Issue 124 / June-July 2000
T H E S O U N D
Many chose to describe their reference systems, but some brave venturers have put together a system relatively new to themselves (though they may have, nay, undoubtedly had, reviewed parts thereof), listened critically, tweaked and substituted within budget (just as you would do) till the whole matched their tastes (which they were also cautioned to describe, for your greater information), and finally, described.
Somewhere, in this House of Sounds, you may find what you are looking for...
Arthur S. Pfeffer
Upstairs at the Downstairs
Every system embodies its owner's tastes. This one, my current reference suite, is a sit-and-listen, as opposed to a get-up-and-fuss system. As a primarily classical listener, concertgoer, and audio-musicophile, I enjoy at home what I would call an "enhanced/reduced concert-hall experience." Large ensemble recordings get mini-Carnegie Hall; small groups, an intimate theater or large living room. I also enjoy historical jazz, film scores, etc., but it adds up to 50 percent symphonic, 40 percent chamber, vocal, opera, band, and 10 percent non-classical. Hence, the system blends the roundness and immediacy of the front-to-middle seats in the hall with the rich atmosphere and airy distances of live listening. No images materialize inside or in front of the speakers. In this system, the speakers acoustically vanish. Furthermore, the system projects a focused spatial layout with performer locations resembling live. The system delivers with authority every genre from Wagnerian opera down to solo guitar, in a suitable acoustic envelope. But heavy-metal fans will probably pass up the remainder of this report. 'Bye!
Ah, now that we're finally alone... All recordings are flawed. Go for ultimate detail in the hardware, and the software can drive you mad. Though remarkably focused, this system won't sacrifice midrange accuracy or overall musical satisfaction on the high altar of Detail. Just as Oscar Levant gave thanks that the one hundred players in a great symphony orchestra don't play 100 percent together, we should probably be grateful for equipment that reveals the musical goodies in full splendor without calling attention to the baaad stuff. Even Salome needed a veil or two to cover epidermal blemishes and a bit of cellulite.
Other biases: I aim to minimize the number of manufacturers. This makes for smaller parties but also for a simple, coherent, non-fatiguing sound. And it is a sound I can live with for long periods without lusting (too much!) after the latest in-thing. I'd rather stick with musical-sounding components than play musical chairs with unmusical ones. While I enjoy transient punch and chest-throbbing bass as much as the next macho pig, I prefer a little too little to a little too much. Except midrange. Too much of any other quality, however fascinating in itself, distracts. Many an Upstairs system or component has heavenly highs, masterly midrange, and ballistic bass - all from different planets. The system recommended here has the same fundamental timbre from its crystalline top to its superbly controlled and integrated bass, allowing each recording to ordain its own balances.
These components' designers not only talk about neutrality but engineer it, to my taste, with minimal glitz, honk, or barrel chest. This new-millennium tube system is rich and rounded but not even slightly overstuffed or fuzzy. Its elegant bass would be even more imposing in a larger room, but phony bass coloration has been drained from all these components like fat from a spit-roasted duck. At the top, the system, an ambience champion, seems to exude the very air of any recorded space from an intimate cabaret to Royal Albert Hall. One of my favorite pastimes is to play old discs I haven't heard since I had a Downstairs system in a basement, so I can peek into their previously hidden spaces and places.
As important as any component is my Arcici Suspense Rack, without which the hardware - and not only the suspensionless turntable - could not begin to perform well in my second-story sheetrock-and-plywood music room. It's an Upstairs system in an upstairs - which quality-wise means Downstairs - room. And a small, crowded room, containing home theater, too. Galling space constraints prohibit such obvious moves as supplementing the Pioneer with a High End transport or adding a second rack for video gear. The system's immense soundstage, big images, and deep reserves of power beg for a larger and structurally more solid room. I love it, but am just barely getting away with it, at the price of some acoustic overloading at peaks, a mildly contracted stage, and a less bloomy bass, as perceived, than actually emerges from the woofers.
