From Clark Johnsen’s Diary: More Power to the Music!
by Clark Johnsen

I. More Power to the Music, Or, EG, TG, Bybee and Me (With Symphonic Peroration)

In the annals of audio, the name of who first reported that AC supply elements make an enormous difference in sound, escapes me. Whoever it was, they certainly do; that is, generators, transmission lines, transformers, circuit breakers, house wire, sockets, plugs, cheaters, cords, fuses, filter caps and anything else situated between the source and the draw. All contribute mightily to sound.

Inductive and capacitive coupling figure in too, i.e. anything radiating in the vicinity: Transmitters, televisions, telephones, toasters, even (I argue) sunspots ... (Remember Enid Lumley writing about this stuff fifteen years ago and the drubbing she took?) ... And things just hanging around, as well, such as insulation and carpeting... All affect the sound.

But no one knows how, exactly. Science falters — indeed, weeps — at the very concept, that such stuff can be heard. The "skeptics" and "academics," so cozy with each other, may scoff, and scorn, and mock, yet do retreat when requested to listen for themselves. "I’ll listen when you show me some peer-reviewed double-blind tests that demonstrate your point," they fire back in parting. Well! With that chilly attitude who would dare to say, that any one item in audio sounds better than another? Thus is the stage set for rampant speculation... and radical improvement!

To my knowledge no one has written or outlined (or even, besides myself, proposed) the requisite systematic and scholarly study of every department in audio. Any progress so far must therefore be credited to what was once known as 11 vest-pocket engineering," where guys get together and trade information jotted down on slips of paper. A noble tradition, that! But high time now to move on, and no facet of audio demands our attention like the AC area, because equipment with even the most vaunted "power supplies" is susceptible to undeniable and totally unexplained sonic improvements from use of specialty power cords.

At this juncture a summary historical review may be helpful. (Some day I must write an entire History of Wire.) In ancient times we installed dedicated lines from our junction boxes, a movement spearheaded by Harry Pearson. Next we acquired ferrite rings for RF supression. Circa 1987 (the memory fades) Ed Meitner brought me a heavy-duty Elgar isolation transformer of which I eventually had three. Then came George Tice, and it’s not been the same since! An astonishing variety of "series conditioners" (so-called, meaning in-line) appeared on the market, with older units continuously updated.

Later Richard Marsh introduced his MIT Z-Stabilizer and then came my own discovery of USES™ technology which became embodied as the superior Seakay LineRover; both were "parallel conditioners," and others soon followed. These represented a distinct improvement over transformer-based designs, on which many listeners had begun hearing flaws, notably in the bass. I ended up tossing my Elgars and using only the LineRover with Bill Seneca’s transformerless Promethean Power-Flo added in-line for low-draw units. Meanwhile the popularity of Tice-style units, even for amplifiers, rose unabated.

Around that time digital was recognized as a very different beast that must be separated from analog devices both physically and electrically, so in 1991 came Larry Smith’s PAC-IDOS to show us that digital even needs a separate ground. (Proper grounding constitutes a topic unto itself.)

Throughout the above everyone mostly used stock cords, generally Beldens of indifferent description. It was the late, difficult Sal DiMicco who introduced specialty power cords to an unexpectant world circa 1987. It had been an accidental discovery. After moving his air conditioner to the basement workshop, Sal found he lacked a heavy-duty extension cord. Eyeing a reel of speaker cable, he wired it up and immediately heard that his Carrier was operating smoother. Upon reflection he did the same trick on his amplifiers, and voila! The DisTech PowerBridge was born, at the then-outrageous price of $100, followed by PowerBridge II (a double run) for $200. ("Crap! I can go to Sears and get a cord for $2.99. What a ripoff!") Within months everyone I knew was converted to those bulky, bully things. The phenomenon was somewhat tardy catching on nationwide, but by then I was equipped with five different items from three manufacturers and two amateurs.

Totally smitten with cords from the start, I waited for the high-end press to discover their salutary effects, greater than from most black-box conditioners. Predictably, however, it was several years before the first review appeared (in TAS), nor did that exactly open the floodgates, and by then poor Sal had died anyway. Indeed, to this day I cannot recall a feature article in market-leader Stereophile; the attitude seems to be, not unreasonably, "We review just what the manufacturers send." Yes, but what about your readers, gentlemen? Are they to be deprived of knowledge simply because of a schoolmarmish rule?

