Monthly Archive: July 2004
Home Page-July/August 2004
Our third Hi-Res Drawing has been extended thru August and we have added the brand new Blue Man Group DVD-A launching Sept. 14! 15 lucky AUDIOPHILE AUDITION readers will receive their choice from the above DTS DVD-Audio discs: Blue Man Group’s The Complex, Medeski Martin and Wood – Uninvisible, Porcupine Tree – In Absentia. Drawings on August 31 from names who have registered at AUDIOPHILE AUDITION by clicking on the pop up banner or Right Here. You’ll also then be eligible for all upcoming drawings. Next month is Universal SACDs. July-August 2004 Contents Controversial Editorial – New! 47 Hi-Res disc reviews this issue and 124 disc reviews total!: Part 1 (Jazz); Part 2 (Classical); Part 3 (Classical, Pop, Rock, Misc.); 23 Classical CDs (Part 1, Part 2); 17 DVD Video Reviews (Part 1, Part 2); 17 Jazz CDs (Part 1, Part 2); 13 Reissue CDs (Part 1, Part 2); Special Feature: Vinyl Reviews; 4 Component Reviews: Sony SCD-XA9000ES Disc Player, Mobile Fidelity OML-1 Loudspeaker, Thorough Bass Magellan VI SU Subwoofer, Shure E5c high-end Earbuds; plus our usual Survey of the Audio/HT Press [Updated!] and other features. Help support AUDIOPHILE AUDITION by visiting our sponsors’ web sites. Weekly Audio News: AUG […]
Component Reviews, Part 4 of 4
July-August 2004, Part 4 [Pt. 1] [Pt. 2] [Pt. 3] An Earful: Shure’s E5c Earbuds Shure Inc. 5800 W. Touhy Ave. Niles, IL 60714847-600-2000 earphones@shure.com www.shure.com/ears SRP: $500 Shure describes their somewhat recent (released last year) E5c earbuds as “Sound Isolating In Ear Earphones,” and that’s a pretty good if understated description. More fully developed, I’d describe them as outstandingly good sound isolators, with one set of in-ear soft rubber sleeves designed like industrial ear plugs (with triple isolating flanges), used to keep the ear from being damaged by loud noise. They are excellent time-tested sound isolators indeed, with a medium hypodermic needle- sized outlet directing the sound to the ear drum. Shure’s E5c’s keep the music in and the noise out. Just back from a vacation involving long air trips, I can safely say they are outstanding for air travel, being small and compact, and coming with a sturdy similarly small and compact carrying case. With an Apple iPod, they would take up about the same space as two packs of cigarettes if small size is the highest priority. The quality of their sound is on a par with some of the best headphones of any type […]
Component Reviews, Part 3 of 4
July-August 2004, Part 3 [Pt. 1] [Pt. 2] [Pt. 4] Thorough Bass Inc. Magellan VI SU Subwoofer Thorough Bass Inc. 341 England Pl NE Marietta GA 30066 USA 1-770-516-8540 1-877-828-7829 (Toll Free USA) FAX: 1-720-559-5556 General Information: general@tbi.com Web site: www.thoroughbass.com MAGELLAN VI PASSIVE BASS MODULE SPECIFICATIONS: FREQUENCY RESPONSE 20 Hz –250 Hz (-6DB) POWER CAPACITY 100 W RMS (175W IHF) SENSITIVITY 90db 1w/1m @ 35Hz DRIVER 6.5” Convex Single Piece Aluminum Cone CONNECTION 5-way binding posts IMPEDANCE 8 ohms nominal ACCESSORIES Brass Vibration Isolators-Standard Large Rubber Feet DIMENSIONS: WIDTH 14.5 inches (368.3 mm) DEPTH 14.5 inches (368.3mm) HEIGHT 5.5 inches (139.7mm) no feet (7 inches w/spikes) WEIGHT 15 lbs. (6.8kg) SRP $800 TBI 200-SU SUBWOOFER POWER AMPLIFIER SPECIFICATIONS: FREQUENCY RESPONSE 10 Hz –150 Hz (-3db x-over @ 150 Hz) POWER OUTPUT 200W 4 ohms (150W 8 ohms) CONTROLS Level—Phase–Crossover 50 Hz-150 Hz (18db/oct) CONNECTION 5-way Binding Posts ACCESSORIES IEC Power Cord DIMENSIONS: WIDTH 6.25 inches (158.75mm) DEPTH 8 inches (203.2mm) HEIGHT 6.75 inches (171.45mm) WEIGHT 6 lbs. (2.72kg) AC INPUT REQUIREMENT 120V- 240V 50-60-Hz (Internal Jumper Selectable) 355 VA max SRP: $450 Intro I have looked forward to reviewing this subwoofer since I saw it at CES 2003. First […]
