Wow And Flutter

Long and short pieces on music you should listen to; audio gear; and pop culture.

Category: Gear

Oh, the humanity!

August 3, 2019 /

I should have known. Everything was going great musically. Great new discs were coming out, like Hot Chip’s AMAZING A Bathfull Of Ecstasy and Bill Callahan’s Shepherd In A Sheepskin Vest, and more to come, like the remastered Running On Empty and Eno’s Apollo: Extended Edition. I was finding GREAT used vinyl everywhere. (like a VG+ condition original Mobile Fidelity pressing of Supertramp’s Crime Of The Century for SIX bucks! SIX!)

And then, the cruel, cruel hand of fate struck my stereo: my beloved amplifier got sick. The powerful, sweet beast that is my Harman/Kardon HK990 started shutting itself down occasionally, then more frequently. I found this amp about two years ago on eBay for quite a bargain considering its original $2500 price. It’s a very musical dual-mono Class AB stereo amplifier with room correction and a killer digital-to-audio converter (DAC), and until about a month ago, was very happily driving my NHT Classic Three speakers and CS-10 subwoofer.

Alas, poor amp, we hardly knew ye

And then, the music died. Just the ominous words “Protection Mode”, then silence. Craaaaaaaaaap. I took it to two local places, who threw up their hands and told me to send it to the very reputable United Radio in Syracuse, they’d know what to do. They did – they’d have to do pretty much a complete teardown of the unit to isolate and fix the problem for almost as much as much as I paid for it.

So, for almost a month and a half I was without my Wow-And-Flutter engine to listen to my physical media. Like Joni said, you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone. So I had United send the unit back to me, and I set to looking for a replacement. The only other amp I’d consider the Harman’s equal is the Anthem STR integrated amplifier, but that would set me back a cool $4500. Sad horns. So, I’m saving my pennies for that.

As luck would have it, my diligent research turned up an almost perfect replacement: plenty of power, an fantastic onboard DAC, analog and digital inputs for all of my stuff, a subwoofer output, outputs that would let me keep recording my vinyl finds (a must) and – bonus points – solid retro good looks. It’s the Yamaha A-S801:

Yamaha to the rescue!

It’s not perfect – I’d prefer that it had a display showing me the current volume/selected input, it’s missing a Pre Out/In so I can connect my headphone amp, but damn, this is a fantastic sounding amplifier – more than satisfying. Best of all, I got an open-box model at the wonderful Crutchfield and saved almost $200 off the sticker price!

If anyone wants a beautiful amp and is willing to put several hundred dollars into it to get at least another ten years out of it, it’s up on eBay for the next couple of days. Bid away while I reacquaint myself with Little Feat’s Waiting For Columbus.

I need a 12 step program for vinyl

March 14, 2019 /

I was not always such a voracious music consumer (shocking, I know.)  Yeah, I’d always been immersed in the music scene and had lots of bands that I loved, followed and went to see, and I DID work in a record store for a couple of years.  But collecting?  That was for those Goldmine nerds chasing a mint condition Beatles butcher cover.  Nope, I bought stuff to PLAY.

Then, this happened:

1000 songs!

Yes, the iPod.  1000 songs in your pocket!  For the first time I could carry around all of the music I owned and listen to it, any time I wanted.  Problem was, I had way more stuff on vinyl than I did on CD.  So the bulk of my collection (maybe less than 100 LPs) was essentially languishing on its shelf. 

So I got working.  If I know how to do anything, it’s research stuff, so me and the Google figured out how to record LPs to WAV files with my audio rig, split the tracks, convert them to MP3s, stuff them into iTunes, then sync them to my iPod.  And for a good couple of months, I was on Cloud 9, walking around with my shiny white iPod and my Koss PortaPros, shunning the radio.

After a while, that little box got too small.  So as soon as iPods with bigger hard drives became available, I upgraded.  And after a while longer, those pops and clicks on some of my records weren’t so cute, so I found the magical Burwen noise reduction units (hiss and pop-and-click) on eBay and put them in my tape loop.  And once those iPods got big enough, I switched over the superior Apple Lossless format.  And all those files needed a bigger house in which to live, so I got them a nice NAS drive.  Which came in handy when I got a pair of Sonos speakers.  Etc. 

Now, I wasn’t afraid of those garage sale finds anymore!  But there’s something about garage sale records: they’re generally, um, pretty filthy.  And people, some of those dirty records are worth taking a chance on.  I wasn’t going to let a little dirt and dust keep me away from checking out those 50 cent treasures!  So, the thing that really turned me into a vinylvore was this little game changer, the Nitty Gritty 1.5 vacuum record cleaner:

CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN those records.