(Although sometimes readers don’t want to know! A recent episode illustrates the publishers’ dilemma. In June 1998 Fi printed a lukewarm review of the Audio Research CD-2 player as supplied with two cords, ARC having turned a new leaf after long remonstrating against such silliness. But then Wayne Garcia substituted an ESP cord and, "Oh, Sweet Relief! ... Never before had my perception of a component’s musicality been so radically transformed by a power cable — or any cable, for that matter ... With the ESP cord the CD-2 was a knockout... Altogether an astonishing transformation." What William Z. Johnson had to say about that backhanded ovation has not come down to us, but we do know what one reader thought (in August): "I don’t think you should have to ‘audition’ power cords for a $3500 CD player. Wayne Garcia should have given a negative review... instead of turning it into a positive review... This is how credibility is lost." Well! But Fi manfully stuck by its guns and was reader-vindicated in October, 1998: "The second... power cord completely changed the sound of my system. I am amazed at the drastic difference this swap made. I’m unable to understand the reasons ... but I am thrilled with it ... That is why I subscribe to Fi. [In] your competitors I would still be searching for the answer to my ‘feeling’ that my system was missing something.")

The opposing argument goes, among your smartypants scoffers, that with all that Romex in the walls, not to mention miles and miles of aluminum high-wire outdoors, how could five or six feet more of anything make any possible difference? This plausible but unproven contention rests easy in AES and academic circles despite overwhelming listener testimony to the contrary.

Take heed: What really is happening? One explanation: Perhaps the best cords are passing some favorable current that the Beldens are strangling. Or, perhaps they’re barring some bad stuff induced upon the world’s largest antenna farm. A bit of both? A conundrum!

On another tack, in 1991 John Bicht introduced his Red Roller/Wood Block combo, which proved effective when utilized throughout a whole system, although that could get expensive. These made no claim other than to remove (or greatly reduce) systemwide RFI/EMI pickup and showed us how greatly such contamination contributes to sonic degradation. Nevertheless, the latest AC cord designs have mostly eclipsed the Versalab in very useful for captive cords.

Today I am convinced that power cords exercise a more powerful influence on sound than any other AC device, indeed more that anything else one may do. (Seismic isolation and CD "degaussing" run close behind.) "Do not underestimate," Marty DeWulf wrote in Bound for Sound, "the profound impact that an AC cord (and proper AC filtering) can have on the sound of a system."

And while one must compliment Synergistic Research for bringing its Master Coupler ($240) first to popular attention, the topflight cord today, the industry standard, in my experience, is the NBS Statement ($3000); at that price at least it requires no black boxes, just plug ‘er in. For half to a fifth the cost come the ElectraGlides which get you 60-90% there (in my opinion). The EGs have recently been updated to Mk.II status, however, and I shall report on the difference later. Many others exist too, of which I have heard maybe half, but honorable mention must be made of the respectable offerings from VansEvers starting at $100, and the dark horse entry from Texas, TG Audio.

Somehow Bob Crump’s marque has slipped through my typist’s fingers until now. For over a dozen years this Houston company has been supplying specialty AC cords, making it a true pioneer. While seemingly expensive in the early days, although not really, TG has toed the line and today their cords shine gem-like in the value department. Only, please, no one mention this fact to Bob, or the ticket may go up in price.

The basic HSR may be had for a mere $180; the networked HSR-I, highly recommended as a beginner’s or even an ender’s cable, for only $220. Both carry enough juice to supply most amplifiers, and work well too for front-end. (I have mentioned that digital gear is most susceptible to improvement in the AC area.) The noble HSR-I at $500 compares to second- and third-tier NBS and ElectraGlide models.

TG also offer black boxes amusingly dubbed Linesuckers, each consisting of one, two or four duplex outlets supplied through an HSR-I cord and ranging in price from $500 to $1000. The Sucker is actually a parallel device that sits across the line, making it essentially an AC distribution box with a difference, like certain LineRover, VansEvers and MIT units. Additionally TG supplies Bybee ceramic filters ($500 each, standard industry tag) on any or all outlets. And unlike the inventor, Crump claims that Bybees work best separately, one per electronic unit; Jack Bybee gangs them up. This disparity remains a bone of contention; meanwhile I find the Bybees (in TG configuration) quite effective on captive cords but less so on detachable cords. For fuller consideration I refer the reader to Bound for Sound, 4/97, 7/97 and 9/97, where Marty DeWulf thoughtfully delineates these concerns.

