Alright, my thanks for listening to Rick Braun and band--not the acoustic ensemble of the golden era--but likable. How about "Fourplay" with Bob James? Just like to know how the cool/smooth jazz of today rates with the purists.
Synergistic Red Fuse ...
I installed a SR RED Quantum fuse in my ARC REF-3 preamp a few days ago, replacing an older high end fuse. Uhh ... for a hundred bucks, this little baby is well worth the cost. There was an immediate improvement upon installation, but now that its broken in (yes, no kidding), its quite remarkable. A tightening of the focus, a more solid image, and most important of all for my tastes, a deeper appreciation for the organic sound of the instruments. Damn! ... cellos sound great! Much improved attack on pianos. More humanistic on vocals. Bowed bass goes down forever. Next move? .... I'm doing the entire system with these fuses. One at a time though just to gauge the improvement in each piece of equipment. The REF-75se comes next. I'll report the results as the progression takes place. Stay tuned ...
Any comments from anyone else who has tried these fuses?
Any comments from anyone else who has tried these fuses?
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jafreeman .. The next time you listen to "cool" jazz, listen for all of the artificial artifacts the recording engineer added to the sound. Its totally unnatural. A perfect example is the music of Kenny G. Personally, I can't stand to listen to the guy because his recordings are so off-putting. However, years ago, I heard him play as a featured guest on the Arsenio Hall Show without all of the electronic enhancements. Well, to my utter surprise, the guy can really play that sax. He was great. If his recordings sounded that good, I'd buy them ... especially if they were of the old school ballads. If you have a source like Spotify, where entire albums can be downloaded for free, try some of these suggestions to see what we're talking about: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Little-Band-Big-Jazz-Hollywood-1960-Conte-Candoli-Audio-CD-/311589910238?has... http://www.ebay.com/itm/CHICO-HAMILTON-QUINTET-PACITIC-JAZZ-1225-JAZZ-LP-/371069884277?hash=item5665... http://www.ebay.com/itm/Paul-Quintet-Horn-Something-Blue-CD-New-/141597515341?hash=item20f7de9e4d:g:... http://www.ebay.com/itm/CANNONBALL-ADDERLEY-BILL-EVANS-KNOW-WHAT-I-MEAN-LTD-RM-BONUS-LP-/29164615518... http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cal-Tjader-Latin-Kick-Fantasy-3250-RED-VINYL-/381207291272?hash=item58c1b9a5... http://www.ebay.com/itm/DAVE-BRUBECK-QUARTET-JAZZ-IMPRESSIONS-OF-THE-U-S-A-NM-LP-COLUMBIA-6-EYE-CL-9... Those are just a few examples. Some are available on CD and some are not. Some are in stereo and some are only available in mono. ALL of them put the musicians in the room in a very natural presentation. And ALL of them are recordings of great jazz and great jazz artists in their prime. And dare I say it ... the SR Black fuses bring out more of the accurate, natural sound of the instruments. Happy listening ... |
As Frank said in an earlier post, it's all just a matter of taste. The term "cool jazz" is often synonymous with "West Coast jazz". MIles Davis "Birth Of The Cool" is credited as the orgin of this genre. Smooth jazz is an entirely different genre from Cool jazz. West Coast/Cool is beautiful music IMO. Smooth jazz doesn't stimulate me nearly as much. To each there own. Charles, |
Charles ... I agree on the West Coast jazz.; its very melodic. All of the albums I recommended above are prime examples of it. I use Spotify to play recommended recordings before I consider buying anything that has been recorded over the past 20 years or so ... including new recordings. For example, those recommended in Stereophile and TAS, or here on this site in the "music" forum. So many of them sound as though the recording occurred in a cave. I think some vocalists are recorded this way to cover a lack of talent. Sarah Vaughn, Billy Holliday, and Dinah Washington weren't recorded like this, right? What some of these guys are listening to, and recommending, have been totally butchered by the recording engineer and/or the mastering engineer. You hear this stuff at audio shows all the time. To hear it done right, check out almost anything mastered by Kevin Gray. He's done almost all of the reissues for Impex records. The Julie London and the June Christy albums are prime examples of Kevin's excellent mastering. If anyone reading this attends the audio shows, a visit to Ralph Karsten's room (Atmosphere), or Randy Cooley's room (Optimal Enchantment) should be on the short list. These two guys know great music and great recordings ... and that's what they play at the shows. Just as a side note ...one of the very best sounding recordings in my entire collection was recorded by Ralph. Its a small chorale group singing upbeat folk songs. Its uncannily real. I love playing it for the digital download guys just to demonstrate how good vinyl can sound. Jafreeman ... I hope you'll take advantage of the recommended recordings I listed. They are really something else. Take care ... |
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