Engegard Quartet on 2L Recordings--CD/SACD Hybrid

It's been two months since Colleen and I went to Phoenix to present the Axis VoiceBox S loudspeakers to the Arizona Audio Video Club. Just a day or so before we left, I received the latest release from 2L Recordings in Norway, a CD/SACD two-disc set of the latest from the Engegard Quartet. I reviewed the last collection that Engegard released, which you can read here. I enjoyed that particular album--which was comprised of selections from Haydn, Nordheim and Bartok--so immensely that I felt confident that the AAVC would also enjoy this follow-up just as well as long as the music wasn't too adventurous.

At the meeting, I announced that I was going to play the first selection, Franz Schubert's String Quartet No. 13 in A minor, also known as the "Rosamunde" quartet, and I was surprised how many of the audiophiles in attendance were huge fans of 2L Recordings. One even told me that he had discovered the label through my reviews right here! (Aw, shucks!) Many of the attendees were truly excited that they were going to hear the latest--I think my copy arrived well before the official release date. Mating this incredibly life-like recording of a string quartet with a mini-monitor that excels at reproducing the human voice and more intimate ensembles, well, let's just say that the evening went very well and way too many attendees, tiny notebooks in hand, lined up afterward to write down the name of this particular album.

Yep, that means I've been sitting on this CD for almost two months. It's been incredibly busy for me since CES in January, and I suddenly have a huge pile of CDs to review. I even came to the point where I considered, once again, the abandonment of this blog. The Google hits have been slowly declining over the last year or two, but that's only because I'm blogging far less--about four times a month as opposed to nearly once every three days in years past. The one salient point that helped me to decide to press on was this thought:

"If I quit blogging and reviewing, how would I deal with the fact that I wouldn't get these spectacular CDs from 2L?" It was a sobering thought, to say the least.

This CD, like the last one from Engegard, is thoroughly engaging in the way it switches gears throughout the program. Starting with that Schubert piece, which delicately hints at the romantic tendencies to come in the world of classical music, the quartet suddenly leaps forward into a 2011 piece from Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje, titled "Tale of Lead and Light," that is bracing and dissonant without being quite as far out as some of 2L's more exotic projects. From there it's Britten's String Quartet No. 2 in C Major which combines the warmth of Schubert with the occasional lapses into an agitated yet resolute state. The album ends even further back in time with Haydn's famous "Emperor" string quarter which is lively and innocent and heartily direct.

Morten Lindberg has succeeded in creating a string quartet sound that fills the room without making the individual instruments seem larger than life. The secret to this feat, as usual, is Morten's tendencies to choose old Norwegian churches as the recording venue. This time he has chosen one of his favorites, the Jar Church in Norway, where such incredible recordings as La Voie Triomphale, Nodebog and The Lyrical Bassoon were captured. I can't think of another string quartet recording in the last ten years that sounds this rich and sonorous. You'd have to dig through your old Shaded Dogs, I'd imagine.

To evaluate this CD, and a few others I have waiting, I've assembled a system that excels at making those intimate recordings sound more lifelike. I used the same system I used at the AAVC--Axis VoiceBox S speakers, Unison Research Triode 25 integrated amplifier, Unison Research Unico CDE CD player all with Furutech cabling--just to recreate the unexpected success we had back in that huge conference room in Phoenix. My room, of course, is a bit smaller and warmer and more optimized for such an audio system, and the result was nothing less than four performers in the room with me, playing with passion and certainty. Highly recommended.

Some Random Pics from Our Visit to the Arizona Audio/Video Club

Colleen and I just returned from Phoenix, where we braved a serious bit of winter weather to present the new Axis VoiceBox S loudspeaker to the Arizona Audio/Video Club. Bill Coomes, proprietor of Sweet Spot Audio in Goodyear AZ, is the first Axis Loudspeaker dealer in the United States, and he asked us to return to the AVAZ--we held a demonstration for the group a little over two years ago. The day before we left Colorado we had a snowstorm that dropped about 20 inches of powder in a single day, so we almost didn't make it. But the day before the event the sun came out and the snow started to melt, so we were fine.

I remembered this ballroom from two years ago--big, square, bare walls, tall ceilings, all the conditions that make it difficult to provide good sound. In addition, we had only a few hours to get everything set up and dialed in at the Airport Marriott. I kept looking over at the tiny Voiceboxes and saying to myself, "Big room, little speakers, and a relatively low-powered tube amplifier...sounds like a recipe for disaster." But within thirty minutes or so Colleen and I had the system assembled and playing music. Much to my surprise, the low frequencies were not only present, but tight and controlled and clean.

We brought our prototype of the Unison Research SH headphone amplifier/DAC, which is about to start shipping to the US in a couple of weeks. Matched with the Unison Research CD Primo CD player, the ADL H128 headphones and Cardas Audio Clear Light cabling, this system impressed many of the audiophiles in the room--so much so that we sold a couple of them before the show was over. We have set the MSRP of the SH at $1695, by the way.