Let the world also note that TG Sucker technology was actually invented by the resourceful Mike VansEvers, to whom Bob Crump honorably pays royalty for every unit sold. Mike manufactures similar appliances — cheaper, more expensive, different — and also his own full range of AC cords. The latter remain untested here, save for his good $100 entry model, which easily beats 1986’s $100 DisTech. There is progress!

Now the promised Peroration.

A laudatory report on silver foil interconnects later in this space does not wholly contradict my oft-repeated assertion that interconnects and speaker cables have reached a developmental plateau, whereas AC cords are the new kit on the block and constitute wide-open investigative territory. While that latter claim remains true, many audiophiles remain unaware of the enormous improvements that cords can wrest from electronics. Or, put it this way: For X number of dollars, no other upgrade can be had to compare with AC supply enrichment, and today, presently, that means cords especially. God only knows why.

Readers already familiar with my unpleasant views may guess whom I am blaming for widespread ignorance about the AC Zone: Yes: Retailers, reviewers and designers. Riffraff!

(WARNING to those of tender sensibilities: Use this opportunity now to escape. From here on out, I shall not be responsible for what you read.)

Despite recent progress in wire, AC cords still have not been entered upon the mainstream high-end docket. Which, couched in primordial terms, is this: To sell you a Krell.

Case by horrid case:

Retailers: Skanky lowlifes who wish no one to suppose that audio be anything but a turnkey technology, with sonic quality purely a function of expenditure. Just plug that brand new unit into your other stuff with the wires provided and be happy, very happy. Could anything be simpler? Achieve your dreams with minimal effort. Take it home, try it, you’ll like it. And buy it. And if your male friends ooh-and-ahh over the faceplate, well, buddy, you’re in Heaven.

Reviewers: Arrogant jerks who bolster the retailers on that turnkey thing. Otherwise their whole schtick would be undermined, and magazine subscription lists grimly downsized, if readers comprehended that what they can do for themselves greatly outweighs whatever betterment expensive new gear (that ad budget!) can provide. Reviewers cater to the entire charade. Even the most elaborate, lengthy write-ups in TAS, Stereophile and Audio largely (willfully?) omit what AC cords can do, not to mention the beneficial aspects of vibration isolation and a host of other press-marginalized aftermarket improvements. As Joe Roberts once wrote in Sound Practices, "The agenda-setting power of narrowly-focussed reviewers greatly constricts the field." Amen to that!

Designers: Sanctimonious blowhards who on their next breath suck up to the press for prestige and photo-ops. These types too live in daily denial of the indisputable benefits AC cords bring to their precious electronics, and seismic isolation to anything mechanical. Get a handle, guys! Don’t make the beset audiophile suffer further. Figure out what’s going on and compensate! Designers are the real culprits and true poseurs of audio. Were they not laboring under the gloomy constraints of a gigantic hubris, we might already enjoy protection against whatever depredations the wall outlets and the earth and the air may provide. But, no. The vast majority of designers endure their wretched existence totally conditioned by received wisdom, which categorically states that none of this can be happening, especially not to them.

Thus are we, the alert elite, forced to improvise helter-skelter or to purchase often expensive aftermarket items to offset the blindered incompetence of our so-called experts. Sad, the conventional high-end and professional/academic audio worlds. Sad, sad, sad. Pray that they may soon catch up to the real winners: Modern audio listeners and vigilant home experimenters.

ElectraGlide
803-559-8700

NBS
612-332-2973

TG Audio
713-721-4756

VansEvers
813-239-0700

II. HERE’S A SWITCH!

What a tireless (tiresome?) crusader I have become, over the years, about Absolute Polarity — even going so far in my campaign as to capitalize the term! As if to rub it in, pace Harry, that here be the only absolute in audio that one may know for certain. I claim, if you don’t grasp polarity (and shout it from the rooftops), either you are deaf, or your system is dumb.

I have found it extremely instructive to have observed, again over the years, the ardent affirmations and the insulting dismissals this simple proposition in physics has earned: "Music normally creates compression waves. Electronics, however, often invert that natural, positive polarity to negative, musically unnatural rarefaction, thus diminishing both physical and aesthetic impact. The term Absolute Polarity uniquely describes the correct arrival to the ear of wavefronts from loudspeakers, with respect to actual musical instruments." (From The Wood Effect.)

Not much there to dispute, one might think, and yet... When some guy has a system with profuse phase distortion (usually in his loudspeakers) and he’s inextricably wedded to that smooth, ersatz-spacy sound, and he switches wires or something and doesn’t detect the polarity shift, then he fires off a dismissive letter (or column) and thus does his insensate negativity nullify countless validations. Listen to me: That man is SUPERFLUOUS.

