Yup, same person. Well, it went on for much longer than I thought, and the admin folks correctly decided to close it out. Vinyl still sounds surprisingly better than digital to my ears, but digital has huge convenience and of course lets you listen to a vast amount of new recordings. So, I listen to analog and digital, and I’m happy with the trade offs. For sheer goosebump realism, I still prefer vinyl. I like liner notes and the album presentation. Especially old mono jazz records played back properly on a true mono cartridge like the Miyajima just blow away remastered material on streaming.
Soundlab Audiophile G9-7c: a 30-year odyssey fulfilled
- Thread starter godofwealth
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We are listening today to a new batch of S-HMCDs from Japan that I bought from an importer in the US. First up is a famous recording of the Chopin Preludes by legendary pianist Martha Argerich in her youth in 1977. Chopin was the consummate composer for the piano. In these pieces he creates such an atmosphere. It is said that when Chopin played in those Parisian salons, women swooned. I can well imagine it. Argerich plays these pieces softly as Chopin himself did. No clanging or banging on the piano. What a lovely recording. I’m becoming a big believer in these S-HMCD’s. They’re worth every penny. Need to hoard up on them before they disappear for good.
Next up on our playlist this evening is another S-HMCD featuring the famed conductor Claudio Abbado leading the London Symphony Orchestra in a recording of well-known pieces by French composer Maurice Ravel. Igor Stravinsky, the Russian composer who got his big break in Paris for the ballet The Firebird described Ravel once as the “Swiss jewel maker” for his meticulous orchestration. Here the first piece we hear is Bolero, made Hollywood famous by the movie “10”. Ravel once mourned that his most popular composition contained no music! For Bolero is the same short tune played over and over by the orchestra, riding from a soft pianissimo to a very loud fortissimo picking up pace as it goes along. Only an orchestration genius like Ravel could pull this off. The other pieces are his haunting Rhapsodie Espagnole and Ma Mere L’Oye (Mother Goose) ballet. Beautiful melodies and plenty of orchestral color as only Ravel could pull off.
The last piece on this recording is my personal favorite of anything Ravel wrote: Pavane pour une Infante Defunte (Pavane for a Dead Princess). If you haven’t heard this piece, I guarantee you that it will bowl you over. It’s a sad haunting piece, one that the world famous British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) played when relating the tragic news of Princess Diana’s death in Paris, news that shook the nation. What a eulogy to one of the most iconic women of the 20th century.
Great recording made in 1985 and given a new lease on life in this fancy S-HMCD pressing.
The last piece on this recording is my personal favorite of anything Ravel wrote: Pavane pour une Infante Defunte (Pavane for a Dead Princess). If you haven’t heard this piece, I guarantee you that it will bowl you over. It’s a sad haunting piece, one that the world famous British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) played when relating the tragic news of Princess Diana’s death in Paris, news that shook the nation. What a eulogy to one of the most iconic women of the 20th century.
Great recording made in 1985 and given a new lease on life in this fancy S-HMCD pressing.
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Next up on our S-HMCD playlist is one of the most famous live recordings in jazz music, the pianist Bill Evans and his trio live at the Village Vanguard. This recording has been reissued a gazillion times. It’s always struck me as a bit bright, but amazingly not on this Japanese pressing where it sounds almost like vinyl. There’s a pleasing smoothness and intrinsic musicality. The recording is closely miked in the jazz tradition with Evans’ piano on the right channel and the bass on the left. The drum kit is nicely arrayed in the background. The audience clapping is more realistic than I remember it from previous releases. Highly recommended.
Continuing our tour of the S-HMCDs, we turn to a 70’s folk rock group The Bread. I listened to them in undergrad oh so many decades ago. I found their standard CDs bright compared to the original vinyl. The newer S-HMCD comes as a revelation. The brightness is mostly gone. Wow. What an amazing difference. These are the real deal. I’ve ordered another thirty odd S-HMCDs.
Another S-HMCD of 70’s pop with The Carpenters, featuring Karen Carpenter’s magnetic voice that captivated the world. Once again, the improved remastering on these S-HMCDs is remarkable. The previous versions have been a bit too bright for my tastes. Not this Japanese pressing, which practically sounds like vinyl. Worth every penny. Grab these jewels before they disappear for good!
We end our evening S-HMCD session this evening with one of the best-selling pop albums of the early CD era in the 1980’s, the Dire Straits Brothers in Arms. You couldn’t walk into a mall or restaurant in the 80’s without hearing this album blaring away. It’s cheesy and iconic and went on to be a multi-platinum bestseller. It always struck me as a terrible recording goosed up in the treble to sound good on car stereos. Well, this remastering can’t fix all the problems with the source material, but gets rid of most of the artificial brightness. A revelation to hear it without all the highly exaggerated treble. Mark Knopfler has recorded finer albums but nothing made him more money than this recording. A few tracks are actually quite good and indicative of his brilliance.
Another stash of S-HMCDs arrived today for me to begin enjoying the weekend. First up is a recording by Rudy Van Gelder of the tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley made in 1959. For many years the world’s most famous jazz artists trooped down to Hackensack, New Jersey, to Rudy Van Gelder’s parents’ house. There in a living room converted studio, the greatest jazz recordings were made. Not in some fancy shmancy NY studio, but an optometrist’s parents’ house. Dig that.
