June 12th Meeting Recap by Joe Pittman - audiosociety.orgaudiosociety.org/audioletter/Audioletter Jul 2014.pdf · Everyone was given a sheet of ... I don't, but I do love music. This

June 12th Meeting Recap by Joe Pittman

Pacific Northwest Audio Society, P.O. Box 435, Mercer Island, WA 98040 ● www.audiosociety.org

July 2014

whopping 7 phono preampswere played at the June meet-

ing. So instead of using a classic A-B comparison method, which wouldtake too much time and be horren-dously tedious, we decided to “just”listen to them and keep it simple.

Gary Koh and Jerry Pomeroybrought the vinyl (see page 3,mostly from Gary’s unobtainuimstash).

Everyone was given a sheet ofpaper to record their own impres-sions, but the results were not in-

tended to be tabulated as we werenot trying to be ultra scientific. Theaudience were told to relax and lis-ten, instead of straining to hear dif-ferences. During the set-up session,we discovered that some of the

(Continued on page 6)

The club’s modified Rega P5 table with Audio Technica OC9 MKII low output moving coil cartridge was used as the source.

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1. AcousTech PH1 phono stage should be familiar to every-one and was our base-line reference for the comparisons(original MSRP was $1200, current value?). Notice our typicalset-up where the preamp is up-side down and the chassis isdamped by a heavy piece of granite. None of the other pre-amps were tweaked in any way.

3. Genesis prototype phono preamp from Gary Koh is niceand compact. He brought a battery power supply (not shownin photo) and reference power supply (bottom photo). Therewas a big difference between the two PSU’s.

4. Z-Infinity phono preamp from Zsolt Mathe is battery pow-ered and includes series and parallel impedance selection.

5. Lehmann Silver Cube phono preamp from Sean Archeruses an external power supply (black box on bottom shelf).Made in Germany, current MSRP $4,500.

2. Musical Fidelity M1 phono preamp was provided by De-finitive Audio, MSRP $1200, being offered to the club for$700.

6. Linn Linto phono preamp provided by Jerry Pomeroy is nolonger in production, original MSRP $1500.

7. Thorens MM-008 phono preamp provided by Gary Koh, isa new entry level preamp that includes an ADC with anMSRP of $450.

Pacific Northwest Audio Society Audioletter July 2014 3

1. Temptation

Holly ColeTemptationBlue Note JP5003Classic Records Re-issue33-1/3 RPM version (1995)

2. On Green Dolphin Street

Les Brown and his band of renownGoes Direct To DiscThe Great American GramophoneCompanyGADD-1010 (1977)

3. Aria

Ito EmaBach Goldberg VariationsMA Recordings MA 024-VTest Pressing(not available yet - Fall 2014)

4. Jupiter: Dani California

Red Hot Chili PeppersStadium ArcadiumWarner Bros. Records 44391-1(2006)

5. Far More Drums

The Dave Brubeck QuartetTime Further OutColumbia CS8490 original issue(1961)

6. Prelude - Carmen Suite

Alexander Gibson/Royal OperaHouse OrchestraRCA LSC-2449Classic Records Re-issue (1997)also 45RPM Clarity one-sided

7. More Than You Know

Sarah VaughanHow Long Has This Been Going OnPablo Records 2310-821(1978)

8. The Pink Panther Theme

Henry Mancini/The Pink PantherSony Legacy Records Re-issue onPink Vinyl for Record Store Day2014 to celebrate Mancini's 90thbirthday & 50th Anniversary of theoriginal release & mastered from theoriginal analog tapes. Limited Edi-tion No 135 of 6000

9. Money

Easy Star All-StarsDub Side of the MoonLimited Edition, Green VinylEasy Star Records ES-1012V(2003)

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y favorite genre of music isbig band jazz/swing - it's got it all,the foot-tappiness, explosive dy-namics, massed brass, double bass,piano, woodwinds. When it'sfronted by an exponent like CountBasie, it is difficult for me not tostand up and groove.

Count Basie passed away in1984, and one of his most popularalbums among audiophiles (andrightly so) is 88 Basie Street - re-corded the year before he died. Thiswon the Grammy for Best Jazz In-strumental Performance, Big Band.Recorded at Ocean Way studios andengineered by the masterful AllenSides, the sound quality is great asis the musical performance. There isa very contemporary feel to the al-bum as Cleaveland Eaton playselectric bass on this album.

