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Letters To Us
05/02
Hi Dick,
Read your review of the ASL KI22-FOX and bought one sight unseen as my first tube amp. You say that you might try some other possible upgrades to the 6SN7 -
like the Valve Art or others. Have you done it ? Is it documented anywhere ?
Thanks you very much - I enjoy you magazine.
Jan Kozak
Hi Jan,
Thank you for the feedback. I continue to enjoy the KI22-FOX, and have in fact experimented with 1960s Sylvania NOS substitutions for the stock 6SN7.
There has been no formal follow up, but the gist of it is that the mids benefit significantly, being more lucid and transparent. Unfortunately, good NOS 6SN7s are hard to locate. But my guess is that almost any vintage 6SN7 is superior sounding to recent production.
Enjoy the music...
Dick Olsher
05/02
Hello,
I love your reviews...they are both informative and
entertaining... much better the most of the print rags
(Stereophile-a/k/a the musical fidelity/triange/cary catalog))
I would like to print out a review or two and read during the commute. How ever the black background seems to preclude. any way i can
print...thanks
Keep up the good work
D. Milch
D. Milch,
Glad you are enjoying our reviews. The below instructions will easily allow you to print the reviews with a white background and
black text.:
Printing this website is quite simple:
With Netscape: open the menu File of your browser and choose Page Setup. A window will pop up with various options. Check the option
black text, then OK. Now you can print this website easily.
With Explorer: the latest versions allow to print the background image of the web pages. If you want to print just the text please go to
Tools then Internet Options. A window will pop up and please choose the Advanced tab. Scroll down to Print and check the box that says
print background color and images. Now you can print this website
easily.
Side Note:
Different results could be obtained if your printer is of the B/W laser variety or color inkjet. Since many web sites have non-white
backgrounds we suggest you keep this configuration as a default for
your browser.
Enjoy the Music,
Steven R. Rochlin
05/02
Chris,
Thankfully I discoverer your piece on "Battle of the Noise Reducing Headphones". I travel frequently and the ads from Bose are so enticing! Unfortunately the price and the size are issues that have kept me from purchasing. Now as I plan for another flight to Frankfurt I again searched for information regarding the products available with the hope of finding the best for my budget. Your article covered this subject but only a mention regarding the
Koss. I am considering the Koss QZ2000. Can you provide a comment on this product?
Thanks
Dale
Hi Dale,
Thanks for the note. I have never listened to the Koss QZ2000 so I'm afraid I have no opinion on them. My review was a head to head battle of the Etymotics and Bose headphones. The KOSS headphones that I have in my collection, and that I used as a reference, are the ESP950 - an electrostatic set which are even bulkier and more expensive than the Bose (they list for $999 and they require 2 D batteries if you want to make them portable).
These things sound absolutely wonderful, but they are not ideal for travel, and are not ideal for noise reduction as the earpads are pretty open.
If you want to try a *really* cheap solution, then you can check out the in-ear KOSS phones they call "The Plug" - they are similar in design to the Etymotics in that they go all the way in the ear and use an earplug-like device to isolate you from the sound. Of course, sound-quality wise, they are no match for the Etymotics, but they sell for only $14.99!! Certainly worth a shot since they are so cheap. I have a pair that I bring around with me when I travel in addition to the Etymotics (for my travel companions).
You can find out more about them at:
http://www.headphones.com/headphones...
Hope that helps...
Regards,
Chris Boylan
05/02
Editor,
I have been following the debate over which high-rez digital format will become the replacement for CD with much interest. I too, would love to have a true digital high-resolution format that captures all the virtues of vinyl to go along with the convenience of digital. Unfortunately, it just isn't going to happen. SACD, DVD-A or what ever else can be thought up will end up being niche products at best. The deck is stacked against all of them succeeding, and has been right from the start. And this ongoing format war isn't helping either. VHS triumphed over Beta only because it filled a need on the part of the public at large. SACD and DVD-A don't do that.
None of the big record companies seem all that interested in supporting any (and especially not all) of the different formats by putting out many (all? Heaven forbid) of their new releases on any of them. And those that are putting out titles are all seemingly repackages of a few older, analog recordings that have paid for themselves many times over. These they'll reissue again and again, trying to get the consumers to purchase the music for the second (or third, or fourth) time. Toss in copy-coding and you get even less of a lukewarm reception. But the consumer is conspicuously voting NO with their wallets.
