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The
Cartridge Man MusicMaker Classic Phono
Cartridge
($1750: price includes the New Isolator.)
There is only one word to describe Leonard
Gregory’s newest variable-reluctance phono
cartridge: Masterpiece. The MusicMaker Classic
allows uncorrupted access to the deepest
artistic intent of all music and does it
without any sonic peccadilloes and anomalies.
Its portrayal of the timbre and tonal colors
of acoustic instruments – the toughest task
for all hi-fi gear - is standard-settingly
natural and believable: one wastes no energy
trying to identify the instruments playing and
thus can focus on what they are playing.
And it is the MusicMaker Classic’s exemplary
depiction of what the instruments are playing,
and how they are playing it which leads to its
direct communication of the artistic intent of
the music. It does this with all musical
styles, thus opening all music to the
adventurous listener.
Since it is not a moving-coil, one is spared
the artificial colorations of most of the
breed, the expense and search for a truly
neutral moving-coil pre-preamp, and the ultra
cartridge pricing too. The Classic’s fine
detail and resolution demand a superior phono
stage and tonearm. The $1240 Graham Slee
Reflex phono stage was used in the development
of the cartridge and is a superb match.
Inclusion of the New Isolator in its price
makes a supremely natural sounding cartridge
even more natural.
The MusicMaker Classic is a ‘final
destination’ phono cartridge, one of the few
truly aesthetically satisfying phono products
I’ve heard in my 35 years of analogue LP
listening [Paul Szabady].
The Origin Live Silver MKII Tonearm
($1000)
Origin Live’s Mark Baker continues his
world-wide dominance of tonearm design with
this extensive re-working of the already
superb Silver arm. Retaining the original’s
superb timing, rhythm, bass control, and
articulation, the new Silver MKII adds a
substantially more neutral and error-free
mid-band and top-end, able to integrate the
typical rising high-frequency response of
moving-coil cartridges coherently and without
edge. Capable of great nuance and extreme
subtlety, the Silver MKII also has great
authority, drive and control, yielding an
exceptionally deep communication of all
music’s meaning. [Paul Szabady]
 The Cartridge Man’s New Isolator
($150)
Leonard Gregory’s new iteration of his
ingenious and supremely effective phono
cartridge Isolator adds exotic micro-spiralex
to the filtering sandwich, significantly
improving an already excellent product (and
past winner of our Most Wanted Component
Award.) The New Isolator requires a phono
cartridge with a flat top surface for the New
Isolator’s breakable adhesive to adhere to,
and the ability to raise tonearm height to
compensate for its added height. The result
makes analogue LP sound like the master tape,
reducing any mechanical distortions far into
the subliminal zone. Considering the amount of
musical and sonic improvement (even on already
very good arms) the New Isolator offers, it’s
an absolute steal. Try this before you even
think about an arm or cartridge upgrade. [Paul
Szabady]
The Graham Slee Reflex Phono Preamplifier
($1240)
UK phono stage guru Graham Slee’s wide
bandwidth design philosophy reaches an apex
with the Reflex, offering exceptional
neutrality, transparency, and resolution of
the entire frequency bandwidth. The Reflex’s
terrific sonics are mated to an equally
terrific rendering of musical technique,
leading to deep comprehension of the artistic
intent of even the most complex music. Couple
the Reflex to the transcendent Cartridge Man
MusicMaker Classic phono cartridge ($1750) and
your analogue odyssey is over. [Paul Szabady]
 Behold
Gentile G192 Integrated amplifier
(starts at $11,500) Sporting as many features
as its big and ultra-expensive siblings, the
newest addition to the Behold family holds
true to the trickle-down theory by offering
nearly 90% of Behold's technical wizardry and
sound for a fraction of the cost. Boasting a
huge 7-inch LCD touch-screen display, a
plethora of digital ins and outs (8 analogue,
6 digital), and a 6-channel FireWire support,
this little techno-tyke sung its way into my
heart at the most recent Munich High End. The
Gentile employs four discrete channels of
amplification (two 80-watt analogue and two
160-watt switching), while room correction and
digital crossover options are also available.
Yep, I've a unit coming my way so stay tuned.
[Clement Perry]
 Bel
Canto e.One Ref1000 mono amps
($4200 pair) Bel
Canto’s switch to ICE power—in addition to
their compact new look—surprised me by their
incredible control of my new (and
frighteningly massive) Sunny Cable
Technologies subwoofers. After finally getting
a chance to spend some extended time with
them, I was convinced that overall, they beat
out my previous reference ICE powered amps
from Acoustic Reality. While the AR amps cost
nearly $10k, the Bel Canto amps cost only
$4200/pair, making them a silly-good bargain
and a top performer with super-low-end power,
control and finesse [Clement Perry].
 Bel
Canto Design Pre3 Preamp
($1995.00). Bel Canto Design is no stranger to
excellent performance in a small package with
the highly coveted Ref 1000 monoblock
amplifiers and proprietor John Stronzer has
struck gold again with the addition of the
Pre3 preamp to the lineup. Compact in stature,
the Pre3 uses the same case as the Ref 1000’s
and has five inputs (four RCA’s and one XLR),
three outputs (one tape, one RCA and one XLR),
and comes with a remote control. I used the
Pre3 with a number of amplifiers from four
thousand dollars to twenty thousand dollars
and each time the performance was exceptional.
Just goes to show that great things can come
in small packages. [Craig Fitzpatrick].
Blue
Circle Audio BC208 Amplifier
($28,000)
The flagship amplifier in the Blue Circle line
was sheer joy to review, both from a sonic
standpoint and from their size and beauty.
They were consistently given the three “Oh
yeahs” (those are big, those are beautiful,
those sound good) from almost everyone that
came by and heard them. The BC208s have
lifelike stage dimensions, dynamics, and
performers had a seemingly palpable existence
in my listening room. The BC208s are truly a
work of art. [Michael Wright]
 Blue
Circle BC3000 MKII Preamp w/GZpz power supply
($6,895 - $12,500 depending on options)
I’ve kidded the iconoclastic Gilbert Yeung
about his quirky sense of style and
predilection for non-conforming aesthetics in
his component designs, but what I can’t kid
him about is the peerless quality of sound
they reproduce. The BC3000 is as musical a
preamp as I’ve heard and comes with more
options than a salad bar. One option that
should be considered a must, is the beefy GZpz
power supply. It helps get to the best of what
this preamp has to offer. [Dave Thomas]
 Chapter
Précis Integrated Amplifier
($6500)
Without a doubt the most musically satisfying
amplifier I've ever had in my system.
Prodigious, clean, speedy and taut bass,
pristine extended highs and an oh so glorious
midrange along with seemingly limitless
dynamics that made me listen 'til the chickens
would crow! Cymbals sounded the most realistic
ever through the Précis but its most
captivating rendering was that of both the
male and female human voice. Most of the
record dates I've done sounded their best
played back through the Précis and on top of
that its a beautiful looking piece of
equipment. Unfortunately shortly after my
review Chapter's US distributor exited the
market and thus Chapter is currently not being
distributed in stateside. [Alvester Garnett]
 Dignity
Audio DA08SE 300B Monoblock Amplifier
($800 per amplifier)
I found these engaging 8-watt, 300B amplifiers
to be extremely musical, delivering quick,
clear, shimmering highs and surprisingly
robust lows. Monarchy Audio’s C.C. Poon claims
the Permalloy output transformers provide much
more power at the frequency extremes than the
typical, lower-grade transformers commonly
used in competing amplifiers. The Dignity
monoblocks were exceedingly seductive in my
system without sounding artificially colored
or overtly glamorous [Frank Alles].
 
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