The trouble is that this is not true. It is true about some things, usually rather gross things. There are things that do sound bad intrinsically, without reference to any precise standard and without any definite comparisons being available. A typical example is a gross level of distortion. A clipping amplifier or a mis-tracking cartridge are identifiably bad. But once one gets out of the realm of such gross things, it becomes harder to tell. People may claim that they just know. But such claims need to be investigated.

This is especially true about turntables. There, the problem arises acutely, precisely because vinyl playback tends to work so very well when done rather simply. A simple belt-drive like the classic AR with its basic tonearm and an inexpensive moving-magnet cartridge already produces a sound that is very close to a live mike feed, if you play, say, a direct-cut lacquer of the mike feed. Such satisfactory results by simple means means the way onward and upward is not clear, although there is a way. 

I realize that people become impatient sometimes with long theoretical discursions, so let me pause here to point out that my extremely positive view of the Odar, which I shall explain at perhaps more length than everyone will want, is not a private sonic eccentricity. The Odar has been greeted with great enthusiasm at shows since its introduction—including by TASers. I know, shows are only shows, but in some ways a comparison of many turntables in a short time can be revealing, too. A show is in some way close to being a simultaneous comparison of a lot of different turntables, averaging over other variables of rooms, speakers, cartridges, etc.

Keeping in mind that I am not riding a personal hobby horse, let me return to my description of why it is that (in my view) the sound of the Odar is what the sound of a turntable should be.

What should a turntable actually do? The first thing to understand is that there is a there there.

The sound corresponding to the shape of the groove is a definite thing. The trouble is that the very act of playing the record causes errors. For instance, to be moved by the record the stylus must exert force on the record, and by Newton’s Third Law, the stylus exerting force on the record causes it to vibrate. This is not just a theory. If one plays a “silent” groove while a second stylus is playing a music groove, the sound of the music will be detected in the silent groove. And, of course, this energy in the record is also picked up by the music-playback stylus, too. This adds to the playback signal something that should not be there. (This is one reason why people are fascinated with optical playback—no spurious energy put into the record to bounce around and come back to annoy.)

A second source of signal you do not want is that the record does not rotate at a truly constant speed. Driving the record inevitably puts some vibrational energy into the platter and hence into the vinyl. This adds noise of a peculiar kind—some sort of analog analog of jitter. 

Of course, people have been worrying about the variation of speed forever—ever since they began to reproduce sound by cutting signal into objects that rotated for playback. But the worry was concentrated on speed variations that were perceived as pitch instability, either slow (“wow”) or fast (“flutter”). They worried about this, but, except for Nakamichi, they did not worry enough. Wow from off-centeredness of the record itself almost always dominates the pitch picture. (cf. e.g., the remarks of Gunther Frohnhöfer of Acoustic Signature in his interview with JV in Issue 264). And as it happens, getting wow down far enough for the (rare) centered record was not all that hard, historically. The AR of the mid-1960s claimed to have wow below threshold and pretty much did. But once they get a “spec” going, audio people tend to pursue it to an extreme. And people (most people) are still worrying about speed stability, whether it is going to be comparable to the off-centeredness issue or not. (If people really cared completely about vinyl, they would make new versions of the Nakamichi disc-centering mechanisms. But, of course, one can also hope for records with perfectly centered spindle holes.)

However, there is another aspect of speed stability that is operating in a different and very significant way that cannot be dealt with in the records themselves. This is the “jitter” phenomenon I remarked on just now. Think for a moment about what happens when one vibrates the speed of the platter—that is, when one induces sudden small variations of speed—small but fast-changing. You won’t hear this as pitch change. It is too fast most likely to be perceived even as a kind of ultra-rapid vibrato.

So, what does it do? What it will do, in effect, is to add to the signal what would happen if the record were not rotating but, rather, were jerking back and forth. In other words, it will make noise. And where is noise going to be the worse? Where the ear is most sensitive (which is around 3–4kHz). This is where the vinyl-vibration noise will be most audible, as well. The total effect is a kind of edgy noise that is most bothersome where the ear is most sensitive. It follows that the better a turntable is, the more quiet and non-aggressive it will sound. 

As it happens, this is true about audio in general. Low-distortion electronics also sound non-aggressive within a given bandwidth. Because many high-frequency transducers are badly behaved at the top end or out-of-band, broader bandwidth can make things sound nastier, even if the electronic device is low in distortion, But, overall, less aggressive and less nasty are better. And this is especially true of turntables.

Note in this context that frequency response in the usual sense (in anything but the low bass) is not directly affected by turntable/tonearm combinations. The idea that a turntable could reduce sharpness of transients by being slowed down by the stylus pulling on the record at a fast transient is obviously completely implausible, especially for a turntable with a massive platter. The change in angular momentum is the magnitude of the torque impulse—torque times time (analogous to the change in linear momentum being the force times time). A fast transient would have to exert enormous force on a massive rotating platter to have any substantive effect on angular momentum at all—a force far greater than occurs or is possible.

This brings us to the next point. How does one arrange for something to rotate with a truly constant angular speed? The answer is to have a very massive object (or more precisely an object with a large moment of inertia) acted upon by essentially no torque. The angular momentum will not change if the torque is zero and will change very little if the torque is very low. This is basic physics.

This is, of course, familiar in daily life. The regularity of the rotation of the Earth is so great that for a long time the unit of time, the second, was defined to be 1/86,400^th of a mean solar day. Why is the Earth’s rotation so regular? Because it has a huge moment of interia, and the torques exerted on it by, say, people running and broad-jumping or driving cars and so on are so small. Only tidal forces change its speed of rotation over time—but that is over geologic time scales.

This is the underlying idea of the Odar. It has a massive platter but a very low torque motor. Some torque must be applied; otherwise, friction forces would gradually bring it to a stop. But the torque is minimal—just enough to keep it going.

And so, you have to start the turntable going by hand—give it a good spin, and it will soon settle into the correct speed. And it will stay there, with minimal vibrational torque applied. Voila, silent background and absence of nastiness.

One-dimensional thinking would suggest that this is somehow a shift in tonal balance. Some reviewers have made the almost fantastic suggestion that Pear Blue products lack high frequencies or that they should be used with a cartridge with a particularly lively top end. Of course, any loss of highs is not what is really going on. High-frequency response is determined by the cartridge, and a turntable/arm combination cannot subtract from it. Any sense of “softer” sound is not a loss of highs—it is a loss of nastiness.

Other Aspects

There are other things that count about turntables, and those have been dealt with very well, also. First, one needs damping of the vinyl to suck out the energy inserted into the record by the stylus. This is done well here—bang on the record (on the edge!) with a hard object as it plays, and almost nothing comes out of the speakers except a dull thud. Noise from vibrations of the vinyl induced by the stylus in the crucial region of maximum hearing sensitivity will be minimal.