The only new releases I've seen come down the pipe have all seem to come from small, specialty audiophile labels, such as
DMP, Chesky, and Telarc. And while that's all well and good, not too many of these produce music that the public at large is interested in (otherwise they wouldn't be small, specialty labels, they'd be major ones).
And therein lies the real reason why none of the new high-rez formats will succeed. John Q. Public just doesn't see (or hear) the need for them. Those few music lovers who still have any interest in prerecorded albums are perfectly happy with CD, and since those CD's can be played via that hot new DVD video player that they just bought at Best Buy (or Circuit City, or Good Guys,
or...), well, the consumer gets the best of all worlds. One machine to handle two jobs, movies and music. What could be simpler?
And the media that in the past trumpeted these new advances as necessities are gone. (Think Stereo Review, Audio, High Fidelity, all those mass market catering publications audiophiles loved to dump on, but whom the general public read with confidence.) So who today is telling Middle America that they need either of these two formats? The audiophile press? Please. Most of the world doesn't even know it exists.
I firmly believe the audiophile press needs to consider the real viability of these new formats before trumpeting them to the stars. As I said above, I'm all for one of these new formats to succeed, I just don't see it happening.
Oh well, at least we'll always have vinyl.
John Crossett
John,
i agree with much of what you have said. In fact many people know i have balked at Sony's efforts to release yet another proprietary format (SACD) to the public. Beta, the Memory Stick, Elcasette... Sony likes to have their own formats that no one else seems to support. That's ok with me because, as a consumer, i can choose to not buy it. As you said, we always have vinyl :-)
Enjoy the Music,
Steven R. Rochlin
05/02
Editor,
The Yin Yang Labs Graphametric Paralyzer has got to be the funniest audio component I have ever seen to date. While I must admit that when I saw
the link I thought it might be some new dual chassis pre amp or something along those lines, as soon as I opened the link I laughed out loud at the
picture. I just had to read the review. I always read a review of an audio compent with a gain of salt, but that one could have been read with a glass of
ale.
Good Job I say!
Flotchcat@aol.com
Hi,
Glad you enjoyed the review. Of course no review is 100% complete and the Yin Yang Labs write up is no exception. We have been informed
that the Talent knob will be enhanced for better performance (pun intended) and that some new features will be added as well. Thanks and
as always...
Enjoy the Music,
Steven R. Rochlin
05/02
Hi,
I am writing this email to let you know that I admire your very frank and honest reviews of equipment. I bought the Satori cables after reading your review. Now I know what I have been missing all these years! My equipment consist of the Audionote Meishu (300 B Single-ended amp, 8w) and my speakers are also
Bwitish, the Audionote AN-E. I have also been a great fan (like you) of Steve McC's amplifiers. After reading your review of the DNA 0.5, I asked Steve McC to secure one for me and to upgrade it to an A GOLD. I reckoned that a Stanford grad, a sound recording engineer and a "down-to-earth" honest reviewer can't say much wrong, and in fact, should make much sense. Am I right!! I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of the amp.
Once again, thanks for all you've done. Its made a big difference to my listening pleasure.
With Best Regards,
Dennis
05/02
Hello Neill,
I wanted to compliment you on some of your recent Enjoy the Music.com reviews, like that of the Naim
CDSII. Although I may not possess the means to purchase the equipment you give your highest recommendation, your descriptions of the sound and music are so passionate and poetic that they're not only entertaining but also educational in my own
burgeoning attempts at feeding our common neurosis. :)
Actually, though, my circumstances force me to live with headphones. I was wondering whether you had heard any you adored? I've tried quite a few, and right now enjoy the Sennheiser HD600, but I was curious about your opinion.
By the way, I also really liked the Meville/Thoreau piece -- a very clever way of getting across the "feel" of your system building philosophy. We need more articles like that.
Anyway, thanks for any time you're willing to spare my humble query.
A.A.
A.A.,
I've never heard headphones, so I'm of no use for your immediate needs, just your ultimate ones! Thanks for your generous praise. One
never knows how writing like mine is going to land but happy to know that in your case it appears to have landed on its feet...
Bob Neill
05/02
Hi Dick Olsher,
I was also at the CES and heard the Halcro's. In the Wilson room, I totally agree with you. But you should hear them over a pair of really good speakers like the SC-IV/A's or the Revel Salons.
