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| Letters -- August 2004 More "TWBAS" suggestions August 26, 2004 To Jeff Fritz, May I humbly suggest the following components for "The World's Best Audio System": dCS combo (must get the Verona master clock in there!). Check out the VTL TL 7.5 Reference preamp. Works very well with the Halcro amps, running all balanced. Fun articles to read! L.J. Phillips We've spoken with Luke Manley on a number of occasions and will hopefully, at some point, write about his TL 7.5. We've also had numerous requests for a dCS rig, so I'll certainly see what I can do....Jeff Fritz Passive preamps, autoformers and transformer attenuators August 17, 2004 To Ross Mantle, Thank you for "Quick Everyone, Sell your Preamps!" on Ultra Audio. Your article regarding the passive preamp and the utilization of autoformer attenuation has been fascinating me for some time. As an avid user of passive units, I must admit my attraction to the development of autoformer attenuation in home-audio applications. From what I have been reading, this is very good news! I have been so excited about this, in fact, that I have been scanning the Internet for like subject matter and articles such as your own. In case you haven't heard, at the VSAC 2003 Show, two such autoformer designs appeared using the Stevens & Billington TX102 transformer attenuators: Bent Audio's at $1900 (several inputs and outputs available) and NOH's at $990-1260 ($225 for remote). Another is the Sonic Euphoria PLC ($1195 single-ended, $1795 fully balanced). Thanks again for your article and your great contribution to this industry. Bill Greb I was not aware of the Sonic Euphoria models. These are new additions. The NOH models are a version of Bent Audio's product designed to be more aesthetically pleasing than their basic model. Sonic Euphoria is a Californian retail/manufacturing company that designs and builds their PLC attenuator from scratch. They tell me that the only outsourcing they do is custom winding with Cardas magnet wire and the anodization of the faceplates. Units that use Stevens & Billington transformers are not autoformers, but true transformer attenuators. Though the autoformer is considered to be a compromised solution that saves on cost compared to true transformers, the Sonic Euphoria unit uses autoformers (not S&B transformers) and has been getting rave reviews....Ross Mantle Suggestions for "TWBAS" August 9, 2004 To Jeff Fritz, I'd very much like to read about the following components in your "The World's Best Audio System" column: Accuphase, Boulder, dCS (specifically their newest SACD combination), and Venture. It is very hard to hear such components in some geographic locations. I have to rely heavily on reviews and product information to make decisions that can be costly. I enjoyed reading about the Gryphon amplifier and preamplifier. My impressions were that it is very good gear also. Shaban A. Thank you for the suggestions. I can tell you that next up are two new components -- the BC206 amplifier and BC3000 Mk II preamplifier -- from Canada's Blue Circle Audio. I can also tell you that late this year and into 2005 I plan to write about some of the best digital sources, which hopefully will include the dCS pieces you mention. So stay tuned. There's a lot in store for "The World's Best Audio System."...Jeff Fritz
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