But perhaps it’s not his loudspeakers; it’s that switch labeled "0/180°" that he unwisely trusts. Trust no one, you have heard it said; for a corollary, I add, trust no thing! Many of those switches fall short even in the vaunted digital domain! Only two unequivocal ways exist to change polarity: Switching wires at every loudspeaker terminal or at the phono cartridge, both a bitch.

Pity, that records and discs come as a mixture and after one’s ears are sensitized, one must always make the switch. Otherwise the music sounds lifeless and dull. And who wants to spend his quality audio time in the muffle shop?

Happily the reversal switches on some, not many, DACs are passable, even though CD seems not hugely revealing of phase content. For phono, however, high-end designers have left us largely in the lurch. And herein lies a story. When Balanced Audio Technology hit the market with a fully-balanced phono stage that could handily incorporate a polarity toggle, I suggested to Viktor Khomenko that he do just that. My plea was dismissed with the observation that that would introduce a degradation, with an added quip that no one but me seemed to hear polarity anyway. Twice more he ungraciously teased me. Finally I buttonholed BAT business manager Steve Bednarski after-hours at a Stereophile Show and played polarity for him. His eyes opened wide and he called out to the hallway, "Viktor, would you step in here for a moment please?" Three months later BAT had their polarity switch.

Another story. PF reader Don Hageman in California told me about an old friend in Florida, Gordon Lewis, an avid record collector who was sending him all his poorer-sounding shaded-dog etc. discards. Only, Don thought they sounded great! Couldn’t understand why Gordon should want to part with them! Then Don procured a copy of The Wood Effect, my little tome on polarity, and realized that their two systems must be set opposite to each other. So Don taught himself when to switch wires and obligingly sent his buddy a copy of the book. Gordon soon saw too what the problem was, with two notable results: Don stopped receiving discards and Gordon started playing with cartridge-level polarity switches. At that point I made his acquaintance.

Now comes the Remote Phono Polarity Control, from Lewis Laboratories in Miami, first of its kind, after a long, long wait. The RPPC reverses polarity where it works best, at an originating and balanced point in the chain, where "hot and cold" are virtually synoptic. It does this also with minimum path length, being but a small plastic box with two pairs of RCA jacks (a DIN-terminated silver-foil pigtail is available) and inside a pair of sealed, tight-contact silver-point switches pushed by an electric finger. With a choice of wired ($400) or wireless ($600) remote control, there you have the RPPC, the first aftermarket solution to the vexing problem of variant polarity on phonograph records, for those who know enough to care.

And while its entirely silver signal path brings no audible insertion loss (so far as I have heard) to cartridge signals, it performs equally well at one-volt levels for anyone in balanced mode (XLRs available). Guaranteed and recommended.

Lewis Laboratories
305-666-1771

III. GETTING WIRED

Previously I wrote about Allen Wright and his informative, entertaining volume, The.Super Cable Cookbook. Following its instructions anyone can build cables of a quality to compete with the majors, I asserted. That was true, then. Now, it appears that others have been listening and the market will soon be flooded with new designs based on SCCB sensibilities.

To explain Allen’s principles briefly: The best conductor sonically is silver, the best form is foil, the best insulator is Teflon, and the best RCAs are lightweight with unitary metal parts and hollow shafts. He can supply all this from Germany or you can locate sources in America, but they will be different.

Last year AlphaCore/Goertz (who long ago produced a silver ribbon speaker cable) entered the ring with some promising (although now surpassed) thin-foil interconnects praised in these pages by both myself and Harvey Rosenberg. Almost simultaneously Omega-Micro introduced a silver/copper thin foil cable that I still use. Later several associates of mine experimented for themselves and have devised some absolutely gorgeous cables, for a small investment in cash and a larger one in time. Several will be marketed, but I must tell you that while I am aware of various proprietary aspects, these will not be divulged here. Every maker, to his own!

(The careful reader will also note that no specific sonic qualities are attributed to any of these cables. This is deliberately done. You heed what I say, or not. So why waste time with excess verbiage? "Harmonic richness...deep dark silence… amazing speed..." There, happy? Personally my eyes glaze over whenever I read that stuff.)

