Koss Totem Mani-2 User Manual

Page 28

locks and

a pair of

l a r g e

Villa-

R e a l e

s p e a k -

ers. It was

a lively and won-

derfully syncopated version

of the legendary Brubeck composition.

We had another treat on LPs with My Funny

Valentine from the 70’s direct-to-disc album The Great Jazz Trio

Direct from L.A., with Hank Jones, played on a Brinkmann La

Grange turntable and introducing the Brinkmann tone arm.

That was fol-

lowed, in the

same room, by

Rachmani-

nov’s Piano Concerto No. 3 on a completely

rebuilt 1956 Thorens 124, with amplifiers by Brink-

mann and Litho Phon speakers with ribbon tweeters.

Actually, turntables were almost everywhere this year, and

we enjoyed tremendously the music of De Falla from his Three

Cornered Hat ballet played on a Red Point turntable, a VAC

Renaissance Signature preamp and a Manley Steelhead tube

phono stage, amplified by a VAC Beampower amp linked to

a pair of sculptured, large, shiny black Hansen speakers.

Michael was eager to try his CD of Le Pacte des Loups, on

the Raysonic vacuum tube CD 128 player and the Raysonic

SE-30-A integrated amplifier (shown above left). The opening

track of this impressive film score sounded accurately dark and

ominous on the new Living Voice IBX (Auditorium Series)

speakers, similar to our reference OBX but with a built-in

crossover filter.

As we walked toward another room, Jimmy suggested

exhibitors should keep their doors shut and post a clear sign

inviting people to walk in. The noise carried along the hallways

(of male audiophiles talking passionately about…the gear, what

else?) was always too invasive, and as a result, many rooms

had to raise the sound to absurd levels. Michael nodded and

remarked that this year he noticed how loud music was being

played in most rooms. And by the way, during the three days

of the Festival, that was the most common complaint I heard

from a large number of visitors.

So here is a hint to those with have access to the volume

control: don’t try to impress audiophiles by flattening them against

the wall. Strange as it may

seem to some, most of us

want to be soothed by good,

rich, natural sound. When

it’s too loud, we can’t hear it.

“And, yet,” Jimmy added, “I can tell that the overall level

of sound quality has increased, this year.” We all agreed.

The next room was large and dark and all eyes were

focused on the large, widely-spaced Lohengrin speakers by

Verity Audio, flanking a pair of single-ended triode WAVAC

monoblocs; huge, brightly lit amps delivering 150 watts each

(one of them can be seen on the next page)! The source and

control came from the trio of dCS Elgar, Purcell and Verdi.

Stravinsky’s A Soldier’s Tale filled the room smoothly, effort-

lessly, the musicians spread across the wide stage.

In another room soon after, Michael remarked again

about the high sound level as single piano notes were struck

repeatedly with a furious right hand. “Not to worry, ” I said,

“it sounds like the karate style of a Three Blind Mice recording.”

And sure enough! The new Mirage OMD-28’s (Omnipolar

Reference Speaker System) were doing their best with that

recording, fed by a pair of Bryston 7B SST power amps, a

Bryston preamp and power supply and an Arcam CD36 player,

all filtered through a Torus Power Line conditioner.

Enjoy the rest of this article in our print issue, or in the

electronic version, available from MagZee.

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At left: the new CD player and

integrated amplifier from Ray-

sonic. Below: David Berning with

his new preamplifier.

ULTRA HIGH FIDELITY Magazine