SERVICE,
SALES...
DID WE SAY
SERVICE?
Contact: Editor@aslgroup.com
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
ASL beehive
Charlie’s column
Cambre’ Core racks
RMAF demo info
Special points of
interest:
• Did you know that
Burmester makes their
own screws?
• Charlie Krone. VP/customer
service, maybe HIS screws
are too tight! (see page 3)
• Meet Katie Pritchard, our
general secretary/
receptionist (see page 2)
Audiophilia
Audiophile Systems STRONGEST EVER
the abso!ute sound Editor’s Choices!
The 2008 Editor’s Choice (the
abso!ute sound, October, 2008
issue) award winners are out,
and all our brands are winners!
Burmester, dCS, Nordost,
Nottingham Analogue, and
Piega took home the prizes for
the best goodies available.
2
3 Alphabetically, Burmester
Audiosysteme cleaned up on
3
the heavy-duty stuff. Harry
4 Pearson commented about the
911 MKIII power amp,
“...neutral at any and all of the
Hertz, which it reproduces
with a lucidity and impact not
at all common in solid state
designs. One of my favorite
amps. Truly, for me, a refer-
ence.” Not bad from a guy
familiar with a lot of stuff with
much higher ticket prices!
HP also adored the 011 pre-
amp, said, “Just plug it in and
forget about worrying over
anything but the music. One
of the best solid-state designs
dCS’ Puccini even makes QSound sound good!
Audiophiles may remember
QSound, a 3D technology that
appeared on stereo recordings
beginning in the early 90s. The
company is still very active in
the lower-end consumer elec-
tronics market. To see the
albums recorded with the ef-
fect, go to www.qsound.com,
click on ’Partners’, ’Who’s
on the market. Period.” Of
the 069 CD player, Tony
Cordesman said, “A contender
for the absolute top of the
state of the art in every aspect
of CD listening—imaging, de-
tail, dynamics, bass, and upper
Burmester 911 MKIII power amp
octaves—and superbly built
and finished.” “Gets the best
out of ‘ordinary’ CDs, and not
just the best recordings.”
dCS was given raves by Jona-
than Valin in his summary of
both the Scarlatti system and
Puccini single-box CD/SACD
machines. The editors said,
Using QSound’ and ’Recording
Artists’.
I recently listened to Roger
Water’s Amused to Death
(1992) on my Puccini-headed
system (as a digital preamp
driving Arcam FMJ P1 mono
amps to Piega TP 7 towers).
This is an album I have experi-
Volume 1, Issue 2
October 1, 2008
“Of all the digital gear JV has
reviewed or tested, the Scar-
latti and Puccini come closer
to sounding ‘complete’ - to
fully blending many of the vir-
tues of analog (minus a bit of
three-dimensionality and
bloom) with those of digital,
particularly in CD playback.
All told, these are the most
lifelike digital components JV
has heard.”
Nordost scored big with HP
on the Supreme Reference
Odin cable products,. He said,
“...significantly ahead of the
hallowed Valhalla…”
“...considerable strengths in
lucidity, dynamic replication,
and what sounds, to these
ears, like a complete tonal
neutrality, without character
or any audible perturbations.”
The much more affordable
Baldur Norse series cables, and
Blue Heaven Rev II Flatline
series cables (cont’d on page 2)
enced over the years on many
systems, but never with the
precision of placement that the
Puccini evinces. As QSound
affects phase relationships,
absolute phase coherency
throughout a system is re-
quired to experience maximum
effect. The P1s and TP 7 are
good, but (cont’d on page 2)
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2
Audiophile Systems STRONGEST EVER the
abso!ute sound Editor’s Choices! (cont’d)
also took home honors. Of the Baldur,
originally reviewed by Neil Gader, the
editors said, “”Baldur brings much of
the balance and harmonic integrity of
state-of-the-art Valhalla to prices even
‘normal’ audiophiles (as opposed to
normal people) can afford.” “...an over-
all balance and musicality that are ad-
dictive.” Of the Blue Heaven, also re-
viewed by Neil Gader, the editors said,
“...the Blue Heaven Interconnects and
cables excel at low-level detail, upper-
octave smoothness, and transient
speed.” “Note that it may be a bit on
the cool clinical side for some treble-
happy systems, but remains ideal for
neutral and darker ones.”
Nottingham Analogue scored with
the Space 294 turntable/tonearm
combo, originally reviewed by Chris
Martens and winner of a Product of the
ASL Beehive—who’z who heah. Bzzzzzzzz.
Meet Katie Pritchard, caught here in jewel. Her people skills have been
one of her more pensive moments, our forged and tempered by years of run-
beloved general secretary and recep- ning a redneck bar. So, anytime you
tionist. Many of you have spoken to need some real muscle, perhaps to
Katie when
calling ASL, and
now you know
why so many of “...anytime you need
your calls and some real muscle,
messages have
gotten lost and perhaps to ‘persuade’ control
scrambled. that difficult client,
Katie is a true call Katie!”
dCS Puccini even makes QSound sound good!
(continued)
definitely not as near perfection as is
the Puccini, so I must give kudos to the
nearly perfect phase coherence of the
dCS piece.
I have a few other QSound recordings,
Sting’s The Soul Cages, The Corr’s For-
given, Not Forgotten album, and one
other (yes, dammit, it is Madonna’s The
Immaculate Collection! ...but I don’t
listen to it...much.) I find the effects on
strictly music albums to be distracting
Page 2
Year Award in 2007. Editorial com- “Forget British mini-monitors, the Piega
ment was, “...a beautiful analog play- is the champ when it comes to pinpoint
back platform that offers very good imaging, precision and stability.”
speed stability and
nearly noise-free
operation.” “The
system strikes a
fine balance be-
tween resolution
and musicality.”
Finally, Piega won
with their TC 10X
reference small
monitor. Origi-
nally reviewed by
Dick Olsher, edi-
tors said,
“Detailed, yet re-
Nordost Baldur analogue interconnects
laxed, the Piega
caresses musical lines with speed, fi-
nesse, and no artificial aftertaste.” Congratulations to all winners!
tracking and stock availability and
status. Finally, Katie keeps us all sane
here, which explains a lot about ASL.
’persuade’ that difficult
client, call Katie!
Her other skills (really
now!) include inventory
and ordering, data
base management, dealer
account maintenance, and
supplying inventory infor-
mation including order
(high hat taps alternating to oppo-
site sides of the room ain’t real!)
But on Amused to Death, Roger
Waters tells stories that require
off-stage voices and effects. If you
have a Puccini in your store and a
Pink Floyd/Roger Waters fan on
the hook, whip out Amused to
Death and give the customer a treat
he may never be able to hear with-
out the
Puccini! dCS Puccini CD/SACD player
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2
Page 3