Component Reviews, Part 2 of 4
No. 2 [No. 1] [3] [4] • July-August 2004 Mobile Fidelity OML-1 Loudspeaker SRP: $999/pr in Black Ash Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab 318 N. Laflin Street Chicago, IL 60607-1006 USA https://www.mofi.com/ Purchases made through Music Direct Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab 318 N. Laflin Street Chicago, IL 60607-1006 USA https://www.mofi.com/ Purchases made through Music Direct Basic Description Bookshelf loudspeakers with 1.25” silk dome tweeter and 6.5” mica/kevlar impregnated paper cone; shielded; sensitivity 88 dB; 6 ohms; bi-wire capable; weight 20 pounds; measuring 12.5”H x 8”W x 14.5”D; 10 year warranty; $300 upcharge for rosewood or sycamore, $500 more in walnut high gloss (see pictures on website). Music Direct now owns Mobile Fidelity, so all the products are sold directly through them. Associated Equipment Musical Fidelity A308 Integrated Amplifier and A308 CD player, Audioquest cables, Lovan Affiniti 24 and Premier SS-26 stands; Bowers & Wilkins 705 loudspeakers ($1500) and Von Schweikert VR-1 loudspeakers ($1000) for comparison. Setup Break-in took place over a 4 week period. I ran the speakers with movie and music sound in a two-channel configuration. The speakers come with small metal cones or rubber feet that can be stuck onto the bottom of the speakers. I […]
Component Reviews, Part 1 of 4
July-August 2004, Review 1 of 4 [2] [3] [4] Sony SCD-XA9000ES Super Audio and Standard CD Player SRP: $3000 SPECS: For SACD Playing freq. range: 2 Hz to 100kHz Freq. response: 2 Hz to 50 kHz (-3dB) Dynamic range: 108 dB or more THD: .0012% or less Wow & flutter: Value of measurable limit For 44. CD Freq. response: 2 Hz to 20kHz Dynamic range: 100 dB or more THD” .0017% or less Wow & flutter: Value of measurable limit Outputs Analog out: phono jacks – 2 Vrms at 50K ohms – imp. over 10K Ohms Digital Out Optical (CD): square optical con. – -18 dBm Digital Out Coax (CD): coax output con. – 0.5 Vp-p – 75 ohms Phones: stereo phone jack – 10 mW – 32 ohms General Laser: semiconductor laser, SACD 650 nm; CD 780 nm Laser radiant power: 5.47 uW at 650 nm Power: 120 V AC, 60Hz for N. America Power consumption: 32W Dimensions: 17W x 5H x 15 1/4 in. D Weight: 35 lbs. 12 oz. Sony Electronics Inc. 1 Sony Drive Park Ridge, NY 07656-8003 201-930-1000 www.sony.com Intro This high end Sony SACD player has been referred to as their flagship player, […]
Vinyl Reviews
Six Audiophile Vinyl Reissues Evaluated The Mercury Reissues: Which Presence is More Alive? Remember when you stumbled upon your first major cache of pristine copies of RCA and Mercury first issue records and paid $3 each for these masterpieces? For me it was Maestro Coradetti’s collection on Polk St. in San Francisco and it was a wowser: mint copies of some of the greats that included an FR-1 copy of Antal Dorati and the London Symphony performing Respighi’s The Birds and Brazilian Impressions. Twenty years later audiophiles have the choice of hearing some of these Mercury, RCA and Decca classics on a dizzying variety of mediums: vinyl reissues, CD reissues, XRCD reissues, gold CD reissues, etc. Reading the advertising hype surrounding these reincarnations one loses sight of the mint vinyl first issue. How many reviewers really have them to compare to the reissues? So, recently I traveled with my vinyl junkie friend Dan Oppermann from San Francisco to Davis, Ca. to the house of John Uyeyama, owner of the some awesome sound equipment (see the end of this article for details). I brought with me FR-1 copies of SR 90153 (Respighi’s The Birds and Brazilian Impressions – London Symphony/Dorati) […]
Reissue CD Reviews, Part 2 of 2
