Pursuing the Ultimate Music Experiences

Audio Federation High-Fidelity Audio Blog
 by Michael

CES 2008 etc

At this time of year we get preoccupied with CES, what to take, how to get it there, what to ship and what to put in the car, will there be SNOW between us and Vegas, and how MUCH….

The Odin is still settling in on Kharma system. After such an intense burn-in process, it helps to just leave them in one place for a week or two.

We put the Emm Labs CDSA on the system with the ODIN, so we have CDSA -> Audio Note Ongaku. A little more detail, a little less warmth.

Detail fans are just going to go ga-ga over the Odin, especially the interconnect. There is so much more on the CD and LP than I ever had imagined – and I thought we had pretty high resolution here before …

And, as you can quite imagine, looking at Nordost’s line of cables as it extends up through Valhalla – the ODIN has w-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l tone.

The Jorma Prime might have more emotion (though we haven’t done the shootout yet) but the musicality and tone on the Odin is way, Waaaay out there – very close to the real thing – recorded electric guitars really invoke the sound of my old electric guitar and amp [over and over again, it is not like it sounded like this once, on one CD, but many times, many CDs, springing out at me when I was just listening casually], significantly unlike anything I have heard.

in CES 2008 / High-end Audio HiFi and Stereo / Nordost 0 comments
 by Michael

Fraudulent amps up on Ebay

We got a email (thanks Erick!) pointing us to an ad on Ebay that has someone selling amps that list for $30K for $2K.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Lamm-ML2-1-monoblock-power-amplifier_W0QQitemZ250195088459QQihZ015QQcategoryZ67786QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Don’t know if they are stolen or non-existent, or the seller is just crazy.

But the old adage that if something looks too good to be true…. well, there is a reason that these old sayings are still around.

in High-end Audio HiFi and Stereo / News 0 comments
 by Michael

Got Ears?

Anybody else use this expression?

As in “I think Joe has ears”. Or “So many reviewers don’t have ears”.

We use it to characterize the ability to ‘hear’ the differences, the subtleties, in music reproduction.

Perhaps people without ears can hear, but can’t tell which is better or worse when given two different sounds?

Kind of feel sorry for dealers without ears – but they can always fall back on their sales techniques and what the ‘reviews’ say.

Kind of feel reviewers without ears are being dishonest and should go get a real job.

Kind of feel people without ears are lucky – they can be happy with a Bose clock radio.

Kind of feel that people with ears and don’t know it got it the worst – the vast majority of them aren’t enjoying the music and don’t know why.

Personally, I feel that if people cared more, they ALL could ‘have ears’. Even reviewers and dealers. 🙂

They just gotta put some effort and quiet time in. Treat the discipline with some respect. And let themselves do some introspection.

We think we have ears. Most people we meet up here do. Some have really good ears – and some are just faking it

[this is all similar to mathematical ability. Everybody has it, but most people don’t respect it as something worthwhile. I consider myself pretty good at math – my dad being a math professor didn’t hurt. But there are people I have met who are so good at it that I wonder if they are human… or Vulcan.

This is all to say that there is a gradient, a continuum of people skill with ‘having ears’ – but it is one of the most disrespected disciplines ever, even lower on the totem than mathematics :-)]

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

Starting tests with broken-in Nordost Odin

Kind of duplicating the whole process that we took with the UN-broken in Odin, 1st one interconnect, then the speakers cable, then as a digital cable, for a 100% ODIN solution.

Immediate impressions similar to the first time:

Louder
Bigger
More dynamic
More balanced
More resolution

New things I noticed:

Really engrossing. After checking the imaging and soundstaging out [It is awesomely clear and stable. Apparently, the better the cables, the less awkward the positioning is, positioning being just being a way to use a room to compensate for problematic system components and cables. Goes against established truths, I know, but…] I got bored and just listened and spaced out – but was drawn back to the performance.

The gestalt was very much that this was a ‘Performance… For… Me’. Or perhaps a ‘Creation’ for me [being that Radiohead KidA was one of the CDs, that being much more of a creation than a performance, and Neli having lost my *2nd* copy of Radiohead Amnesiac. Well, if I can’t find it, it is by definition LOST. :-)].