The Odar is not suspended, but it does have a very effective isolation system, involving a platform underneath with rubber feet and further isolation of the main unit from the platform. The usual test of putting the stylus down on a stationary record and turning up the volume shows good resistance to acoustic feedback. I suppose one could go even further by using additional vibration isolation under the sub-platform, but that seems uncalled for. Incidentally, I might mention that if you want to play a record very loudly with a subwoofer, you would be well advised to put any turntable in a room that is isolated acoustically and structurally from the listening area. (I have the turntable on a brick fireplace—no structural vibration transmitted from vibration of the floor.)

In short, the usual aspects of turntable performance are done well. But the thing that puts the Odar in the very top echelon is in another direction: the quiet and the purity arising from control of resonant energy and from the absence of speed “jitter.” 

How It Sounds

I hope that the foregoing was clear and convincing enough that in some sense you already know how the Odar sounds: wonderful. Clean, silent, pure, highly resolved from lack of background noise and, withal, highly dynamic for the same reason. Transient sounds come out of nowhere and vanish as rapidly as they should.

A manifestation of the overall purity is that empty space sounds empty. Noise tends to spread out spatially, so getting rid of spurious noise from playback not only makes the sound as such purer but also cleans it up in space. This is a large effect, and it is important musically. As Ernest Ansermet pointed out in the early days of stereo, the spatial separation makes it easier to hear musical lines that should be separated as actually separate.

In single-channel mono, the music itself masks noise. But in stereo, noise spreads out while instruments do not as such. The whole “stage” is suffused with texture that should not be there. Getting rid of this is a significant improvement.

Of course, recordings themselves can contain spatially spurious signals. A multi-miked, multi-track recording mixed to stereo has the whole of its space filled with stuff that should not be there. Only simple “purist” miking has any chance of working right, as I suppose we have all known forever, though the world has often ignored this. At least here, with the Odar, you can get spatial purity as it is available on the recording. The Odar/Cornet combination present clean space as well as a clean signal in terms of direct instrumental sound.

I am reminded of the sound of the Well-Tempered turntable/arm combination from years gone by, which is a good thing to be reminded of. And it is perhaps not really a coincidence. Pear Blue designer Peter Mezek, some years before he began his association with Tom Fletcher and later started his own company, represented Well Tempered in Eastern Europe. But the Odar/Cornet does the things I have been describing even better, partly perhaps because the massive platter smooths out micro-speed variations even more than the Well-Tempered, which had a light driving force via a plastic-thread belt but not a particularly massive platter.

It is worth noting in this connection that the Well-Tempered, which was itself an extraordinarily good turntable/arm combination, was reacted to in some quarters where the rigidity maniacs lived at the time with the same objections that have plagued the Pear Audio Blue designs: that it was too smooth and, in effect, too quiet and too pure sounding, I thought then and think now that this was nonsense. A turntable/arm combination cannot be too smooth. But wrong ideas in audio die slowly if they die at all, and this problem of thinking that roughness and nasty distortion is realism never goes away. Some people are disconcerted by the departure of nastiness from the sonic picture. (It might also be that subconsciously reviewers are disturbed by things that do not need yes-and-then-no reviewing, that are all one way, so to speak. If one wants to get rid of excess edge, removing it is always to the good, but reviewing can generate a subconscious wish to have something to review that makes the reviewing a forever-continuing thing.)

A Musical Example

It is traditional, almost de rigeur, to include specific examples of how particular recordings sounded compared to the averaged-out version of how they sounded before. This sort of thing is ultimately irrelevant here (and largely elsewhere). The Pear Blue combination reproduces what is there in the most positive sense. But not in the usual audiophile negative sense of “this is accurate so go on and suffer.” Just the opposite: Accuracy here means that the nasty effects of speed jitter and micro-resonances are eliminated so everything sounds as good as it has any right to, as good in the musical sense as it possibly can. But let me, at least, tip my hat to the tradition with one musical example, namely Georges Kisselhoff’s recording (with Mireille Landmann) on Columbia Masterwork 79308 of Handel’s Rinaldo, performed by La Grande Ecurie et La Chambre du Roy, Jean Claude Malgoire conducting. (TAS readers with long memories will recall the high esteem in which HP held the Kisselhoff Sarastro recording Verite du Clavecin from 1977, reissued in 2012.)

I am fond of Rinaldo, and I have been listening to this recording for years. (I first encountered it long ago when a friend of mine played it for me to demonstrate his then new Sonab speakers, ancestors of the current Larsen line: vita brevis, audio longa). With the Pear Blue combination, this recording was even more beautiful than heretofore. The music emerged with exquisite purity from a background devoid of noise artifacts; the voices were properly liquid but at the same time highly intelligible; and the dynamic moments (there are some!) had “jump factor” in abundance. One had the real feeling of hearing the Kisselhoff mastertape or even the live feed. Entrancing is the word.

The music itself enthralled. But after the fact, one realized that the stripping away of artifacts in the Pear Blue presentation made possible the perception of the recording venue in a most striking way. 

Stereo, even miked at its best, does not quite present to the ear/brain complete spatial information. But the brain is adept at reconstructing reality from fragmentary evidence. Suitable microphone setups can be interpreted by the brain to give an impression of spatial reality, even quite a detailed impression, as long as the information is presented in pure form, as it surely was here. It was a wonderful experience—I had intended to listen only briefly to get a sonic impression, but I ended up listening to the whole opera.

The Past And The Present

The LP record is approaching 75 years old, and the stereo LP as a commercial reality 65. It has been working well all along. As already noted, it is something that works better than one might expect by even simple means—a “technology” that works better than it has any apparent right to. But for all the initial success of the process, progress has happened, even if it has not always been steady. With the advent of digital, which for all its initial problems is devoid of certain resonances that are hard to get rid of in vinyl playback, these very issues have received much attention in recent decades. (HP was fond of pointing this out—that progress in one medium would stimulate progress in another.) In a sense, in its background silence and control of resonances the Pear Blue combination is like the best sects of digital without any of the electronic artifacts and strange band-limiting effects of digital in the literal sense. It is approaching the best of both worlds, the naturalness in every sense of analog vinyl with the background silence and non-resonant purity of the live mike feed (which digital promised but did not deliver).

As such, this vinyl playback is approaching very nearly the virtues of the third man in the room, reel-to-reel tape playback, with the advantage of a vastly greater storehouse of playable material than tape has ever offered or is likely to offer. To get vinyl playback this close to the virtues of mastertapes is obviously something desirable, given how much vinyl exists to be played!

The Pear Blue combination is the culmination of many years of work by Peter Mezek extending and further developing the ideas initially developed by the late Tom Fletcher, with whom Mezek worked closely. Many refinements and matters of detail, which were sonically critical, have been incorporated after very careful investigations and listening tests. The Odar/Cornet combination is a refined, polished product, not anything like a rough version of general good ideas, though the ideas are good, indeed.

