HIGH-END AUDIO PRODUCT OF THE YEAR AWARDS! · PLUS: The Best Hi-Res Downloads G Y S HIGH-END AUDIO PRODUCT OF THE YEAR AWARDS! T s ... Pat Martino, Cécile McLorin Salvant, …

2 January 2018 the absolute sound

JANUARY 2018$6.99 US / $8.99 CAN

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JAN

UA

RY 2018 • ISSU

E 279

MUSIC FROM Richard Thompson, Christian McBride, and Clark Terry, plus David Chesky’s new Piano Concertos

PLUS: The Best Hi-Res Downloads





JAN

UA

RY 2018 • ISSU

E 279

MUSIC FROMMUSIC FROMMUSIC FROMMUSIC FROMMUSIC FROMMUSIC FROMMUSIC FROM Richard Thompson,Richard Thompson,Richard Thompson,Richard Thompson,Richard Thompson,Richard Thompson,Richard Thompson, Christian McBride,Christian McBride,Christian McBride,Christian McBride,Christian McBride,Christian McBride,Christian McBride,and Clark Terry,and Clark Terry,and Clark Terry,and Clark Terry,and Clark Terry,and Clark Terry,and Clark Terry, plus David Chesky’s new Piano Concertosplus David Chesky’s new Piano Concertosplus David Chesky’s new Piano Concertosplus David Chesky’s new Piano Concertosplus David Chesky’s new Piano Concertosplus David Chesky’s new Piano Concertosplus David Chesky’s new Piano Concertos

PLUS:PLUS:PLUS:PLUS:PLUS:PLUS:PLUS: The Best Hi-Res DownloadsThe Best Hi-Res DownloadsThe Best Hi-Res DownloadsThe Best Hi-Res DownloadsThe Best Hi-Res DownloadsThe Best Hi-Res DownloadsThe Best Hi-Res Downloads



CROWNING GLORYDAN D’AGOSTINO’S NEW MOMENTUM ELECTRONICS

HIGH-END AUDIO PRODUCT OF THE YEAR AWARDS!

SPECIAL REPORTInside Japan’s

High-End Industry

EXCLUSIVE!Magnepan’s

Flagship MG30.7

BREAKTHROUGH!YG Acoustics

Sonja 2.2

STUNNING!Berkeley

Goes MQA


10 L

12 From the Editor

14 Future TASNew products on the horizon.

16 TAS LWe look back at the iconic Naim Nait integrated amp.

134 C

Music168 Magic at MechanicsAndrew Quint observes a recording session for Reference Recordings.

176 The Girl Singers That Time Forgot, Part 2David McGee writes about the only album by jazz vocalist Marilyn Moore.

178 Download Round-UpAlan Taffel and Andrew Quint review hi-res pop, rock, and classical downloads.

182 R E RLucinda Williams, Richard Thompson, Gizmodrome, Margo Price, Emily Haines, Dudley Taft, Steve Gulley, Protomartyr, and Freddie McKay.

188 R

Pat Martino, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Antonio Sanchez, Dave Douglas, Trio S, Christian McBride, Steve Lacy, Yuko Mabuchi Trio on Yarlung, and a Clark Terry vinyl reissue on MPS.

194 C ROslo String Quartet, Euclid Quartet, and Danish String Quartet; two piano concertos by David Chesky; early 20th-century cello and violin music performed by Elaris Duo; a symphony and concerto by Ben Haim; and performances by guitarist Trevor Babb.

Departments& Music

contents 01.18

Q&A W L C S200

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vibration but doesn’t impose a thumbprint on the component.

What interesting fact about C S

Maybe that Critical Mass Systems is

homegrown. I wanted to build a company that lived or died based on the quality of

the product. CMS started as a word-of-mouth company and there were pivotal moments that

directly contributed to its life. For example, Vladi-mir Lamm [of Lamm Industries] gave us the opportunity to introduce all our racks and filter systems in his rooms at CES. Cyrill Hammer [of Soulution] brought CMS to Munich and exposed us to a global market. Most recently Peter Madnick made some extraordinarily insightful suggestions on a product that has had a far-ranging impact. These men were a strong influence on our success.

What is the most common misunderstanding about A V

Probably the belief that they don’t matter in an audio system. The laws of physics make them a component in an audio sys-tem. If you want to degrade the performance of a great audio component, put it on a bad surface. If you want to experience the engineering of a great audio component, put it on a great surface. It’s physics. L

Great question! There is an imaginary “wall” that exists at the front plane of the loudspeakers separating the musicians from the listener. We live with it every day and have come to accept it as “normal.” We’re going to knock down that wall by dramatically lowering the noise floor using new innovations in material science. You can’t do this with earbuds. The technol-ogy is already inside analog and digital components, and we’re catching up to them using material science innovations in our support systems today.

W Our greatest challenge is to redefine ourselves and differ-

entiate ourselves as much as possible from the mobile phone—more is more instead of less is more.

O I collect red wine…I drink it, too.

W That one new discovery coming tomorrow.

What ignited your interest in the D

The music side, for sure. I played jazz, classical, and rock guitar, and piano. I took lessons twice a week and tried to practice about six hours a day. Classical guitar was the best because the instru-ment is so textural and responsive to touch. For some reason, I clearly remember the sound and feel of the interplay between mu-sicians. There was a purity of tone and timing that to this day I try to help bring out in reproduced music. I’m not alone in this; I think every dedicated manufacturer tries to recreate “reality” in the reproduction process. Maybe we are all frustrated musicians.

W A Wadia 860 CD player into a BAT preamp into a BAT amp and Ohm speakers my wife had bought for me. It was and is great stuff, but alas, now a distant memory. W For me, it was the day I was willing to walk away from a career in another industry. Yet I like to think that both aspects still reside harmoniously within me. I can enjoy music and then switch gears to do the hard, analytical work. There are many brilliant engineers and dedicated people populating this boundless arena for the pursuit of personal excellence. Work-ing in audio isn’t a career; it’s a gift.

W Not good enough for what I do right now, in my opinion. My son, Justin, is an Electrical Engineering PhD, so I have the luxury of tapping his brain to discuss physics or elec-tromechanical phenomena that I suspect might occur inside electrical networks. But the latest iterations of our products have put me neck-deep in material science and that’s been very challenging and quite rewarding.

H

Music should be an experience, not a song. Products that are high end can recreate the original musical event in your listening room. Having said that, I think that 99% of them can do this. My job is to remove the penalties imposed on components by vibration, to help the listener experience the many techno-logical advancements that make their components high-end audio. The challenge for me is to make a cutting-edge, world-class product that mitigates

LC S

The laws of physics make them a component in an audio system. If you want to degrade the performance

of a great audio component, put it on a bad surface.

Neil Gader

Q&A

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HIGH-END AUDIO PRODUCT OF THE YEAR AWARDS! · PLUS: The Best Hi-Res Downloads G Y S HIGH-END AUDIO PRODUCT OF THE YEAR AWARDS! T s ... Pat Martino, Cécile McLorin Salvant, …