This was the portal to the Land Of Vinyl.  Now everything was in play (so to speak).  If a record can be cleaned (and it’s astonishing what a good cleaning will do), it’s playable, and nothing is off-limits.  You see something cheap that’s interesting?  (I’m looking at you, old-ass John Renbourn album.)  Dollar bins?  Yes please!  And, it’s liberating.  I’ve gotten into so much great music that I would have otherwise have passed on because noisy=unplayable.

But I’m not obsessed.  No.

Turntables – they’re for everyone!

March 11, 2019 /

Like anyone possessing superior musical taste, I saw High Fidelity upon its 2000 release and thought immediately –

“You get me.”

So much of the movie and Nick Hornby’s original book has wormed its way into my life since then.  I’ll try to spare you in this blog from endless quotations of this titanic cinematic achievement – that will get old real fast.  However: today I have to lead off this post with a quote from Barry, lecturing his customer on Echo and the Bunnymen: “The Killing Moon” EP – it’s almost impossible to find – especially on CD. Yet another cruel trick they played on all the dumbasses who got rid of their turntables.”

I am not one of those dumbasses.  I’ve been spinning vinyl since before college.  And while I will admit a flirtation with other formats (I reliably “saved” many of my LPs by dubbing them to cassette, then wearing those out in whatever car or Walkman I was driving), and YES I BOUGHT A LOT OF CDs, the light on my turntable never dimmed.

When I got to college, I was lucky enough to have, as my second roommate (and good friend) someone who knew folks (with employee discounts) at Acoustic Research in Canton, MA.  AR made a suspended turntable that they sold for 99 bucks.  WITH a cartridge.  The thing with suspended turntables is that they’re WAY better isolated from the vibrations that would otherwise pollute your cartridge with low-frequency sludge and random footdrops. (the very expensive but wonderful Linn Sondek is the purest distillation of the AR concept.)  I LOVED that cheapo AR – it was built like a tank and nothing short of picking the deck up and shaking it like a cocktail shaker could make that thing skip.

So when, a couple of years out of college, AR released a vastly improved (and much sexier) version of their turntable, I  fastidiously put away my spare change to buy it, with the best arm (Linn Basik Plus) and cartridge (the classic Shure V-15 VMR) I could afford.  I’ve had it ever since:

Yeah, we’ve been through a lot together.  I even tracked down an old radio shop in Chicago a couple of years ago that sold me enough new old stock replacement styli for my Shure to keep me pretty much set for life.  But getting a dream “deck” is not when my music consumption really spiked.  More on that in my next post on Thursday.

New Adventures In Hi-Fi

February 25, 2019 /

(h/t to REM for the title)

When you’re seriously into music, it’s easy to get obsessive about what you listen to it on.  Some people simply spend their money on the best headphones they can afford, then connect it to their iPhone or laptop, and stream their music.  Or maybe their system is a pair of great powered speakers like the Audioengine A5s connected to a preamp-equipped turntable.  Still, many music lovers build a good, standalone, two-channel stereo with at least an integrated amplifier, a turntable, probably a CD player to play all those CDs you bought in the previous decade(s), and a pair of passive loudspeakers.  Then, you listen.  And maybe one day you’re listening to your latest find, and think: hey, I think my system should sound better.  (this usually happens when you hear someone else’s audio setup and you go, hmmmmmm.)  So you come into some money (tax refund, money from Granny) that’s enough to cover a new pair of speakers, and you shop around for a “better” pair.  Or, you fry your amp and replace it or upgrade to something with more/better power.  Eventually, you get to a place where your system really makes you go, “ahhhhhhh.”

Then, one day, you’re walking around town and you wander into the sound room of an audio store.  Fool!  There before you, someone is auditioning a pair of speakers; AND they’re listening to a record that you know and love, and so you draw closer.  Your brain whispers to you things like “I’ve never heard those fingers on the bass strings before”, or “wow, this really sounds like you’re in the front row.”  Excited, you look at the price tag of those beautiful speakers, and after you get over your shock, you smile, and head back out to the street.  But, you know what kind of great sound is possible (albeit with probably more dollars than you have at your disposal.)

Really great and reputable audio stores are in the business of selling you the best gear that will work in your space, at a price that meets your budget.  But they always have available no-holds-barred “dream” components that, even if they’re way out of your budget, you just have to hear.  That was the case the other night when I was in Chestertown, MD, a really fun little college town on the eastern shore.  I always visit The Listening Room when I’m there.  It’s been in its current location for over two years now, having moved from its original location in suburban Baltimore.  The owner, Mike, has done a great job of renovating his building over that time, and it’s a welcoming, no-pressure place to shop for gear and vinyl.  The front of the store houses a great vinyl store, with reasonably priced new and very clean vintage vinyl, and the audio stuff is in the back.  Well worth a visit if you’re visiting the Chesapeake Bay area!

