ANALOG vs DIGITAL - Ultra High Fidelity Magazine

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rooms and it had barely gotten off
the ground. My friends sat silently, as if
an expression, words or movement would
break the spell. When the short piece
ended, they looked at each other
then at me. We walked out slowly.
We heard quiet jazz piano
music as we stepped in the Tube
Magic Audio Systems room.
Designed and made in
Canada, the IAM 96
22 ULTRA HIGH FIDELITY Magazine
wood-sided 20-watt pure Class A
integrated amplifier was driving
US-made Zu speakers. They
seemed to be a great match. “So
beautiful,” said Marc. “I also
noticed,” remarked Fatima,
“that we all tended to speak
softly when we came out of
the room.”
The large Coup de
Foudre room was barely lit,
almost too dark to find our
way once inside. Most people
were standing, listening to Bill
Charlap on piano with an expressive
rendition of Leonard Bernstein’s West
Side Story. It was one of the latest projects
of well-known recording engineer
Peter McGrath. And Peter was there,
introducing the huge Alexandria X-2
Series 2 speakers by Wilson Audio. We
could faintly discern their cubistic shape,
but we could clearly hear the glorious
sound they produced. The piano was
right there, and we were sure that, if the
lights went on, it would materialize in
front of us.
Interestingly, the design of this
specific speaker was inspired by Dave
Wilson’s visit to the famous Musikverein
concert hall in Vienna, built in 1870.
Attending a rehearsal of the Vienna
Philharmonic in 2006 in that hall, he
suddenly realized what needed to be
done to the Alexandria speakers, and
created the X-2 Series 2. It is said that
Bruno Walter considered the Musikverein
“the finest hall in the world” for
its “beauty of sound and power,” adding
that, until he had conducted there, he
“had not realized that music could be so
beautiful.”
Well, neither did we.
After a while my friends found
a seat on the large comfortable
chair in the middle of the room,
and Peter treated us to his latest
recording, The Chichester Psalms by
Leonard Bernstein. The choir suddenly
lifted the room and we found
ourselves in the actual hall where
the recording took place. “In my
job,” said Marc, who is an architect,
“I work with space, I build space.
Here, I am witnessing how space
can be built with sound. This is a
great experience.”
TubeMagic Audio Systems IAM96
When we reluctantly left the room
and stood in the hallway, Fatima
remarked how refreshing an experience
that had been. Refreshing. Was that it?
I knew she was comparing with other
rooms — not mentioned here — where
she had cringed when she had felt that
music was virtually hurled at her as
soon as she walked in. But here? Just
refreshing?
Marc interrupted my thoughts with
his enthusiasm, “I’ve heard sounds in
there that I had never heard in my life,”
he said, his eyes bright and filled with
wonder. There you go. Guys! Yep, we
hear differently.
Before we headed for another room,
I had the chance to meet Luke Manley,
designer of the impressive VTL Siegfried
monoblock tube amps which were
driving the Wilson speakers. We’re
talking 12 tubes per unit and 600 watts
each, and Luke pointed out that they
have been conceived and designed to
provide ease of use and maintenance. For
example, there is an active bias system
that shuts the amp down if a tube fails,
and it even tells you which tube to change.
Peter McGrath was listening to all that
and nodding with a wide smile. “There
is a great synergy between those components,
amplifiers, cables (Transparent
Audio Opus) and speakers,” he said.
“This is what makes it all so great.”
At the Liberty Trading room, we
listened to my friends’ CD, The Music
of Tuva, throat singing and instruments
from Central Asia. Fatima and Marc
got really excited at what they were
discovering through the complexity of
the sounds. “All the sounds are so clear
and limpid,” said Fatima. “And I could
hear the third harmonic which is often
completely lost,” Marc said. “Some Blues