McIntosh, Vienna Acoustics, & Transparent’s Playlist

Posted on March 8, 2013 by Jennifer Griffin

McIntosh showed their new D100 DAC with two new USB cables from Transparent Audio, the MCD500 CD player, a C50 Pre-amp and the MC601 mono amplifiers.  Vienna Acoustics brought their beautiful new prototype of the Beethoven Imperial Grand loudspeakers. Their 24/48khz orchestra recording demonstrated the depth and nuance available from this remarkable combination — the music was alive, rich, full and very detailed.

McIntosh Playlist

  • The Dave Brubeck Quartet, Take Five, from the Time Out album.
  • Alison Krauss and Union Station, The Lucky One, from the album New Favorite.
  • Paul McCartney, Jenny Wren, from the album Chaos And Creation In The Backyard.

 Vienna Playlist

  • Dave Brubeck, CD – Time Out, Track: Take Five
  • Allison Krauss – Union Station, CD – New Favorite, Track: The Lucky One
  • Paul McCartney, CD – Chaos and Creation in the Backyard, Track: Jenny Wren
  • Yello, CD – Touch, Track: Stay
  • Jeffrey Gains, CD – Always Be, Track: In Your Eyes (Live and Studio)
  • Peter Gabriel, 24bit / 48kHz So, Track: In Your Eyes
  • Peter Gabriel, 24bit / 48kHz New Blood, Track: In Your Eyes

More playlists coming next week!

 

 

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Wilson Audio & Audio Research Playlist

Posted on March 6, 2013 by Jennifer Griffin

Last Thursday at Music Matters in Seattle, Wilson Audio demonstrated their new Alexia loudspeakers, paired up with Audio Research Reference 250 Mono amplifiers, an AMG turntable and Transparent Audio cables. The combination produced a smooth, articulate midrange that created a feeling of an “in the room” musical experience.

If you enjoyed the music played in this room, the playlist is as follows:

  • Alison Krauss + Union Station: So Long So Wrong, track: It Doesn’t Matter
  • Sonos, Sonos Sings — track 1, Re: Stacks (Bon Iver cover)
  • Regina Spektor, What We Saw from the Cheap Seats, track 4, Firewood
  • Ryan Adams, Ashes and Fire, track 3, Come Home
  • Dubxanne, Police in Dub, track 2, Roxanne (Police Cover)
  • Peter McGrath’s personal recordings

More playlists from Music Matters coming up throughout the week!

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Bowers & Wilkins, Classe, and Stereophile Playlist

Posted on March 4, 2013 by Jennifer Griffin

Last Thursday, Bowers & Wilkins and Classé demonstrated their outstanding Nautilus speaker with the Classé CP-800 pre-amp and four CA-D200 power amplifiers, providing 8 discrete channels of amplification.

The unique and stunning Nautilus speaker has remained in it’s original form from 20 years ago. We were treated to a Jazz recording that Stereophile Editor, John Atkinson, engineered with the Nautilus-Classé system, which demonstrated the effortless delivery of every octave and the very natural sense of air around each instrument.

If you enjoyed the music played in this room, the full playlist is as follows:

John Atkinson’s Playlist:
Overture to Cooperstown Opera, composed by Sasha Matson, from 24-bit/88.2k WAV files, not yet released

Theme and variation 5 from Schumann’s Posthumous Etudes for piano, Stereophile CD to be released in May, 24/882k WAV files

Lux Aurumque by Eric Whitacre, performed by Cantus on “While You are Alive” CD, Cantus CTS-1208, 24/88.2k WAV files

Night and Day, from Bunk Dogger’s “First Offense” MP3 file ripped from RCA LP.

Dave Nauber, Classe Playlist
“The Sound of Silence” from Art Garfunkel’s two disc set called The Singer

Mussorgsky/Ravel: Pictures at an Exhibition – The Hut of Baba-Yaga (Eiji Oue: Minnesota Orchestra, Ravel Orchestrations)

David Baker, Bowers & Wilkins Playlist
“Carnival is Over”  – Into the Labyrinth

“Don’t Give Up” with John Legend and Pink from Herbie Hancock – The Imagine Project

 

More playlists from Music Matters coming up throughout the week!

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Thank you for attending Music Matters

Posted on March 1, 2013 by Definitive Audio

Last night was certainly our most successful Music Matters 8 yet.  We’d like to take this opportunity to say thank you to the 500+ enthusiastic music-lovers who joined us, along with the manufactures that take time out of their busy schedule to attend to this special event!

Definitive began with the idea that music does matter — and music well reproduced is something that almost everyone can appreciate. Every year, we are pleased to provide this special opportunity to see and hear what is new and exciting.

For those who couldn’t make this year’s event, we invite you to join us in February next year. Until then, happy listening.

Mark Ormiston

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Musical memories

Posted on February 28, 2013 by Jennifer Griffin

McIntosh is thrilled to be taking part in the Music Matters event at Definitive Audio for the first time this year. The Seattle area is extremely fortunate to have a dealer like Definitive who puts so much dedication into choosing the best quality entertainment products and impeccably displaying them in their impressive facilities. The Definitive Music Matters event is arguably the most professionally run event of its kind, anywhere in the country.

Music has been an important part of my life since I was about 12 years old. Songs that I am familiar with will often bring back memories from the time when the song first impacted my life. Through the years new songs and new artists have filled in the timeline and built exciting links to the past. McIntosh is also a significant part of my past musical experience. I heard my first McIntosh system in 1977 and it forever changed my life as from then on I was on a quest to have a music system that could bring me the listening pleasure that I experienced when I was listening to my favorite music on a McIntosh. I’m pleased to say that I have finally achieved that goal and I still get excited when I get to spend time listening to music on my McIntosh system. And the music that I am discovering today will weave into the tapestry of the music that has defined my life.

McIntosh has become the global leader in prestige home entertainment and ultimate-quality audio components. We are fiercely proud of our American heritage and made-in-America status and virtually all McIntosh components are still made in the USA. McIntosh products reflect an unmatched level of performance, superlative engineering and craftsmanship. Our products have been the choice of generations of musicians, recording artists and producers, no doubt as a result of the impeccable musical performance of a McIntosh system.

I sincerely hope that you will enjoy listening to the McIntosh system at Music Matters and that I will leave a musical memory for you to reflect upon in the future.

Happy listening!

Mark LeClair
Regional Sales Manager
McIntosh Labs

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