I was there this past weekend to see what a top-shelf system sounds like.  Magnepan is a US maker of highly-regarded planar speakers, and their rep was on hand to show off their top of the line speakers, the 30.7s.  It’s an imposing, four piece, four-way speaker system (a “wall of sound” if there ever was one) that doesn’t always make the rounds or is even available to listen to in stores – most of the time you’ve got to visit their Minnesota factory to hear them.  But Magnepan is on a tour right now showing off the 30.7, so: good timing!

The magnificent Magnepan 30.7s

I was lucky enough visit in the morning before the special event that night, and spend some a little one-on-one time with the Magnepans and the incredible electronics driving them: Oracle Delphi MkVI turntable fitted with an SME Series 5 tonearm and Dynavector TKR cartridge, a Rogue Ares Magnum phono preamplifier, an Aurender A10 network music player, Rogue RP-9 stereo preamplifier and Rogue Apollo Dark monoblock power amplifiers, and Straightwire cables.  The Listening Room has a lot of great vinyl for testing, so I had to give the Mobile Fidelity Ultradisc One-Step pressing of Bill Evans’ Sunday At The Village Vanguard a try.  This is a really well-engineered and warm recording of Evans’ legendary trio playing at the Vanguard in 1961, and the half-speed remastered MoFi version is peerless. 

When the stylus dropped on the first track, Gloria’s Step (Take 2), I felt like I was actually at the Village Vanguard.  (I saw Bill Frisell play there a couple of years ago, so I know what the room sounds like.)  I picked this disc because the great Orrin Keepnews recording is really sympathetic to all of the players, especially bassist Scott LaFaro.  Planar speakers characteristically have a “boxless” sound, and these Magnepans are the best examples of that sound.  These speakers reproduced LaFaro’s bass so well you would swear that you were “in the room” in Greenwich Village.  Next up was Analog Spark’s sparkling pressing of Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Cole Porter Songbook .  Although this is a mono recording, it’s really well-mic’d, and the Magnepans reproduced Ella’s voice so well. 

At the very well-attended event in the evening, there were smiles all around as people took turns listening to their favorite discs on the 30.7s.  A fun event all around.  If you ever get a chance to drop into a listening session like this with dream gear, whether it be at your local audio store or an event like Classic Album Sundays, satisfy your aural curiosity and go!

Headphones – put ’em on!

February 18, 2019 /

A great pair of headphones can

  • make a really long run shorter
  • make a crappy commute on the train less crappy
  • transform music you’ve only otherwise heard “through the air” so you hear detail you may have missed
  • save you from getting
    • kicked out of your apartment for playing those beats too loud
    • the sh*t kicked out of you by your neighbor for playing those beats too loud
    • divorced

We’re only going to talk about ‘turntable cans’, headphones you plug in (for the best quality.  Bluetooth is convenient, but it will never sound as good as a physical wire will) to your amp to listen at home (or work, if you’re lucky enough to have a fancy job where you can have an audio rig!)

There are two basic types of ‘phones: open and closed.  Open ‘phones are generally acknowledged as better as approximating the soundstage of stereo speakers, while giving you all the advantages of headphones, namely, you get an AMAZING soundstage for far less moolah than you could for comparable loudspeakers.  For example, a pair of Grado GS3000Es retails for about $1800; I’d challenge anyone to find a pair of speakers that sounds THAT good for the same price. 

The only problem with open phones are, well, that they’re open, and you really need a quiet space to listen.  Ambient noise WILL creep in, and your friends will hear everything you are hearing, too, so don’t plan on bringing these on the subway.

Closed ‘phones have seemed to lag behind, though the gap is closing.  They offer better sound isolation and generally more lively bass response, but have been knocked as sounding too claustrophobic.  There are some really great closed phones out there now, like the Shure SRH1540, which you can get for short money ($399 – not nothing, but way cheaper than the GS3000E!)

Like loudspeakers, EVERY headphone sounds different.  You’ve just got to find which one is right for you.  What’s most comfortable?  Do you like to block out the world?  Are you a bass fiend, or do you prefer more accuracy at the low end?  (I do my private listening with a pair of AKG 702s, which are super comfortable and incredibly accurate.) 

At the beginning of the most recent headphone boom, you’d have been hard pressed to find a place to compare headphones, even the fancy audio salons.  Now, even the Apple Store has a headphone wall so you can listen for yourself.  Which is essential!  Honestly, would you buy a car without driving it?  Listen to a bunch and buy what you like.

