April 2004

Your Dream
Article By Steven R. Rochlin
Click here to e-mail reviewer

  Everyone has a dream; a vision of what they feel would be their version of "perfection." In a sense audiophiles strive for their form of flawlessness music reproduction... or do they? In this pursuit are each of us on a quest for the exact same goal? Is there one magical component that will miraculously change our system to achieve this wonderment? And if not, is what we seek even possible?

No matter how great the writing style, no matter how funny or witty, a reviewer is of no use to you unless your preferences and his are the same. My love for tubes and highly sensitive loudspeakers are "worthless" to the guy with MBL loudspeakers, as they need what seems to be 1.21 Jigawatts fed into a flux capacitor to generate the appropriate power to drive them. On the other hand reviews by Alvin Gold, with his Krell amplifiers and Focal.JMlab's Grande Utopia Be loudspeakers, is probably not even worth a read for those who have tight budgets and seek DIY-type articles. While Alvin is an excellent writer with gifted ears and the ability to put it all in to words on a page, the reality is audiophile nirvana does not have a single, "one-size-fits-all" solution.

While some of you may be lusting right now for the turntable above, others might enjoy the Teres, or a VOYD/Audio Note, or a Linn, or Rega, or something from Clearaudio. Dare we mention the various cartridges... or tonearm cable?!?! The possible combinations are virtually endless. And we dare not venture into the stand the turntable sits upon, or the dampening anti-resonant cones/pods/discs/pucks/balls! After attending more shows than virtually any other reviewer, there is one thing that always gets my blood boiling.

Steven,

How did the Cabasse room sound? I am interested in the Iroise II speakers and thought I would ask.

Walt Roman



Walt,

Thanks for your e-mail. Alas, do not really listen at shows for obvious reasons. Do you plan to own the exact same products they used at the show? Is your room the exact same size as the one at the show? Is the acoustics in your room the same as the one at the show?

Am not being critical of you my friend, the point being that shows are not the appropriate venue to judge the sound of a single component. This is especially true with loudspeakers as the way they integrate with a room and their positioning are key factors. At shows, they really have very little time to tweak and tune a setup PLUS the electrical delivery at shows is usually lackluster.

As always, best bet would be to find a local dealer and hopefully be able to have an in-home audition. In the end what really matters is that you...

Enjoy the Music,

Steven R. Rochlin

With apologies to Walt as he asked a good question, logic dictates that the Cabasse Iroise II loudspeakers do not magically reproduce music by themselves. You generally need a source component (turntable, CD, DVD-Audio, etc.), a pre-amplifier, and an amplifier. Then there are the 'tween things like cables. "Extras" include power filtration, room-dampening devices... So what is my point here? 

First is to find your likes in music. The "sound" you want to achieve. This is where finding a reviewer who seems to have the same preferences both in gear and sonics is best. Having a great relation with your local high-end dealer that allows home auditions is also key. While there are many great audiophile magazines both print and online, it is a veritable impossibility that each and every piece of gear will receive a review. And just because Brand X gets a review in magazines and Brand Y does not, it does not mean X is automatically "better" than Y. And who is defining "better"? Better for exactly what... and in whose system? This is your dream, and yours alone. You are unique, just like everyone else (pun intended).

A Piano Is A Piano
Please allow me to use this interesting example. Was at a large piano retail store the other day shopping and, guess what, virtually each piano sounded different! Naturally an upright piano will have a different sound than the more traditional concert/Grand version. With grand pianos there are also different lengths/sizes and of course manufacturers. While all of them were of top quality, a wonderful piano by Young Chang does not sound like its Yamaha or Bösendorfer counterpart. No matter as who is to truly say which piano is right or wrong... and in what application? An upright piano may be great for bar room brawls, yet the legendary Leonard Bernstein would probably be better suited for something completely different. The point: They are all pianos, they sound different, yet are also equal in a sense. Your dream piano might be different than your neighbor's and neither of you are right or wrong.

So to wrap this up we each have our own dreams. It is achieving, or surpassing them, that we audiophiles seek with our music reproduction systems. It does not matter if you achieve it through DIY, custom, or mass-produced items. What is of significance is that with each change you get one step closer in achieving your aspiration. Perhaps reaching the goal is in having a guardian angel of sorts guiding you along the way. Hopefully one of the many talented writers for Enjoy the Music.com™ can be that guide. Because in the end what truly matters is that you...

Enjoy the Music (Queensryche "Silent Lucidity" right now),

Steven R. Rochlin

 

"Hush now, don't you cry
Wipe away the teardrop from your eye
You're lying safe in bed
It was all a bad dream
Spinning in your head

Your mind tricked you to feel the pain
Of someone close to you leaving the game of life
So here it is, another chance
Wide awake you face the day
Your dream is over... or has it just begun?

There's a place I like to hide
A doorway that I run through in the night
Relax child, you were there
But only didn't realize it and you were scared

It's a place where you will learn
To face your fears, retrace the years
And ride the whims of your mind
Commanding in another world
Suddenly you hear and see
This magic new dimension

I.................will be watching over you
I.................am gonna help to see you through
I.................will protect you in the night
I.................am smiling next to you, in silent lucidity

If you open your mind for me
You won't rely on open eyes to see
The walls you built within
Come tumbling down, and a new world will begin
Living twice at once you learn
You're safe from the pain in the dream domain
A soul set free to fly

A round trip journey in your head
Master of illusion, can you realize
Your dream's alive, you can be the guide but...

I.................will be watching over you
I.................am gonna help to see you through
I.................will protect you in the night
I.................am smiling next to you, in silent lucidity

Visualize your dream,
Record it in the present tense,
Put it into a permanent form,
If you persist in all efforts,
You can achieve a dream come true...
...a dream come true...
...a dream come true..."