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| Letters -- September 2005 Wadia and power cords September 23, 2005 To Mike Silverton, I enjoyed your review of the Wadia 861se. I use an 860 with a Synergistic Research Designer's Reference power cord. The sound is impeccable; however, the CD player gets warm after a while. You mentioned that you do not recommend using tweaks with the Wadia (I'm assuming this refers to power cords and power conditioners). Is there a reason for this? Kenny Kok You ask an interesting question which I think I can answer directly and simply. In an effort to submit a thorough review, I plugged the Wadia 861se directly into the wall outlet -- in other words, without line conditioning -- and liked what I heard. Now, if you can get a satisfactory result with less rather than more hardware, I call that a good and desirable thing. However, I would never recommend against experimenting with after-market ("designer") power cords. They do make a difference. Problem is, there are so many of them from which to choose, and at such a wide price range!...Mike Silverton Halcro and Boulder September 19, 2005 To Jeff Fritz, Regarding "The World's Best Audio System," how does your Boulder amp compare to the Halcros in terms of musicality? Vernon "Musicality" is a term I try not to use when describing a component. It means different things to different people, kind of like saying something sounds "good." I think both the Halcros and Boulder are outstanding, though, right at the cutting edge of the state-of-the-art designs. I ultimately preferred the Boulder 1060 in my system, but I could have been quite content with the Halcros had the Boulder not been presented to me. I said in my "TWBAS" on the Boulders: "The Boulder 1060 displayed more drive and authority than the Halcro amps in my system." Otherwise, both amplifiers were equally stunning....Jeff Fritz "...the need to belong to that right club" September 7, 2005 To Mike Silverton, [Regarding this month's "Opinion"], well said. What used to drive me crazy about vinyl was that half the time my favorite track got the opening position, and the other half it got the spot next to the label, which played back at an unacceptable level of distortion. Maybe I was just extremely sensitive to it, but a lot of these CD haters are just as sensitive to their own pet peeves, which they describe in terms no less vague than my own. Frankly, I think a lot of the vinyl thing is the need to belong to the right club. I'd rather just hear the music. Sal D'Agostino Your gripe about the degradation of favorite musical moments next to the label brings back some poignant memories. I've been a classical-music bug since my grade-school days. Symphonic music -- for example, a symphony's finale -- usually works up to a loud climax, and of course these would occur in that inner-groove region. The overlay of distortion at high volume was for me an aspect of the excitement. Ah, innocence! As for your comment about the need to belong to the right club, how I wanted to say something like that in my editorial. But enough was enough. Delighted you made the point....Mike Silverton Best digital playback? September 2, 2005 To Mike Silverton, I just read your editorial on digital vs. analog and came away a little disappointed. Nevertheless, I think you're going through what I went through about a year ago. At the time, I was into vinyl big time -- not even thinking about digital. But about eight months ago an audiophile friend of mine turned me onto a digital system that transformed my thoughts on this once terrible-sounding format. To describe this event effectively, I shall break down each piece of this system individually. Understand that it's the system -- not so much the actual playback unit -- that makes the difference. 1. It uses a cutting-edge AC conditioner -- the Nordost Thor with top-of-line power cords, the Valhallas. These products, like the latest from Audience or Walker, apparently drop the noise floor greatly, crucial to digital's high standards of noise suppression. 2. The player is the Reimyo CD player. I'm sorry that it costs so much, but rumor has it that this is the best digital playback in the world right now -- outside the stratospherically priced Zanden separates. Others may cost more (or less), but none sound this close to analog (or, in my opinion, as good as analog). 3. The discs are all freshly burned CD-Rs via Exact Audio Copy and Mobile Fidelity blank discs. 4. The preamp is the Audio Consultants Silver Rock unit, a transformer-based attenuator -- no active line stage! This unit, like the other "TAs" -- the Pasiphae, etc. -- open up a whole new sound for digital as it doesn't, like LP, need a preamp. 5. Tweaks. Routine disc demagnetizing and, believe it or not, cable cooking! This apparently keeps the line cords (and other cables in the system) "opened up" all the way -- crucial to very sensitive digital. Analog can get away with a little noise and imperfection, but digital can't. Finally, it uses the Stillpoints RF cloths -- more noise removal. So there you have it. It takes some work, but it must have been worth it as I went out and put this system together myself. I am now listening to CDs (almost) exclusively. John H. I read your e-mail with keen interest and quite agree that with first-rate playback equipment a certain amount of tweaking is critically important. If your disappointment with my piece has to do with its brevity, try to understand that editorials need to be short. Thus constrained, I attempted to make the analog-digital point as forcefully as possible. It's an issue that's raised my hackles on more than a few occasions. To be blunt, I'm sick and tired of audio journalists who've established their credentials in large measure on what has always seemed to me a bogus position. (But I'm repeating what I've already written.) Yes, line conditioning is critically important, and that's one helluva spendy system you've listed in your note. What can I say? That these old ears find satisfaction in components a tick or two less dear. I think that the Canadian CD player I've just finished writing about may, at $10,800 USD, prove a true contender for "best." I've also covered some spectacularly fine line-conditioning gear from a Hong Kong company, Isoclean. You'd probably be interested in an expert's informed opinion. Aurum Acoustics' Derrick Moss thinks that the right power cord is at least as important as interconnects and speaker cables. I'm in no mood to contradict. Enjoy the music!...Mike Silverton
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