The Audio by Van Alstine Vision SET 400 Amplifier

Over the years it’s been my good fortune to have reviewed and/or been exposed to many fine power amplifiers. These ranged from solid state Class A, a variety of tube amplifiers, with and without transformers, to the latest solid state Class D designs. I concluded there is no one right way to achieve excellent sound quality. We all hear differently and we all have our individual preferences. So, it can be difficult to review a product that will make an impact on a field of quality products.

My current reference, a pair of Merrill Audio Veritas Monoblocks, was doing an excellent job and I was happy with them. Michael Levy of Alta Audio called me and was ecstatic in his praise of a relatively inexpensive, new stereo power amplifier by Audio by Van Alstine. Like all passionate audiophiles, Levy is demonstrative in praise and can be equally demonstrative about dislikes. He enthusiastically offered me the amplifier for Audiophilia review.

Pure Fidelity Eclipse Turntable

If the number of phone calls, emails and texts regarding every aspect of a review, equipment setup, discussion and follow up is the benchmark of meticulousness, then Vancouver's John Stratton, head of Canadian analogue startup, Pure Fidelity (PF), is the epitome of it. Never have I experienced a fellow so involved in the details of a particular Hi-Fi subject. 

Hey, when you have spent the past few years investing lots of your time and money into perfecting an exacting piece of high end kit, the turntable, you get picky pretty damn quickly. Or, you fail. Stratton has very high standards and analogue is a demanding mistress. She doesn't share, or bestow favours. 

My new reference loudspeaker—Alta Audio Celesta FRM-2

Several years ago, I experienced Mike Levy’s original loudspeaker design, the FRM-1s, at a well attended CES. The sound was wonderful but the design was hamstrung somewhat, needing four channels of amplification and DEQX room calibration.  Score one for the sound, but zero for the needs of everyday audiophiles. 

For more than a few years after the show, Levy received requests to modify the speaker to a standard two channel amplification design so the beautiful sound could be enjoyed by all. Well, maybe not all, at $15,000 (plus stands), but the thoughts were pure. 

Pass Labs XP-12 Preamplifier

When Pass Labs comes out with a new piece of gear the audio industry takes notice. Well known for the quality of its products, the longevity of its designs and the seriousness to which it addresses the ever evolving science and art of sound reproduction, the XP-12 Preamplifier arrives. The XP-12 is the replacement for the XP-10, which had been their entry level, reference, one-box line level preamp for nearly a decade. What have they done to improve performance?

The new XP-12 starts with a new power supply. It uses an efficient toroidal design with both an electrostatic and Mu metal shield along vacuum impregnating and epoxy fill. This makes a very quiet transformer both electrically and mechanically. The power supply circuitry is also quieter and has additional filtering. The XP-12 uses a single stage volume control borrowed from the XS line preamp. This gives one hundred 1 dB steps with lower noise and distortion while removing some signal path parts. This redesigned volume control results in greater precision with a more luxurious feel.

Brahms: The Symphonies—Daniel Barenboim

I began this review period disliking much of what I heard from the first, casual run through of this new set of Brahms Symphonies by Daniel Barenboim and his Staatskapelle Berlin. My ears were perked, but the style was not what I was used to.  

A few weeks later, with many cycles heard under my belt, I felt far more comfortable with Barenboim’s very Romantic and 'urtext'  approach.  

Some of my initial reservations were clouded by my reverence for the Brahms of Karajan and Joachim—full bodied and played with a Ferrari orchestra, the Berlin Phil. 

Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 11 “The Year 1905”

This July 2018 release is the third of Andris Nelsons' DG Shostakovich Symphony cycle and contains live performances of the 4th [1936, but withdrawn 'till 1961] and 11th [1957] Symphonies. Nelsons is performing his Shostakovich cycle with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

The first two instalments were remarkable successes, with definitive performances of the 5th and 10th Symphonies.  The 5th was paired with the 8th and 9th, the 10th stood alone. To be fair, not much could follow the 10th, what I consider the greatest symphony of the 20th Century. And therein lies the problem with a complete Shostakovich symphony cycle. Of the fifteen symphonies, I think six (1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10) are masterpieces interspersed with lesser patriotic or dramatic works, and even a couple of jingoistic duds (2 and 3). 

Mojo Audio Deja Vu Music Server with Linux, Roon, Tidal, and HQPlayer Software

Five years ago I began using a music server and DAC in lieu of a compact disc player, thus starting my journey into digital audio streaming. Keeping in mind that music servers are in fact computers, my main motivation came from discovering Mojo Audio, a company which at the time modified Mac mini computers to be serious music servers by (among other changes) replacing their internal power supplies with Mojo's own high-end external linear power supplies. Over the last 5 years I have kept the Mac mini as my reference, only upgrading it by changing player software from JRiver to the revolutionary Roon Labs, subscribing to Tidal, and swapping out its power supply by a series of better ones—all made by Mojo Audio, too; currently I use their Illuminati V2—it is a ‘choke input’ power supply and is my favorite [my review of the V1 may be found here].