However, whenever I think thatof Count Basie's final 3 albums, thebest of the lot (the one I prefer) is

Me and You. Recorded just 3months earlier at Group IV Studiosand mastered by Dennis Sands, Meand You is more explosively dy-namic, has better bass, and a more

swinging groove.On Me and You, Eaton plays

upright double-bass and this showsbetter as more warmth and tonalityof bass. It is over-shadowed by theaward winning 88 Basie Street, but

IMHO, it is the better album bothfor music and sound.

Unfortunately, unlike 88 BasieStreet, there was only one release ofMe and You - the 1983 LP onPablo: 2310-891. For both 88 BasieStreet and Me and You, the CDsremastered by Joe Tarantino in 1987are good, but the original Pablo vi-nyl are SPECTACULAR!

You need a really good turnta-ble, tonearm and cartridge to do jus-tice to Side 1 Track 2 on Me andYou - Moten Swing. It starts verysimply - and really shows whatCount Basie is capable of as a bandleader/pianist.

His hands fly over the keyboard,but only strikes a note when it is theperfect note at the perfect time. Af-ter a couple of bars of the intro,BAM!! The entire band comes inwith saxophones, trumpets, trum-bones as a triple crescendo. Great asa demo piece when some asks you -are your speakers dynamic?

I don't know why, but some of the club members think that I have the monopolyon "unobtainuim" LPs. I don't, but I do love music. This will be an irregular seriesof some of my favorite albums - not necessarily on analog, there will be somedigital albums too.

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ne of the things that I workvery hard on with my speaker de-signs is the "get up and boogie" fac-tor. I believe that music is appreci-ated not just with our ears, but thatwe listen to and appreciate musicthrough our bodies. Movement andfeeling are as much a part of musicas are the notes and timing. As partof my "design tools", I use a set ofmusic that has this boogie factor.This is one of my key albums.

The Les McCann Trio and theEddie Harris Quartet performedwith great success at the 1969Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzer-land. Towards the end of the festi-val, Eddie and Les felt like theywanted to play together. They re-cruited Benny Bailey to join themon trumpet, Leroy Vinnegar on bass,and Donald Dean on drums, andrecorded this joyous impromptu jazz

concert. The energy of this jam ses-sion is incredible and the album wasone of the most successful jazz al-bums of the period - certified Gold

in the US - fantastic rhythm andboogie with all the energy and ex-citement of good friends jammingtogether.

The album is jazz at its live, rawbest - but the stand-out on this al-

bum is the first track "Compared toWhat". It is a funky breakout tomainstream music - and emblematicof the time, the Vietnam War. Thelyrics contain a rant against theVietnam War and President Nixon,but they seem just as relevant today"The president, he's got his war /Folks don't know just what it's for /Nobody gives us rhyme or reason /Have one doubt, they call it trea-son."

The album is easily availableused as millions were sold. Therewere also a couple of re-issues, no-tably on Rhino Records in 1996 and2010 and on 4 Men with Beards in2001. The few copies of the original1969 pressing have been excellent,so I have not explored the re-issues.Of course, the original 1969 press-ings I own are all promos.......

llen Toussaint was born inNew Orleans, the Birthplace of Jazz,but is better known as a rhythm &blues, rock and soul musician. Hewrote a roll of hits and many of hissongs got covered by others -Robert Plant, The Rolling Stones,Aaron Neville and Boz Scaggsamong others. In the 1970s GlenCampbell took one of his songs tothe Number One position on thePop, Country AND Adult Contem-porary charts. In 1998, he was in-ducted into the Rock and Roll Hallof Fame. He was also inducted intothe Blues Hall of Fame in 2011.

However, this album is a Jazzalbum - with jazz standards fromLouis Armstrong, Duke Ellington,Thelonious Monk, Django Reinhart,Billy Strayhorn and Jelly Roll Mor-ton. Allen was accompanied by jazzstars such as clarinetist Don Byron,pianist Brad Mehldau, and saxo-phonist Joshua Redman.

