Recharge and Reboot
I just checked. Five months and nearly a half ‘nother since my last writing. Yikes! Inexcusable. But I do have a reason. I didn’t feel it.
I bounced back quite nicely from my surgery back in September. With one small glitch, I am indeed good to go. I’ll need an annual CAT scan, and, assuming it shows nothing, I am “as healthy as my neighbor” as my oncologist put it. Fortunately Jeff appears the picture of health so I am too, I guess.
And I feel a lot better, too. Better than in a long time prior to the surgery, even. But I haven’t felt like doing this. This musing thing. It has been the longest part of my recovery. I think it has to do with the fact that I was pretty focused on the day to day realities of getting back to full health and performance in all areas of my life. That stuff all has to be right before I have the extra brain space to write, for which I need to be able to get away from the normal living stuff and let my mind wander where it wants to go. And when I set it free to do that lately, it went out a few feet, turned around, came back and parked at my feet like a shy puppy at its first day at the dog park.
Well, things are starting to limber up. It really feels as if I’m back. But, after five months away, I am challenged to pick a topic to break the silence and feature today. So I’m going to leave you with some examples of the things that have helped me get back up to speed.
- Setting up a number of AMG turntables, including the new 12 Turbo tonearm on the Viella ‘table, and basking in their profound ability to dig seemingly every last iota of music out of the wiggly grooves. One owner called it “the best sound I have ever heard” and another pronounced his “revelatory.” Amen to that. I’m weary of the “analog vs. digital” fuss as I am firmly in the “both, please” camp, but the combination of AMG and Lyra is incredibly compelling. Vinyl is vitally alive at all strata, but it sure is fun to hang out at the summit.
- And Aurender’s machines are one of the reasons I am weary of the war. Life with my N10, or the N100H, has been a non-stop journey of (re)discovery of old familiar (ripped) CD’s as well as high res files and the myriad offerings on Tidal. It continues to stun me how good Redbook CD bitrate material can sound when played back through an Aurender.
- Speaking of Tidal, the emergence, finally, of MQA files thereon has revealed some really special improvements in sound quality stemming from their work reversing the AD (analog to digital) converter-based problems in digital masters. The jury is still out for me as to whether the other function of MQA, that is “unfolding” the streamed file into a higher res file “in your home” bears much additional fruit, but I am at least initially quite impressed with the A/D converter fix. Now we see if they can continue to convince the record industry of the cost/benefit of the technology. But they’ve got Warner on board and I saw they just signed up Universal Music Group, so…
- So how did the Moon geniuses get so much sheer fun to come out of the one-box super solution ACE? That machine does things, at $3500, it has absolutely no right to do! Phono, DAC, MiND streaming and a great sounding amp and preamp in one box the size of any one of those components separately? Get one before they are outlawed by the Value Police.
- I have also enjoyed dialing in and doing MASTERS sets on several great audio systems. Vandersteens, Sonus fabers, KEFs, RELs and others have sprung to life before my ears as I optimize them in homes. It always amazes me how important that final step is! “Night and day” is not an uncommon reaction.
- Bob and I have both been gobbling up the new Audio Research Foundation Series gear. Four brand new masterpieces, a DAC, phono preamp, line stage, and power amp, in the space of less than six months! A person could wrap them all up into a system and retire from the race indefinitely, they are that good. Or, replace an older component with any one and revitalize a system. Home runs, all!
- The Carbon generation of AudioQuest headphones are making even bigger waves than the shock one that the original NightHawk sent out, as well they should. NightOwl, Skylar’s first closed-back design, is particularly valuable for those who need isolation in their headphone listening. He seems to have nailed it without any of the typical sonic compromises. Can’t wait for my next plane trip!
- Bob unboxed the first AudioQuest Niagara 5000 a few weeks ago and, hoo boy, it’s crazy good! Even Garth contends it’s much of what you get in the 7000 and it sure sounds like it from our perspective. If you are looking for the second best power conditioner on the planet, they are now in stock.
- Finally, my first Musing since my surgery comes, coincidentally or not, as Kaitlyn returns to manage our web/social media presence. She, too, it seems, went through a spell of “writer’s block,” from entirely different causes from mine, but I’m happy to see she is following her muse again.* Here’s hoping it lasts a good, long time!
*Editor’s note: There comes a point in life when you realize that if you must work, it’s better to surround yourself with really great people…