But five years is a long time in the digital world. Much has happened. I did see and listen to various new alternatives including NUCs (‘Next Unit of Computing’ mini-computers) which were smaller, lighter, typically less expensive, and more energy efficient than a Mac mini. Like a Mac mini, a NUC is ‘headless’, e.g., you do not need to connect a monitor or keyboard to it except for setting it up with software and such. Once set up, controlling music play is accomplished by using a wirelessly connected app on a mobile device or tablet. I also checked out serious commercial high-end music servers, and I have been impressed at times. Suffice to say it has become clear that the Mac mini is on the way out; there are quite a number of alternatives.

Erica Morini—Milestones of a Legend (13 CD box set)

The violinist Erica Morini was born in Vienna and made her debut in 1916 with both the Berlin Philharmonic and Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestras under the baton of the legendary Arthur Nikisch. The critics hailed her as one of the best players before the public and she enjoyed a fifty year career appearing all over the world with every major orchestra and conductor of her day.

Morini retired from playing in 1975 and is reported to have never played the violin again. She died in New York City in 1995 aged ninety one having largely been forgotten by the musical world.

André Cluytens—The Complete Orchestral and Concerto Recordings (65 CD box set)

The Belgian-naturalized, French conductor André Cluytens occupies an interesting position in the pantheon of French maestros. He was the first French conductor to sell a million records and was also the first conductor after the war to record a Beethoven cycle with the Berlin Philharmonic. In 1957 when Cluytens commenced his performances, the Berlin orchestra was still very much under the influence of Furtwängler, who had died fours years before. Yet today it is Pierre Monteux and Charles Munch who are remembered as the great French conductors despite Cluytens making some very fine recordings and dominating the opera houses of Bayrueth and Paris for many seasons until his untimely death in 1967 at the age of sixty two.

His reputation suffered not because of his musical qualities but because he had been charged and convicted of being a collaborator during the World War 2 and this derailed him for some years despite being eventually exonerated of this crime and being allowed to continue his career.

Andy Zimmerman—Half Light; 180g vinyl limited edition, Newvelle Records

Newvelle Records is a relatively new label (started in 2016) devoted to producing top-tier jazz recordings exclusively on 180g translucent blue vinyl, from newly recorded music, and with jazz musicians of the highest caliber. Including beautiful artistic album covers, poetry and stories—these are luxury products.

The founders are jazz pianist and composer Elan Mehler and Parisian business executive Jean-Christophe Morisseau. It is a subscription based model only ($400 per ‘Season’ (year)), delivering 6 records over a year; one every two months—and the number of pressings of each LP is small, only 1000; no digital versions are made available. Importantly, the business part of the model is a collaboration with the musicians themselves: Newvelle gets ownership for the first two years, and then it is handed over to the musicians to do with whatever they please (including making digital versions if they want).

Peter Oundjian conducts Vaughan Williams

Ralph Vaughan Williams (RVW) (1872 – 1958) is the composer who best captures the elegiac nature of 20th Century English classical music. Unique works featuring flowing melodies, gorgeous harmonies, and with few exceptions (the war-like 4th and 6th Symphonies, among them), gentle flowing rhythms. Pieces like The Lark Ascending, Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis and the masterpiece on this recording, Serenade to Music, represent Vaughan Williams at his pastoral best.

This recent release on the Chandos label features four beautiful works by RVW played by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO), conducted by its outgoing maestro, Peter Oundjian. The recording is a commemorative tribute to Oundjian featuring works closely associated with him during his career. 

Bright Circle—Beth Levin, piano

A delightful, recently released Navona Records CD arrived at the office last week. The latest recording by Brooklyn-based, Serkin-trained pianist Beth Levin called Bright Circle

Bright Circle contains masterpieces of Romantic piano literature by Schubert (Sonata No. 20) and Brahms (Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel), and a wonderfully passionate, neo-romantic piece for solo piano, Ode to Music (2015) by American composer David Del Tredici (b. 1937).

Levin has a fluent technique, produces gorgeous tone with refined musicianship and has bold musical ideas. Throughout the album, ‘gumption’ is what came to mind. Levin has her mind set on the musical images and story arc she wants to convey. And with her gifts, it’s a rich listening experience.  

Strauss: Tod und Verklärung & Vier letzte Lieder—Gundula Janowitz/Karajan—180g DG vinyl reissue

I did not know the Gundula Janowitz version of Strauss’ great final work, Four Last Songs. I owned the performance on just about every format, even cassette, but purchased for the world class performance of Death and Transfiguration, a Side 1 to end all Side 1s. Stupid, I know! 

A favourite of Karajan, Janowitz’ voice has the best of both worlds—as pretty as Kiri and Kathleen with the gravitas and weight of Jesse and Renée. As such, she can float Strauss’ stratospheric demands like a coloratura then dig down for the low register lines with trombone power. All the while interpreting the great German poems by Hesse and von Eichendorff with deep reverence and musicality. 

Paganini: 24 Caprices, Op. 1–Roman Simovic, violin

Whither, the major symphony orchestra concertmaster? If your job is in England, like the London Symphony Orchestra's Roman Simovic, your title is Leader.

