The Golden Ear

Newsletter of the Chicago Audio Society October 1999

Sunday, October 17th - 2:00pm

Perhaps you've heard of the TacT Millennium, a digital power amplifier which also serves the purposes of preamplifier and digital/analog converter. Described as not just a combination amplifier and D/A converter in the conventional sense, the Millennium breaks new ground in terms of dynamic capability and other areas. Peter Lyngdorf will explain and demonstrate why the Millennium is special.

He will also talk about and demonstrate the Room Correction System (RCS), which is intended to analyze and correct for anomalies in room acoustics. Not just an equalizer, it should be very interesting.

Please bring some good music (CD) you wish to play.

Bobby Palkovic and Jud Barber, of Merlin Music Systems and Joule Electra respectively, were not able to visit us. They intend to come see us next year, and we anticipate setting a date in the coming weeks.

During an unfortunate delay due to missing some essential pieces, there was some discussion about what members' "wish lists" were for guests and topics, led by Rich Sacks. A few names were mentioned (Audio Research, Magnepan, etc.). We invite other suggestions.

Rich asked how many people in the group own tube equipment, and about 3/4 of them raised their hands. A similar percentage own home theater equipment, either as separate systems or integrated with their music systems. Very few listen only to LP; the question may not have been asked about how many listen to both LP and CD.

There was also some discussion about dealer participation in meetings. This sometimes hotly debated topic was deferred for further discussion in the future since there wasn't a clear consensus.

When the music finally got going, we listened to a variety of recordings, mostly on LP but also on CD. Those who came expecting to hear output transformerless (OTL) amplifiers experienced a unique combination: a Fourier Triode (stereo) amp and a pair of Atma-Sphere MA-1's, driving the full range and subwoofer panels of Audiostatic ES100/SW100 speakers respectively. There was plenty of heat coming off all those glowing bottles! Ask anyone who was there about the sound! (we finally packed up around 6pm).

November 21st - to be announced.

December 19th - Christmas party, music of the season, lots of goodies, and officer elections.

January 16th - James Ginsburg (Cedille Records). One of Chicago's hidden treasures!

Down the road: Ron Welborne (Welborne Labs), Jim Ricketts (tmh Audio: Wavac, Kochel, etc.), Tash Goka (Reference 3A), and lots more yummies to whet your appetite! (suggestions always welcome)

As reported on our web site, a couple things of events related to Stereophile. We wish the respective people the best in their future endeavors and will be keenly watching Stereophile to see what the future brings.

J. Gordon Holt, founder and chief tester of Stereophile, is no longer affiliated with the magazine. Some of Gordon's earlier writings will be featured in the Archives section of the Stereophile web site, while he will be writing some articles to appear in The Absolute Sound.

And a bit of news just in: Larry Archibald, former owner (in large part) of Stereophile, has been asked to step down from the publication. Larry is now affiliated with another organization which is attempting to get into high end retailing and electronic commerce.

The annual Winter Consumer Electronics Show will be held in Las Vegas from January 6th through 9th, 2000. Registration for this trade show, which includes a not to be missed array of high end audio exhibits, can be done most conveniently by visiting the show web site at www.cesweb.org, or contact us for a registration form.

President Vice President Treasurer

Brian Walsh Rich Sacks Dennis Anderson

(847) 382-8433 (847) 843-2554 (630) 830-9142

bpwalsh@xnet.com rich2@mediaone.net