What can be usefully discussed here are some innovative configurations originating within our Listening Studio circle. For instance, while Allen recommends sandwiched conductor placement, we have found that side-by-side sounds better, although such positioning is not achieved easily. And while almost everyone agrees that wire stock is directional, should that stock be employed in the same directions hot-wise and ground-wise, or instead in a loop? (Credit this concept to yours truly, until we are told otherwise.) Hereabouts the latter has been deemed superior.

Today, so far as I know, we have five new players:

* Lewis Laboratories Dr. Gordon Lewis of Miami, as we now know, was introduced to me by a loyal PF reader . Gordon had already done extensive wire building, but after exposure to ourselves and Allen Wright’s book he engaged in considerable rethinking. Since that time I have been supplied with successive iterations, but sonically it was nip-and-tuck with the Wright stuff until recently, when his cables ($500), cleverly dubbed "The Perfect Foil," reached a pitch of perfection. Or, put it this way: At this writing NBS represents the only available competition I know to The Perfect Foil, with a price factor of 6x. But, yes, NBS is the better. But, too: The Perfect Foil outperforms the Synergistic Designer Reference at a price factor of 4x. (Disclaimer for Ted Denney’s benefit: Synergistic DR speaker cables still hold the field and kick ass! The Lewis Labs entry, however, is showing well in early tests.)

* ElectraGlide The inimitable William Scott Hall has been playing with silver foil too and now offers interconnects intriguingly dubbed the Teslas ($900). Unhappily these remain unheard hereabouts, although I am on record as a big fan of ElectraGlide AC cords and they even quote me in their ads! Oh, well; some day he’ll learn respect. Meanwhile I expect Nicola Tesla would have been pleased to hear about wire sonics.

* TG Audio Bob Crump has been messing with silver rod interconnects ($400) and speaker cables to expand his own exemplary line of AC cords and devices. He reports severe complications with break-in and, as he has committed his thoughts on proper protocols to me in writing, they shall appear soon as a very interesting sidebar on this largely unexamined topic. The cables themselves remain unheard here.

* Kwame and Bill The entire audio community should someday be grateful for the ongoing contributions of my colleagues Kwame Ofori-Asante and Bill Gaw, for they have tirelessly pursued this project with irons and solder in hand. If anything comes of their effort, this mere bystander who relaxed and enjoyed the numerous evaluation sessions should receive no particular encomiums. Theirs were the first examples to reach my ears and latest results are truly excellent, but presently they do not envision production.

* Finally my in-house Studio associate Ken Weller has devised a simple silver-rod-and-Teflon-tube design with two unusual twists (!). Going into production seems unlikely for him, but his hand-built pairs ($350) are nearly equal to anything above, in our systems. Not a foil design, but inspired by foil. Pity, when Allen Wright, he The Man, visited here last fall none of these goodies existed. We had a fine time anyway. And maybe, for that lack, a better one!

Lewis Laboratories
305-666-1771

Ken Weller
617-357-4536

The Jolida CD Player

Got a call from Bob Goldman: "Clark, try our new tubed player and FM tuner." Sure! Unfortunately the shipping was way tardy and I begged off on the tuner owing to an upcoming lengthy trip, so only the CD player came, the day before departure, natch. Consequently it sat around for two months just warming up. Bob left the occasional message, no pressure; he knows I awarded Jolida’s home theatre exhibit at CES the best sound in such an environment. Five 502s (and a $1250 AMC surround decoder) made for the suavest, punchiest music, effects and dialog ever heard. Never mind the tiny 24" picture tube; with sound like Jolida’s who needs size?

At last getting around to the player, I discovered it enjoyed wearing good shoes and having its top taken off. From that point, evaluation was a whiz. It scorched my high-mod stand-by 3400, swamped the well-regarded Rega Planet, and even bested my (formerly pretty-good) $1800 separates. No doubt about it, this thing is not shoddy! Banish from your mind that it costs only $450! I’d bet on the Jolida to sweep the under-$1200 class; odds offered too, on the next level up.

Only two caveats: It has no digital out, and a captive cord. Who knows how this baby could sing with an ElectraGlide?

But all along the offer had stood to send it back if necessary, no hard feelings. So upon reaching Bob with the results, I had a good line ready for him. "Sorry, gotta return this."

"Certainly. May I ask why?"

"Dealers don’t want it. Too much bang for the buck!"

Jolida USA
301-953-2014

The Black Cube Phonostage

From Lehman Audio of Germany comes a right neat little black box (but by no means a cube) containing a much more impressive phono preamp for $695 than you can fairly imagine. While both it and its separate power supply are miniature, the thinking behind them, and the sound are not. Also a surprise, the literature from distributor Hy End Audio Imports bears examination; call for a copy, although do not expect perfect written English.