For sure, there have been concertmasters of the past that had a solid career outside of their main gig—solo works, chamber music, etc. The best of them could rely on a couple of concerto performances a year, with their own orchestra, or the best of them, with first class ensembles (Boston Symphony's Joseph Silverstein as example). But, for violinists aspiring to be a soloist, the pool of concert appearances is relatively thin. The pool has to accomodate stellar violinists such as Perlman, Mutter, Hilary Hahn, Gil Shaham, and many others. So, for many fine violinists, concertmaster it is. Hey, as we say, 'a gig's a gig'. 

 

PS Audio Sprout100 Integrated Amplifier

In February of 2015, I reviewed the original PS Audio Sprout, the brainchild of Scott McGowan. It was a powerful, small, simple to use stereo integrated amplifier with DAC, analog preamplifier, headphone amp, phono stage, Bluetooth receiver and more; I was dazzled by its performance at $799. Now we step forward 3 years to the second generation for review here: the Sprout100—at only $599.

I ran into McGowan recently at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest in October 2017, where he pulled out a prototype of the Sprout100 from his backpack at the hotel restaurant for my perusal; my eyes lit up at what I saw—and hoped to hear soon after. As I will try to convey in this review, some serious thought by McGowan was clearly given to this new version, and by drawing upon the expertise of PS Audio’s engineer Darren Myers, PS Audio has produced a product of exceptional value—and substantially better than the original. 

SEI SOLO: Bach’s Six Sonatas & Partitas for Violin Alone—Thomas Bowes, violin

I first heard British violinist Thomas Bowes on a Signum Records release. It was a recording of the Walton and Barber Violin Concertos conducted by the wonderful violinist, Joseph Swensen, with the equally wonderful Malmo Opera Orchestra. Both performance and recording were superb. 

If you know that recording, you will appreciate the art of a very special violinist. Bowes has the technical gifts of many of the virtuosos seen before the public, but he brings much more to his performances than many fiddlers spinning yet another Mendelssohn. There is deep commitment, musicality, and yes, risk. Even on recordings, as heard here on this marvellous new set of CDs from Navona Records, you will thrill at the risks that Bowes attempts, both with tempo and in dynamic range . It makes for an exceptional listening experience. 

Sutherland Engineering DUO Phono Preamplifier

I've been an audio acquaintance of Ron Sutherland, head of Sutherland Engineering, from my earliest days visiting audio shows. Seems, charming, friendly Ron attends them all. He's a great supporter of our industry. Although a staple in high end audio for two decades, Sutherland gear flies under the glitzy marketing radar, but is very well known to discerning and knowledgable audiophiles looking for great sound tagged with some value.

I reviewed his very popular and inexpensive entry level PH-1 phono stage many years ago (under the brand name AcousTech). It was a solid piece that bumped up the quality from the usual phono cards found in receivers and integrateds popular at the time. 

Phasemation PP-2000 MC Phono Pickup Cartridge

A reexamination of my Phasemation PP-300 cartridge review will be helpful in learning about Phasemation as a company, its info/philosophy, etc. I spent a few very pleasurable months listening to and writing about the gorgeous little nugget from the Japanese high end company. 

Spring has been a bumper cartridge season here at Audiophilia—I reviewed Shelter's Model 501 III MC Phono Cartridge (another Japanese gem), as well as the 300. Now, Phasemation’s top of the line, $6000 PP-2000. 

Bruckner Symphony No. 7—Andris Nelsons

This April 2018 DGG release begins with a fine performance of Wagner's Siegfried’s Funeral March, full of gorgeous sonorities and German style from Andris Nelsons' 'other' orchestra, the wonderful Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. As I mentioned in a recent review of Nelsons' Bruckner 4th with this orchestra, the sonorities are just right, the playing very beautiful. The playing, though, for all its beauty lacked a little of the drama that Bruckner legends like Walter, Jochum, Bohm and Klemperer bring to the great composer. So, how do they fare in the beautiful Seventh?

This performance is very much like the 4th, but with even finer playing. The long phrases sound wonderful—huge arching melodies that seem to go on forever.  The block brass fanfares Bruckner loves so much are perfectly in tune and in balance, so much so that 4th horn or 2nd trumpet counterpoint comes through clearly. It's often down in the murk. This recording uncovers everything but in the best acoustic.

Mahler Symphony No. 5—François-Xavier Roth

A friend in a European orchestra Facebook Messaged me about the qualities of French flutist turned conductor, François-Xavier Roth. The orchestra loved the well-dressed musician's approach and generally pleasant nature. This coupled with expectations of the highest musical standards.

Because of the the FB heads up, I checked out his recent live show with the LSO on YouTube (played on my 55" Sony Bravia 4K TV with a full SONOS system—almost like being there). Wonderful Debussy, Bartok and a superb Bruckner 4th.

Although recent history counts the WDR Orchestra (the ubiquitous radio moniker of many German orchestras) as the top Cologne band, the Gürzenich Orchestra has a long and distinguished history, including giving the first performance in 1904 of Mahler's 5th Symphony. Named after the hall in which it played originally, François-Xavier Roth took over as the orchestra's Music Director in 2015. Sounds like he's building a fine career and bringing some spit and polish to the Cologne musicians.