WAY too much information...from Charlie

Charlie Krone, ASL Vice President for being said, folks out there may be fond single file to squeeze through the
Customer Service, is at the sharp edge of a non-Nottingham threads. You actually
of our drive to continue being the best arm. There - I said FUSE THE METAL
in the industry at taking care of our it. And it’s OK– BACK TOGETHER.
customers. He recently took some breathe deep, and (Man, you’re strong…)
time out of his busy day to respond to tell me what arm But you shouldn’t. No,
questions about customer service, and you have. I’ll tell you no. Breathe deep. Sit
this is a continuation of our interview if it works with a in front of your system
from the last issue of Audiophilia- Nottingham table, or and spin your Tiny Tim
if we can order record that you like so
something that will much. Does it sound
Audiophilia: “What are the most com- make it work with a strained and difficult to
mon operational questions that you see Nottingham table. listen to? Of course it
that are not well addressed by the does - it’s Tiny Tim.
owner’s manual?” But even so, if you have
Torque. When you executed your Hercu-
build something, you lean-stranglehold on
The Krone: “We represent several want to build it to
lines, so I’ll pick one from each. the grub screws that fix
last, right? Your the arm in place, you
Nottingham Analogue: Arms, arms, new Ace Space deck
arms. “What arms work with this ta- may be doing the same
has arrived, and boy to the sound - stran-
ble?” Nottingham makes their own are you jacked. You
tonearms. Nottingham makes spec- gling it. Back ‘em up an
screw every screw 1/8th of a turn. (cont’d
tacular tonearms. I can’t stress enough until oxygen mole-
how much I like their tonearms. That below)
cules have to line up Charlie Krone, VP for customer service