Sample: "If you dare to judge this preamp from the outside you start wondering why this product is quickly becoming a MUST for every serious vinyl addict ... The Black Cube has also an ugly separated power supply, one plastic black box that reminds those of the external modems and stuff. Even the cable between the power supply and the preamp seems poor and cheap. At a first glance."

Nice style though, eh? Very refreshing too, their admission later that a specialty AC cord will enhance performance. How often have you encountered that sort of honesty from an audio company? Like the Jolida CD player, however, this product may not succeed due to too low a price. Pester your dealer soon for a trial, only make sure you have a decent cord ready because, as with most electronics, it makes an astonishing difference.

Almost forgot: An internal panel allows for two gain choices (MC/MM) and five MC loadings. Not bad for $695.

Finally, while I am not given to florid descriptions of sonic performance, finding these usually trite and always useless (gotta listen for myself!), on-line listeners (an oxymoron, perhaps) are referred to the irrepressible Steve Rochlin’s writeup for Soundstage! last December; his site is called "Enjoy the Music" (www.enjoythemusic.com).

Hy End Audio Imports
508-996-5430

Three Pair of Suspendors

Everyone has heard that audio cables, especially the speaker and AC variety, should be raised off the floor to minimize capacitive and acoustical coupling. Many heed that advice, many not. Several products have appeared sporadically on the market for elevation purposes, none very attractive and none more effective generally than what can be outfitted at home. Myself, I have favored old 78s albums; the structure is mostly inert (paper and carbon-shellac) and the antiquated covers look great. Besides, styrofoam cups are a really terrible idea.

Then I received my Suspendors from RightWay Audio and saw right away (!) that here was something different. Each chocolate-brown or off-white six-inch stanchion comprises a small, top-grooved round head connected by a narrower neck to a larger body below. The material is simple, high-grade, glazed electrical-quality porcelain, the same as employed by the power distribution industry since almost forever. Visually, Suspendors do evoke the standoffs seen on outdoor poles. In fact, with speaker cables running on Suspendors across the floor, your rig strikes a dashingly professional pose.

The theory, as they say, is as follows. The signal path along any conductor encompasses not only the wire itself, but the insulation and encapsulation too, and even the region outside, in which any undue disruption of the electromagnetic field may cause interference. The Suspendor’s head and neck are uniquely shaped to intrude minimally on that outboard field, and even the glaze is particularly chosen. All this stuff is familiar territory to power-line and telephone engineers, but rather new to audio. Avers the manufacturer, Wade Simonson: "Suspendors should ultimately allow designers to make better cables, because now they can use less insulation with less dielectric response, which always slows the signal down, or some part of it asynchronously with the rest."

But that will happen only if everyone has Suspendors, I reply.

"Yes."

On my favored Synergistic Designer Reference cables the improvement justified every penny of the price ($60/pair). Surprisingly, Suspendors proved more effective than my trusty 78s albums! But there you have it, the complete extent of my research. I may write later about other combinations, but I can add that Steve Klein the Vibraplane man uses them under his five-figure NBSs. And we both agree, the music is delivered with greater detail and dynamic articulation. RightWay Audio offers an unprecedented 60-day trial period, so why not experiment? But be prepared to live with these.

RightWay Audio
717-939-4777

V. THE FUTURE FEATURE

Some dozen new equipment supports have arrived or been recommended to me lately and I feel obliged to check them all out, especially as I’m the guy who first fell hard for the Vibraplane. But as Shannon Dickson in Stereophile has taken pains to explain, damping differs from isolation and "feet" do mostly the former while the Vibraplane (or equivalent) exquisitely accomplishes the latter. For one result, feet behave differently when set on an isolation platform, from when not. This makes any evaluation wearisome, the more especially by the dozen.

Longtime readers may recall that I once promised a survey, the first ever, of phono cables. Happily I can now admit, that will probably never happen. The variables are too many. I became frustrated. I threw them all at an impatient friend. After a month he tossed them back. And there they sit in a pile. That may occur as well with this project, so I want everyone to know at least who the contenders are. I divide them into three camps, alphabetically and with distributor phone numbers: Feet, Shelves, Stands.