RVG is a rara avis (rare bird in Latin) among recording engineers in jazz music. He understood that stereo was not dual mono. His recordings have the instruments nicely laid out in between both channels, not panned hard right or left. Of course, it’s still a studio recording, so no ambience of a concert hall. But for jazz, that’s acceptable. I haven’t heard this on a regular CD, but the S-HMCD sounds nice and warm. A 65-year-old recording that sounds better to my ears than many modern recordings. There’s no accident everyone wanted to record with Rudy. He was a genuine genius at making recordings.
RVG is a rara avis (rare bird in Latin) among recording engineers in jazz music. He understood that stereo was not dual mono. His recordings have the instruments nicely laid out in between both channels, not panned hard right or left. Of course, it’s still a studio recording, so no ambience of a concert hall. But for jazz, that’s acceptable. I haven’t heard this on a regular CD, but the S-HMCD sounds nice and warm. A 65-year-old recording that sounds better to my ears than many modern recordings. There’s no accident everyone wanted to record with Rudy. He was a genuine genius at making recordings.
Another listening session of S-HMCDs. We are listening to another fabulous Rudy Van Gelder recording featuring jazz greats Sonny Rollins and Thelonious Monk. From the very first bars as Rollins sax bellows as a thunderclap between the loudspeakers, this recording has you spellbound. Even though it’s mono.
Not sure how many people might be interested .... but I did make this little recording a few months back (Dire Straits) ... re-released to invite anyone who might be around to visit Melbourne next weekend!
And just for balance ... this is perhaps more of what Sound Lab is about, though maybe lots of people would disagree?
These are the G5-4Cs (smallest panels) recreating a most natural and authentic soundstage of this beautiful recording by Todd Garfinkle.
These are the G5-4Cs (smallest panels) recreating a most natural and authentic soundstage of this beautiful recording by Todd Garfinkle.
An immortal jazz recording that sounds even more incredible on S-HMCD. Coltrane’s sax sounds like melted chocolate on the SL G9/7c. The sound of Johnny Hartnann’s voice can send a shiver down your spine. If you’re feeling out of sorts, this album will pick your spirits up.
Continuing our tour of S-HMCDs, we are listening to a Rudy Van Gelder recording of Lee Morgan. This is a bit more avant-garde jazz, with some atonal chords. A little drier sounding than the great Coltrane recordings that RVG made a decade earlier. On the big SL’s, this recording sounds nicely spatial with plenty of separation between the instruments.
One of my favorite composers, Arvo Part, celebrated his 90th birthday yesterday. In his honor, we are listening today to his wonderful music. Carnegie Hall has named him to a prestigious composer’s chair this year and a series of concerts of his music is featured in October. This is a new recording released just recently. He’s stopped composing and lives in a wonderful wooded area in Estonia that houses the Arvo Part center. It has a chapel that he visits frequently. He may be the greatest living composer in the world.
We end with a beautifully recorded SACD of Part’s music by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber choir under Paul Hillier who was an early champion of his music. Try the Salve Regina for a taste of Part’s profound music.
This last recording is a great reminder of why the SL G9/7c may very well be the best loudspeaker you can buy today. It’s so beautifully captured the voices in a huge acoustic that you feel you’re in their midst. I’m astonished at the huge suns WBF members spend on servers, DACs, cables and Ethernet switches etc., none of which will matter a damn if your loudspeakers are not up to par. There’s no better investment in today’s high end than getting a great pair of loudspeakers and if you can fit these behemoths in your listening room, you can get off the high fi merry go around.
The last week I’ve been listening to the first electrostatic loudspeaker ever manufactured, the venerable Quad ESL that was first demonstrated at an audio fair in London in 1957. It’s fair to say most loudspeaker manufacturers had a heart stopping moment listening to it for the first time. It sounded like nothing else available at the time. It didn’t screech like the popular horn loudspeakers of that era. Even today almost 70 years ago, the original Quad ESL remains among the finest loudspeakers you can own. It’s hard to get a working unadulterated version. Mine is 50+ years old and works perfectly, far more reliable than the later 63’s.
We are listening to a lovely choral concert of compline chants, which refer to the late evening liturgy of the Catholic Church. The recording features three generations of British composers. The ensemble performing is Stile Antico, one of my favorite choral groups. It sounds incredibly natural on the Quad. These are diminutive compared to my giant Soundlab G9/7c. You can’t expect a small panel to envelop you in the sonic embrace that the big SL’s can do. It’s like sitting in the back of a concert hall with the Quad. With the big SL’s, you’re in the first few rows.
If you don’t have space for the large SL’s, you might consider a used pair of original Quads. They are less colored sounding than 99.9% of vastly more expensive audiophile loudspeakers.
We are listening to a lovely choral concert of compline chants, which refer to the late evening liturgy of the Catholic Church. The recording features three generations of British composers. The ensemble performing is Stile Antico, one of my favorite choral groups. It sounds incredibly natural on the Quad. These are diminutive compared to my giant Soundlab G9/7c. You can’t expect a small panel to envelop you in the sonic embrace that the big SL’s can do. It’s like sitting in the back of a concert hall with the Quad. With the big SL’s, you’re in the first few rows.
If you don’t have space for the large SL’s, you might consider a used pair of original Quads. They are less colored sounding than 99.9% of vastly more expensive audiophile loudspeakers.
We end our listening session tonight with a wonderful recording of Czech music by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. The luxuriant strings on this DG recording as rendered by the Quad ESL will make you wonder if we have advanced much in the past 70 years of high end audio in loudspeakers. Played at softer but realistic volumes, the Quad ESL remains the most amazing loudspeaker ever designed. No, it cannot match the huge SL G9/7c in terms of sheer presence and impact, but it’s surprisingly effective within its bandwidth limitations.
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