July-August 2004, Pt. 2 of 2 [Pt. 1] BRUCKNER: Symphony No. 3 in D Minor/WAGNER: A Siegfried Idyll Hans Knappertsbusch conducts Vienna Philharmonic Testament SBT 1339 73:22 (Distrib. Harmonia Mundi): While Hans Knappertsbusch (1888-1965) came to the music of Bruckner relatively late in his career, in 1931, he soon established himself as an acolyte of the composer, regularly programming these knotty works after 1940. Modern scholarship is less kind to Knappertsbusch as a Bruckner conductor, finding fault with his chosen editions, which in this case (the 1890 version) exercises several cuts in the final Allegro movement. The recording, from April 1-3, 1954, has its compensations, which include absolutely seamless transitions, such as they are, in this heavily Wagner-allusive symphony. The first desk players include Willy Boskovsky, Walter Barylli, and Fritz Sedlak, veterans all, and thoroughly committed to the Vienna sound. The orchestral luster and resonance are superb, perhaps nowhere so clearly as in the first movement’s opening tremolos and repeated figures in the strings, which drip with mysticism. The Wagner Siegfried Idyll, recorded one year later in early April, 1955, is no less slickly rendered, but I find the elongated rhythmic phrases and lingering caesuras devoid of driven tension, simply […]
Reissue CD Reviews, Part 1 of 2
July 2004, Pt. 1 of 2 [Pt. 2] BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat Major, Op. 19; Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 37 Wilhelm Backhaus, piano Clemens Kraus conducts Vienna Philharmonic (Op. 19) Karl Boehm conducts Vienna Philharmonic (Op. 37) Testament SBT 1334 62:12 (Distrib. Harmonia mundi): Two classic performances from the Decca catalogue by Wilhelm Backhaus (1885-1969) in the music of Beethoven. The B-flat Concerto with Clemens Krauss (1893-1954) is perhaps the more interesting, deriving from sessions in late May, 1952; recall that few collaborations with Krauss exist on record, though these artists did work together in the Emperor Concerto as well. Some will find the playing of Backhaus austere and chaste; musically correct it certainly is. I find the renditions of both concertos thoughtful and pointed, though lacking in humor for the B-flat. Backhaus, like his contemporary Artur Rubinstein, could play with suave naturalness of expression, passionate but restrained. Vivaciousness there is, and a muscular fervor in the first movement cadenza of the B-flat worth noting. The total agreement of phrase between Boehm and Backhaus (1950) is evident in the C Minor, although the chosen cadenza (Reinecke’s, I think) seems somewhat mannered. Still, the […]
Jazz CD Reviews, Part 2 of 2
July-August 2004 Part 2 of 2 [Pt. 1] Two big band tributes from Mark Masters plus two albums featuring alto sax master Lee Konitz… The Clifford Brown Project – The Mark Masters Ensemble – Presented by the American Jazz Institute – Capri Records 74059-2: LA-based arranger-composer Mark Masters is responsible for both of these original efforts, together with the American Jazz Institute which he founded to preserve and perpetuate the jazz art form. In this first CD he has arranged for an 11-piece ensemble to present the compositions and improvisations of jazz master trumpeter Clifford Brown. All the tunes except the Benny Golson tribute I Remember Clifford are Brown originals. They point up the fact that not only was Brown a stellar trumpeter during his sadly short career (he died at age 26), but that he also wrote some terrific tunes that have remained jazz standards: Joy Spring, Sweet Clifford, Minor Mood, LaRue, Sandu, Daahoud, I Remember Clifford, Bones for Jones, Swingin’, Joy Spring (reprise) One Day With Lee – Lee Konitz and the Mark Masters Ensemble (Incl. Gary Foster, Bill Perkins, Bob Enevoldsen, Steve Huffstetter, Jack Montrose) – Capri Records 74064-2: For this session date Masters realized a dream […]