Air Pods (Magnetic suspension!)
212-865-0875

Golden Sound Super Cones
888-811-5818

Isofeet (German; Ai Audio)
888-350-6371

Pointy Things (TG Audio)
713-721-4756

Polycrystal Cones (Ultra Systems)
215-297-0227

Roller Blocks II (Horizontally free!)
973-616-4787

Valid Points (Walker Audio)
610-666-6087

Vibrapods (The cheapest by far!)
800-961-3245

DarkMatter (Rosinante)
785-542-3922

Mana (Flat Earth Audio)
203-387-0878

Osiris (Osiris Audionics)
718-499-8826

Seismic Sink Stand (Max Townsend; $2300)
562-424-7911

Suspense (Arcici; $2090)
516-581-7006

At Winter CES the hit of the show (in my opinion) was Max’s pendulum-suspended stand, which not only stole the Gorgeous George Award but could be elevated, all five levels, on a cushion of air for seismic isolation. Able to be demonstrated in both modes, the difference in sound quality (from both tubed and solid-state gear) caused audible gasps. Remarked Robert Greene of TAS "Now I know why all the other rooms sound dull."

And now the latest TAS carries a veiled warning to all reviewers, to use the Arcici Suspense or take a hike. Compared to the Townsend, it was found steadier, more adjustable and better sounding. The sexy Townsend: Just about as good, for only a little more money. Huzzah! HP has discovered splendid isolation. I’ll let you know my results later. As for the rest, they are effective too; whether more- or less-so than my reference Black Diamond Racing feet and shelf, remains to be heard. Wish me g’luck, mates.

VI. SOME FRESH NON-SEEDY CDs

Readers who peek regularly into these diaries know that I practice audio for the sake of music. Regrettably, under rules of publication, I must ordinarily address the former, giving perhaps the wrong impression to newcomers. Also, while I maintain that LPs handily outdistance CDs, my opinion remains to be validated scientifically. (I mean, for starts, who reliably knows how to play either form best?) So here’s an irregular entry, all about CDs, presented for no particular reason apart from a desire to spread the musical wealth.

Concerts Under the Dome, Janos Starker et al.; Bartok, Boccherini, Schumann, Mendelssohn
NAIM 003.

Two years ago I wrote glowingly about this CD and I understand that my review put a small dent in the stock. Chicago recordist Ken Christianson must be applauded again, for it was he who made this disc one of the greatest-sounding cello recordings of the post-78s-and-Casals era. Bartok’s short (6-minute) Rumanian Folkdance with its almost vocal cello writing (a’ la Delta blues) has stood many an ear on end, in my system, and not just those already attuned to the classics.

Music for a Glass Bead Game, Arturo Delmoni and Nathan Rosen; Kodaly, Martinu, Bach et al.
John Marks Records JMR-15

Hermann Hesse’s 1945 Nobel Prize-winning novel Das Glasperlenspiel, inexplicably translated into English as Magister Ludi, was a centerpiece of the Sixties cultural revolution, literary division. When I finally got to the book myself in 1972, it was on the fly from either of my two roomies; but when all was read and done, we three agreed, the music teacher would remain an unforgettable character.

And surely it was he, and not commercial dictates, that later inspired this witty collection of obscure but quite wonderful pieces for violin and cello, presented in recital format, to which all but the most jaded or shallow appetites may turn today for inspiration and sustenance. And while some may disdain the New Age feel of the album — indeed, of the novel itself — let not this possible shortcoming deflect attention from its real merits: Depth of musicality, heartfelt emotion and good sound.

In the press kit accompanying my comp copy was an article from the Providence Journal-Bulletin about John Marks. "In the past couple of years, the bottom has fallen out of the classical record industry. After the initial outburst of interest in CDs a dozen years ago, when buyers set out to replace their scratchy [sic] LPs with durable [sic] digital versions, classical CD sales have been on the skids. Consumers are no longer interested in shelling out $17 for more of the same...

"Marks is like a classical music survivalist, holed up in his apartment, refusing to capitulate to the cultural rot he sees all around him. ‘There is astounding brutality and hatred in pop culture,’ he says. ‘Well, here I take my stand... It’s a miracle I didn’t turn out to be Ted Kaczynski,’ he jokes."

Amazingly this micro-label production has sold over 5000 units already. Be part of that record. Buy it.

George Walker, A Portrait
TROY 136

Often called "America’s Leading Black Composer," those descriptors strike me as superfluous. Here we have a great composer, period, who’s been at his job for over fifty years. That he hasn’t achieved wider fame yet, astonishes me! Even a recent Pulitzer Prize hasn’t done the trick.

Full disclosure: I know George Walker.