I was impressed from the start, but I took my time. I wanted to be sure that the Pear Blue combination was as good as it seemed to be in early listening and that no hidden problems would appear. This review has been a long time in preparation. But in the fact, the more I listened, the more I found that within the (excellent) characteristics of the cartridge (I was using a Grado Statement 3), I was hearing what was actually on the records, with the artifacts usual in vinyl playback truly stripped away. I suppose no mechanical device can be perfect, but at a certain point the limitations can be the source material itself and only them, and this was to my ears what was happening here to a most unusual extent.

The Big Picture

The whole trouble with review by listening, especially if one reviews the same type of product repeatedly, is that one can tend to form a sonic picture of source material that can become a de facto standard, and to regard deviations from the picture, which is really only an average of past listenings, as deviations from how things should sound, so that a new product is evaluated compared to how everything has sounded before. The effect of this can be that one ceases to be open to real improvements. One is stuck with small variations of the status quo; if something appears which is fundamentally better, it is possible to fail to recognize the superiority of the new viewpoint. This happened with the Well-Tempered—the rigidity crew just could not take in that a system in which the cartridge was not mounted rigidly could work better than the “clunk” arms (as I called them) that tried to force everything into not moving. Similarly, people reacted to the Townshend tables—if they reacted to them at all—with their trough-removal of spurious vibration, as too “dead” and non-resonant. Pear Blue, while greeted with wild enthusiasm by some reviewers with real independence of mind and judgment, has on occasion been described as too subdued by those who were used to the grubbiness of one kind or another of usual vinyl playback. (Similar things have happened historically with speakers–some people are still, after decades, having trouble understanding how the BBC thin-walled damped cabinets can actually work.)

Don’t you believe it. If the Pear Blue approach sounds too subdued to you, you are just habituated to what is usually wrong with vinyl playback. If you have independent judgment about how things ought to sound and what music actually sounds like, then I think you will share my all but unlimitedly positive impression. And when one thinks that the Odar/Cornet combination is so moderate in price compared to other turntable/tonearm combinations that aspire to the best possible, the Pear Audio Blue Odar/Cornet 3 seems a remarkable bargain, along with being an unquestionable sonic landmark.

Specs & Pricing

Type: Belt-drive turntable with 14″ platter including external ultra-linear power supply for 33.3 and 45rpm, Cornet 3 12″ tonearm (speed-adjustable power supply is available but was not reviewed)
Dimensions: 24.74″ x 8.5″ x 21.25″
Weight (exclusive of power supply): 63 lbs.
Price: $17,500

AUDIO SKIES (North American Distribution)
info@audioskies.com
audioskies.com
(310) 975-7099

Starting things off with a bang, Clearaudio introduced the limited edition (250 units) Reference Jubilee turntable ($30,000) that features a boomerang-shaped, resonance-optimized design with a new, integrated, hybrid analog/digital controller and O-ring-suspended, air-core motor. The platter uses a ceramic-magnet levitating-bearing with optical feedback for speed control. The plinth is Panzerholz/aluminum with a POM platter coupled to a stainless-steel flywheel.  The Universal 9” tonearm with silver wiring and DIN termination is included. A statement spindle-clamp, Outer Limit peripheral ring, and Pro Power 24-volt outboard power supply round out the package. The “starting off with a bang” comment came in the form of Herbie Hancock’s rapid-fire “Rockit” track from the Future Shock album. The Reference Jubilee w/Jubilee mc cartridge fed a solid signal to the all-Boulder electronics sitting on Critical Mass Systems stands driving the Sonus faber Aida MKII loudspeakers connected with Transparent cables. The speed of the track and all its non-stop dynamic transitions were captured with ease, while providing a listening delight for all in the room.  Followed up with the powerful Dire Straits’ “Ride Across the River” from the Mobile Fidelity 45rpm Brothers In Arms reissue, the system played the bass with power to spare once we adjusted the preamp to accommodate the system’s absolute polarity for this record.

Thorens TD124 DD turntable

Thorens has reintroduced the Legendary TD 124 in the form of the TD 124 DD ($11,999).  The new TD 124 DD now features a high precision direct-drive motor with modern speed control, providing ample torque while keeping unwanted vibrations away from the platter.  Fans of the original TD 124 can see the departure from the original motor/belt/pulley system in the advanced drive-system approach implemented of the 124 DD.  The new tonearm allows for VTA adjustment and anti-skate adjustment via ruby bearing. The end-of-record-playing features a patented automatic arm lift.  The headshell detachment allows the use of SPU-type cartridges as well as standard mc/mm/mi/optical cartridge mounting via SME-type headshell attachments.  Equipped with two different counterweights, the TD 124 DD gives users a wider variety of cartridge choices for use with the ’table.  On the rear, the TD 124 DD has both balanced XLR and single-ended RCA connectors to connect the tonearm outputs. There is also an external power supply. Look for a TAS review of the TD 124 DD in a future issue.

Project X8 turntable

Project introduced the X8 ($2499) turntable that has a TPE-damped, mass-loaded, 11.24-pound platter; a neodymium magnetic-counterforce to ease the weight on the inverted, ceramic-tipped bearing; an MDF chassis; height-adjustable feet with TPE damping; a five-pin, balanced tonearm output-connector; a built-in electronic speed control (33.3/45rpm); and a dust cover. It is available in three finishes (high-gloss white, piano black, or satin walnut veneer_. The turntable looked nice on static display. I did not get the chance to hear it play back an LP.

Luxman PD-151 MKII turntable

Luxman has upgraded the PD-151 turntable to the PD-151 MKII ($TBD).  The major reason for the upgrade was to replace the (no longer available) Jelco-sourced tonearm with a custom S-shaped tonearm featuring a removable headshell.  Readers of TAS should be able to refer to Paul Seydor’s very favorable review of the original PD-151 in print and online.  The MKII version of the ’table w/attached Luxman LMC-5 cartridge ($2695) acquitted itself well in an all-Luxman system driving Magico M6 speakers.

SOTA Quasar turntable

SOTA’s new offering, the Quasar turntable, was on static display in the market area. The Quasar is $2695 without ’arm and $2,95 with a Rega RB330.  An installed RoadRunner tachometer adds an extra $500; adding a dust cover will increase the price by $205; and a record clamp will cost an additional $145 or $300, depending on the clamp chosen.  The new Quasar adds the Eclipse electronics package for the drive motor and controls.