The Bright Mississippi had itsgenesis during a studio session withmusic producer Joe Henry - Tous-saint was amusing himself betweentakes by blowing freely through asong by Fats Waller. Henry said, "I

was stunned. It was a revelation tohear this music interpreted throughAllen's very unique point of view.The song, inherently rhythmic as acomposition, was transfigured by aleft hand schooled in New Orleans,

and by the melodic sensibility of amost particular kind of songwriter."

Recorded in the famous PowerStation (now Avatar) Studios, it hasa wonderful live, fresh sound. Asnoted by Toussaint, "This isn’t thekind of assembly line music wheresomebody put the wheels on hereand somebody put the top on there.Everything got done at the sametime, so everybody fed on eachother, their personality and tonal-ity."

A truly wonderful album - Ithought that the CD was great, but Iam glad that I took the time to huntdown the vinyl. It is one of thoserare albums that distribute the musicacross four sides at 33 1/3 rpm in-stead of cramming everything intotwo. As a result, the pressing andproduction does justice to the fabu-lous music and musicianship. Onthe Nonesuch label catalog number480380-1 - as a double LP pressedin Germany.

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EXCO members felt that the harder they tried, the lessof a difference they heard.

A cut from the first 4 albums were played on all 7preamps. After listening to the Holly Cole, Les Brown,Ito Ema and Red Hot Chili Peppers, we all agreed thatthe AcousTech, Musical Fidelity, Linn, and Thorenswere not in the same league and were eliminated. TheGenesis, Z-Infinity and Lehmann phono amps wereused to play the rest of the albums after a short break.

The Z-Infinity was warm, lush and pleasant butalso eliminated because its bass was not sufficient forour system. Zsolt told us that he had the bass of the unittuned to his system at home. That left the detailed andhighly resolved Lehmann and the transparent and musi-cal Genesis. I really liked what the Genesis did to bringthe music that is on the album closer to me. Gary toldme that he had only worked on the design for less thana month, and that it was only his first prototype (he waswaiting for more parts). I can't wait to hear what hisproduction model will sound like.

I hope everyone enjoyed listening to all of thephono preamps and the outstanding music as much as Idid. And thanks to everyone who provided the phonopreamps to listen to and especially to Jerry for beingthe Master of Ceremonies, Spin Meister and CableSwapper (MCSMCS or MCS2).

(Continued from page 1)

The Set-up

Jerry Pomeroy and Gary Koh did the system set-up. AndJerry brought several pairs of Oyaide PA-02 TR interconnectsso as to eliminate sound differences due to interconnectvariation. In addition, time was spent setting impedance forthe OC9 cartridge (when possible) and matching playbacklevels to +/-1dB on the club's Genesis I60 integrated amp forall the phono preamps.

The committee tried as much as possible to present alevel playing field for the preamps with identical or similarinterconnects, power cords and even the rack. The club hashad the AcousTech as our reference for many years and wehad already determined that it sounded best when placedupside-down with a granite block damping the underside(now top) of the chassis.

Also prior to the meeting, members of the ExecutiveCommittee were given a speaker set-up lesson by Gary Kohfor our Genesis G7.2f’s. He used his CD with music tracksselected to dial in the speakers. The set-up would then pre-sent the best possible sound for the phono preamp listening.

We now have the Klaudio ultrasonic record cleaning machinein hand and are in the process of getting a padded case withwheels to move the beast around. Thanks to Peter Cheon forgiving the club such a great deal on the machine! The Execu-tive Committee is working on the use schedule...

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ur July 10th meeting will beour annual summer social event andBBQ. This year’s party will be heldat club member and former clubpresident Andrew Kosobutsky’shouse in Newcastle, WA. Andrewhas a wonderful listening room andwill be spinning vinyl (and digital ifyou insist) from his extensive col-lection strictly for our listeningpleasure.

Andrew’s system features theForsell Air Reference turntable withOrtofon Anna cartridge and Manley

Steelhead preamp/phono stage, Evo-lution Acoustics MMThree speakersdriven by the DartZeel NHB-108amp, all wired with premium cablesand power conditioning. There willnot be a formal program for thisevent; members and guests are en-couraged to socialize, eat, and sam-ple the audio treats. Andrew’s lis-tening room is of modest propor-tions, so sweet-spot sharing and seatswapping will be necessary to alloweveryone an opportunity to listen.

