Day One of the California Audio Show...

Full system ready to go in the Cypress I Room at the California Audio Show. Our Unison Research amps and CD players are doing a magnificent job at making these new Kef speakers sound their best. We're using both the Simply Italy and the Unico Secondo amps, which sound very different from each other, and I'm very happy with the sound.

I'll make a full show report after I'm done. As an exhibitor, I don't get to tour the rooms as I used to, but there are so many people involved in our rooms (Kef, Nordost, Musical Surroundings and our dealer, AudioVision SF) that Colleen and I have some freedom to see the other gear at the show. For instance, I finally got to hear the Magico Q1 speakers--small stand mounted monitors that cost $27,000 per pair--and was pretty amazed at what they could do.

More to follow...

Sneak Preview of Lone Star Audio Fest 2012

Here's our system for the Lone Star Audio Fest all set up in the Polk Audio room by our friend Russ Gates. It features our Unison Research Unico Nuovo integrated amplifier, Unison Research CDE CD Player, Polk Audio LSiM705 speakers and Chris Sommovigo's Black Cat Cables.

The Lone Star Audio Fest will be held from May 4-6, 2012, at the Embassy Suites Dallas-Park Central. You can find out more info at http://lonestaraudiofest.com/. Stop by and say hello to Russ, Colleen and me.

Zuhootenanny!

Last Friday, Colleen and I headed out to Whetstone Audio to attend Brian Di Frank's second hootenanny, which honored Zu. Sean Casey of Zu was there to display many of his amazing high-efficiency speaker models such as the Soul Superfly, Essence and Definition Mk. 4. If you've ever visited a Zu room at a trade show, you know that Sean always brings the coolest music along, and this night was no exception. The Zuhootenanny had more of a rockin' feel--as well as a younger demographic in regards to the attendees--than our event last December, although I did spot a few of the same people as before.

My biggest goal for the evening was to hear the Zu version of the Technics SL-1200, which I've blogged about before, but alas, it was not meant to be due to some unforseen issue during shipment. The turntable in question sat off to the side, still in its box (which looked like any normal everyday SL1200 box). I still hope to check it out one day--if anyone can uncover the hidden potential of the best-selling turntable of all time, it's Zu Audio.

As usual, the Zu speakers were dynamic and punchy, even with relatively low-powered (but superb) amplification from Leben. I can't wait for Brian's next event--these hootenannies are really entertaining, and I always manage to find at least one worthwhile LP to buy every time I visit!

My First Piece for Positive Feedback Is Online!

My first piece for Positive Feedback Online, which chronicles CCI's adventures at CES 2012, is now online.

I'll have more posts documenting my adventures at CES 2012 as an exhibitor, and they will appear over the next few days. I have lots of news and a few interesting stories to tell, so check back.

Unison Research Giro Review at TONEAudio

Our Unison Research Giro turntable--and I mean the actual one I own and play music on in my house--has just been reviewed by Jeff Dorgay of TONEAudio. Jeff, who was my old boss at TONE when I worked there from 2006 to 2009, was eager to review the Giro from the moment I received it and mentioned it on this very blog.

Jeff was even able to rush the turntable back to us in time for the Hootenanny on Friday, which Colleen and I truly appreciate.

You can read the review here. Thanks again, Jeff, for the great review!

Visit from Bob and Stacy Clarke of Profundo

This past Saturday, Colleen Cardas and I met with Bob and Stacy Clarke of Profundo, the US distributors for such wonderful audio lines as VivA, Transfiguration, Heed, Silent Source and of course Trenner & Friedl. Bob was visiting some of his dealers in Dallas, including my friend Terry Combs of Sound Mind Audio up in Dallas, while Stacy had sone business here in Austin. Both were very curious to check out the Austin area, and despite the triple-digit temps they took quite a shine to the place.

Bob is a particularly interesting man--he teaches at Berkeley, for instance--and we've been talking about sitting down and discussing turntables for a few weeks now. We took them to Black's BBQ in Lockhart (because the Clarkes deserve the very best, and Black's is it) and it wasn't long before Bob and I started talking about audio.

Profundo doesn't carry a line of turntables right now, but Bob does distribute the outstanding Transfiguration cartridges. I've been very interested in the Axia, which received a very favorable review from Michael Fremer in a recent issue of Stereophile. While it retails for only $1950, Bob feels the Axia competes with everything under $4-$5K. Bob is very high on Transfiguration and points out that cartridge technology has truly advanced in the last four to five years, and many cartridges brands have been relying upon the success of older designs for years. Transfiguration, along with many of the great Japanese brands, keep pushing cartridge design further and further toward perfection.

I mentioned my fondness for the Rega P9, which seems to be growing over the last year or so as I lament the complexity of today's super-tweaked turntables. Bob had his own recommendation at that price point: the Basis 2001. "Just put a Vector tonearm on it, set it up once and it will last forever," Bob said. "There's just something about the life it brings to the music."

I do have some experience with Basis turntables. They're really the first acrylic-based design which sounded musical and natural to my ears. Plexiglas 'tables can often sound smooth, glossed over and a little analytical to me; I prefer 'tables made of woods and metals. But the Basis seem to circumvent these sonic characteristics thanks to a superb suspension and solid engineering. I heard a Basis turntable not too long ago at Dan Muzquiz' house in San Diego--the sound was big, warm and live.