Jazz CD Reviews, Part 1 of 2
THE CONTEMPORARY RECORDS STORY – 4 CD Retrospective with illustrated booklet on history of the label – Tracks from Ray Brown, Benny Carter, Ornette Coleman, Buddy Collette, Curtis Counce, Art Farmer, Victor Feldman, Benny Golson, Hampton Hawes, Barney Kessel, Howard Rumsey’s Lighthouse All-Stars, Shelly Manne, Red Mitchell, Lyle Murphy, Lennie Niehaus, Phineas Newborn Jr., Red Norvo, Art Pepper, Andre Previn, Sonny Rollins, Bill Smith, Cecil Taylor, Leroy Vinnegar, Ben Webster and others – 4CCD-4441-2: Many different small jazz labels have been kept alive and thrive on reissues under the umbrella of Fantasy Records, but Contemporary is one of my personal favorites and has been since their first stereo LPs came out in the late 50s. Founder Lester Koenig had been an assistant to famed Hollywood director William Wyler, but after refusing to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee he found himself blacklisted and decided to go into another business. Actually he had already started the Good Time Jazz label for Dixieland a few years before, but he was just as passionate about modern jazz. Jazz fans have thanked him ever since. Audiophiles too, because Koenig was one and he began recording some of his sessions in stereo as early […]
DVD-Video Reviews, Part 2 of 2
Pt. 2 of 2 – July-August 2004 [Part 1] Star Trek: Voyager – Season Two (1995-1996) Starring: Kate Mulgrew, Ethan Phillips, Robert Picardo, Garrett Wang, Jennifer Lien, Tim Russ, Robert Beltran, Roxann Dawson, Robert Duncan McNeill Studio: Paramount Home Entertainment Video: 4:3 Fullscreen Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1, English Dolby 2.0 Surround Subtitles: English Closed Captions Extras: Seven featurettes, A Special Text Trivia Version of “The 37’s”, Photo gallery Length: 1,183 minutes Rating: **** The U.S.S. Voyager is an elite Federation starship commanded by Captain Kathryn Janeway. In a freak occurrence, Voyager is transported by an alien space probe to the Delta Quadrant. This particular quadrant is located some 70,000 light-years from Federation space. Janeway is thereafter faced with the daunting mission of trying to guide her ship and crew back home. Along their journey, the crew of Voyager encounters new alien species as well as having many memorable adventures. Highlights from the second season include: “Deathwish” where a rebel Q seeks asylum aboard Voyager (featuring a guest appearance by TNG’s Commander Riker; “The 37’s” in which the crew encounters Amelia Earhart and other humans abducted by aliens in 1937; and “The Thaw” where an evil clown holds Ensign Kim captive […]
DVD-Video Reviews, Part 1 of 2
Part 1 of 2 [Pt. 2] ***Seven Music Videos*** RUBINSTEIN REMEMBERED: PBS American Masters – (1987) DVD plus CD Studio: RCA Legendary Visions Series Video: 4:3 Color and B&W Audio: Dolby Digital Stereo Length: 57:30 Included CD Audio = CHOPIN: 6 Mazurkas; Polonaise No. 6; Scherzo No. 3 in C# Minor; Ballade No. 1 in G Minor/POULENC: Mouvements perpetuels/FALLA: Ritual Fire Dance TT: 51:57: Actor John Rubinstein affectionately narrates this 100th birthday tribute to his father Artur Rubinstein (1887-1992), candidly tracing the great, Polish pianist’s birth in Lodz, Poland, through his subsequent development and maturity as an artist and as a man, husband, and father, and finally as a devoted Jew supporting the State of Israel. Using family photos, home movies, and some film and newsreel footage, we have ample testimony from Artur Rubinstein himself on his fateful suicide attempt and his consequent epiphany, his decision to embrace life with all its pains and glories. We have a visual record of the bon vivant and musician who became a spiritual force for all the world. Much of the video is set in Lodz, Poland, where John Rubinstein accepted an invitation to conduct the local orchestra in his own music, Gershwin’s […]