 Alón Circe |
The VTL 750 Reference tube amps match the Circes in their seductive combination of sleek control and brute power, not to mention extreme clarity at all frequencies. These dual-stacked-chassis units are switchable between 800-watt tetrode and 300-watt triode modes. They answer the prayers of both the lover of big symphonic music (like myself) and the devotee of chamber music, early music, and vocals (like myself). Conceal them behind the discarded curtain from the Circe update, and you might think you were hearing, in delicate music, a sweet little 60-watter or, in big scores, VTL's colossal Wotans. Neat it is to adapt the amp to the music: triode's filigree for jazz and small ensembles, tetrode's tidal wave for Shostakovich and Mahler.
Even between the two of us, what can I say about the Clearaudio/Souther/Insider phono ensemble that hasn't already been said? There is almost nothing in a groove, good or bad, that it cannot excavate with archaeological exactitude. Like the rest of the system, it is lean and fast, but never so lean as to dilute the emotional force of analog vinyl. The same may be said for the Herron tubed phono stage, even with its FET moving-coil input, whose low noise and clean response I have come to love. The VTPH-1 represents a satisfying merger of solid-state speed and neutrality with traditional tube values. And it fits in my space! I sometimes enjoy substituting my gorgeous Pentagon PS3, a superb solid-state unit that rivals the Herron in focused-but-cheery musicality, may beat it in signal-to-noise ratio, and of course runs cool. A warning: The Walker Omega-Mikro phono cables are incredibly dimensional and detailed, but their rigid conduits are unsuited to the Souther straight-line arm's jumping jacks. I'm seeking more flexible but equally light cable that won't work its plugs loose.
Two perky little in-series Monarchy Super-DIPs clean up most of the residual grunge in the Pioneer transport's digital output. The low-profile VTL TDAC-2 was one of the first digital-to-analog converters to employ the classic 20-bit Ultra Analog chip. It holds up well. Though recent DACs have cleaner highs and more ample bass, I have heard none - certainly none of the petite solid-state units I have room for - that produces the same full body, depth of stage, rounded images, and immediacy. The VTL sounds like music to me; many others sound like technology. I don't necessarily recommend shopping the used market for this rare bird; listeners will instead substitute a current 24/96 tube DAC to complement the Upstairs transport they can no doubt also accommodate.
The Herron VTSP-1 is among the smallest single-box tube line stages offering Upstairs sound. A high-tech purist device, it gently massages source signals and of course couples seamlessly with the VTPH-1. This quiet, self-effacing preamp contrives to sound as if it is doing absolutely nothing -but enthusiastically, and supremely well! I've also spent many happy hours listening with the less costly VTL TL5.5. Despite looser and less extended bass and a bit less dynamic range and harmonic richness, its unimpeachably sweet musical character, combined with a holographic soundstage, is a great match for the VTL amps. And I love features like remote control of volume, muting, and phase. The 5.5 yields to the Herron as an Upstairs preamp, but it does good things in this system and should be heard by Landing-dwellers in search of all-tubes, satisfying sound, compactness, reliability, and convenience.
Tweaks do not a system make; they a system refine. A flock of Walker Valid Points and Resonance Control Discs perch under and upon my preamps, power amp, and speakers. Other embellishments include AudioPrism Quiet Line AC filters, Walker High Definition Links speaker filters, Harmonix tuning discs and feet, VPI Magic Bricks, and RoomTunes amp stands and Corner Tunes. Cabling prices are similarly horrendous. I'm specifying Harmonic Technology throughout. Since the system is tri-amped, we'll need three pairs of Pro-9 Plus at $860 per pair. We're also going to need four pairs of the 7N Single Crystal RCAs at $399 a pair. The phono cable will run about another $500. So where we're at is around $4,600. Tweaks must be tailored to each room and system, never the reverse. Assemble system first, then judiciously essay tweaks to maximize performance, minimize noise. In a good room, this system can rest unaccessorized and yield long-term musical satisfaction.