Systems: country of origin

By Michael Jones

December 2007

For this issue our five dealers were given a different brief: the system needed to come from one country. You may wonder if this is a realistic brief. It's not common, for sure, but I have come across people who wanted to buy a New Zealand made system, or one from the UK. But, more importantly, this brief allows our dealers a little more flexibility than a price-based system.

Of our five dealers, we received no articles from Christchurch's The Listening Post and Wellington's The Real Music Company.

On with our dealers:

Totally Wired, Dunedin

Audio Analogue Paganini

Audio Analogue Puccini

Sonus faber Cremona Auditor

Are you passionate? The Italians are - and their audio components are all the better for it. We’ll leave the analytical, derivative and mass produced to others and tell you a little bit about some of our favourites.

Sonus faber put more soul into their smallest speaker than most companies can muster in their entire range. Resolutely handmade in relatively small quantities, by a family (in that special Italian sense), all Sonus faber speakers feature the finest European components nested in a carefully crafted cabinet of selected solid timber with not a veneer in sight.

For Sonus faber there is one very simple principle - the loudspeaker is an instrument to play music. And like any other handcrafted instrument, it follows that the materials used and quality of craftsmanship will have a direct bearing on the sound produced.

Sonus faber don’t waste time fighting resonance (and by implication music), they simply employ it to further their pursuit of more enjoyable sound.

So you’ll understand, that the sound of any Sonus faber speaker will reflect this approach. Nothing else has quite the richness, especially when it comes to vocals and stringed instruments. You may well think that this would confine their talents to the realm of classical music - in fact, this richness and generosity of tone works wonders with just about any recording, making the previously mundane suddenly listenable and the well recorded simply sublime.

If we had to choose a single model that embodies all the Sonus faber qualities, without necessarily being the most costly option, the new Cremona Auditor M will be the one. At just under $8700 including stands, these are one of the newest models in the range, an all round improvement on the original Auditor, which in turn was derived from an extended family of high performance compact speakers - Electa Amator, Guaneri, Extrema and Signum. The product of both history and passion, these are speakers that really do shine on audition - even if they would sell quite happily on looks alone.

Audio Analogue are another family affair and a new addition to our range. Truly Italian in both their design and manufacture, they still present a completely modern face with components we have selected here - the lyrically entitled Paganini 192/24 CD player and Puccini Settana integrated amplifier - both $2995 each.

Paganini was an Italian violinist famed for his masterful performances and intensity. The Paganini CD player takes after him, playing CDs with verve and finesse, hitting every note and never letting the pace slip.

As you’d expect at this level, the digital to analogue conversion is an upsampling scheme, giving us resolution that was only possible at the extremely expensive end a few years ago. But while detail is one thing, it’s the listenability of this player that has got to us. This is something you’ll have to hear for yourself, but it only took a few seconds for us to realise the Paganini is a big step up from well proven players at the $2000 mark.

The Puccini Settana integrated amplifier is both an ideal visual, and to our ears, sonic match with both the Paganini CD player and Sonus faber speakers. A few years ago, Sonus faber produced a remarkable integrated amplifier, the Musica. Audio Analogue have taken this equation further; the Puccini Settana integrated is in fact the third iteration of this model, and easily the most accomplished. It stands at the very least equal to, and in our view better than most amplifiers, either integrated or pre/power to the $5000 mark. Why do we think this?

Firstly the design and construction are both highly refined and without compromise. You have ample inputs, including phono stage, remote control (and this is a seriously cool little item, a handheld teardrop of polished alloy). The central volume control is more sophisticated than conventional rotary device, being simply nudged either way to change level, this being indicated by a subtle series of blue leds.

Input selection is automated - another nice touch. All this makes the Puccini rather seductive to live with, and the sound quality is almost a reflection of this simple, yet sophisticated design. This you’ll be able to judge for yourself, but if you value transparency and ease of musical reproduction, we think you’ll find what you are after. I should also point out there is no lack of power or bass extension either so the nominal 70 watt power rating should be taken as a very conservative indication of abilities.

Cremona, Paganini and Puccini. What else could this be other than an Italian system? Full of charm, smouldering good looks and an extended family that will make you welcome and amply fill all your appetites.—John Ransley

The Listening Post, Hamilton

Martin Logan Vantage

VTL TL2.5

VTL MB125

We’ve designed systems based on budget, performance, aesthetics, or even features, but this is the first time we’ve designed a system based on country of origin! It’s certainly one of the more bizarre requests we’ve had.