Auspicious Debuts

Kronos Discovery RS Tonearm

Literally hot on the heels of Kronos’ introduction of its new Discovery turntable with Discovery tonearm, the company has introduced two new tonearms: The Discovery RS ($24,000) and Kronoscope RS ($14,000).  The original Discovery ’arm has been discontinued along with other older ’arms in the lineup and replaced by the two new RS models mentioned above. The Discovery RS is a 12.04” (306mm) effective length unipivot tonearm that has a patent-pending resonance-suppression system imbedded in the armwand and a patent-pending de-coupled headshell.  Features include adjustable bearing height, azimuth adjustment via outrigger counterweights, multiple counterweight options for optimal VTF adjustment while allowing close proximity of the weight to the pivot point, and a tuned adjustable tonearm base for optimizing overhang. The decoupled headshell is two-part nickel/ceramic connected by five adjustable tension points and has varyingly sized internal structures said to minimize frequency resonances. The armwand employs a four-piece, concentric-layered construction of varying composite materials bound together by tuned phenolic adhesive to optimize damping.  The resonance suppressor decouples the armwand from the pivot and counterweight in an effort to minimize and break up standing waves.  A brief listen to the ’arm on the Kronos Pro ’table, with My Sonic Lab’s Platinum Signature cartridge feeding Audionet electronics driving the New YG Acoustics Summit Loudspeakers, produced a smooth, well grounded, sound that was free of tracing artifacts on both a Joni Mitchell track and a Rossini sinfonia.

Fozgometer V2

Musical surrounding showed the Fozgometer V2 ($400) azimuth-adjustment tool, which is said to offer greater sensitivity and accuracy. The V2 has a new analog meter and is now battery or AC powered

Kirmus Audio KA-RC-1

On the LP cleaning side of things, Kirmus Audio has updated its KA-RC-1 ultrasonic record-cleaning machine with additional features to support the cleaning process during cavitation.  More information is available on the Kirmus website.

Perfect Vinyl Forever

For those that want their records ultrasonically cleaned but who are not interested in performing the process themselves, Steve Evans of Perfect Vinyl Forever (PVF) offers a professional cleaning service that includes shipping both ways. With PVF’s Archival 3.0, nine-step cleaning process, using his custom commercial record-cleaning equipment, Steve claims the typical outcomes are improved definition, better soundstaging, clearer timed transients, longer sustained decays, enhanced textures, and a lower noise floor.  The cost for Archival 3.0 cleaning of 16 records is $128 + $30 shipping, 32 records is $256+ $40 shipping, and 64 records is $512 + $80 shipping.  PVF also offers a subscription service for additional cost savings.  The shipping cost covers three-way mailing.  PVF sends the box/mailer for you to pack your records with a prepaid return shipping label.  Once carefully packed, the records are shipped to PVF for treatment/cleaning and then return shipped back to the customer.

Additional products were shown from TW Acustic with the three-motor Raven LS ($24,000), the DS Audio Grand Master optical cartridge ($15,000) and Grand Master phono equalizer ($45,000), Triangle Art Anubis ($15,000), and the UHA SuperDeck ($90,000).

In Other News

In the final 20 minutes of the last day of AXPONA, I ran into Chad Kassem of Acoustic Sounds, next to his supply of reel-to-reel tapes.  The two newest offerings on hand were John Coltrane’s Ballads and A Love Supreme.  While it wasn’t my intention to pick up any playback material, the new offerings proved to be too enticing to avoid.  Those tapes along with Oliver Nelson’s Blues and The Abstract Truth plus Oscar Peterson’s We Get Requests accompanied me on the ride home.  As I write part of this show report, the reels are spinning and sound sublime.

I heard VTL electronics, Stenhiem loudspeakers, all connected with Nordost cabling sourced by the Wadax DAC and server along with a VPI ‘table w/vdH Crimson cartridge.  If anyone in the room had doubts that vinyl could hold its own with such prestigious digital sourced gear, they had a short lesson. I requested we listen to Chet Baker’s “Alone Together” from his Chet album in order to adjust my bearings before playing any vinyl.  After hearing this track, I selected the same track from a recent Craft vinyl reissue ($24.99).  The resulting sound was excellent, and I won’t say any more except to mention vinyl holds its own and then some.  Following that bearings adjustment, I played my copy of Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri Sinfonia. The sound lit up the room with pianissimos to forte crescendos that had most listeners riveted in their seats.

There are instances in time where everything comes together to create a special moment that’s rare and something to be cherished.  Jeff Joseph from Joseph Audio commented on that very thing when the system setup jelled on Saturday April 23^rd with his TAS 2021 Golden Ear Award-winning Pearl 20/20 Graphene speakers fronted by Doshi Evolution electronics, a Studer A810 tied together with Cardas Clear Beyond cables playing a wonderful direct copy of a safety mastertape I brought along with me.  The resulting sound was the most top-notch for the duration of the show, and this was truly a special moment that all individuals in the room felt from the start of the tape all the way to the end.  Given the last show I’d attended prior to the COVID-19 pandemic was AXPONA 2019, it seems fitting to end my first show report on a high note, at this time in 2022, to remind you look for those special moments and cherish the real-time experience.

AJ’s Analog Best of Show

Best Sound (cost no object): Analog tape rules the day. It’s unfair but a reality. Joseph Audio Pearl 20/20 Graphene, Doshi Evolution (amp, preamp, phonostage, and tapestage), Studer A810, Cardas Clear Beyond cables w/support from J.Sikora Standard Max TT/’arm/Etna SL/Benz LPS, Aurender A20.

Best Sound (for the money): Given most of the low-cost turntables were on static display or had no firm price assigned, the Fozgometer V2 wins the day, since it helps to achieve better azimuth adjustment at a somewhat reasonable cost.

Most Significant Product Introduction: Project X8 offering a lot of turntable for its price point.

Most Significant Trend: Fewer turntables seen post-pandemic, but the quality of setups seemed better for those on display. Let’s hope the next show has more available with similar quality at prices within reach at lower price points.

Most Coveted Product: The Analog Productions Ultra Tapes that came home with me made my luggage much heavier and my wallet significantly lighter!

Whether you’re an established expert or someone simply exploring the idea of adding an analog machine to your front end, this event will be tailored to the interests, needs and knowledge of those attending. While the machines used for the workshop will be ATR’s own state-of-the-art 102 2-track and 104 4-track, the day is not geared towards any specific brand or format. The in-depth information and experience provided will apply to any analog machine. You will learn subtle alignment techniques and tips to achieve the most dialed-in analog experience possible.

Location for the event will be Michael Romanowski’s Coast Mastering studio in Berkeley, California. Michael is a co-founder of The Tape Project, which in 2007 launched with the lofty goal of bringing original master tape level performance into your home. They’re still doing it today, and Mr. Romanowski is joined as an event participant by fellow engineer, Managing Director and co-founder of The Tape Project, Paul Stubblebine. Paul and Michael are two of the leading experts in analog recording today.

Coast Mastering is located in the former Fantasy Studios building, itself one of the most storied recording studios in US history. The list of artists who have recorded there is jaw dropping (most famously Creedence Clearwater Revival), not to mention soundtrack mixes including those for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Apocalypse Now, and Amadeus. The location for this workshop is significant and worthy of the trip on its own merits.

