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Feedback<br />
I really enjoy your magazine. I kept<br />
buying single issues until it dawned on<br />
me that <strong>the</strong> only hi-fi magazine that<br />
stayed around on <strong>the</strong> reading table was<br />
yours, so I became a subscriber. It has<br />
<strong>the</strong> ring of truth and <strong>the</strong> love of music<br />
around it, so stay on course, you’ve got<br />
a winning formula.<br />
Eric Nadelberg<br />
NEW CITY, NY<br />
I just received issue No. 66 and noted<br />
<strong>the</strong> bit about Mt. Everest and Hillary.<br />
However, I believe it was Mallory, not<br />
Hillary, who made <strong>the</strong> famous reply,<br />
“because it’s <strong>the</strong>re.”<br />
Aside from that, I’d like to say that<br />
having been a subscriber since issue<br />
No. 28 and a reader for much longer.<br />
I have always appreciated your publication.<br />
This is <strong>the</strong> longest magazine<br />
subscription I’ve ever had, and I expect<br />
I’ll still be reading you when I have my<br />
first pair of bifocals.<br />
Nicolas Baltazar<br />
KUUJJUAQ, QC<br />
Having spent <strong>the</strong> last few years and<br />
not an inconsiderable amount of investigation,<br />
time and money working on<br />
developing a media room, I’m delighted<br />
to see <strong>the</strong> addition of <strong>the</strong> Kappa room to<br />
your mix, and look forward to reviews<br />
that include home <strong>the</strong>atre oriented<br />
products.<br />
While I can appreciate your philosophy<br />
and dedication to reviewing<br />
separates, I think <strong>the</strong> one-box solution<br />
has come a long way in recent years.<br />
Recent reviews of <strong>the</strong> Denon 5803 have<br />
equated its performance to all but <strong>the</strong><br />
highest end separates. I am respectfully<br />
requesting that UHF review some of <strong>the</strong><br />
“flagship” AV receivers that some of us<br />
are choosing as an option.<br />
Peter M. Wilson<br />
ETOBICOKE, ON<br />
Feedback<br />
Box 65085, Place Longueuil<br />
Longueuil, Québec, Canada J4K 5J4<br />
uhfmail@uhfmag.com<br />
I would love to be <strong>the</strong>re (at <strong>the</strong> Montreal<br />
Festival du Son). I’ve never been to a<br />
show like that. Maybe when <strong>the</strong> kids are<br />
older, my wife and myself will attend.<br />
I will certainly be checking <strong>the</strong><br />
daily updates from <strong>the</strong> show (<strong>the</strong> coverage<br />
from Las Vegas was great). So keep<br />
up <strong>the</strong> take no prisoners/suffer no fools<br />
policy for audio and video and I will<br />
continue to be a loyal subscriber.<br />
John Reid<br />
VICTORIA, BC<br />
It was interesting to read in your dayby-day<br />
review of <strong>the</strong> Montreal hi-fi show<br />
that a female audiophile found that <strong>the</strong><br />
show was full of lift (elevator) music. I<br />
took my wife to <strong>the</strong> show, telling her<br />
that even if <strong>the</strong> equipment isn’t interesting<br />
<strong>the</strong>n we would surely find some<br />
new and interesting music. This visit to<br />
<strong>the</strong> Montreal show was my first North-<br />
American show — I’m from England<br />
and have been to <strong>the</strong> big London show<br />
many times — and if I have to listen to<br />
one more jangly twangy lift music jazz<br />
recording I’ll never attend ano<strong>the</strong>r show<br />
on this continent!<br />
It was a relief to hear some Pink Floyd<br />
being played, but on entering <strong>the</strong> room<br />
it stopped. My ears perked up again as<br />
I hear ano<strong>the</strong>r few bars of Pink Floyd<br />
from down <strong>the</strong> corridor, but on entering<br />
that room I found that <strong>the</strong> quality<br />
of musical reproduction was awful. The<br />
jazz music we heard was generally very<br />
well reproduced, it’s just that we don’t<br />
like that kind of music.<br />
There was a great selection of equipment<br />
and lots of Canadian brands that<br />
I’d not seen before to examine and listen<br />
to, but way too much British stuff for my<br />
liking! Remembering which products<br />
were in which rooms was tricky because<br />
almost all <strong>the</strong> rooms were put on by <strong>the</strong><br />
distributors, not <strong>the</strong> manufacturers, so<br />
trying to find somewhere on <strong>the</strong> plan was<br />
sometimes tricky, not helped by <strong>the</strong> poor<br />
signage and maps in <strong>the</strong> show guide.<br />
One of <strong>the</strong> funniest moments was<br />
walking into a darkened home cinema<br />
area where <strong>the</strong>y were playing <strong>the</strong> recent<br />
Star Wars movie — with <strong>the</strong> voices about<br />
half a second out of sync with <strong>the</strong> picture.<br />
That kind of setup is hardly fitting<br />
for a high end show.<br />
So I returned to Ottawa, happy that<br />
I had picked up many magazines to read<br />
and seen interesting equipment to give<br />
me ideas when building my own, and<br />
we listened to 80s pop music in <strong>the</strong><br />
car — relief at last.<br />
Graeme Nattress<br />
OTTAWA, ON<br />
In <strong>the</strong> Free Advice section of issue<br />
No. 66, David Chirko requested advice<br />
on system upgrades. His preamp is a<br />
Bryston BP 25P and in your reply you<br />
seem to suggest that he may want to<br />
upgrade that preamp.<br />
I was curious about your comment.<br />
I have a Bryston 14B SST amp, Oracle<br />
Delphi Mark III turntable with RB600<br />
arm and Goldring Elite cartridge, Cambridge<br />
DiscMagic transport and Cambridge<br />
ISOMagic DAC, Totem Tabu<br />
speakers and mostly Cardas wiring. I<br />
have an older preamp and am saving to<br />
replace it. I was thinking about replacing<br />
it with <strong>the</strong> Bryston BP 25P. I don’t<br />
think it is <strong>the</strong> first time I have seen you<br />
suggest alternatives besides Bryston.<br />
Do you not have a very good opinion<br />
of Bryston? How would you compare<br />
<strong>the</strong> Bryston to say <strong>the</strong> Copland CTA-<br />
301 MkII (I know it is your reference),<br />
YBA 2 or VTL 5.5? Would you have<br />
any o<strong>the</strong>r suggestions in <strong>the</strong> $3,000 to<br />
$4,000 range?<br />
Randy Fowlie<br />
WATERLOO, ON<br />
We like all three of <strong>the</strong>se brands, Randy,<br />
and of course we especially like <strong>the</strong> Copland as<br />
you know. We believe it is difficult to match<br />
at anything close to its price. But we do like<br />
Bryston products as well, and we’re sorry if<br />
we gave you a contrary impression.<br />
Very simply, David Chirko’s system was<br />
quite well balanced, and for that reason we<br />
suggested that <strong>the</strong> natural upgrade sequence<br />
would follow <strong>the</strong> front-to-back rule: start<br />
ULTRA HIGH FIDELITY <strong>Magazine</strong> 5