ANALOG vs DIGITAL - Ultra High Fidelity Magazine

singers use that. And it’s the first time
that I heard the flute as a voice.”
And what was the equipment that
reproduced the music so well and earned
all that praise? The Roksan line: Kandy
K2 CD player, Caspian integrated amp
and K2 TR5 speakers, with Atlas cables
and Gutwire power cords. Concerning
the latter, Liberty Trading’s representative
(a music connoisseur as we found
out) added that people setting up a
system should spend as much for cables
as they do for the components.
It was late afternoon, we were reaching
the saturation point for my two
companions, and I knew the end of our
tour was near. There was so much more
to discover in this well-attended Salon,
so many more systems to listen to, but
my friends were dragging their feet and
nodding their heads with each footstep.
Knowing what they needed, I suggested
to have another listen in the Fidelio
room.
René Laflamme was there, the room
was cool, the equipment was warm and
the superbly-polished Sonus Faber
Stradivari speakers glowed. “I like
Sundays at the show,” said René who is
in charge of all recordings at Fidelio
Music. “The units have been warming
up for a few days and the electrical power
grid is at its best in the city — office
buildings are closed and most activities
are greatly reduced in general.” My
friends sat, enjoying a sweet Chopin
Étude played by Jean-Pascal Hamelin,
followed by excerpts of Deserts by La
Nef. The Master Flash proved to be
an impeccable source once again. “The
transparency is incredible here,” said
Marc. “And everything appears neatly
in its place,” added Fatima, struck by
VTL Siegfried monoblocks
the precise imaging. “There is a sense of
power without effort,” said Marc after a
while, “and an amazing sense of space.”
On our way out, we listened to selections
from René’s fantastic recording of
Dvorak’s Symphony from the New World
using headphones. Fatima actually said,
“Wow! Superb,” as her features relaxed
into a huge smile. “At this point there
are no words…” she added.
“Architects have often used music
as inspiration to create their projects,”
explained Marc, back in the hallway.
“Sound and space create a similar image
in the right side of our brain,” he said.
I didn’t want to point it out, but they
seemed much less tired after their experience
in the Fidelio room.
I suggested one last thing.
I wanted them to attend an interesting
demonstration in the Nordost room
by Bruno de Lorimier. Using Simaudio’s
Moon 650 CD player, 600i integrated
amp and Joseph Audio speakers connected
with Nordost Leif Series cables,
Bruno explained the essential role
that cones play in releasing unwanted
resonances from components resting on
them. The CD used for the demonstration
was Cash — American IV: The Man
Comes Around. We first heard the title
song, an original Johnny Cash composition,
for a minute or so, then Bruno
inserted the aluminum cones under the
CD player and played the song again.
The sound had been initially excellent
but became decidedly better with the
addition of the aluminum cones. But
the best results happened while listening
to Bridge Over Troubled Water, using
the titanium cones. The difference was
striking, with Bruno pointing out that
Johnny Cash now sounded
20 years younger.
We left the room
without a word.
Everything was
obvious and we
had all heard the
differences but,
as we parted, I
was left pondering
over that last
demonstration.
Later that
week I picked up a
copy of that CD and
listened to it intently. Here was Johnny
Cash, a few months before he died, singing
some of his most poignant songs with
a voice occasionally faltering but always
moving. Visions of apocalypse, tender
words of love, the sadness of regret and
always that deep voice, struggling yet
commanding. It was so touching that I
couldn’t understand why anyone would
want him to sound twenty years younger.
Now, here is my reason for not dwelling
at length on the gear’s technical
descriptions.
Say a friend of yours visited a country
you’d like to know about. On his return
you’d want him to tell you all about his
trip. Would you be thrilled if he then
spent most his time describing the plane
that had taken him there?
ULTRA HIGH FIDELITY Magazine 23
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