Finally, the world class expertise and facility will be finished with world class playback systems so that attendees can enjoy the fruits of their labor. Electronics from Doshi Audio will be partnered with loudspeakers from Rockport Technologies. Work hard. Play harder.

Learn from and enjoy the best in the analog industry. Space will be limited to just 12 lucky attendees. No matter how much or how little you think you know about analog tape machines and recordings, put this event on your calendar.

Participation is $500 per person. 

Please contact Tim Marutani (Tim@marutaniconsulting.com; (510) 652-1911) for further information or visit www.doshiaudio.com/reel-tape-workshop to reserve one of the limited spots!
 

I/O Options Galore

The UnitiQute amplifier is said to use a slightly lower-powered, 30 Wpc variation on the circuit used in Naim’s award-winning Nait 5i integrated amplifier. Despite its compact size, the Unitiqute provides an astonishing array of inputs and outputs, including:

• 2 analog inputs (one 3.5mm jack, one RCA stereo input)
• 5 digital inputs (two coaxial SP/DIF, two optical, on 3.5 mm jack)
• 1 USB input via a front-panel socket
• 2 antenna inputs (Wi-Fi, plus 75 ohm connector for FM)
• 3 switch selectable tuner options (Internet Radio, FM or DAB)
• Connectivity for iPods and other MP3 players via the font-panel USB socket, complete with functions that allow the Unitiquite to read the player’s audio files and playlists and the show their contents on the Unitiqute’s front-panel display screen “for simple browsing, selection and playback.”
• Playback functions for UPnP streamed digital audio contents at resolution levels up to 96kHz/24-bits.
• Format compatibility: Internet Radio (Windows Media-formatted content, MP3 Streams, MMS), Playlists in M3U or PLS formats, MP3, AAC (up to 320kbps, CBR/VBR), Windows Media-formatted content-9 U (up to 320kbps), FLAC and WAV (up to 24-bit/96kHz via UPnP and USB only), and OGG Vorbis.

We suspect the UnitiQute may become one of the most sought-after powerplant/digital gateway devices yet devised for desktop/computer audio applications. 

For more information, visit: www.naimusa.com

 For more information, visit: www.rotel.com

For more information, visit: www.naimusa.com

For more information visit: www.electrocompaniet.no

Scotts’ first FM tuner, the 310A was introduced in December 1954. It was boxy, 4 1/2 ” by 13″ by 10 1/4″ housed in a metal case. Its 11 tubes all pointed downward. This tuner predates the “Scott Look” (Circular Vernier tuning dial, backlight, and small centrally

located tuning meter, beveled edges with rounded corners, and the golden – bronze color) devised by Marketing head Victor Pomper and Sales Manager Marvin Grossman.

The 310 series were Scotts’ top-of-the-line tuner models. The last 310, the 310E was made in the last half of 1963, and was the only 310 with built-in multiplex circuitry. All previous 310 models required an outboard multiplex adapter for stereo operation. The fabled 4310 was really a 310 in spirit. The 4310 was made for only one year, 1963, and is the most sought after Scott tuner, with used prices in the $1000 to $1500 range. When you consider it was listed for $480 in 1963, which in 1987 dollars is about $1475, it has just about held its value. It was outrageously expensive in 1963, and in 1987 is still exorbitant.

Scotts’ numbering methodology had almost no logic whatsoever. While 310s were more expensive than 311s, and 350s were better than 370s, 350s were also better than 314s and 312s. Only a set of price lists, or a chart of when each unit was made, and its’ list price can clarify Scotts’ numerical and alphabetical avalanche of models. While the following chart may seem a bit complicated, it does give a clear idea of what was released when, and is far easier than pouring over the individual yearly price lists from which it was compiled.

Rather than go through each individual model, one by one, I’m going to pick representative products from each series for more in depth review. While a 310C is different than a 310D, they are similar enough that both need not be discussed in detail. In some cases such as the 330C and 330D, the differences are primarily in the front panels and AM circuits, the FM tube complement and arrangement are identical.
 

The 310C

 The 310C was made from October 1959 to September 1960. It was the first of the 310 series to have a multiplex output jack, so with the addition of a Scott 335 multiplex adapter you can have stereo sound.   The front panel sports the Scott trademark circular backlit tuning dial, an on-off switch, a distant-local switch, and an output level knob, and a Dynaural noise suppression knob. Its measured IHFM sensitivity is 2.1 uv. It has no AFC circuit because Scott tuners don’t need one. A 1957 ad for the 310B tuner, quotes a satisfied owner “I tuned my 310 to WXHR, Boston, left it there for several weeks, simply turning it on and off each day. The 310 didn’t drift off station once.” My own experience with the model 310C confirms that Scott owners’ testimonial. 

The sound of the 310C is on the warm side. It makes commercial rock stations sound better than most transistor tuners I’ve heard. The top end is very good, unlike many tuners of the l959, some of which had as much as 6 db top end roll-off at 15KHZ. Cymbals retain their sizzle, and flutes still have their air over the 310C. Bass response is rounder and fuller than neutral, with a slight mid-bass hump. The midrange is the 310s glory. Disco, Heavy Metal, New wave; it all sounds wonderful through the 310. Yes, it’s euphonic as the blazes, but when you stop to consider how many stations the 310C makes listenable, it’s worth having around even if you already own a state-of-the-art transistor tuner.

The soundstage of the 310C with the outboard MPX adapter is remarkable. It equals the width of the Magnum Dynalab FT 101 tuner, and is wider than the Scott 350. The focus is also excellent, noticeably better than the 350. On Friday afternoon and Saturday evening live broadcasts from Boston’s’ Symphony Hall, the 310 retains all the spatial information, and depth of the broadcast.

The question has come up “How do you judge FM tuner quality since there is no standard reference source, like a favorite record that you can slap on for comparison?” My favorite reference source for harmonic balance is the human voice, and what voice is more repeatable than that of a disk jockey? My favorite reference voice is that of Robert J. Lurtsema, from NPR member station WGBH. I’ve been using his voice for years for fine-tuning subwoofer and bi-amp setups. It is just low enough that excess midbass becomes painfully obvious. At 7:00 AM, when he first comes on, he uses about five minutes of bird sounds from Tanglewood to open his program. What better way to check high-end response than the sound of small feathered creatures in heat? I have a subscription to the Boston Symphony, and very often I tape, and listen, to the Friday broadcasts of concerts I attended Thursday evening. Sometimes it is amazing just how close to the actual live sound the broadcast sound can get. Dynamics are compressed by the radio station to avoid blowing up their transmitter, but soundstage information, and

overall harmonic balance are retained very nicely.

