ANALOG vs DIGITAL - Ultra High Fidelity Magazine

seemed as if the music was elevated, like
a house into which we walked into and
sat.” Interesting description.
In the Raysonic room my friends
asked to listen to their own CD, Songs
from a World Apart, hauntingly beautiful
music inspired by Armenian folk songs.
The Raysonic CD player was hooked
to Raysonic amps and preamp and
Revolver Cygnis speakers. “We heard
the wind whispering through the duduk
(armenian flute) for the first time,” said
Mark, “as if we were sitting right next
to it.” Fatima was smiling, “We better
stop listening to this CD in this room or
else we won’t want to listen to it at home
again.”
We were drawn into the Bluebird
Music room by the fascinating sound
of Ali Farka and Ry Cooder’s guitars on
their Talking Timbuktu CD, a Blues-in-
Africa experience, rich in percussion.
We were charmed by the main system
featuring top of the line Chord electronics,
Exposure player and Peak Consult
Princess XE speakers. Everyone in the
room was smiling and nodding their
heads in appreciation — the sound had
the natural quality that makes you want
to stop thinking and enjoy the moment.
We then swiveled on our chairs and
faced the Chordette Two High system,
a superb looking mini system with a
great sound, playing If I had a Million
Dollars by the Barenaked Ladies. The
USB/Bluetooth DAC was connected
to the Scamp amplifier, which led to
a pair of Spendor A5 speakers. The
source? An iPad! “The sound is so fluid,
refined,” said Fatima. “Even on higher
volume, it never became aggressive.”
Marc, searching for the right words, said
he was impressed by the quality of the
sound from such small units, and that it
was very acceptable for a hi-fi system…
he was no doubt still under the spell of
the larger Chord system.
The Burmester room had that
unmistakable atmosphere of quiet luxury
that surrounds exquisite works of art.
Our eyes first caught the B-30 speakers
and as we sat down slowly, I admired
the 001 Player, the 088 preamp and
the 911 Mk3 power amp. My friends
were oblivious to such “details,” and
sat straight in their chairs, listening
to Linda Ronstadt’s What’s New. I had
no idea whether they liked that kind of
music, but it always seems that a great
sounding system draws you in and lets
you appreciate whatever is being played.
My friends then pulled their own CD,
Ama (“mother” in Tibetan) with the
amazing voice of Yungchen Lhamo, a
collection of modern Tibetan songs she
dedicated to her mother. “Everything
was crystal clear,” said Fatima excitedly.
Added Marc, “I loved the clarity of the
highs, and I could ‘see’ all the instruments
for the first time.”
The atmosphere in the Audioarts
room was so different that it felt like
coming out of a movie theatre and into
broad daylight. Flamenco music was
shaking the floorboards. It was Flamenco,
the famous K2 HD mastering, direct
from Pepe Romero’s original master
tape. We’re talking 24-Bit/100 kHz here,
and we could feel Paco Romero’s dancing
boots crash through the floor and
suddenly drop their tapping to a rolling,
whispering sound. We could almost see
those boots hovering in a blur just over
the boards. We were stuck to our chairs
by that powerful impact and striking
image that the Voxatim Ampeggio
speakers provided with just a few watts
of power from a Monbrison integrated
amp from Shindo Labs.
Mark remarked, on our way out, that
one could hear the sound of the hall
where the performance was taking place.
Fatima remained silent.
Listening to music in the Audio
Note room was quite a different experience.
The E/Lexus Signature speakers
were positioned in each corner, and we
could feel (yes, feel) the presence of Ray
Charles and Betty Carter singing their
famous duet Baby it’s Cold Outside. It was
played on Audio Note’s 4.1 X CD player
through the Jinro integrated amp. When
it ended, I pulled out one of my favorite
choral recordings, Lux Æterna, compositions
by Morten Lauridsen, and selected
the angelic Dirait-on. It sounded sublime,
the sweet voices of the Los Angeles
Master Chorale rising in gentle waves.
I had tried that recording in different
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