The main system was identical to one of the systems we exhibited at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest last October. It consists of the Axis Voicebox S speakers, of course, as well as a Unison Research Triode 25 integrated amplifier/DAC and the Unison Research Unico CDE CD player, all wired with Furutech. Since the Voiceboxes are relatively inefficient, we had to switch the Triode 25 into pentode mode for 45 watts per channel. Even in this big room we were able to achieve decent sound levels.

Just like the last time we visited, the room was pretty much full with Arizona audiophiles. I played three or four of my usual trade show demo tracks--some Three Blind Mice, some 2L Recordings and, of course, Happy Coat. Then we played a few requests. I know I'm making a few waves in the industry by talking about taking show attendees' requests, but an audiophile club meeting is different--more interactive and more casual. After we finished the presentation, many club members lined up to speak with us afterward. The AZAV has always welcomed us and treated us graciously, and we hope to return in a few months to introduce new products from both PureAudio and Brad Serhan's new company, Brigadier Audio Group.

Finally, Colleen and I snapped this selfie just a few seconds before we went into the ballroom and started our presentation. It was a great, productive trip, and you can see it in our faces. We're planning on hitting the road this May for at least a couple of weeks, and we're going to try to visit as many of our dealers as possible. We hope to do more events just like this one. In fact, this is one of the best parts of our job!

Another Visit with the Arizona Audio-Video Club

More than two years ago, Colleen and I visited the Arizona Audio-Video Club at the invitation of our Los Angeles and Phoenix dealer for Opera and Unison, Bill Coomes of The Sweet Spot. Bill is officially the first US dealer for the Axis VoiceBox S loudspeaker, so Colleen and I are returning to demonstrate his new line of Australian loudspeakers for the AZAV members.

We are planning to feature the Axis VoiceBox, of course, as well as a Unison Research Triode 25 integrated amplifier/DAC and a Unison Research Unico CDE CD player. All cabling and power management will be provided by Furutech. We also plan on bringing our prototype of the Unison Research SH headphone amplifier along with the Furutech H128 headphones.

The monthly meeting of the Arizona Audio-Video Club will be held at the Marriott Airport Hotel on Wednesday, February 25th at 7pm. The address of the hotel is 1101 N. 44th Street, Phoenix. You can find out more info on AZAV on their website.

CCI's Adventures at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show

Did I say "adventures"? To tell you the truth, it was a fairly quiet CES for Colleen Cardas Imports. My theory is that CES keeps getting larger and larger--as in number of square feet someone has to cover to see it all--yet attendance seems about the same. That makes it appear much quieter than it really was--everyone is too spread out. I said the same thing about the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest last October. These shows keep getting bigger and bigger, but the same number of people keep showing up year after year. It's not necessarily a bad thing. CES can be such a stressful show because it's a trade show that's not open to the public and everyone is there to do business. The 2014 CES, therefore, was mellow compared to years past. But I wouldn't mind seeing a little more excitement next year, when they start holding CES on the weekends once more. That's been one of the criticisms of CES during the last couple of years--they switched the show to mid-week and a lot of people can't get away from their day jobs.

Oh yeah...there was some bad weather that may have affected the 2014 CES. That "polar vortex" wound up delaying something like 18,000 flights the day before the show started, so a lot of exhibitors had to work through the night to get ready for day 1.

Despite all this, Colleen and I were very pleased with the way our system turned out. We debuted two new products in the Unison Research/Opera Loudspeakers/Furutech room: the new Unison Research Triode 25 amplifier ($3495) and the new Opera Quinta SE loudspeakers ($6995/pair). Our digital source was the Unison Research Unico CD player and all the cables and power management was by Furutech. It was another simple system that only took a couple of hours to set up correctly. Once we had everything hooked up and playing music, we were quite proud of the results. For about $15K without cables, the overall sound was quite amazing.

I know--I'm expected to say that. I'm a company man. But I love the way this system played tunes. The Quinta SEs go very deep in the bass, and although the Triode 25 only has 22wpc in triode mode, the bass filled the fairly large room with ease. I had the pleasure of breaking the system in for a couple of weeks prior to the show, and it was the system I installed back at home after we returned. The Quinta SEs, which were serial number 001, have already been sold but I get to listen to them for another month or so. These speakers make me have happy feelings.

So what is the Opera Quinta SE? First, its arrival was a bit of a surprise--we had no idea Opera was working on this model. It's basically an Opera Quinta--for all intents and purposes it looks the same--but it sports a new SEAS midrange/bass driver that's formed out of woven polypropylene. It looks a lot like a carbon fiber cone but it sounds smoother.

The Quinta SE, as you can see in this photo of the back panel, is ported. The regular Quinta has a sealed enclosure. The standard Quinta can reach down to 30 Hz, so the SE version may dig down and retrieve another couple of Hertz. After hearing deep bass on familiar recordings that I've never heard before, I'd say that spec is just about right.

The Unison Triode 25 integrated amplifier was also an unexpected treat. Unlike most Unison Research tube amps, which are mostly single-eneded parallel Class A designs, the Triode 25 is a push-pull Class AB design that can switch from triode (22epc) to pentode (45wpc) with a flick of the switch. First of all, I wound up leaving the 25 in triode mode for most of the show because it sounded so darned good that way. (Pentode mode allowed more extension at the frequency extremes, but it flattened out soundstage depth a little.) That said, the Triode 25 comes close to the sound of the S6--my personal favorite in the Unison Research line-up--for almost $2000 less. I really love this little amp and I'm planning on holding onto it for a while more as well.