Many people in the business here in Europe cannot begin to fathom what all the hype is about with the
Wilsons! They must be the most overpriced un-musically build speakers on the face of this planet. It might be they are expensive to build, but please....
I have heard the Halcro's in several set-up's and never have I heard them as not revealing the music's emotion! As a seasoned and experienced reviewer I fail to understand your evaluation under these circumstances.
Usually, I do not criticize any reviewer on a difference of opinion, but you are the first reviewer EVER to talk bad about the
Halcro's!! Although I have lost any respect for "Voodoo" J-10 over the years, I believe that unless you know the reviewers set-up and acoustics 100% it is difficult to use any review for anything beside as a guideline!
You owe it to yourself to evaluate the Halcro's under controlled circumstances. If by then you should still reach the same conclusion; then okay, I respect that.
S.Zenussi
B.Sc.EE (acoustics), B.Sc.econ.
PS: The Halcro solid-state power amplifiers from South Australia have been touted as being essentially distortion-free, so naturally I had to give them a listen. I'm sorry guys, but these "power from down under" amps sounded musically deficient driving some Wilson Audio loudspeakers. While
very clean and unquestionably detailed, the Halcro failed to reveal the music's emotional content. I can think of much better use for $20K
Dear Mr. Zenussi:
Please don't get me started on the subject the Wilson loudspeaker and similar such speakers that have sold out to a HiFi caricature of live music. Having said as much, I'm not at all sure that the SC-IV/A's are any better in this regard.
As far as my comments regarding the Halcro amplifier, they were made in the context of a Show report and should not be interpreted as a definitive review. After all of the hype about the Halcro I was expecting more.. and was disappointed in what I heard. Our readers are entitled to a full slate of first impressions spanning the good, the bad and the ugly.
For the record, I object to any attempt to rank any particular amp as best. Best for what? Go ahead and blame the Wilson if you are biased that way. It could have just as easily been the front end, though most savvy exhibitors would have been quick to blame the room. The Halcro staff, however, seemed satisfied with the sound. All in all, a mega disappointment.
Dick Olsher
05/02
Dear Srajan Ebaen,
I am from Turkey and a really fan of Sezen Aksu. I have just seen a document that u wrote about sezen's album
Deliveren and became very very happy that a foreigner person did heard and saw her voice, her light and her magic. I want to say that she is really a world standart artist in all area of music but
couldn't get a chance to be announced to whole world.
Can anything be done to achieve this professionally or ameteurly? Also, she has
fourteen albums, two singles, many LPs and 45s vinyl records. many of her songs became top
one for weeks or months. I want to say that if you can find her other albums, especially
Deli Kizin Turkusu ( the song of crazy girl)", Gulumse (smile),
Sezen Aksu Soyluyor (sezen aksu singing) and Sezen Aksu '88, u can understand me better.
And remind you that in 2-3 weeks, her new album Su Gibi (Like Water)
will be released. I hope you will find a chance to get this album, which is said to have (I am sure it has) very good songs.
I am looking to forward hearing you anything about.
Yours Sincerely,
Emrah Gultekin
Hello Emrah,
I'm happy to see that you've found my review as far away as Turkey. I'm a big fan of Turkish music - I like Levent Yuksel, and in particular the voice of Burhan Cacan. On the pop side, Tarkan is very good. And on the Sufi side, Omar Faruk Tekbilek is one of the best instrumentalists I've come across, period, together with the percussionist Tunkboyaciyan and Hassan Issikut on kanun. And one of my all-time favorites is Nedim Nalbantoglu, the violinist.
A friend who visited Turkey gave me Cacan's album Neden Geldim
Istanbul'a a long time ago. He was surprised I liked it, He called it the music of "peasants", the kind truck drivers listen to. What can I say? Music knows no boundaries, and Cacan does it for me. I've -- unsuccessfully -- tried to find anything else by him. I just fell in love with his high voice.
Of Sezen Aksu's, I've found Isik Dogudan Yukselir and Serce. As you can imagine, access to her body of work here in the US is challenging at best.
Do you think you could find me copies of the CDs you recommended by her, and perhaps also something good by Burhan Cacan, or anything else you would recommend? I could send you a money order in advance if you let me know how much. I would really appreciate that. If it's too much trouble, I understand, but one thing I will say - if these CDs were anything as good as
Deliveren, I'd review them in my column in a heartbeat to introduce a larger audience to them.
Thanks for taking the trouble to email. That's really appreciated!
Srajan Ebaen
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