Classical CD Reviews, Part 2 of 2
July-August 2004 Pt. 2 of 2 [Pt. 1] Re: BACH – Lara St. John, violin – Produced and arranged by Magnus Fiennes – Sony Classical SK 89973: Something strange about the release of this disc. I first received it about a year ago and was starting to review it when I noticed a warning that it wasn’t to be released officially until February 2004. So I put it aside and forgot about it. This week I received it again, except that now it seems to be issued on the Sony’s Odyssey label. This is the latest in “creating new soundscapes” as they call it (read “classical crossover”). Bach is certainly the music to choose for any sort of “updating” such as this – he’s completely indestructible. The idea here was to select 15 short pieces from Bach’s immense catalog and present them in arrangements featuring St. John’s violin and tapping into the jazz, world music and pop worlds. And the fact that the violinist is beautiful and posed similarly on the front and back of the album to a recent Diana Krall album doesn’t hurt either. I wouldn’t say Fiennes can take credit for “creating a new context for […]
Classical CD Reviews, Part 1 of 2
July-August 04 – Part 1 of 2 [Part 2] TIGRAN MANSURIAN: Monodia: Concerto for Viola and Orchestra; Concerto for Violin and Orchestra; Lachrymae for Soprano Saxophone and Viola; Confessing with Faith for Viola and four Voices – Kim Kashkashian, Viola / Leonidas Kavakos, Violin / Jan Garbarek, Soprano Saxophone – Munchen Chamber Orchestra; Christoph Poppen, Conductor, with The Hilliard Ensemble – ECM New Series 1850/51 472 7842: The breakup of the Soviet Union and the disappearance of the totalitarianism that stifled so much of the music being composed in the former Soviet satellite nations has brought forth an unparalleled outpouring of new and previously unrecorded music over the last decade or so; this is especially true of the Baltic states and Armenia, where the music of Tigran Mansurian originates. ECM deserves a lot of credit for getting so much of this music recorded and into our listening rooms. This two-disc set offers an all-star lineup, with the superb violist Kim Kashkashian (also Armenian), saxophonist Jan Garbarek and the Hilliard Ensemble. The true highlights here are the three works that feature violist Kashkashian. Disc one contains the Viola and Violin Concertos, both accompanied by the Munchen Chamber Ensemble, deftly led […]
Hi-Res Disc Reviews, Part 3 of 3 Classical, Pop, Rock
47 SACD & DVD-A Reviews This Month July-August 2004 – Pt. 3 of 3 Classical concl., Pop, Rock, Misc. [Part 1] [Part 2] click on any cover to go directly to its review Let’s begin this last part with a classical work originally composed especially for surround sound! BERLIOZ: Requiem (complete); MAHLER: Symphony No. 1 – Charles Bressler, tenor/Utah Symphony Orchestra and Choir/Maurice Abravanel – Vanguard Classics multichannel SACD (2 discs) ATM CD 1506: [NOTE: As promised, here is my report on the Requiem Redo: I reviewed an earlier SACD version of this exactly two years ago in this section. If you compare disc numbers you will see that the above differs from the one reviewed in July 2002. If you then go to the last paragraph of my original review below you will see that I complain of serious distortion which I took to be due to aging of the master tapes. Well, I was wrong. My complaints and those of a couple others to the new owners of the Vanguard library – Artemis Classics – resulted in their remastering this SACD set for improved sound. It works! The serious IM distortion I heard is greatly reduced […]