While in theory, tube tuners suffer from greater tendency toward front end overload by powerful stations in urban environments, RF interference, and inferior multipath rejection of “ghost” signals than transistor designs, I haven’t heard any practical demonstrations of these shortcomings with the 310C. I’m located about 3 miles from downtown Boston, and while some stations do occupy a broader area on the 310Cs’ dial than they do on my Magnum Dynalab 101 tuner, in late night logging tests using the Magnum “Silver Ribbon” dipole antenna, the 310 brought in 39 stations to the Magnums’ 45. Not too bad for outmoded technology.

On days of poor reception, the 310C is not appreciably worse than the Magnum. WBUR, an NPR station in Boston affiliated with Boston University occasionally produces background hum or whistles with the Scott 350 in multiplex stereo mode, but the 310C is as silent as the Magnum. If you do a great deal of off the air taping, as I do, you will find that the 310C is the equal of almost any modern tuner, this can’t be said for many older tube designs. On the Scott 350, for instance, there is no way to insure that during the course of a two hour live symphony broadcast it will maintain good clean reception for the entire length of the concert.

Early 310s (up through the 310D) are quite inexpensive on the used market. The problem is that the multiplex adapter, model 335, needed for stereo reception is not as readily available, and is usually more expensive than the tuners themselves. Other manufacturers’ MPX adapters can be used with the 310s. I’ve tried the Fisher unit, and the results were virtually identical in terms of performance, it did sound differently, however. Other adapters like those made by Eico or Bogan may not produce as satisfactory results, as some of their early units were not up to the quality of the Fisher and Scott units.

The 310E

The 310E was made for a limited time in 1963. It is my favorite Scott tuner. I like it so much, I sold my Magnum Dynalab Ft101, in favor of the 310E in my main system. It brought in almost as many stations as the Dynalab (43 stations to 45 for the Dynalab), and did it with more musical sound. It is as drift-free as the 310C or the Dynalab, and best of all, it was cheap – $75. The 310E is more neutral than the 310C. Gone is the mid-bass hump, and excess warmth. The 310E has a more extended top end than the 310C. Its’ top end extension is the equal of the Magnum Dynalab FT 101. The 310E has a slightly more spacious soundstage than the 310C, and more apparent depth than the Dynalab. While the Dynalab is certainly not raspy or hard, like many solid-state tuners (the Sony STJ-75 comes to mind), it sounds somewhat raspy compared to the 310E.

The only negative about the 310E is its looks. It resembles, not so much the middle period Scott tuners, like the 350, as the early solid-state models, like the 312. Gone are the curved corners and brass knobs. Instead we have plastic knobs with metal caps that come unglued and fall off, similar to the knobs the famous Fisher 500 series receivers. It is boxy, and squat, and even a well-finished wooden case won’t help it much. Yup, it looks ugly, but sounds beautiful.

The 310E makes a very good argument for never spending more than $100 for a tube tuner. While I haven’t done a mano-a-manos with Scott 4310s or Marantz 10Bs, I can’t see why, other than collectors’ mania, anyone would put out the big bucks for these pieces. The 310E blows away a stock Macintosh MR 71 tube tuner. The Scott receives more channels, with higher definition, more high-end extension, and better harmonic balance. The Mac sounds dark and harmonically constricted in comparison.

When I asked Daniel Von Recklinghausen, Scotts’ chief design engineer during the period of “classic” tube equipment, which Scott tuner he liked the best, he said, without hesitation, the 310E.
 

The 350

The 350 was the first tuner to have a built in multiplex adapter. Its front panel is simplicity itself, containing the by now famous circular tuning dial, AGC Multiplex-mono switch, Stereo noise filter switch, level control knob, on-off selector knob for mono, stereo, and stereo with sub channel filter, and tuning meter. It is finished in the traditional golden bronze brushed aluminum.

The 350 has good sensitivity (2.5uv IHFM method), and 35db selectivity. When compared to a Scott 310C, it logged in as many stations, but only the strong local stations were of equal sonic quality to the 310C. With some stations there is a tendency towards whistling and humming if the station is not tuned in precisely. Luckily the 350 has an output level control, because at full output the 350 is capable of overloading some preamp line inputs. Like the 310C, the 350 as the ability to soften the hard edges, and warm up the metallic midranges of Rock stations. It is a euphonic unit, but its effect is subtle enough not to engulf stations with good sonics in a honey dipped glaze.

As I mentioned earlier, the 350 is not the equal of the 310C. Reception quality can vary from day to day, and sometimes hour to hour. There is a noticeable midbass hump that on most systems will require an adjustment of subwoofer levels. The soundstage is not as wide, nor does it have the focus of the 310C. Tuning is made more difficult because the tuning knob is metal, and by touching it you become part of the antenna system. Perhaps the best way to deal with this is to tune the 350 wearing gloves, but in the summer this may be rather uncomfortable.

The 350 series went through the 350D, which was finally discontinued in September 1966. The 350B had a neat feature on the front panel – a quarter inch stereo phono plug for going directly into tape recorders.

The 330D

The 330 series were both AM and FM tuners. None of the 330s had built in multiplex, but the C and D do have MPX out jacks. The 330s call themselves stereo tuners, but they are not. Early experiments in stereo broadcasting involved putting one channel on AM

and the other on FM. The 330s are set up so you can get AM in the right channel and FM in the left. This is great for listening to the ball game and the opera at the same time, other than this rather bizarre use its contemporary functionality is limited.

Cosmetically, the 330D sports dual circular vernier backlit tuning knobs. One nice touch is that the light is brighter on the dial in use. In AM/FM stereo mode the two dials are equally lit. Besides the two tuning dials, the 330D has a AM-FM tuning meter switch, a knob that turns the unit on and selects mono, stereo, or stereo reverse mode, and a knob that chooses AM, wideband AM, distant AM, and FM. The 330D has 12 tubes. The FM side of the 330D sounds much like the 310C, and all my comments about the 310C could be echoed here. The AM section is a pleasant surprise. In wideband mode it is quite listenable, with extended highs and a well-controlled bass. If Stereo AM broadcasts sound this good, there may be a future on the AM dial after all. It’s too bad that in Boston there isn’t anything accept ball games on AM worth listening to, unless talk-radio is your oeuvre.

The 333 is the first of the 330 series with a built-in multiplex adapter. It wasn’t made until September 1962, and by July 1963 had been replaced by the 333B, which was discontinued in September 1965, along with a majority of Scotts’ tube products.

The 340

The 340, introduced in September 1962, is the precursor of the modern receiver. It was basically a 350 tuner combined with a 299 integrated amplifier. It was rated at 60 Watts (30 per side) utilizing 2 7559 output tubes per side. The pre-amp section consisted of 4 12AX7s. While Scott tried to keep as close to the styling of its tuners as possible, with the ever present circular back-lit dial, the 340 has a somewhat clunky look of most of the early receivers. It weighed a hefty 35 lbs, and measured 16 3/4′ by 5 1/2″ by 16 1/2″, not the largest tube receiver ever made, but still quite a load to carry. This is the sort of piece that UPS loves to drop from off the back of their trucks due to its size and weight. I have not seen or heard one of these beasts, so I can’t tell you how it sounds. I could guess that its sounds very much like a 350 through a 299C or LK-72 integrated amps, both of which will be discussed later in the series.

