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| Letters -- November 2004 Magnepan tweaks November 19, 2004 Editor, I just read your review of the Magnepan MG3.6/R speakers (great job), and wanted to make a comment. I have a pair of MG12s, and upon the advice of Ed Morowski in Positive Feedback, I changed the crossovers. I had Madisound build new crossovers for me from the best components and even had them made for biwiring. After about 20 hours of break-in, I sat down for a good listen. The difference was astonishing. The Maggie veil was all but gone, the bass extended substantially, and soundstage depth grew considerably (normally a Maggie shortcoming). I highly recommend doing this to all Maggies. I now easily put these up against any speaker I've ever owned (including those from Dunlavy, Chario, Sonus Faber, MartinLogan and Spendor), some costing as much as $10,000 per pair. I ordered Mye Sound stands before reading your review and now can't wait to get them. Andrew Byer Reimyo ALS-777 November 12, 2004 To Mike Silverton, I've just read through your review of the Reimyo ALS-777 power conditioner. Very interesting reading. Now, I've got a couple of questions for you. If I were to plug my Reimyo CDP-777 CD player, my Magnum Dynalab tuner and my Gryphon preamp all into the ALS-777 (one into each pair of plugs), do you believe that there would be any noise leakage between the components via the ALS-777? Is the unit bi-directional in its "filtering" -- even between its own pairs of outlets? Also, given that all three are low-power components, do you believe that there would be any power modulation between the units through the ALS-777? L.J. Phillips The Reimyo ALS-777 is an exquisitely designed piece, a conclusion I've arrived at from its performance alone. While I'm in no position to address your questions technically, as a listener, I cannot imagine its designer failing to take into account so rudimentary a problem as noise leakage. (In my review, I mention that I'm running only one component, my Mark Levinson No.390S CD player, via the ALS-777. There's no tuner or preamp in the system.) The Reimyo is rated at 15A capacity. Your low-power components will in no way tax the unit's abilities in the way of power modulation. Again, as mentioned in my review, my two Mark Levinson No.33H amps plug directly into dedicated wall outlets. The Reimyo's QRT technology nevertheless affects the amps' performance. It was QRT, with which I've had a great deal of experience, that first attracted my interest in the Japanese component....Mike Silverton Do you own the components you write about in "TWBAS?" November 8, 2004 To Jeff Fritz, Do you personally own any of the components in "TWBAS" or do you just "use" equipment from the manufacturers (extended loan?)? In other words, do you ever actually buy any of this outrageously expensive audiophile equipment? I'd really like to think that you do, but I can't imagine that writing audio reviews could generate that kind of disposable income needed for that. No disrespect intended. Avery R. I do own, or have owned, many of the components I've written about through the years in Ultra Audio and SoundStage! My audio addiction runs to the depths of my wallet at times, but it is a passion I have embraced. "TWBAS" is not just a star-struck reviewer and a bunch of pricey gear on loan. It's a personal quest for what I think fits me and my system better than the rest. And yes, I do and will continue to write the check when I find something that totally trips my trigger. If you're in this hobby for long, you know what that feels like as well as I do....Jeff Fritz CDs and sound November 5, 2004 To Ross Mantle, I found your recent editorial ["Help! CD Medium, Not Taste, May Control Musical Choices"] puzzling as my personal experience has been that as my system has gotten better my choice in music and CDs has gotten larger. I hear more and more of the value of the original musical intent, and pure sonic-quality issues recede more easily into the background. Certainly a major factor in CD sound is the sensitivity of the mastering engineer, who can flavor the sound of a CD to sound best with modern playback equipment. But I find that, even with mastering and original recordings that may seem suspect in lesser systems, as the playback gets better I always get a more musically involving result. This happens even with CDs that have been marginal in the past. Your article does bring up an interesting point, and as my designs and system have evolved I always know I am going in the right direction if I enjoy even more of my CDs (and LPs) than before. If you are going in the other direction, then I think something is wrong somewhere. John Stronczer I'm glad to hear someone is getting an expansion of playability as their system improves. I would love to say the same, but I can’t. To clarify, the issue is primarily with the art form formerly known as rock. I do find that my musical tastes in general have vastly expanded as a result of the hobby. A great system makes all well-recorded music seem more fascinating, as it should. My rock CDs, however, increasingly gather dust because they are unlistenable at high resolution. Having heard the same result through many high-resolution systems, I submit that this is not the system’s fault, but the fault of the recordings, which are often (but not always) heavily digitally processed, tipped up, and otherwise adulterated. I notice that some material that is enjoyable on my car radio, for example, simply does not hold up in my living room. This is a shame, but not entirely surprising. To me it stands to reason that hot dogs and ketchup can be enjoyable at a ball park, yet will not do as part of a gourmet meal....Ross Mantle PranaWire overlooked in Denver November 4, 2004 To Vade Forrester, I read your Rocky Mountain Audio Fest coverage with interest. I would like to point out that you didn't mention that the cabling used in the Spendor / deHavilland room was by PranaWire. PranaWire was an official co-exhibitor in that room. RMAF placed our name on the sign, and if you check the show directory you will see that we were listed as being in both rooms 7207 (deHavilland / Tyler Acoustics / PranaWire) and 7907 (deHavilland / Spendor / PranaWire). Also, we placed our interconnect with Art Audio and Cabasse in their Bahia room. In fact, your photo shows the PranaWire Cosmos interconnect along with our blue sign in the lower left corner of your photo. Later that day we also placed our Cosmos speaker cable in that room. So when you say, "The Carissa sounded even better later in the show when it was equipped with KR Audio 845 tubes," to be accurate you should also mention that a significant portion of the improvement was also due to the change in cabling. Joe Fratus, Dale Fontenot and Srajan Ebaen all heard the difference. I understand that covering shows is exhaustive work and that no reviewer can be expected to catch everything that is before him or her, so please don't misconstrue this as any form of criticism. But I sure would appreciate your changing the coverage to include us as we were, in fact, there. Joe Cohen Thanks for calling the oversight to my attention. I assure you that I didn't omit PranaWire intentionally from my report. At a show, I ask the person who is demonstrating in the room what products are being used and their cost, and no one mentioned PranaWire. Again, I apologize for not recognizing your products, which I have heard and liked in several systems, including your VSAC2003 room, which sounded good with ReTHM speakers. As you said, covering a show, even a medium-sized one, is a challenge....Vade Forrester Blue Circle BC206 November 2, 2004 To Jeff Fritz, I enjoyed your "TWBAS" column on the Blue Circle BC206 hybrid amplifier. Nice piece of audio journalism exposing a company that deserves more press than they get. My question is about the smaller hybrid, the BC204. Have you heard it and are there any reviews of it? Please keep the articles coming. The BC206 compared with some of the pedigreed amps you mentioned is news indeed. Bill Thanks for the kind words about the column -- more are on the way. I have not heard the BC204, but I do understand that it has much the same sound as the BC206. While I think it's too new for any formal reviews at this point, I do know that there's been talk of a review in our sister publication, SoundStage!, sometime in 2005.
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