Now being a Kiwi company, we’d love to recommend an all Kiwi system. But with all due respect to our local manufacturers, we’re going to look a little further a field in the hunt for a satisfying single county system. In this case, the US of A is our destination. Love ‘em or hate ‘em the Yanks build some best hi-fi gear on the planet.

The Martin Logan Vantages must be one of the greatest bargains to ever grace our industry. We just love what these babies do. Their electrostatic panels give a midrange which is beautifully detailed, natural, and is free of the box colorations that plague most conventional speakers. Tight, articulate, powerful bass is provided by an 8” high excursion aluminium cone powered by a built in 200W amplifier. One of the criticisms of the earlier generations of Martin Logan was that on some music a discontinuity between the conventional bass drivers and the electrostatic panel could be heard. Martin Logan have nailed this issue in the Vantages, they sound seamless and seductive from top to bottom. The end result is that when set up well, the illusion of a performer being right their in front of you is breath taking. We can’t emphasise enough how much we love these speakers. We’re even more impressed that they can deliver true high end performance for such a modest price. $7895.

Valves and Martin Logans are a match made in heaven. And when it comes to valves, no body does it better than VTL. The VTL MB125 mono blocks and TL2.5 preamplifier sound glorious with the Martin Logans. Their sweetness, liquidity, and clarity really bring out the best in the Martin Logans electrostatic panel. When coupled with the Vantages dynamic bass driver and 200W amplifier, you have a system which delivers the strengths of valve and panels for your midrange and highs, with the slam and authority in the bass of solid state and dynamic drivers. It’s a powerful and immensely enjoyable combination. $14,990.

As a source we’d recommend the Wadia 581. This beautiful piece of engineering is supremely neutral, natural, and makes real music. Since 1988 Wadia have built nothing but premium digital sources. The results of this specialisation and their devotion to their art are obvious in the 581. Play back of CD and SACD are as good as anything we’ve heard up to $40,000. Not bad going for $16,995!

Finally we’d use Analysis Plus cabling through out because of their neutrality, and Still Points vibration control to let the system perform at it’s best.

The end result is a system that creates a convincing illusion of a live performance in your home, complete with all the emotional content that makes a good live performance such a moving experience. You could almost forgive the Yanks for Jerry Springer, the Hummer, and Britney Spears!—Romesh Anandaraja

Eastern Hi-Fi, Newmarket

Musical Fidelity X-Ray

Musical Fidelity X-T100

KEF XQ-1

In putting a system together based on a country of origin I had to sit down and play with a few pieces of gear to find something that would work well together. After mucking around for a day or so I settled on some nice British brands that most people will be familiar with.

The Musical Fidelity XT100 integrated amp ($2699) and matching X ray V8 CD player ($2499) are a pair of very strong performers with a lot of interesting features. The “integrated” amp is actually a two-box affair with a separate power supply that also allows the user to power the CD player as well. Apparently the circuit is derived from the much larger and more expensive KW550, just on a smaller scale. It is also possible to purchase a larger power supply later to increase the power of the system and has the added benefit of a lower noise floor. MF suggest that having a separate power supply protects the delicate audio circuitry from ‘nasty magnetic hysteresis effects’, and I’m sure it helps account for the fantastic sound.

Another feature that appeals to me is the tube preamp stage in the amp, I wouldn’t say the amp had any really characteristic tubeyness to the sound, but I think there is a richness to the sound that may be due to them. The amp has a 3.5mm input on the front for those who wish to play iPods and the like through the unit.

There is a nice MM phono stage included that is great for the type of cartridges I would expect to be partnered with this system, like the new Ortofon on the latest Project Expression for example.

The amp delivers 50 watts into 8 ohms and with the optional X-170 power supply this increases to around 100watts or so.

The matching X-ray V8 CD player is in the same shoebox chassis as the amp, so the two look really good together. It uses a familiar Philips transport common to most players at this level, and it just sounds fantastic.

Speakers are the KEF XQ-1 bookshelf models ($2299), which in my experience have always matched well with MF gear. They are a stunning speaker with a super tweeter to help reproduce those top octaves of treble and open up the sound stage. The cabinet is a very inert solid and sculpted box. The design uses KEF’s familiar Uni-Q coaxial tweeter mounting that time aligns the high frequencies with the midrange/bass to allow for far more even dispersion within the room.

The overall sound of this system is very inviting, with richness and space and really amazing imaging. The dedicated stands for the speakers help cement things and allow a solid platform for the speakers to work from. I have partnered the electronics with many other brands, including my favorite Dynaudios and hadn’t really given the KEFs a chance before this opportunity, and I have been pleasantly surprised by the combination. Easily recommended to anyone wanting a compact and great sounding system.—Neil Young

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