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| Letters -- July 2006 Loves his WLMs July 24, 2006 To Jason Thorpe, Regarding your review of the WLM speaker system, in my apartment, we play records with WLM Lyras and one Duo subwoofer, and the sound is just right. The subwoofer is an absolute must. All the singing and playing were right in my room. The Dutch importer had the same system as you tested. It was like Carnegie Hall and sounded fantastic! But I felt that all the singers were on stage; no voice can sound that big without a mike. Such a system is not for small rooms indeed. Adrian I can certainly understand why you enjoy your WLM speakers. I was most unhappy when the distributor finally took the review system back….Jason Thorpe NuForce and Apogee? July 21, 2006 To Mike Silverton, Would the tiny NuForce Reference 9 SE amps do my Apogee Duetta Signature speakers justice, as they need such strong current? At present I drive them with my wonderful-sounding yet much bigger Krell KSA-300S amp. In your opinion, would the NuForce 9.02 or SE models offer better sound quality and equal volume capability? Or are these amps relegated to more sensitive speakers? RB After reading your e-mail I went to NuForce's website and looked for a 9.02 amp. If it exists I've not had the pleasure, with "pleasure" to be taken literally. The Reference 9 SE mono pair continues to astonish. As to your question, I suspect that the SEs are equal to the task. However, if I'm wrong, NuForce offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. Happy listening….Mike Silverton Multichannel? July 13, 2006 In your recent editorial "Multichannel Audio's Next Move,” you state, “I was sold on multichannel playback back in 2001…,” but you don’t seem to have a multichannel setup now. If you were sold on it, why not have a setup in your new room? Or is it because there is not enough music in multichannel to justify it? Saul You've hit the nail on the head. Over the past year or more I’ve found myself buying CDs and downloading music, but not really finding anything in multichannel to pique my interest. I do enjoy home theater, and have a modest 4.1-channel setup in my living room. However, two-channel audio is what I find myself listening to for musical pleasure. I’d like to see multichannel music gain a foothold. But if it is to become more than a curiosity for me, I’m going to need more releases -- simply put, good new music on a regular basis. There are several ways this could take place, which I outline in my July "Opinion." However, I’m not holding my breath….Jeff Fritz "Any idea which photo is correct?" July 4, 2006 To Mike Silverton, I read your review of the NuForce amps with great interest. To say that I am skeptical is a major understatement. Every time a reviewer has raved about the performance of a digital amplifier, I have found that, without fail, he has grossly exaggerated the product's performance. As far as I am concerned, audio equipment reviewers are the audio equivalent of the boy who cried "wolf" as far as digital amplifiers are concerned. I notice the amp in the last picture of your review had an impressive bank of capacitors. I thought that perhaps the NuForce was different. When examining the photos on NuForce's website, the amp’s internals look decidedly different. Any idea which photo is correct? Nathan With respect to contradictions, the picture in my review matches what I saw under the cover of the amps, the merits of which you seem to think I exaggerated. Comparing photos doesn't interest me. What does engage my attention and, now and again, my enthusiasm is how a review item does its job. You are at liberty to remain as skeptical as you like. In the matter of understatement, I regret not having cheered the Reference 9 SE's accomplishments more loudly still. And I'm far too old to qualify as the boy who cried just about anything. I'd take your comments more seriously had you actually listened to a pair of the 9 SEs in action. Should the opportunity actually present itself, I'd like to know what you think....Mike Silverton
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