Lastly, if you’ve got a good audio rig, I’d strongly advise you to get yourself a headphone amp, ESPECIALLY if you have hard(er) to drive headphones like the AKGs.  For many years, I thought, hey!  My amp ALREADY HAS A HEADPHONE JACK, I’ll just use that.  But even great amps can have crappy headphone amps inside.  It wasn’t until I got my own headphone amp (the Schiit  (yes, that’s their name) Asgard 2) that I realized what I was missing.  Schiit makes great … stuff, and right here in the USA.  They have a model priced as low as 99 bucks, the Magni – you should check it out.

How To Pick Your First Record Player

February 12, 2019 /

The revival of vinyl records is nothing short of amazing.  From the time the CD became ascendant, in the mid-1980s, vinyl was all but given up for dead.  “It’s scratchy!”  “You can’t play it in the car!”  “CDs sound better!”  Not coincidentally, the curve on the graph labelled “my vinyl buying” was the exact inverse of the “vinyl sales” curve, as LOTS of people unloaded their collections and you could pick up armloads of LPs for cheap.  (More on that in another post.)

Anyway, vinyl is back for all the same reasons It does give people a tangible, meaningful connection to their music.  With few exceptions, vinyl quality is WAY better now.  A wider variety of quality-remastered audiophile quality repressings from places like Mobile Fidelity and Analog Spark is available, and great new and vintage vinyl sits side-by-side in many actual record stores.  Plus, having a turntable in your crib is (still) undeniably cool.

But, people, people: you can’t just have any turntable.  There are a slew of inexpensive decks out there, but I will tell you that the turntable is NOT the place to cheap out.  At the very least, the low-end decks will not be kind to your vinyl, and they just are not up to the task of reproducing the sweet, sweet nectar contained within the grooves of your favorite records.   (I won’t mention the “leading” brand, but the thought of it makes me “Cross.”)  Years ago, Ivor Tiefenbrun, the creator of the Linn Sondek turntable, championed the idea that the turntable is the most important link in the music reproduction chain.  You could have the most incredible speakers and amp, but you’ll never recover the information lost from using a crummy turntable, i.e.: garbage in, garbage out.   He ain’t wrong.

So, let me help a brother/sister out here.  If you’re on your way to building a starter system, do this: pick your speakers first.  You must have an idea of where they’re going to go – Bookshelves? On stands?  On the floor?  Decide if you want self-powered speakers like the excellent AudioEngine A5, or “passive” speakers for which you’ll need an amplifier.  In both cases, you’ll still need a standalone or built-in phono preamplifier to connect your turntable.  You can get excellent and inexpensive external preamps from Pro-Ject, NAD and Parasound for under $200.

Now, at the lowest end of the turntable range, your best bets are from U-Turn and Audio-Technica.  The AT-LP60 can be had for eighty-nine bucks, including a respectable A-T cartridge AND a built-in preamp – so you can connect it directly to your powered speakers.  You just cannot get anything better at that price.  It will be nice to your vinyl, and do its best to make you happy.  But if you’ve got an extra hundred bucks or so, the U-Turn Orbit Basic (including an Audio-Technica cartridge, $179.00/$249.00 with preamp built in) is your choice.  In fact, if you at all can, save up that extra hundred and spend it on the U-Turn.  It’s superbly engineered to do everything a turntable should do, but with none of the ‘exotic’ materials seen in some other, supposedly better, turntables, without having to take out a second mortgage.  AND, it’s made in the USA, in Woburn, MA!

If you’re really flush, higher up the price chain, you can find superb turntables for under $600, including the excellent Rega Planar 1, complete with cartridge and built-in preamp; and for about $900, the VPI Cliffwood – another US-made deck – with a Grado cartridge (made in Brooklyn!)

Those are a lot of great choices.  You might ask yourself, though, what about pre-owned turntables?  Can I get something great for a couple of hundred bucks?  Well, it’s complicated.  It’s true that you can find a real deal on a real quality pre-owned Thorens, AR or Dual – or even a vintage Technics.  And the look of a vintage turntable on your shelf can’t be beat.  Check out this beauty from Vinyl Nirvana:

The issue is that, as opposed to speakers or electronics, which tend to be more robust, turntables can be finicky beasts if they haven’t been cared for properly.  They’re not hard to take care of, but even if you know how to check a turntable over, you can still find a lemon.  That’s why I’d be very choosy about what you take home with you from the thrift shop – you might be surprised at what your little bargain might actually run you if it needs a new arm or suspension!  The good news is that there are plenty of great audio shops selling used turntables that have been serviced to be good as new.  I highly recommend Vinyl Nirvana – I’ve been a customer for a couple of years now, and Dave Archambault, the owner, carefully and reasonably services and restores Thorens and AR turntables.  Some of those restorations are real works of art, with exotic wood bases. 

But for you, dear vinyl novice, hold off on the zebrawood turntable bases for a while.  Go find yourselves a starter turntable!  Fly, my pretties! 

“Good music is good no matter what kind of music it is.”  – Miles Davis

 

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