Reference System x 3 = Hi-Fi2
The Audio Research "big rig."
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I admire audiophiles who slowly,
carefully hunt for equipment they love and then use it until it's unable to make music any
longer. These are earnest people who would rather tweak an older amp or CD player to
squeeze the last ounce of fidelity out of it than throw money at the issue by upgrading.
Music matters to them, so building an audio system is only a means to an end, not the end
itself.
I admire these audiophiles because my own system
is so different from theirs -- in a state of nearly constant flux. This is the way it is
when you write about audio equipment. Your reference system is the equivalent of a
handyman's truck loaded with tools: a collection of needed implements with which to ply
your trade. A new preamp or speaker is always in use or waiting in the wings; meanwhile,
my preamp and speakers sit dormant. They are literally off to the side gathering dust.
Owning a reference audio system isn't only vital
for members of the audio press, however. Audio companies and the people who work for them
also need reference systems to test the products they make or evaluate them for use at
shows. Some companies rely almost solely on one or two others to provide them with
products to use with their own. Speaker makers choose particular brands of electronics for
in-house testing, and electronics makers use speakers they know well in order to hear what
that new amp or preamp really sounds like.
Two such companies are Audio Research Corporation
and Wilson Audio. Visit either and you will see the other's products in liberal use. I've
heard four or five different pairs of Wilson Audio speakers while visiting Audio Research;
likewise, Audio Research amps, preamps and CD players are used at the Wilson Audio
factory, in David Wilson's impressive system, and in marketing director John Giolas's
system. On my most recent visits to both companies, I saw -- and heard -- just how closely
each uses the other's products for both R&D and recreational listening.
I've spent a number of hours listening in Audio
Research's two demo rooms. The smaller one is Warren Gehl's lab, where he evaluates every
piece of Audio Research gear before it leaves the factory. Here, there is a pair of Wilson
Audio WATT/Puppy 8s, which supplanted a pair of WATT/Puppy 7s. The other room is the
larger of the two -- 29' 4 1/2" long and 22' 2 1/2" wide with a 9' ceiling --
and it's here that the big rig resides. On the day of my visit, Wilson MAXX 2s were
connected to a full Audio Research Reference setup: Reference 3 preamp ($9995), Reference
CD7 CD player ($8995), and the brand-new Reference 110 stereo amp ($9995).
From behind the speakers in Audio Research's large
demo room.
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Audio Research uses this room for
testing, hosting dealers and distributors, and placating pesky audio press. I've heard
various speakers here, all from Wilson Audio, but none has been as impressive as the MAXX
2s, which love the space that's afforded to them in this room. During my last visit, I
played a few cuts from a demo CD-R that I had made specifically for the trip. They sounded
all wrong -- indistinct, hard and muddled. I first thought that something was seriously
wrong with the system, but then Dave Gordon of Audio Research played a Buddy Holly CD, From
the Original Master Tapes [MCA Records MCAD-5540], which was mastered by Steve
Hoffman. Nothing wrong there. The first word I uttered after "True Love
Ways" ended was "Wow!" The recording sounded thoroughly contemporary, even
though it was produced 50 years earlier. The resolution of the system seemed limitless,
but the silky flow of the music dominated, eliciting that "Wow!"
But what the heck was going on with my CD-R? I
figured it out when I returned home. I had burned the disc on a new laptop with new
software that I hadn't configured correctly. The CD-R was the musical equivalent of
crippleware -- where full functionality (or full resolution in this case) has been
disabled. Audio Research's reference system made the issue obvious.
Months passed, and then I made a trip to Wilson
Audio, during which I heard marketing director John Giolas's reference system, which is
housed in a room connected to his kitchen. Talk about sharing your audio system with your
family -- it could be no other way here. Again, MAXX 2s were the speakers (in lusty Carmen
red) and the electronics were from Audio Research: Reference 610T mono amps ($39,990 per
pair), a Reference 3 preamp, and a Reference CD7 CD player.
Audio Research electronics and recently played CDs in
John Giolas's listening room. What's in the cabinet? More CDs!
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This room is much smaller than
Audio Research's -- 16' wide by 18' long with an 8' ceiling -- but the resolving power of
the system was just as high, as was its musical skill. I had heard John's system years
earlier and marveled at the ability of the big MAXX 2s to disappear sonically, especially
with a mono Bob Dylan cut. This time, I listened to unfamiliar music from a seat behind
the sweet spot, and the speakers had departed the premises again.
MAXX 2s and Reference 610Ts in John Giolas's listening
room.
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When I returned home from Utah, I
was finishing my review of the WATT/Puppy 8s, which meant that the MAXX 2s would soon be
part of my system again. Because of other writing assignments, the speakers had been
tucked away in a bedroom for more than a year. I had marked their positions with masking
tape, but without some help I wouldn't be able to swap the speakers' casters for spikes. I
still had the Reference 110 amp I had reviewed a short time earlier, along with the
Reference 3 and Reference CD7 I own. Once the speakers were in place I'd be able to listen
to the exact system I heard at Audio Research and almost the same system I heard at John
Giolas's.
The results were identical -- exquisite retrieval
of anything embedded into the pits of the CDs I played combined with the natural, unforced
flow of live music. I pulled out the CD-R I had played at Audio Research, and it sounded
just as confused.
I would be taking the easy way out if I simply
chalked up what I had heard from the three Audio Research-Wilson Audio systems to synergy
-- the sonic teamwork of electronics and speakers. That's certainly evident, but there's
more to this sound -- what high-end audio is capable of right now -- than that. It's the
sum of an uncompromising approach to designing and manufacturing audio components that
includes each company's use of the other's products. Call it hi-fi2 -- a
relationship in which one company brings out the best in the other, the highest
performance begetting more of the same. You'll search for other words when you hear it
yourself.
...Marc Mickelson
marc@soundstage.com