The Clarkes were gone too quickly...I still wanted to talk about so many things with them. I also enjoyed how attuned Stacy was to the high-end audio business and shared Bob's enthusiasm about their products. Hopefully Austin will have made a great impression on them and they'll become a part of My Evil Texas Audio Empire! You can read more about Profundo product lines at http://www.profundo.us/.

Yet another modded Technics SL1200

In response to my latest Vinyl Anachronist column at Perfect Sound Forever, I got the following email from David Bosci. He writes:

"As a life long HiFi nutter with more than 35 years of experience and a long trail of turntables: Dual>Fons/JH>Kenwood DD/SME3>Linn/FR>Gyrodec/Syrinx>Rega>Consonance. I finally settled on a highly modified SL1200 because it was much better than any other turntable I have heard. The best way I could describe the difference would be “pitch stability” or the ability to stay in tune.

Mine is based on KAB unit but with extensive further mods, Mike New bearing & platter, SME 309 tonearm, TTWeights Cu mat, Isonoe bearing & booties, Cartridge Clinic tonearm mounting, Thorens stabilizer etc. Why...because I don’t know a way of buying a turntable as good for anywhere near the same price. It is worth a listen."

Mr. Bosci is one of the rare members of the 1200 Army who have actually heard (and owned) high-quality belt-drive turntables and yet feels the 1200 sounds better. Usually it's quite a different scenario: many former 1200 owners switch to belt-drive once they hear a good design and they never go back, and many current 1200 owners don't feel the need to compare and are happy with "the way things are." I know this is a generalization, but in my experience it occurs an overwhelming amount of the time.

In addition, Mr. Bosci points out one of the strengths of the 1200, and that's pitch stability. Most 1200 fans state they hear pitch variation in most belt drive designs (something that is virtually eliminated with the use of electronic speed control devices...and there's still the fact that the servo of the 1200 often "hunts" for the right speed, causing speed variations), and that's why the 1200 is the 'table for them. But in my opinion, I'd rather have soundstaging, imaging, tonal accuracy, dynamics, realistic transients and decay and a relaxed presentation--things the 1200 does poorly. I think the whole pitch stability argument is flawed at best, simply because the measured pitch stability on most belt-drive designs is NOT in the audible range. If you're hearing pitch problems, it's probably just time to buy a new belt.

Still, I'm running into more and more of these 1200 owners who tweak the holy hell out of their turntables and claim to get excellent results. The point of my column, which Mr. Bosci doesn't address directly, is that tweaking is fine for some, but many audiophiles would rather have a stock product that performs well right out of the box. A heavily-modded audio product can be a nightmare if it breaks down and no one is willing to repair it because it's too complicated or there are warranty issues. I've spoken to at least one audio tech who laughs whenever he sees one of these machines and usually tells the owner, "No thanks."

Then again, most tweakers are fairly handy when it comes to these things and can probably fix most of the basic problems that can occur with a turntable. But if you're not, I suggest you steer clear of these "Frankenstein TTs."

New Vinyl Anachronist column up at Perfect Sound Forever

My latest column at Perfect Sound Forever is up at http://www.furious.com/perfect/vinyl80.html. Against my better judgment, I have once again taken on the Technics 1200 in a piece called "Of Lipstick and Pigs."

Let the chips fall where they may! The next piece I have planned may be even more incendiary; I'm in one of those moods...

Magnuson's Crash of Cassini on CD

Here's a novel idea. Have a boy and girl duo start a rock band. It's only the two of them, just drums and guitar. They have the same last name, but it's unclear whether or not they're married, brother and sister or just a happy coincidence. On their website, they are holding hands. Hmmm.

Once you start listening to Magnuson's new CD, however, you stop comparing Greg and Kyrsten Magnuson to that other couple. The Magnuson sound is turgid and dense like a muddy thicket, less Zep and more Sabbath. The prog element, varnished with a Moog that growls deep within the mix, ensures that the paths never cross. This is not a stripped-down sound, laid bare, simple for the sake of being simple. This is two point sources being stretched out to fill a void with energy and a fair share of grime.

In addition, the couple sets out on a different path by taking turns on their instruments. That right...Greg plays guitar and Kyrsten plays drums on seven songs, and Kyrsten plays guitars and Greg plays drums on the other seven tracks. Much to my surprise I prefer the former arrangement; Greg tends to rely on rolling fills on his ground toms after nearly every measure while Kyrsten can both cross genres and lighten things up with her more varied rhythms. Both play their guitars almost as if they taught each other how to play. Perhaps they did.

Billing themselves as "the most musical mayhem ever created by a girl and a boy," Magnuson doesn't quite devolve into such chaos. Working within a garage-band aesthetic, they retain conventional song structures as they touch on the aforementioned Sabbath (the opener, "Dark Reality"), power pop ("Somewhere"), modern metal ("The Scout"), and classic '80s New Wave ("Fear and Deception"). You won't hear anything quite as groundbreaking as De Stijl, but you will get heaping, muddy doses of energy, harmony and, well, ground toms. There's nothing wrong with that.