On the culinary menu for thisevent will be grilled burgers and hot

dogs. We encourage members tocontribute side dishes, salads, ordesserts, and your beverage ofchoice.This event is one of the most enjoy-

able events of the year. Don’t miss

it.

by John Stone

Members will receive an email no-tice with address and directions.For more information, contact anyof the members of the ExecutiveCommittee (see back page foremail addresses).

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Terry Olson reminds everyone that we will be having our biennial “The Puget Sound” speaker building contestat the end of August (date TBD) so get ready. The event is a lot of fun. Try and attend if you can.

Visitors Welcome!Meetings are held on the second Thursdayof every month at 7:30pm at 4545 IslandCrest Way, Mercer Island, WA 98040.

PNWAS Mission StatementTo bring people with a common interest in

music reproduced at its best, for theirmutual edification and pleasure.

To facilitate the exchange and dissemina-tion of accurate data concerning audioequipment and musical recordings.

To promote, sponsor, and cultivate thehighest quality reproduction of music inthe home.

To encourage maintenance of high stan-dards in the performance, recording andtransmission of music.

PNWAS Objectives1. Provide a forum for meeting other audio-

philes and exchanging information onmusical recordings and audio equipment.

2. Demonstrate and compare equipmentand recordings.

3. Give members opportunities to becomefamiliar with the techniques of audiomanufacturing, testing, repair, recording,broadcasting, etc.

4. Explore related avenues as the member-

ship deems appropriate.

Club Websitewww.audiosociety.org

[email protected]

US MailPacific Northwest Audio Society, PO Box435, Mercer Island, WA 98040

Annual Dues$60 due each January. New members pay aprorated $5 per month for remainder ofyear.

Elected OfficersPresident: Jay Hope

[email protected]: Jerry Pomeroy

[email protected]/Treasurer: Bruce Brown

[email protected]

Committee ChairsEditor: Joe Pittman

[email protected]: Jerry PomeroyMusic: Gary KohRefreshment: Open

EditorialEditorial submissions are welcome.Content must be audio-related or of generalinterest to the club in plain text or Worddocument format without automation(macros and scripts). We reserve the rightto edit for style, content, and length.Editorial Deadline: three weeks beforemeeting date.Publishing any editorial material is contin-gent upon the approval of the ExecutiveCommittee.

DisclaimerOpinions in this Audioletter are those of theirauthors; the Pacific Northwest Audio Societyitself does not endorse or criticize products.Copyright 2014 by the Pacific NorthwestAudio Society except as noted; all rightsreserved.No part of this publication may be reprintedor otherwise reproduced without the writtenpermission of the:

The Pacific Northwest Audio SocietyPO Box 435, Mercer Island, WA 98040

From Damon Coffman at Coffman Labs: I’mgoing to be bringing out a newer version ofthe G1-A (G1-B) later this year—main differ-ence will be around extras (including goldwire for all internal connections) and theprice will go to $6995. The existing internalRIAA and line stage design will notchange. However, I am going to sell off theexisting inventory, so this is an excellentopportunity to get one of the G1-A’s at a

fantastic price. Twoof them do not havethe remote or the MCoption, but the priceis $2500 plus ship-ping if you are inter-ested. I have justtwo or three piecesof thistype remaining, theyare the last MM/MMthat will be made. Iactually use the MMin my own systemwith the Blackbird

cartridge for fabulous sound. The quality ofthe MM cartridges is so good these day thatyou really need to get close to 5 figures toget a significant improvement with MC. ThisBlackBird is better than the $5000 KoetsuUrushi that it replaced.

I may have two of the MM/MC varietywith and without remote coming availableas well. These will be $3000 and $2750respectively.

Finally, if anyone wants to prepay a50% down deposit (non-refundable) for thecoming G1-B before the release announce-ment, I will hold the original G1-A pricingand sell them a G1-B”. You should plan ondelivery with 30 days of the product an-nouncement, which I’m targeting for Sep-tember. Please email:[email protected] for more infor-mation.

Disclaimer: The Pacific Northwest AudioSociety does not endorse nor is liable for

any advertisement in any way. Everyone iscautioned to proceed at their own risk.