Once again I have to make the excuse that I was stuck in my room for the entire show, so I didn't get out and listen to a lot of other gear. (I did venture into the Joseph Audio room a couple of times, which I'll report in the next blog entry.) But I did visit the T.H.E. Show at the Flamingo to check on another one of our brands--My Audio Design from the UK. Timothy Jung, founder and designer for MAD, was showing his gorgeous Grand MM monitor speakers ($8200/pair without stands) in a system that included Burmester and SOTA, and he was getting a powerful, authoritative sound out of his fairly large stand-mounted monitors. At one point Timothy really cranked up the volume on the system and my head started to spin, but the MMs didn't fail to reproduce the accurate sound levels of a live rock performance. I'm just getting old.

Last year I reported on one of my pet peeves at trade shows--fear of sitting in the "sweet spot" chair in order to appear polite. At this CES I found something new to grumble about. Here's the scenario: a person walks into the room saddled with all sorts of photographic equipment--tripods, cameras, maybe even an assistant. They snap a few quick photographs and then quickly exit a room. Okay, that's not so strange considering all of the international press that covers CES. But at this CES, it happened every few minutes all day long for the entire show. None of these people asked questions about the equipment they were shooting. They didn't stop for a second to listen to the music. These people were on a mission--to photograph EVERYTHING at CES.

Ordinarily this wouldn't bother me, but I'm seeing a trend on audio discussion forums. Someone will mention a particular trade show, and then someone else will say, "Hey, let me post some of my pics from the rooms at the show!" Then that person posts page after page of photos of all the gear. On one forum I saw a guy post forty-eight pages of photos. Of course the other posters would ask questions like "Wow, those Magico speakers look amazing! How did they sound?" Unfortunately, the shutterbug doesn't have a clue and made some sort of lame excuse for not offering an opinion on the sound quality. This person doesn't remember because this person wasn't listening.

To all the shutterbugs, I must say that you're doing it wrong. Sure this gear is beautiful and it deserves to be photographed. But your hi-rez digital photography only scratches the surface. Set your camera down for a minute and listen for a change. You'll have more fun.

Blogger Issues Semi-Resolved

This is just a test. Ugh.

The photo above is of my listening room today, January 27, 2014. I've just put the tiny My Audio Design 1920S monitors in the big system, and they're a great match with the new Unison Research Triode 25 integrated amplifier. It's the first time I've been able to post a pic on my blog in 2014.

Evidently the only way to rejoin the world of the blogging is to start using Mozilla Firefox as a browser from now on. Now I have nothing against Firefox and I've had it installed on my computer for years, but I've been using Internet Exploder forever and haven't felt compelled to make the switch on a permanent basis. I'm not one of those computer people who are constantly looking for bigger and better software programs. I just want stuff to work and I want to use it indefinitely when I like it--or get used to it. I'm not afraid of change; I just need a good reason to change.

Everyone's been telling me to use Mozilla forever, and now I have to. I can't post photos on this blog without switching to Mozilla. It's pissed me off because I haven't been able to blog for most of this month, and I have things to say and records to review. But I will catch up in the next few days.

CCI at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show

It's time once again for the Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas. This is always a frantic time of year for people in the industry--we've just gotten through the holidays and now we have to pack up all our gear and head to Vegas for the most important trade event of the year. As I've said before, CES has a very different feel than other audio shows because it's not open to the public. The people coming into my room are there to do business, not to sit and listen to music all day. Still, we're always proud of the systems we assemble at CES. Since we're always at CES to represent Unison Research and Opera--it's their room and not ours, per se--we're usually introducing some cool new gear. We also get to hang out with Bartolomeo Nasta of Unison/Opera, one of our favorite people in the whole world.

Here's the press release I sent out to everyone:

"CCI, Unison Research, Opera Loudspeakers and Furutech are excited to announce our system for the upcoming 2014 Consumer Electronics Show. We will be debuting the Unison Research Triode 25 integrated amplifier ($3495) and the Opera Quinta SE loudspeakers ($6995/pair) along with the Unison Research Unico CDE CD player ($4495), with all cabling and power management by Furutech. The Triode 25 is the new tubed integrated slotted between the Simply Italy and S6; it is rated 22wpc in triode and 45wpc in pentode. The Quinta SE is a ported version of the Quinta with upgraded drivers. We will be featuring this system in Room 29-110 of the Venetian on January 7-10. We hope to see you there!"

I've been listening to this system in my home for the last three or four days and I'm pretty excited about the sound. The new Quinta SE is delivering the deepest bass I've heard in this large room, and the Triode 25 is a beautiful little jewel of an amp. I'm looking forward to spending more time with this gear after the show, but I think most of it's already sold.

At any rate, the CES is being held January 7-10, so if you're attending please stop by Room 29-110 and say hello to Colleen, Bart and me!