Musicalizer

[tee 0]

Hi oak,

 

I have checked out the Musicalisers at New Disc Village. They are selling ML-206 at S$625.50. I will provide some comments later on. Have you tried it ?

[Northern Oak 0]

Nay, too expensive ... my next target is a pair of Silver Streak interconnects but think got no chance of 2nd hand so perhaps my money will go to a pair of new ones instead....

[tee 0]

Hi Oak,

 

Thought i saw your posting at loftecho....no response. Also saw an offering of 0.5m Streak at $100. Was it a real offer, Atlas is selling at S$191 but it may be too short for you ? For 1m new one, be prepared to fork out about S$286. All WBT RCA terminations.

[fishball79 0]

Silver interconnects, now thats up my alley.

 

www.geocities.com/overmindxx sells silver wires for like, $5-8 per meter. A 1m pair of three run braided silver interconnects (ala KCAG) will need 6m. So that's $50-70 including the teflon tubing he also sells.

 

 

 

[tee 0]

Hi Oak,

 

I came across an interesting website on DIY Silver Interconnect :

 

Chris VenHaus

 

Have you tried it ?

[Northern Oak 0]

Hi Oak,

 

Thought i saw your posting at loftecho....no response. Also saw an offering of 0.5m Streak at $100. Was it a real offer, Atlas is selling at S$191 but it may be too short for you ? For 1m new one, be prepared to fork out about S$286. All WBT RCA terminations.

tee, thanks for the info. That's exactly the same price ($286) that Atlas has quoted to me.

[Northern Oak 0]

Me not so good with DIY Interconnects

[tee 0]

ok, Oak, i will keep an watch for you in the markets for a 1m length pre-owned Streak

[N@Z 0]

I think we'd all appreciate any links anyone finds concerning offers or good used buys. Post them here.

[Northern Oak 0]

ok, Oak, i will keep an watch for you in the markets for a 1m length pre-owned Streak 

Thank you thank you. Recenlty, my company is clamping down on personal internet access so I can't get on the web that often. Thanks for the help!!!!

Edited May 28, 2003 by Northern Oak

[Northern Oak 0]

This is posted on behalf of tee regarding the review of the musicalizer:

 

Quote:

I have been trying out the Ortho Spectrum's Musicaliser for Headphones HML-230 for slightly more than a week now.

The set-up is simple. Just plug HML-230's 1/4" jack (covered with nice cable jacket made of pure wool) right into the headamp (Corda HA-1) and then connect the headphone (Beyer DT-880) to one of the two 1/4" headphone outputs. Once i hit the play button on the CDP (Denon DCD-3650 with Nordost's Blue Heaven Interconnect), a new experience with relevation of the system's sonic quality came into play. 3 distinct improvements became apparent : (a) the noise floor level has dropped significantly, ( refinement of bass definition and transparency, and © more analog sounding with warmth mid-range clarity and musicality.

 

The principles of how this counter electromotive force absorption filter work have been described earlier on (thanks to Oak's summarised extraction from RTL Audio's website). It provides an immediate improvement on better differentiated sound and transient effects. Take the track "The Fading Village" (KIIGO KG-1017A) as an example, the solo flute produced a very charming and melancholic passage that illustrated a balanced mix of its soft, pulsive and yet sharp tonal characteristics in a very realistic manner. The interlace from Zhongruan was given good focus and clarity with much improved layering of images.By lowering noise level and distortion, the Musicaliser helped to generate full-bodied lifelike soundfield and harmonic subtlety that i have never experienced before on the same piece of music.

 

Moving on to fusion jazz, i sampled a no. of groovy tunes from Sam Riney's album "At Last" (Spindletop SPT 129). The acoustic bass and sax were simply amazing with good resolution in the alto and tenor domains. Bass intonations and timbres were silky smooth. Very good dynamic space regeneration and well-paced bass lines also helped to achieve substantial rhythmic transparency and spatial details. The whole ensemble was presented in a well-balanced soundfield, allowing full enjoyment of its polyphonic harmony and nice blending of dynamics, speed and ambience.

 

On a slower number from Mary Black's Columbus, the test here was on the musicality and balance of the mid-range voicing, transparency and depth of stage without any intrusive distortion from the percussions. The gentle brush strokes on snare in tandem with floor tom-tom and soft cymbals enveloped the sweet, warm but powerful vocal of Mary beautifully. The dynamic was intact with very good control of the bass' decay. Soundstage was natural and enhanced by good sense of proportion in the layers of sonic images and nuances.

 

In all the above listening tests, one common trait discovered was the ability of the Musicaliser to bring me deeper into the music, partly because the element of fatigue associated with most digital music and harmonic distortions had been largely eradicated. The other factor was the balance of warmer tonal quality to enhance musicality of the system. I think its secret lies in having this element subtle enough so that there is no compromise on clarity, details and dynamics in the overall presentation.

 

Just a note of advice, please try out the Musicaliser with your system to gauge the actual level of improvements. Auditioning is important as the resulting sonic quality may vary for different set-up. I have tried it with Grado's RA-1 headamp and RS-2 cans, the results were slightly less impressive than the above combo. But at the ticket price of about S$300 to enjoy Ortho Spectrum's unique technology, this risk is minimal with upside for a go to sonic nirvana without breaking your bank accounts. Worth the try !!

 

--------------------

Hifi is a means...not an end to music

 

Unquote.

 

Tee, thanks for sharing this wonderful review.