Hi-Res Disc Reviews, Part 2 of 3 Classical
47 SACD & DVD-A Reviews This Month July-August 2004 – Part 2 of 3 – Classical (beg.) click on any cover to go directly to its review [Part 1] [Part 3] ****MULTICHANNEL DISC OF THE MONTH**** GUSTAV MAHLER: Symphony No. 2 in C Minor “Resurrection” – Latonia Moore, sop./Nadja Michael, mezzo-sop./Vienna Singverein/Vienna Philharmonic/Gilbert Kaplan – DGG SACD (2 discs) 474 594-2: Kaplan is a real musical phenomenon. He was originally a stockbroker who developed an obsessive interest in Mahler’s Second Symphony. Now he is on the faculty of Juilliard, the author of an illustrated biography of Mahler, hosts radio series on Mahler and music in general, and is on the board of many musical institutions. He has specialized in conducting Mahler’s Second and has done so with over 50 orchestras now, as well as recording it with the London Symphony in 1988 in a best-selling disc set. Kaplan is the joint editor of a completely new critical edition of the symphony’s score, which incorporates hundreds of corrections to errors which remained in the 1970 previously-published corrected score. Most of these changes are very subtle in nature, often coming from the composer’s final stages of editing the work. Kaplan’s l988 […]
Hi-Res Disc Reviews, Part 1 of 3 Jazz
47 & Reviews This Month! July-August 2004, Pt. 1 of 3 – Jazz [Part 2] [Part 3] click on any cover to go directly to its review Los Angeles Guitar Quartet – LAGQ’s Guitar Heros – Telarc SACD-60598: Previous LAGQ albums have been more solidly in the classical genre, but since the quartet’s guitar heros turn out to be from rock, jazz and fingerstyle playing, it seems more appropriate to put this disc in the hi-res jazz section. The other unusual thing about this SACD is that recording engineer Robert Friedrich has duplicated the approach of the Tacet DVD-A label in placing each of the four musicians one-to-a-speaker. After listing the four members spread across the front for the stereo version, the liner notes identify that Andrew York is heard at the left front speaker, William Kanengiser at the right front, John Dearman at the left surround and Scott Tennant at the right surround. So it’s as though the quartet of guitarists surrounds you in your listening room – very exciting! Some of their heros are Django Reinhardt, Ralph Towner, David Bromberg, John McLaughlin, Jimi Hendrix, Pat Metheny, Los Romeros, Michael Hedges, The Assad Brothers, Frank Zappa […]
Index to All 124 Discs Reviewed
Index to All 124 Discs Reviewed for July-August 2004: HI-RES REVIEWS, PT. 1 (Jazz) – Los Angeles Guitar Quartet – Heros; Martin Taylor – Spirit of Django; Martin Taylor – Artistry; Denoit Delbecq – Nu-turn; Laurindo Almeida & Charlie Byrd – Tango; Stan Getz – Spring Is Here; Acoustic Triangle – Catalyst; Jimmy Witherspoon – Big Blues; Arne Domnerus & Gustaf Sjokvist – Antiphone Blues; Yamamoto Trio – Autumn in Seattle; The Dale Spalding Band – Downtown; Monty Alexander’s Ivory & Steel Jamboree; HI-RES REVIEWS, PT. 2 (Classical) – MAHLER: Sym. No. 2 “Resurrection” – Vienna Philharmonic/Gilbert Kaplan [Disc of the Month]; MICHAEL DENHOFF – The Cello in My Life; JUAN ALLENDE-BLIN: Piano Music – Gunther, p.; OSCAR VAN DILLEN: The City – Ensemble Gelber Klang; The Not So Well-Tempered Klavier – New Compositions for Toy Piano; Collected electroacoustic music of GUNTHER BECKER; RACHMANINOFF: Sym. No. 3 – Abravanel; LEROY ANDERSON Favorites – Abravanel; DUTILLEUX and BARBER Piano Sonatas – Akiyama; La harpe Francaise – Marielle Nordmann; PIAZZOLLA: Adios Nonino – Accardo; BRAHMS: The 3 Violin-Piano Sonatas – Accardo/Canino; VIVALDI: The Four Seasons – Fone Ens.; PAGANINI: 24 Caprices – Accardo; PROKOFIEFF: Piano Sonatas 4 & 8, RACHMANINOFF – Nabioulin, […]
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