And he’s an audiophile!

A story: The Boston Symphony commissioned his Pulitzer composition, Lilacs, which it premiered in January 1996, the weekend I returned from CES, too late to accept George’s kind invitation to attend. But I did manage to record it Saturday night off the radio. Great stuff! Next week I visited HMV in Harvard Square (with a reputation locally as the best place for classical music) determined to catch up with all Walker CDs. Not under the W’s, nor under Contemporary Music, could I locate any titles, so I asked for help from the (black) (female) clerk. Despite my protests she led me back through the W’s etc, and then she said, "What did you say his name was again? ... I’ve never heard of him." Gravely affronted, I gave her the works. "Oh, he’s known as America’s leading black composer. [What a parrot!] Besides being the 1995 Pulitzer Prize winner. And in town just last week, to have his piece performed by the Boston Symphony. Never heard of him, huh?" Oh, cruel.

The music on this (finally located) disc covers an impressive range: Five Fancies for Clarinet and Piano Four Hands, Antifonys for Chamber Orchestra, Three pieces for Organ and more. All are masterful, like Walker’s finest composition, in my estimation, the Concerto for Trombone (LP, deleted), which I have heard fifty times with growing amazement. Let it be said too, the man has written stuff I barely comprehend, but I’m sure he’s right.

Anyone who wishes to discuss George Walker’s music may contact me. There are other CDs and LPs too, one featuring George in performance of Beethoven and Scarlatti sonatas, recorded in his own home on a Nagra-D, basically a mono sound with room ambience, entirely appropriate for a solo instrument. Another CD includes his son the violinist. Talk about noble tradition! But where are the reviews? The public radio interviews? The sales? The fame?

Mahler, Symphony No. 5 in C#, Hermann Scherchen, Orchestre de L’ORTF
Harmonia Mundi 1905-179

From radio tapes (God bless live concert broadcasts and their preservors) comes this white-hot performance by a conductor sometimes given to exaggeration in the studio, but shown here at his creative, spontaneous peak. From the introductory trumpet triplets sounding a veritable Austrian Empire call to arms, echoing Beethoven’s Fifth, one is swept up in the maelstrom of Mahler’s symphonic universe. There is nothing else like his Fifth Symphony, and you hear it here like nowhere else.

Greg Brown, The Poet Game
Red House CD 68

No way a comedown from Mahler! Rather, a vocal continuation. Iowa preacher’s kid makes good in the East, just like that Bohemian Jew in Vienna! Listen to the lyrics, catch the tunes and relish a shrewd poetico-musico take on modern life. The title song alone is worth the price of admission, in its old-world-knowingness and easy upliftingness. As for sonics, I heard this CD played in three different exhibits at the ‘98 CES. I’d like to think it was the music, however, not the sound, that gave it entry.

Dan Bern, dog boy van ; WORK/Sony (no #, call 888-222-BERN to order this $8 "CD EP"; some Towers carry it)

Here is the zonked-out troubador for our times. Said to be "the new Dylan," what a horribly unfair comparison...for Dan! Because, he’s better!

Full disclosure: Like Greg Brown, and myself, he hails from Iowa, and I’ve heard them both several times live, the former also on Prairie Home Companion. They give great show! But where Greg goes for art (for lack of a better word), Dan goes for the jugular! Listen to "Jerusalem" — in which the singer declares himself the (unlikely) Messiah — and you’ll hear that no prisoners are taken. Dylan himself falls victim! Among other bodies one may count every pretentious folksinger of the Sixties. Then harken to a tenderly diss-passionate ballad called "Kurt," then to a spoofin’ "Talkin’ Alien Abduction Blues" and tell me we don’t have a master on our hands and you heard about him here first.

Dan Bern’s later two, overproduced Sony albums, while enjoyable, increasingly fail to capture his comedic quality. Catch him live while you can. And write a letter to Sony. And say a little prayer for Bobby.

An American Christmas: Folk Like Us
North Star NS0043

With the holy season soon upon us, to be accompanied by the inevitable disspiriting performances of great old carols on every radio station and in every store, here be a veritable musical oasis. Christmas favorites featuring hammered dulcimer, fiddle, guitar, oboe, flute and more, blend elements of classical music with the joyfulness of traditional American forms. Spontaneous, delightful and well recorded, you will not object to your family’s frequent playing of this disc. Call 800-346-2706 for a Christmas stocking retailer.

POSITIVE FEEDBACK ONLINE © 2002 - HOME