Even on classical music, the variations on a theme were almost playful, the clarity of purpose of the composer revealed in a way that did not require intellectual participation – or less so anyway. Just like our systems bring us to greater depths of enjoyment and appreciation compared to a decent car stereo, so do these cables.

OK, trying to stay away from the generalizations here. My text is and should always be too terse to be classified as hyperbole, hopefully, but as a hifi system’s clarity [separation, correct note formation blah blah blah] brings us more enjoyment than a system, like my car stereo, that has good tone, modest separation, and is enjoyable [as one can indeed determine and enjoy the melody is that is playing], so a system with really quality components, properly cabled, can give us an equally improved experience compared to that system with more modest cables.

It is THAT big of a difference.

It is THAT addicting.

I, personally, have only felt this way a few times before. Well, only once, when I met the Audio Note U.K. Kegons for the first time [the Coltrane Supremes speakers made us hallucinate, kind of scary, and anyway, hallucinogenics aren’t addicting 🙂 – and the Triolons were kind of just much better Campaniles – and the original Cogent horns… well, that is too close to call but they certainly had their problems].

The Coltrane Supremes are like food and water. Not much choice if we want to have competent sound reproduction as part of our lives. But, when it comes to the choices we get to make….

I will NOT live without my Kegons (or Ongaku. or Gaku On. But you get what I mean).

And I will NOT live without my [sorry Neli, OUR 🙂 ] Odin cables.

You know, it might be a good thing that most high-end audio dealers suck. Otherwise, in Central Park, people’d get mugged by people wanting money not to buy drugs, but buy $16K interconnects. And $57K amps. And 3-box line-stages….

in High-end Audio HiFi and Stereo / Nordost 0 comments
 by Michael

Odin burning-in process almost done with second pass


The Vidar has little lights, four of them, that light up after each stage has been completed, from left to right. Three are lit up at the present time, as seen in the photos.. Each pass takes about a day to complete.


There are another set of LEDs for the speaker cable section. Here we see them without a flash and in full, albeit somewhat blurry, color.


I’m glad we spent a few days listening to the ODIN cables before we put them on the burner. Otherwise, I’d never have the patience to sit through these last eight days.

Interesting to see how much difference their is to the sound of the cables.

Every time I hear the systems without them, I think about how it would sound with them. Especially when we have people up here who really emphasize soundstaging.

We don’t, ourselves, and we have been moving things around and testing various amps / preamps, digital on the Coltrane Supremes and Kharmas, etc. And, of course, different equipment is going to want the speakers to be in different positions (optimally).

But we have been focusing on overall musicality and not precise soundstaging and imaging. This is where people have it a lot easier in their own homes, where they do not change out equipment every day or so. Then again, they never get to optimize the sound of their system like this either – just their soundstaging.

Anyway, Nordost Odin DOES soundstaging unlike anything else – and this would be a great way for us, as a dealer, to get darn good soundstaging without having to spend the time to reposition the speakers after every little change to a system. [And, truth to tell, this changing equipment around, seeing what different combos sound like gets old after awhile. Not just because equipment is HEAVY, but they all treat ground differently *hummmmmmm*, with different gains and different power cording requirements… its a lot of work].

One more day… what to do…. maybe we should put the Audio Note Kegons on in place of the Edge upstairs on the Supremes….? 🙂

in High-end Audio HiFi and Stereo / Nordost 0 comments
 by Michael

M10 Moves On, Day 5 of Odin Burn-in

The Audio Note M10, the no holds barred, can’t catch this, state-of-the-art line-stage moved on [no, we’re not happy about this. I mean, we ARE, but,…. we’re not. If you know what I mean.] to a new home, Audio Note’s latest U.S. dealer, HiFiAV Supplies in New York City. They are Audio Note dealers from way back and we are happy to have them back again. They also happen to be fluent in Chinese [Mandarin and/or Cantonese, I don’t know] – kinda makes me feel that maybe I should be fluent in a language someday, like English maybe? Nahhh….


