The Golden Ear
Newsletter of the Chicago Audio Society May 1999
Field Trip Notice
Saturday, May 8th - 1:00pm
TLG Acoustical Design
This local manufacturer of one of the largest stereo horn loudspeaker systems will hold a special open house for our group. Ken Platz, president of TLG, will talk about and demonstrate this unique system which was shown for the first time at this year's WCES (and pictured in the current issue of HiFi News and Record Review). Bring music to play, and you may want to bring a camera.
We will not be holding a regular meeting this month, as our normal meeting date coincides with the last day of the HiFi 99 show.
If you (and anyone else interested, member or not) wish to attend, please RSVP--if you don't we may not have refreshments for you. Those who signed up at last month's meeting have their places reserved and need do nothing (except show up). You may RSVP by doing either sending me email (to bpwalsh@xnet.com), or call me (leave a message if needed) at (847) 382-8433. Please be sure to indicate if you'll be bringing anyone else--friend, spouse, etc.
Directions are attached. We expect we'll start promptly at 1pm and that our visit may last for a couple of hours. It'll be lots of fun.
Harry Paller, designer and builder of the Technik Avant Garde Model One Signature preamplifier (marketed by The Luxor Group), demonstrated his flagship product in fine style. The unit shown included a phono section, and we listened to a variety of recordings through a Cambridge CD player and a Linn Sondek turntable setup. Amplification alternated between a Quad 405 and Alan Kimmel's hybrid amp, driving IMF Monitor Mk. III's. Thanks to Joe Brunner, Bill Eisen, Karl Mulack, and Rich Sacks for providing the associated equipment.
Harry's design philosophy in his preamp is to minimize noise and match active devices, which he does using a noise analyzer and curve tracer--done by very few manufacturers, yet he firmly believes this is the only way to get consistently good sound. His preamp seems to vindicate his beliefs, being exceptionally neutral and quiet in the musical presentation. Unlike many others in the industry, Harry suggests 80 percent of the sound quality is determined by the active devices (i.e., transistors or tubes), that passive devices such as resistors, connectors, and wires are less important. Yet the dual stepped attenuators in the unit use all Vishay resistors, as apparently they affect the sound, and the quality of parts used throughout the unit, including its large power supply in its own case, is very high. Using a better power cord and so on may be done by the user. The unit has a power conditioner (also available as a separate unit from T.A.G.) built into the power supply.
Jack Shafton - Paradigm and Sonic Frontiers
Please note this will be on June 27th (the fourth Sunday in June, not the third which is Father's Day).
It's also worth noting that this will be Jack's unprecedented fourth presentation to our group. Sounds like this guy's a serious audiophile and cares about us.
Visit our web site for photos of the last two meetings, with captions. We'll try to post photos of each meeting.
Obviously, don't forget about this: Friday, May 14th through Sunday, May 16th. The show runs from 10am to 6pm each day and is held at the Palmer House Hilton downtown. We haven't had a show of this type here before, unless you count the Summer CES thing they had back in '95, which is for the trade only.
Those who have attended past (Stereophile) shows in places such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York will tell you they saw and heard interesting things. We expect this year's show to be just as exciting, and with it here in town, there's all the more reason to attend.
A concert schedule for the three public days is attached, and it's also posted on our web site.
The people at the show have graciously offered a table at the show to our club free of charge, to help us spread the word about our group and get some new members. We are expected to have someone at the table during the public days of the show, to answer questions and hand out flyers. Several of you volunteered at our last meeting to help with this, typically for an hour or so, and we appreciate it. We can use a few more volunteers, so if you'd like to participate and get a chance to meet other audio and music enthusiasts who will be learning about our club for the first time, please let us know as soon as possible. The easiest thing is give one of us a call or send email.
President Vice President Treasurer Secretary
Brian Walsh Rich Sacks Dennis Anderson Terri Novak (w/ moral support from Kevin)
(847) 382-8433 (847) 843-2554 (630) 830-9142 (630) 529-4043
bpwalsh@xnet.com rich2@mediaone.net danders2@vanstar.com