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| Letters -- February 2007 High-End Audio's Price/Performance Myth” February 20, 2007 Editor, Your editorial titled “High-End Audio's Price/Performance Myth” read like a breath of fresh air. I have wanted to say the same thing to my audiophile friends many times, but they are very much concerned with price and how much their systems cost -- maybe more so than the sound! It is too bad many of their systems sound really bad. It is hard for me to audition many of the components I am interested in where I live, so I do have to rely on reviews. I hope you’ll let us know just what does offer the best sound for the money. Thank you for a helpful website and your honesty about this hobby. Ashi Bel Canto or NuForce? February 14, 2007 To Mike Silverton, I enjoyed your review of the Bel Canto Dac3. After reading it, it struck me perhaps you could shed some light on a question I have been struggling with. I would like your opinion of the NuForce amps vs. the Bel Canto REF1000s. I am interested in these class-D amps, but I have not found anywhere to hear them side by side. Reviewers hold both in high esteem, but I've not seen a direct comparison. They would be driving good ribbon speakers that do take some power. Any insight on your experiences with these two amps would be much appreciated. Marc The answer to your question in brief: The NuForce 9 SE pair is my reference. While I found much to like with the Bel Canto pair, I do mention in my review that the 9 SE's transparency and resolution remain (at least in my limited experience) unparalleled. However, as you say, your ribbons require a lot of power -- most ribbon speakers do. The Bel Canto REF1000 is the more powerful amp by far, a factor that, with my Wilson Audio WATT/Puppy 8 system, simply didn't matter. If you do choose to try the Ref 9 SEs, you could return them (company policy) if they don't do the job. Happy hunting!...Mike Silverton Speakers for Simaudio February 8, 2007 Editor, I recently upgraded my electronics from an all-Ayre system to the Simaudio Moon Evolution stack (Andromeda, P-8 and W-8), partly based on your recent review. I am looking to upgrade my speakers (currently B&W 803D) to the Gershman Black Swans. Any thoughts on synergy and sound? I prefer a very natural (full, extended bass, natural midrange, smooth treble) rather than clinical/analytical sound and have mostly contemporary jazz and rock on CD. Randy The Simaudio gear should match pretty well with most any good loudspeaker system. Although I have not heard the Gershmans personally, I have heard the B&Ws, and they do seem to lean towards the analytical side of neutral. So I think it is worthwhile to explore the Gershmans as an alternative. Both the Gershman and Simaudio brands are Canadian, so it should not be too hard to find someone, a dealer in Canada perhaps, that carries both lines and can give you an opinion. If you can make a trip to hear the two brands together of course that would, as always, be best….Jeff Fritz Avalon Isis or Wilson WATT/Puppy 8? February 5, 2007 Editor, Both my wife and I are greatly enjoying your excellent Ultra Audio webzine! We are in search for new speakers. Our current speakers are Sonus Faber Amati Anniversarios and simply said we want something more truthful. Anniversarios are great for jazz or classical music, but not so good on popular music like Sade or big orchestral works like Mahler's Eighth. Our listening room is 7m x 5.5m with a 3m ceiling. The rest of the system is a Krell Evolution One amp, Krell Evolution Two preamp, Krell Evolution 505 SACD/CD player and Ayre C-5xe player. CAST ICs for all except Ayre (Cardas Golden Reference). Speaker cable is Cardas Golden Reference and power cords on digital players are Shunyata Anaconda Helix Vx. Dedicated 20A lines are feeding the system. Since we live in Europe it was pretty hard to find a place to audition these speakers, but we were able to listen to both of them at last year’s Milano show. We liked both, but the problem with both rooms was, in fact, that the presenters were not very enthusiastic about our own CDs! Rather, we had to listen to their music. Not a very nice thing, in our opinion. So, we narrowed the choice to Avalon Isis and Wilson WATT/Puppy 8. Why not MAXX 2? My wife hates the way they look! We want deep and tight bass, truthful midrange and natural highs. Best possible microdynamics and macrodynamics too! Asking too much? Maybe. Since you currently have WATT/Puppy 8s and probably did audition the Isis, our question for you is: What is the better choice for us? Wide sweet spot is another welcome thing. Kresimir Kozic I have not heard the Avalon Isis. We visited Avalon’s suite at this year’s CES and unfortunately they chose not to show the Isis. What we did hear -- an entry-level model -- was not very inspiring. I did hear one Avalon at the CES and was greatly impressed -- the Eidolon Diamond. But I found out later that the system was EQ’d with an Accuphase room-correction device. I therefore can’t make any conclusions about the speaker without knowing just what the equalizer was contributing. I really like the Wilson WATT/Puppy 8s, though. We’ll be publishing a review of them very soon. They sound spectacular, and meet all the criteria you’ve laid out except for the “wide sweet spot” (they sound their best with one centrally located listener). For what you would spend on the Isis, you could get WATT/Puppy 8s and a Passive WATCH Dog subwoofer. Then you’d have world-class bass without having to buy the MAXX Series 2! So my recommendation is squarely with the Wilsons….Jeff Fritz
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