A unique feature on the 340 was a little thing called a “sonic monitor”. To find which FM stations were broadcasting in stereo, the user had merely to switch in the sonic monitor and tune across the FM band till the tuner emitted a monitor tone through the systems’ speakers. The user was then assured of tuning a “true” stereo signal. Perhaps it even worked, but it did not find its way onto any later designs.

The 355

The 355 was an 333 AM/FM multiplex tuner combined with a 130 preamplifier. Scott recommended their 208 40 watt per side power amplifier as a companion piece. Unlike the 330 series, which had two circular dials, the 355 has only one dial that serves double duty for both AM and FM. I find it overly busy looking, but those who are into knobs and switches may find it attractive. It weighs 19 lbs, and measures 16 3/4″ by 5 1/2″ by 13″. The preamp section may be bypassed so that the tuner may be used alone. The FM specs are the same as a 350.

The 311D

The 311 series were a less expensive alternative to the 310. The 311D was Spartan in appearance, with only a circular vernier dial, and on-off power switch, a tuning meter, and a volume level knob. Its specs were only slightly inferior to the 310 while it was only 2/3 the price. Both the C and D have MPX out jacks. The 311 series was replaced by the model 314 in July 1960, it too had an MPX out jack. The 314 was made until September 1964 when it was replaced by the solid-state model 315 in September 1965.

Considering how inexpensive early 310s are on the used market, there would seem to be little reason to pick up a 311, but a 311 is nothing to be ashamed of, and its performance with a 335 MPX adapter is superior to the 350.
 

The LT-10

This was a kit made by Scott between September 1960 and September 1962. It was available briefly as a factory-assembled kit for about six months in 1961. It was slightly more sophisticated than a 311D, but not as good as a 310. The LT-10s’ specs were quite respectable, with 2.2 uv usable sensitivity, 60 db SN ratio, 6 db capture ratio, and 30 to 15KHZ frequency response +-1 db. The LT-10 was available in brown as well as the more standard golden bronze.   

When compared to the 310C, the LT-10s’ performance was identical. It logged in the identical number of stations, with an equal number of listenable quality. It has the same warm sound, reasonably extended highs, and midbass bump. It does not have quite the soundstage presentation of the 310C, it is a bit narrower, and the focus is slightly more diffuse.

The stereo version of the LT-10 is the LT-110. It is identical except for the inclusion of an internal multiplex decoder circuit. Its intriguing that later LT-10s had space set aside for an internal MPX decoder, but to my knowledge such an internal add-on unit was never brought to market. The LM-35, a kit version of the 335 external MPX decoder was marketed from September 1962 to April 1963. There was also an LT-110B, made from September 1964 to September 1966, as well as an LT-111, made for nine months in late 1963.
        
Of all the Scott tube tuners, the LT series are the most plentiful. Probably their bargain price of just under $90 for the LT-10, and $162 for the LT-110, excellent specs, and ease in assembly made them justifiably popular. I picked up an LT-10 along with its companion model LK-72 integrated amplifier at a thrift shop for $40 for the pair. This price, rather than being a steal, is a fair price for this equipment. Depending on a particular kit builders’ skill, you may find them to have workmanship even superior to factory-assembled models.

The 4310

Touted as “The Best Where Only The Best Will Do”, the 4310 lived up to Scotts’ marketing hype. Its usable sensitivity exceeded 1.9 uv, selectivity was better than 50db, spurious response rejection over 85db, separation better than 35db, measured frequency response of 19 to 29KHZ, and capture ratio a minimum of 2.2db. The 4310 had 20 tubes, 21 diodes, and weighed 25 pounds. It was the last example of tube tuner technology to emerge from Scott, and was only made from April 1963 to September 1964. At a list price of $480 not many
were sold.

Among the 4310s’ unique features were a special series of relays which automatically selected between stereo and mono reception depending upon which could provide a minimum satisfactory signal. The minimum standard was user adjustable on the front panel by a “Stereo Threshold” knob. VU meters were supplied for each channel to monitor output levels and indicate separation levels while a third meter indicated signal strength. Other front panel details included separate level knobs for each channel, a master level knob, AGC switch, A function knob giving the user a choice of normal, sub channel filter or stereo filter, and assorted lights for stereo, and standby. If you get the impression the front panel was rather busy, you’re right.

Some radio stations who were part of a national concert broadcast network used several of these tuners in a series, with antennae set up slightly different on each, and rigged up so that which ever tuner was receiving the strongest signal at any one time would be the receiver for his or her own broadcasts. Imagine three of four 4310s lined up side by side…. the mind boggles.

I’ve never seen a 4310 “in the flesh” so any attempts to describe it sonically would be an exercise in speculative fiction, at best. Even if it is only slightly better than a 310, it would be an impressive tuner indeed. Perhaps for a later installment I’ll locate one to compare to a Marantz 10B, or Fisher FM-1000.

The 4310 was replaced in September 1964 by the 4312, a solid-state version. The 4312 was not completely solid state however, the front end used four nuvistors. It was $115 cheaper, was even uglier than the 4310, and was made for only one year.

With the 4312, our survey of Scott tuners comes to an end. While I would never suggest people sell their Magnums, Sequeras, and Macintosh MR 78s, and buy old Scotts in their place, there are some very good reasons for owning an old Scott in addition to a modern tuner. The euphonic and forgiving nature of Scott tuners makes them ideal for listening to some of the nastier signal sources on the FM dial. In their original walnut cases, fully restored, they look marvelous. For half the price of a mint copy of Casino Royal you can
have an infinite source of music.

 Next Installment of “The Antique Collector” will cover Scott power amplifiers, preamps, integrated amps, and Turntables.

Frankly I didn’t realize quite how good this little Pioneer really was until I ran my admittedly very high-end reference Musical Fidelity kW SACD player through it. What surprised me was that the SX-A6-J captured many of the deep, inner subtleties of the Musical Fidelity player’s sound, much as a more expensive component might have done.

Naturally, the 60 Wpc Pioneer does not have quite the same dynamic clout or authority that a more powerful unit might have, but within its performance envelope, which is certainly adequate for driving speakers of moderate-to-high sensitivity, it does just fine.

The receiver’s moving magnet phono section proved a pleasant surprise in that it offered smooth though slightly reticent highs, a heaping helping of midrange clarity, and remarkably authoritative bass. In fact, I’d say the built-in phono section was as good if not better than some standalone units I’ve heard that sell for a significant fraction of the SX-A6-J’s price.

