by Michael

Details, Details

For the longest time I would get so confused when I read someone posting that, say, the sound of Boulder solid-state amps had more detail than Edge solid-state amps, which I totally disagreed with [this was back when I believed everybody who posted about how something sounded had actually heard the darn thing. How innocent we all were about the side-effects of anonymity on the web in those good-old days].

I finally figured out that they were talking about the the ‘leading edge’ of the notes, combined with, in this case, less continuousness which made the notes ‘stand out’.

If we think about the sound as composed of many notes, and each of those notes having texture [dynamics of things happening inside the note] and harmonics, we can compare sounds to, say, sand on a beach.

You got your fine sand, you got your larger grains, which when large enough are ‘pebbles’. You got [depending on the beach] larger pebbles that eventually get so be as to be rocks [boulders, boulders would be like the cannon shots in the William Tell Overture]. Each one of these grains is a different shape, with bumps and different colors all over them.

OK.

The Edge amps have lots of finely grained sand detail [which we now call finesse – to get around the problem that people do not agree on just what detail *is*.] and the Boulder has pebbly detail.

The music has some of both [usually], large and small, and we can think of the sand->pebbles->rocks being dynamics and the color of their facets being harmonics/tone.

Solid-state equipment tends to reduce the beach to black and white and tube amps turn up the color saturation a bit. Solid-state equipment also shines a light on the beach like high-noon in death valley [the edges of the pebbles appear sharp, the find sand disappears into the background of white glare], tube equipment like, like, … ambient sunshine on a beach right after a rain just when rainbows are starting to come out [makes you think I like tubes better than solid-state, huh :-)].

[So far, we have only modeled sound and its harmonics and dynamics by comparing it to the visual appearance of a beach. We can also think about the experience of *listening* to sound with that of walking on the beach… some people want a nice soft sandy walk, some want a rougher, firmer walk. Some don’t care and are only getting exercise or going for a swim.]

We can think of playing music, then, as taking a yardstick and scraping it across the sand, larger pebbles being more dynamic than smaller, the colors of the pebbles representing different tones.

So, using these models…. we can [try to!] define:

Dynamic Resolution: Numbers of different sizes of sand that a system is capable of rendering – higher resolution systems are able to make a particulate of sand sound different than a slightly larger one, which would sound the same on a lower-resolution system. Note that this is often a function of the size of the grain: i.e. two boulders, one inch different in size may sound the same, but two pebbles, one inch different in size would sound different. The best systems are linear… if the pebbles, boulders are more than, say, 1% different in size, we can hear them.

Fractal Dynamic Resolution: The smallest size of a facets on a reference sized particulate of sand that a system is capable of rendering. We want linearity similar to that described above. This indicates the dynamic resolving capability of the system while it is already reproducing another dynamic. Very few systems can do this at all.

Harmonic Resolution and Fractal Harmonic Resolution: Similar to the above, but for tone [frequencies] instead of dynamics. The Lamm ML3 has really good Fractal Harmonic Resolution – it can render not only the colors of fine sand, but of their facets as well.

Dynamic Detail [ability to change direction]: the cleanliness of the beach [i.e. how much mud :-)]. Is that yardstick we are using make some good THWACK sounds as we hit things, or does it kind of slide up and over them. Again we want this to be linear – to behave the same for larger rocks and tiny particles of sand. Otherwise certain dynamics [horns anybody?] and frequencies [tipped up midrange anybody?] are over / under-emphasized. [We, Neli esp. usually calls this ‘light on its feet’. Most people referring to detail are talking about only the leading edge this very small set of dynamic changes somewhere between micro-dynamics and macro-dynamics – i..e kind of small sized next to slightly but noticeably larger pebbles. Not sand, and not rocks].

Dynamic Control [accuracy]: the ability to accurately trace the edges of the sand/pebble/boulder [what we usually call the note envelope]. That yardstick traces the pebbles up and over, without going too high, without pushing the pebble down into the sound … AND without jumping down too quick and missing tracing all the detail on the other side.

Fractal Detail and Fractal Control. Same as the above two, but for facets. The Audio Note Kegon Balanced amps are great at Fractal Dynamic Control.

Harmonic Detail and Harmonic Control: and Harmonic Fractal Detail and Harmonic Fractal Control: same as above, but for tone [frequencies].

See, we all knew that the reproduction of music was a beach.. 🙂

in Audio Note / High-end Audio HiFi and Stereo / Lamm / Philosophy 0 comments
 by Michael

Experimenting with the current systems a little

Teck, from Singapore, played a female vocals CD in our room, and likely a few lucky other rooms as well, at RMAF, and kindly and generously sent us a copy of it:

And, uh, it is surprisingly difficult to render well. The second track, specially, the singer has lotssssssss of sssssss’s in her ssssssinging that can caussssssse ssssssibliance when played back [i.e. sharp S sounds instead of delicate, sweet s sounds]. Luckily, the completely optimized system we took to the show played everything perfect, but some of our experimental systems, that otherwise play flawlessly [more or less] have difficulty here, and truth to tell, the playback in general on this CD could be better.

I think the answer will turn out to be a combination of the fact that we are playing it LOUD [what? L-O-U-D!!! Anybody else have these strange conversations when the music is loud? That usually end in “Forget it. I’ll Tell!… You!… Later!…”. “WHAAAAT!?”], the equipment is sitting very nearly right in front of the speakers, and the bass needs adjusting because the room is so large – we got used to using an integrated, and I do not think we have used solid-state on the main towers for over a year.

