Letters To Us

02/03

Hi Steve.

As a result of reading this article I went out and bought one of Casey's mats - wow, it really did make a difference to my LP12! Thank you for bringing it to my attention! However, Rick Becker also made mention of a "Symposium Svelte Shelf" for his Linn. Could you please give me a URL or other contact details so I can find
out more about this?

Regards,

Andy Redwood

Andy,

Thanks for your e-mail and glad our review has brought more musical joy in your like. Symposium review can be found by clicking here and includes the manufacturer's information. Always glad to be of service.


Enjoy the Music,

Steven R. Rochlin

02/03

Hi Wayne,

I enjoyed your review of the Meadowlark Swifts. I look forward to auditioning them someday. Fortunately, there's a dealer within driving distance from me. I was wondering if you are familiar with the Vandersteen line of speakers, especially the 1C. I had the opportunity to audition the 1C in my home for a couple of weeks and thought it was a wonderful speaker, notwithstanding the price. However, I would have to say the Swift certainly looks like the more attractive speaker. I have a feeling the sound of Meadowlarks and Vandersteens may be somewhat similar since they both employ time-aligned drivers and first-order crossovers. At least I think they do. By the way, will you still be reviewing the new Osprey in the near future? Thanks,

Walt Bromby

Hi Walt,

I don't think you could go seriously wrong with either speaker. I have always regarded the Vandersteen 1C oras one of the best buys in audio-- I have recommended it to several friends -- and I can imagine some listeners preferring its sound to that of the Swift. Since I have not listened carefully to the Vandies for some time now, I hesitate to recommend one of these fine products over the other. But if pressed to the wall, my impression is that the Swift seems slightly quicker and possibly a bit more refined in its musical presentation. I suspect your choice may very likely boil down to appearance, as the two competitors are so different. Either way, I am confident you'll be pleased with the sound you get for your investment.

Best wishes,

Wayne Donnelly

02/03

Hello,

I have been regular visitor of Enjoy the Music.com™ to get update info from the audiophiles and about the new developments in the world of audio. I must admit that I find Enjoy the Music.com™ the best website for audiophiles. Congratulations guys for doing a great job. I would like to bring to your notice that You have probably missed out on one the very good loudspeaker in your T.H.E. Show report. This is a Electrostatic Hybrid Speaker from Cadence. A friend of mine in San Fransisco visited THE SHOW and he wrote about this Fantastic (according to my friend...in fact he mentioned it to be the best loudspeaker at the show at the price ).

I thought I would get some more info on your website.. but I was disappointed to find no mention about it. I wonder if you have seen/heard this speakers. I am very much interested to know more about them. As I am very much interested to buy them. I would appreciate if you could give me some information and your opinion about Cadence loudspeakers. I think the model name it Avita.

Keep up the great work... and wish you guys the very best for 2003.

Thanks and warm regards, 

Dave

Dave,

Thanks for your e-mail and well wishes. We have more show report in this month's edition with more to come in March. Stay tuned! As always...

Enjoy the Music,

Steven R. Rochlin

02/03

Steve,

Reguarding your review of the Reference 3A loudspeaker... What a nicely written, calm and literate review. Refreshing compared to TAS.

Thank you,

Jeffrey Teuber

02/03

Hi Neil,

You still using the Vecteur D2? Any reliability problems? I'm considering a purchase. My sytem is DIY DHT triodes, 300B and 45s. Speaks are Lowthers. Dac is the AN kit 1.2. Transport is now the lowly Marantz SE63 w/Kwak clock upgrade. Me thinks this is the weak link now and I can't have a weak link :-). No vinyl as I went the other way years ago and can't stomach the return.

Any guidance is appreciated. Your article on the D2 is one of the rare pieces of info on the net about this piece. It definitely peaked my interest.

Regards,
Jim Dudley

Jim,

No, I am not using the D-2 -- I sold mine and bought the Vecteur L-4 CD player -- like the D-2, an excellent piece which also includes a very good DAC. My purpose in buying it was to get an even better transport than the D-2.

There have been no reliability problems that I have heard of -- my unit was Serial Number 20, and had no problems at all, nor do I believe that the person who bought it has experienced any difficulties. Meanwhile, the Vecteur dealer in Toronto has experienced no problems with the D-2 drive.

Like the D-2, when linked to a superb DAC, the L-4's transport blows everything else away. Vecteur does not yet market the L-4 transport separately, so the best solution was to get the L-4, with DAC.

By the way, as a one-box CD player, the L-4 is excellent. Your system sounds very interesting -- I can understand your quest for a great transport.

Anyway, D-2 or L-4, either way, you get a superb transport, although given my choice I went for the L-4 -=- it was just more of the same high quality that the D-2 displayed.

Good luck!

Neil

02/03

Mr. Walker,

Several months ago we exchanged a few e-mails about the Gershamn Cameleon speakers. I enjoyed that review, but found your review of the Seolane to be a bit less comprehensive. I am curious of your opinion of their soundstaging, for you only seemed to mention it in passing. Also, what exactly do you mean that the bass sounds or notes were "plummy" does/could this mean soft or even mushy or blurred?? Finally, does Mutine have any dealers in the USA yet?? Thank you again and Happy Holidays!!

Larry Novelli

Larry,

Thanks for writing.

The sound staging of the Seolanes was very good, although not exactly pinpoint (is this a figment of the imagination, anyway?).

Plummy? Not soft, mushy or blurred at all; rather the bass was warm, full, perhaps not as crisp or forward sounding as that of the Caméléon speakers but very musical. It is a sound which is the result of the woofer's transient response and speed, the stiffness of the cone and the stability of its shape and also the harmonics of the bass notes which both the midrange of the woofer and the tweeter provide.