The built-in AM/FM tuner was a bit of a disappointment in that it did not seem particularly sensitive or selective, and when tuned in to some of the reference quality FM stations in my area, it tended to sound somewhat veiled or muffled with a touch of excess bass emphasis. What was missing, I felt, was the sense that better receivers often give of being perfectly “locked on” to the broadcast signal, so that you can even evaluate the quality of the musical material the station is playing. But the good news, however, is that unlike many traditional stereo receivers, the SX-A6-J supports XM connectivity, so that—if you buy an XM subscription and Connect & Play antenna—you can tap in to the big “music server” in the sky. I have only one practical nit to pick, and it’s this: the SX-A6-J deserves much higher quality speaker binding posts than it presently has, and it should really have two sets of posts per channel. Here’s the deal: A receiver this good should be used with high-quality speaker cables, but the current speaker posts make it hard to use beefy cables, which are typically terminated either with spade lugs or banana jacks.

SACD/CD Receiver Performance

While the PD-D6-J is a good SACD player, I think the real reason to consider owning one would be its performance on conventional CDs. What sets the player apart is the distinctive Legato Link Pro processing feature mentioned above.

When you listen to CDs through this player with Legato Link processing turned off, they sound quite good, but—as with many players in this price range—there’s a sense that upper midrange and higher frequencies sound somewhat “flat,” two-dimensional, or lacking in low-level textural detail. But press the LEGATO LINK button on the remote and everything changes for the better. Highs suddenly become subtler, more detailed, and more fully formed while small, delicate treble spatial cues combine to give the overall sound a noticeably more three-dimensional “feel.” In short, Legato Link processing really works, taking an already good player to the next level, giving it a touch of sonic sophistication normally associated with more costly CD players.

As an SACD1 player, the PD-D6-J emphasizes the warmth, tonal richness, and treble smoothness of which good SACD recordings are capable, which is a good thing. The only tradeoff, however, is that on SACDs the Pioneer tends to slightly round off highs and to smooth over very low-level upper midrange and treble details. This characteristic gives the player unfailingly smooth and easygoing SACD sound, but at the expense of leaving behind a layer or two of low-level information that could otherwise add a lot to the music. Still, I think most listeners would prefer an SACD player whose fundamental sound is right and whose sonic drawbacks are mostly “sins of omission,” rather than the thin, brittle, “edgy” sound some affordable SACD players tend to exhibit.

Musical Examples

“Time Rebel” from Jacob Young’s Sideways [ECM] proved a perfect vehicle for showing off the SX-A6-J’s strengths as a receiver as well as the PD-D6-J’s prowess as a CD player. The track highlights first a sumptuous trumpet solo and then a rich, round jazz guitar solo set against soaring cymbal accent notes that seem to hover for a split second, then float upwards toward the ceiling. Through the Pioneer pair, the track sounded pleasingly rich and clear to begin with, but really took off once the player’s Legato Link processing switch was engaged. Suddenly, the higher harmonics of the trumpet, and especially of the cymbals, took on a life of their own, making the sonic images of the instruments pop into sharp 3D relief, while shimmering reverberations from the cymbals rose up to fill a greatly expanded soundstage. The beauty of Legato Link processing is that it appears to be a “do no harm” system that improves sound quality without imposing garish artifacts of any kind. And the strength of the Pioneer receiver, in turn, is that it offers enough subtlety and refinement to let you hear the difference.

The track “Speak” from Nickelcreek’s This Side [Sugar Hill, SACD] reveals both the PD-D6-J’s strengths and weaknesses as an SACD player. On one hand, it captures both the sweetness and agility of Chris Thile’s mandolin as well as the evocative purity of Sara Watkins’s voice (whereas many SACD players tend to put a hard, “glassy” edge on the singer’s voice). But on the other hand, the player lost some of the textural details that should have been apparent when, about three-quarters of the way through the song, an ephemeral swirl of whispering voices appears in the mix behind Watkins’s vocals. However, when I played the same track through my reference SACD player, which was connected to the SX-A6-J, the receiver proved more than capable of resolving the echoes and edges of those whispered voices. The fact is that the receiver is the more revealing of the two Pioneer components.

1For newcomers to the hobby, the acronym SACD stands for Super Audio CD—a digital disk format that offers significantly better than CD-quality sound. While you typically won’t find SACDs at most bigbox retail outlets, the format has been widely embraced by audiophiles so that you can find a wide selection of SACDs from reputable, online music-minded retailers such as Music Direct (www.musicdirect.com).

Second, the Solo is articulate, offering resolution and definition easily on a par with those of other good mid-priced high-end CD player/integrated amplifier combinations. Rather than razzle-dazzle details, the Solo offers a more profound though initially less spectacular form of clarity—one that invites you to reach deep inside the music, especially on vocal tracks, to tease out subtle shades of meaning and emotion. On evocative tracks such as Lori Lieberman’s haunting “Three Rivers” from Drive On [Lost Highway], where the singer explores the sense of loss we experience when we allow loved ones to slip too easily from our lives, the Solo can literally bring tears to one’s eyes.

Third, the 50Wpc Solo offers more apparent “grunt” than its power specifications would suggest. Though it does not offer the irresistible clout of amps offering 200-plus watts per channel, it more than holds it own within its power class. Though some competing products can sound more lively or dynamically explosive than the Solo does, its unbeatable combination of warmth, smoothness, clarity, and ample power give it—here’s that word again—a suave, urbane sound that you can enjoy for hours on end.

London Calling

Finally the Solo’s FM tuner section deserves special mention. Tuners are too often tacked on as afterthoughts, but the Solo’s FM section sounds good enough that you’ll no longer have to guess which of your local stations uses superior sounding playback equipment. Instead, the Solo has the ability to turn local FM stations into viable, perhaps even primary, music sources. Very cool.

The Solo does have a few drawbacks, but they are minor. First, it does not offer the last word in transparency and focus, nor does it offer the sort of ultra-quiet noise floor that can help make dynamics and inner details “pop.” Second, the Solo’s overall soundstage depth is good but not great meaning that stage depth sometimes seems compressed. Third, the Solo’s bass, though decent, could use even more resolution, tautness, and extension.

Finally, I’d like to see Arcam offer the option of an onboard phono stage, plus dual sets of speaker binding posts (to facilitate bi-wiring). But these are minor nitpicks, because the Solo’s sound is terrific overall.

Think of the Solo as an excellent $700+ CD player, $800+ integrated amplifier, and $400+ FM/AM tuner packaged in one stylish chassis and selling the bargain price of $1599 (remote control included). That price will seem an even bigger bargain once you realize the Solo needs no expensive interconnect cables whatsoever.

The Bottom Line

The bottom line is that the Solo makes an ideal component for newcomers who want to climb way up the high-end audio performance ladder in one simple move.

Just match the Solo with any of today’s better value-priced, near-full-range speakers and you’ll have a dynamite music system to savor for years to come. TPV