So we struggle, changing power cords, cleaning the CD, changing cables etc. to try and figure out what thing[s] are responsible. Everything to avoid having to move things or put a rack between the speakers [on the other hand, Neli is happy as a clam to have Mike move things, including racks, to and fro, fro and to].


System 1


Lamm L2 linestage’s power supply


Lamm L2 linestage. Just about everything is on HRS M3 Isolation Bases.


Emm Labs CDSA CD / SACD Player.

Anyway, that is what’s happening here. The Vidar has not yet arrived so we are not burning in anything that needs to be burned in. So, we are circling the field waiting to land.


System 2


Audio Note Ongaku integrated amplifier


Audio Note DAC 4.1x Balanced


Audio Note CDT Three transport

And, yes, Teck, your other CD arrived to [Thanks SO much!]. But, uh, I accidentally left it in the Emm Labs CDSD SE which, uh, is unplugged and at the moment away from an outlet, and I need to find a power cord for it somewhere [can I use a stock $2 Belden power cord? Of Course Not :-)] and plug it back in so I can eject the CD [See, I TOLD you all that I do this ALL THE TIME. Don’t know what it is… some kind of curse because I ‘let’ Neli clean all the CDs (and records, too) or something… :-)]

We like the CDs. We are certainly playing them a lot. The soundtrack is a little like the Gladiator soundtrack… I mean, doesn’t it seem like soundtracks have their own genre -they’re not classical and they’re not pop. Cool depth of field though, and amazing drums.

in Audio Note / High-end Audio HiFi and Stereo / Lamm / Showroom 1 / Showroom 2 0 comments
 by Michael

Amplifier Shootout – Audio Note vrs. Lamm vrs. Audio Aero vrs. Audio Note

We held a shootout here a few days ago – $85K Audio Note Ongaku versus $22K Lamm ML1.1 versus $10K Audio Aero Capitole versus $9K Audio Note Conquest Silver. Prices rounded, so don’t quote me to Neli :-).

The Audio Aero Prestige as serving as CD / SACD player, and sometimes as linestage as well. The Audio Note AN/E Signature loudspekaers were serving as… speakers.

So, with the disparity in pricing – it wasn’t really a shootout. More an investigation into different sounds – how the different amps sounded, given that they are indeed so very different from each other.


We finished up with the Audio Note Conquest Silver 300B amps.

We will try to describe the *differences* between the sounds, as opposed to the sounds themselves.

Going from the Audio Note U.K. Ongaku to the Lamm ML1.1.


The Ongaku and ML1.1 amps resting behind the couch after their workout during the shootout.

The sound was not as big with the Lamm, somewhat more compressed – but perhaps more even-handed because the somewhat rolled-off deep bass [which lends the deep bass a compression-like signature], because of where the speakers were located [in front of the horns, which are out of here as soon as the snow melts. If it melts.].

The Lamm sound was more laid back, the soundstage receeding somewhat, which allows one to better appreciate the music in measured doses when desired, as opposed to being transfixed unable to move for whole CDs at a time [from this description I hope people see that we like both types of soundstaging – really depends on our mood at the time].

The Lamm harmonic color was a little grayer, and the dynamics, as mentioned above, a little less exuberant. This goes in keeping with our general interpretation of the Lamm sound as being stately and sophisticated, natural and self-consistant.

This is not to say that the Ongaku is an exuberant amp either – it is actually quite balanced, unexpectedly so from my point of view, with just a little flavor from the use of the 211 tube. We still have a lot to learn about Audio Note, but it is my current impression that as you move up in the Audio Note line, things become less colored and more accurate and therefore much more revealing of the color and subtleties of the music itself, quite unlike anything else out there. This seems different to me from the brands that, as you go up their line, you get more and more improved versions of their ‘house sound’. ‘Course, you can always tube roll the amp and get just about any sound you want – but I think the point has been made.

Going from the Lamm ML1.1 to the Audio Aero Captitole amp

The Capitole was sweet in comparison with the ML1.1. More euphonic, rounder, less resolution and transparency. For some reason, about half of the people we talk to these days are conscously steering away from high-resolution sound – so this amp, with ‘just enough’ resolution, should really be on everyone’s short list. No one really knows about it, but, especially teemed with the Capitole or Prestige CD player, you can get a really wonderful, Enjoyable and slightly Sweet, sound.

Going from the Audio Aero Capitole amp to the Audio Note Conquest Silver amps


The Audio Note Conquest Silver amps in play. The Audio Aero Capitole amp behind, resting.

Easiest to compare these to the Ongaku.

Less density. By which we mean less resolution, less micro-dynamics, less macro-dynamics, less color. Just less going on. But at the same time, note by note, it was the same: the notes were where they were supposed to be, the rose and fell like they are supposed to, they were just a little thinner sounding. OK, a lot thinner sounding.

Thinner sounding isn’t exactly ‘bad’, though, There is a lightness to the music, very similar to the experience of the $11K Kharma 3.1c versus the $45K Kharma Mini Exquisite, which I think is largely a psychological, not electro-mechanical, experience that is quite pleasant and refreshing. That sometimes a ‘lighter fare’ is as enjoyable, to a listener, as the full-featured experience.

Kind of like comparing the Simpsons [the old shows which had content] with a James Bond movie. One can enjoy both. But one generally prefers, and will actually pay more money for, the Bond movie.

Well, depends on the particular Bond movie 🙂

in Audio Aero / Audio Note / High-end Audio HiFi and Stereo / Lamm / Reviews 4 comments