s and
70s, where the Japanese consumer electronics industry reached
critical mass by accretion (Marantz, HK, Sherwood, Scott, KLH,
AR, etc.). Just look at the brands that Harman International has
today (Ininity, JBL, Mark Levinson, Revel, Crown, etc.). They
have the muscle and resources to produce then market, sell,
and support products. The reality is that the dealer channel only
works to fulill existing demand of a relatively few standardized
products. Retail pretty much always follows the product model
of “good, better, and best.” Anything more is too complicated
to stock, sell, and support. So for audiophilia, this means that the
dealer channel is viable when there are relatively few standardized
P. Kogan
Where Have All
Dealers Gone?
I
n the November 2006 issue, Letters section, Eric Landau
asks, “Where have all the dealers gone?” Eric, I can tell you
they have gone out of business. I started in the business in
1976. At that time our small upstate NY area supported four
audio shops at one time. Today we are the only business left. I
will spare you our success story. I can tell you that in the last
25 years we have witnessed two major factors that make your
search for Rega and VPI frustrating. The irst problem is that
today’s basic audio products are way too good for the money. The
second is that the vast majority of shoppers patronize Best Buy,
Circuit City, and the Internet.
These places are only interested in one thing, volume. They
won’t sell high-end products because they can’t sell enough boxes.
Why? Because the $500 Denon receiver and $399/pair Polks or
Klipschs sound pretty good.
As a matter of fact, most sales are made without an audition.
As you know the stores are all very loud and most of the product
is hooked up wrong or broken. In 2005, the top 10 electronics
dealers made 72% of the sales in the U.S. By the year 2010 that
will most likely move pretty close to 80%. The slice of pie left is
pretty small for a small dealer, and the business model is not real
good for new audio shops.
I hope you will keep the faith, Eric. Over the last few years
independent dealers are working hard to separate themselves
from the Best Buys of the world. You will ind most successful
dealers adding new upscale products every year.
Keith Zoll
Dealers Gone” as a query into the death of audiophilia is
a point I’ve often read about and heard [made] in current
audiophile circles. However, maybe can it be both “the worst of
times
and
the best of times.” While I’m not normally an optimist
on all matters, let me try to convince you that actually it is a
Dickensian “Worst and Best of Times.” There are three reasons:
people, product, and place.
By people, I mean the youth listening to music today on iPod
equipment from on-line sources. Do they listen to emasculated
MP3s, yes; do they listen on small low-quality speakers attached
0
January 2007
The Absolute Sound
the High-End
E
ric Landau’s recent letter lament of “Where Have All the
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