It is also a personal kind of word -- audio reviewers, like reviewers of other media, fall back on metaphor to express their ideas. Thus, for me, plummy always suggests the two octaves below middle C on the piano. Rich and full.

With either speaker, I would experiment with placement and anchoring. For example, the Caméléons did not hit their stride until I had put three square-head screws through my carpet into the sub floor and then rested the speakers' spikes in the screw heads. At that point, the speakers improved enormously and really showed what they were capable of doing. That is what I mean by anchoring -- if you are using a hardwood floor, then the issue is quite different.

For example, a hardwood floor covered with a cotton or wool carpet could be very good, but bare hardwood could be a disaster -- it would depend on the speaker and its spikes or pads. With the Seolanes, the best system is to scrap the spikes and rest the speakers on Mutine cones -- items which I have also found very useful for my CD player and DAC. Then start building the listening environment one step at a time.

Hope some of this is helpful.

Neil

PS: Mutine has American dealers, but I do not know them. Please contact Mutine in Canada by e-mail (mail@mutine.com), give them your address and ask for the nearest dealer. I know that Pascal was a little under the weather in December, but he should get back to you quickly.

02/03

Hi Steve,

The Sennheisers are quite efficient and not "power pigs" by any stretch of the imagination. They're rated for 97db at the ear with 1mW input. That means you can make your ears bleed with about 10mW. I think they reach their maximum output at around 80-100mW.

What they are, is voltage hungry, and may crap out with SS outputs designed for 32 ohm cans, which will be much louder at a given voltage. As a 300 ohm design, they're best with tube amps, and OTLs love them (I have two tube OTL headphone amps for my Sennheisers). Actually OTLs, which have plenty of voltage but limited current, will be able to drive Sennheisers much better than 32 ohm Grados, for example.

Nathan Lewis

Nathan,

Many thanks for your e-mail. Thanks for the information and i will check with Sennheiser. It simply seems that the HD600 needs quite a bit more power to drive as compared to many other headphones i have used over the years. Thanks again and have a wonderful weekend. As always...


Enjoy the Music,

Steven R. Rochlin

02/03

Steve, 

I just wanted to take the time to thank you for the free cartridge alignment protractor. I just setup my first cartridge and love the fact I am finally free of anyone else's setup help. Originally not believing that it would work, I also purchased the mirrored alignment tool from Turntablebasics. After all was said and done, I used yours. I used the mirrored tool as a check but I thought yours was easier and provided more accuracy.

I hate to criticize something that is free but I only had one problem with it. My problem is the parallel lines to the left and right side of the center dot are not equidistant from the center dot. When looking down the barrel of the cartridge it is a little tougher when the lines are not symmetrical to the dot. Are the lines not symmetrical for a reason?

Do you have the protractor in AutoCAD or Visio format? If you do, I would love to have it so I can make the change for my next cartridge setup.

Lastly, thanks for Enjoy the Music. I mostly appreciate the fact that you guys really put money in perspective concerning audio. Obviously there is a lot of expensive gear on your site, but you really seem to promote the bargain (even free).

Thanks a third time, 
Joe Perucki

Joe,

A most humble thanks for all the compliments. We try our best to help as many music lovers as possible. As for the problem with the alignment protractor, we used as precise a printer company as possible, yet sometimes things are 99.9% correct versus perfection. We do offer an Excel spread sheet so you can make your own protractor by clicking here. Of course in the end what really matters is that you...


Enjoy the Music,

Steven R. Rochlin

02/03

Dick,

I'm 79 and pretty dumb when it comes to electronic stuff. I call the newscaster every time I change a light bulb and its put on the six o'clock news.....

I love classical music...only. No rock, no rap - no noise - but when it comes to even connecting stereo gear, at 79 I might forget what I just read in the directions seconds ago... so changing tubes might seem easy to a bright fellow like yourself... but I'd like a CD player (music only - stereo) that has all the right tubes in the right place when it gets here. Even the thought of taking the top off of one of my 'expensive' components gives me chills!

And yet when you describe to me what it did for your music when you put some $27.00 tubes in the Tjoeb - well, that's what I want my music to do too. But is there a way? I mean...for an old fart like me? And how many of those $27 tubes do you need? One? Two? Twenty two? - it might make a difference on my pension... but... well...

My question is: Since I do not intend to modify anything I get, can you recommend a good CD player that is at least close to what you describe the Tjoeb 4000 to be, and yet one that does not have to have anything done to it after I get it? Just plug in and play? Huh? Is that possible?

Well, I thank you even if you just read this, for that's worth a lot to me too. But if you can help me, an old man who loves classical music, to get that sweet tube sound... to loose the harsh tight sound of my little $179 Sony... well... if you could do that I'd come sit on your piano.

Thanks, ever so much!

Nolan Fremin

Hi Nolan,

Granted, tube substitutions are a bit more complicated than changing a light bulb; it's often a question of lining up all of the pins correctly. But if the prospect of getting under the cover of a Tjoeb 4000 CD player feels too intimidating, I understand your dilemma. 

Still, the AH! Tjoeb 4000 or Heart CD 6000 are your best bets for civilized digital sound on a budget. I would suggest that you contact the respective US distributors for help in swapping the stock tubes with reasonable New Old Stock alternatives. That way, the player will be delivered ready to play out of the box. Of course, you will need to invest in a pair of tubes. The Richardson Electronics re-branded Philips/Bugle Boy 6922s are very good choice. 

Best wishes for the New Year!

Dick Olsher

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