Interconnects
to use with Nordost SuperFlatline?
December
25, 2018
Roy,
Which
interconnects would you recommend with Nordost SuperFlatline speaker cables?
Sheldon
Simon
For
once this is an easy one. It depends whether the primary driver for the decision is price
or performance. Optimum performance/value would be achieved with Nordost’s Blue
Heaven range, which will offer you multiple digital and analog options as well as AC
cords, while keeping everything within the Nordost technology family. But if that’s
little rich for the budget, I’d look at a really good, basic cable line like The
Chord Company's Clearway (or possibly their Shawline). As a matter of interest, Chord was
the original UK distributor for the Flatline cables and did a lot to get the Nordost line
noticed in the first place. Obviously, back then they were partnering the Nordost speaker
cables with their own interconnects to great effect (mainly Cobra or Chameleon, if memory
serves). Those cables were the spiritual predecessors to today’s Clearway and
Shawline. -Roy Gregory
"Can
you clarify?"
December
20, 2018
Roy,
I
didn’t quite understand what you meant by this
statement regarding the Focal Sopra No.3: "The No.3 may well be regarded as a
stopping point en route to somewhere else, whereas the No.2 is an end in itself, a speaker
to buy and live with. Its balance of virtues, aesthetic, physical and musical, make it
perfectly suited to the role of 'The last speaker I’ll ever buy.'” Can you
elaborate?
Joe
Sproviero
Thanks for taking the time to seek some clarification. Writing any review is
always a balancing act, treading the fragile line between assumption and stating the
obvious, a line we don’t always get just right.
The Focal Sopra series presents an interesting conundrum: two models (the Nos.2
and 3) that are virtually identical in terms of published performance, yet differ
significantly in size, low-frequency driver complement and price. Where you might expect
to see gains in low-frequency extension and system efficiency, differences in the paper
performance are minimal. So what justifies the difference in size and price?
When
it comes to affordable products (by which, in this instance, I mean anything that
doesn’t qualify as cost no object) designers are faced with a stark choice: build a
product that covers its tracks and hides its flaws, or build one that’s as
transparent to the driving system as possible. Many of the most successful budget
products, right across the history of high-performance audio, have been in the former
category. Products like the NAD 3020 integrated amplifier spring to mind, a unit that did
as much as it could within the limitations imposed by price -- but not so much as to get
it into trouble or reveal its shortcomings. As a result, it dominated the budget market
for years, setting the benchmark against which all others were judged.
At
the other extreme I could point to a product like the Linn Kann, a diminutive and very
affordable loudspeaker built into an LS3/5a-sized cabinet, but one that really only
delivered its full musical potential when hung on the end of the most extravagant
Linn-Naim system, with active electronics and a pair of NAP 250 amps or even four of the
mono NAP 135s -- a setup that cost upwards of twenty times the price of the speakers. This
is an extreme example, and products that tread this path these days are blessed few and
far between, but the essential principle still holds true.
The
Sopra speakers embrace both approaches and are fascinating because of how the designer has
tailored their performance and what it tells us about Focal’s view of the market. The
Sopra No.2 is far from a budget speaker, but its size and price place it at the top end of
what might be considered normal audio -- the last point before audiophile nervosa sets in
or the offspring limits expenditure. It will work with comparatively modest amplification
while also goes deep and impressively loud. It delivers a huge sound for the money, both
in terms of its cost and the cost of the driving system. But -- and this is the big
trade-off -- squeezing that much weight out of that cabinet and those drivers ultimately
requires some clever voicing, subtle emphasis that ultimately limits low-frequency speed,
texture and transparency, tendencies that in turn gate the performance across the broad
midband.
In
stark contrast, the No.3, with its larger cabinet and bigger drivers, breathes more
easily, delivering not so much more weight but more impact, greater expressive range and
more low-frequency subtlety and finesse. It opens out the midband, inviting the owner to
invest in and enjoy better electronics and source components, growing with and showing off
the benefits of superior systems and electronics. Where the No.2 masks the qualitative
advantages of a high-end tube amp, like the Audio Research Reference 150 or VTL S-200, as
compared to a high-quality solid-state unit, like Mark Levinson’s No.585 integrated,
the No.3 thrives on the extra musical communication, color and connection that come with
amplifiers that cost more than the speakers themselves. Or, to put it another way, when it
comes to the Sopra No.2, it will work well with some surprisingly modest amplification,
electronics unto the price of the speakers themselves: but once you go beyond that, the
law of diminishing returns bites with a vengeance. The No.3 will work with amps that cost
less than the speakers, if you choose carefully, but the speakers really come into their
own once you start feeding them from more exotic electronics. -Roy Gregory
"
. . . beyond satisfied with the VTL TL-7.5 Series III Reference"
December
10, 2018
Marc,
I
am beyond satisfied with the VTL
7.5 Series III Reference.
You
read my mind! This preamp is exactly what I have been seeking for many years! I believe it will be my
final preamp. Great synergy with my system and the acoustics of my listening room. The
preamp is built like a tank (both units).
I
am so impressed that I will now sell my Lamm LL1 Signature and Lamm L2 Reference
preamps. VTL needs to get the word to many more audiophiles. If an audiophile listens
through this preamp, he will surely be impressed.
I
thank you for your time and assistance. I shall pay it forward.
Joe
Abate
"More
LP reviews please, Roy!"
December
5, 2018
Roy,
A
while back I read your review of the Peter Gabriel 45rpm reissues on The Audio Beat.
As I’d missed getting a clean original UK copy of Passion, I recently
ordered the 45rpm reissue from the UK.
Thank
you so very much for the great find. I was truly impressed by the quality of this set. I
knew it all too well musically, but the sound really took me by surprise. I just reread
your review and I have to say that you were totally spot on with your assessment. More LP
reviews please, Roy! I’ll make sure I don’t miss the other Peter Gabriel 45rpm
sets too.
As
a return favor I can recommend the new Thom Yorke Suspiria two-LP set. Yes,
it’s a soundtrack with a modicum of material that doesn’t do much for me, but
musically I think it’s terrific. Yorke really does a wonderful job -- maybe he’s
really cut out as a soundtrack composer. Sonically the album doesn’t stack up against
Passion (what would?), but I still really like the feel of the set. To assist in
calibrating our musical tastes, I should say that I also love 17 seconds by the
Cure. I used to use that LP as an audio test. I recall it’s one of your faves too.
Geoff
Cosier
Put
me on the list
December
1, 2018
Marc,
Please
put me on your e-mail list.
Austin
Davey
You're
on the list. To join TAB's reader list and find out about new articles first,
send e-mail to rl@theaudiobeat.com.
-Marc Mickelson