The main system this morning.


The main system this evening.

At least no components are in front of the speakers…. at the present time. 🙂

Day 5 of the Odin burn-in, got 3 more days to go…. tickety tock tickety tock

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

Bouncy Bouncy Emails

OK, seems like we have to do this periodically.

Emails to us have been bouncing for some unknown reason. Sometimes. We are working on it. Our website’s host is working on it.

Until these occasional glitches are wiped out, or just go away, the email addresses that should always work are:

cstinchcomb@earthlink.net (Neli’s email. Her name is really Cornelia [pretty huh?], and her previous last name was Stinchcomb).

and

justacoder@earthlink.net [This is me]

OK, sorry for this interruption. We now return you to our previously scheduled program.

in High-end Audio HiFi and Stereo / News 0 comments
 by Michael

Other 2007 RMAF reports trickling out

Six moons recently posted their RMAF show report by Marja and Henk.

They said nice things about our room. Of course, they said nice things about E-v-e-r-ybody’s room [but Neli tells me it is just that they are more subtle than my ‘most horrible of show’ approach :-)].

But they said extra super special nice things about our room, [so we can tell they liked ours the best :-)], and we appreciate it. Thanks you two.

It was in the style of the very large reports Srajan used to write. In fact, it may have been larger, being almost(?) comprehensive. Now please, please, please do these kind of reports for the shows in Europe that are under-reported on so we can see what is going on at those other shows [Seems like every country in the E.U. has their own show… that’s a LOT of shows. And yes, we peer intently at those other reports of shows we don’t attend (and even the ones we do :-))… maybe not with a magnifying glass… well, maybe not all the time with a magnifying glass…. :-)].

Josh at Sonic Flare is back to posting their “room a day report” of the RMAF 2007 show. I can’t decide if this is a brilliant use of content, or doomed to wear thin in the context of people wanting their news to be kind of reported soon after its occurance.

At this rate, with 140 rooms at RMAF and 200+ rooms at CES 2008, by the time these show reports are done it will be time for RMAF 2008… 🙂

Anyway, another report with detailed information and analysis and with nice things to say about all the rooms.

My poor ears, they hear various problems with all the systems at shows, unfortunately – some serious and some forgivable – as well as various things they may do better than anyone else, all in the context of what have learned to be several, linearly independent, categories related to people’s sonic preferences.

Maybe I am just too darn picky.

But truth be told – this learning to differentiate the large number of subtle variations between good and bad is one of the things that can make life so rich and interesting – and the only way I know to appreciate the true artisans in this world, who spend their lives perfecting their art, whether they be musicians, painters, martial artists, manufacturers, or just people who make their profession being nice and good hearted. [Add fine furniture and autos here too – except Lamborghinis, Coltrane Supremes beat them out :-). Kind of straying away from talking about show reports to talking about life, and politics kind of, in case you haven’t noticed :-)].

Boy, if I could just get rid of this pickyness life sure would be a lot less expensive around here. 🙂 Of course, Neli is picky too, …really, REALLY picky …so she would need to Just Stop It. [Yeah, Neli, just cut it out…:-) .. Yeah. Right. Someone else is going to have to try and convince her… :-).]

So, until then…. hee hee hee …. Norodst ODIN is still burning in, and then we have the Audio Note SOOTOO to burn in, and then….

in High-end Audio HiFi and Stereo / RMAF 2007 / Show Reports 0 comments
 by Michael

Vidar'ing the Odin

The Nordost Vidar cable burner arrived back yesterday from its repair after the lighting strike.


So just some photos. We got about 8 days of burning in to do.


We did manage to get the two sets of interconnects and the one pair of bi-wire speaker cables on at one time.


The lights go blinky blinky as the Vidar works.


Are they done yet? Are they done yet?

… if 4 days of burning in equals one century of playing, then 3.75 hours of burn-in equals…. well they must be burned in pretty good already, right? Right???

in High-end Audio HiFi and Stereo / Nordost 0 comments