The Golden Ear

Newsletter of the Chicago Audio Society August 2000

Sunday, August 20th - 2:00pm

Don't miss this rare occasion, as Ron Welborne doesn't often visit audio societies. Yet after he hosted the Colorado Audio Society at his place last fall, he said yes to an invitation to visit to our group. Ron will demonstrate some of the tube equipment they make, as well as the much talked about (on the web, such as on audioasylum.com) but seldom seen Oris 150 horn speaker system which use Lowther drivers. Bring friends, music, and questions, and arrive a little early--we expect this meeting will be well attended.

Welborne Labs website: www.welbornelabs.com

Dan Miller of Marantz Ameica demonstrated the Marantz SA-1 Reference Super Audio CD player. Solidly constructed and finished beautifully in gleaming gold with a round glass front readout, the unit looks as good as it sounds. With a suggested price of $7500, it is perhaps the most costly unit currently made, more than the Sony models, yet certainly some will prefer its cosmetics and perhaps its sonics (in all fairness, a side by side comparison in one's own system would seem appropriate for components in this price range). We compared standard CDs played on the SA-1 with the same played on the Aiwa/MSB combo, and the reaction of some was, is this the same CD? The SA-1 certainly made some believers that day.

The rest of the system consisted of Stan Warren modified Aiwa CD changer (as a transport) and MSB Link DAC connected with proprietary interface cable, homebrew and Cardas interconnects, MIT speaker cables, BAT VK-5i preamp, Alan Kimmel's version of a Welborne EL34 based stereo amp, and Audiostatic ES100 speakers.

September 17th - Audio Fair. 11am to 4pm. Audio gear ranging from vintage to modern, plus records, CDs, tubes, accessories, etc. Collectors items and hard to find items. Admission for members will be lower than for the general public; general admission will be $3, $4 for the first hour. Tables available, contact us for the reasonable rates. Two members may share a table if desired. Dealer tables are available as well.

We have a tentative commitment for the October or November meeting, to be announced at this month's meeting.

Twenty eight states have filed in U.S. District Court of New York, accusing the top five record labels of price fixing their prerecorded music CDs and are asking for hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.

We anticipate some articles soon...if you have a favorite genre you care to write about, let us know.

President Vice President Treasurer Secretary

Brian Walsh Rich Sacks Dennis Anderson Bill Sweet

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