Product focus—Cambre’ Core Audio and Video Racks

Gotta love the National Research bre’ engineers and designers to opti-
Council in Canada. They fund research mize their resonance-controlling tech-
to help Canadian manufacturers, and niques. Both the Acoustic Damping
really jump-started the Canadian loud- Grooves (ADG) that are routed into
speaker manufactur- the underside of the
ing industry with the Core rack shelves, and
help of Dr. Floyd E. the Core’s solid-tube
Toole, 2008 CEDIA “Both the Acoustic Damping Grooves support columns that
Lifetime Achieve- (ADG)...and the Core’s solid-tube limit resonance propa-
ment Award winner. gation, were developed
support columns that limit resonance and fully tested with
The NRC still funds propagation, were developed and fully NRC assistance. The
a lot of research, tested with NRC assistance.” Core racks simply
and helped the Cam- sound better!

Cambre’ Core Audio Rack

WAY too much information...from Charlie (cont’d)

Listen again. Loosen the collet screw a
pinch. Now - perk your ears up to
those tulips through which you are tip-
toeing. Don’t they smell a lot better?
Nordost: I am pretty sure that a man-
ual for a cable would be like instruc-
tions how to laugh. There is an arrow
on the cable. Make sure it points in the
direction of signal flow. I’ll hunt you
down predator-style if you don’t.
Audiophilia: Are there any important func-
tions on any of our products that are not system. If something were to be set
being optimized due to unused set-up up incorrectly in a menu, there would
options? in most cases be no sound.
The Krone: No. Seriously! The per- Audiophilia: Would you like to kill me yet?
formance of dCS, Burmester, Notting-
ham and Nordost are based upon the
marriage of equipment, the acoustics of The Krone: Sure, is now okay?
the room in which they are optimized,
and the physical placement of the
speakers. These are our ‘set-up’ op-
tions - and they are all dialed in by the
highly-skilled dealer who installed the
 Audiophilia is an occasional publication of Audiophile Systems LTD.
Volume 1, Number 2, October 1, 2008

Executive Editors: Tony Gregory, CEO and Karen Richardson, President

Managing Editor: Parker King
Contributors: Charlie Krone, VP/customer service, Parker King, Katie Pritchard,
Paula Harris
8709 Castle Park Drive
Indianapolis, IN 46256
Phone: 317-841-4100 All content is the sole property of Audiophile Systems LTD. and is for the sole use
Fax: 317-841-4107
General e-mail: aslgroup@aslgroup.com of our dealers and representatives.

Audiophile Systems LTD is a premier importer, distributor and sales company for
SERVICE, SALES... high-end audio electronics. Our primary focus is the retrieval and transmission of
DID WE SAY SERVICE? all musical information from any music storage medium, including computer files,
digital discs, and vinyl discs. For 35 years, our customers have looked to us for the
Expression transported. ultimate in performance and consumer satisfaction.

Audiophilesystems.com

Rocky Mountain Audio Fest October 10-12

The 5th Rocky Mountain Audio Fest will be treated to one, and perhaps two surprises ucts in high-end display room 9030. Heir-
held at two hotels: the Denver Marriott at RMAF, stop in room 538 at the Marriott. loom Audio of Denver, in room 565 of the
Tech Center Hotel and the Hyatt Regency Nordost will be prominently featured Marriott ,will also be showing the abso!ute
Tech Center on October 10-12, 2008.
Furniture will be removed from over 160
of the hotels' sleeping rooms and manufac-
turers will set up complete stereo systems
for attendees to audition. You are encour-
aged to go from room to room, have a seat
and casually listen. In fact, feel free to bring
your own discs or records to the show, as
most exhibitors will be more than happy to
play one or two songs of your favorite
music. Be sure to visit all the ASL group
product demos in locations below and all
around the show. Denver Marriott Tech Center Hotel

Burmester Audiosysteme will be show-

casing their newest products in room 594
of the Marriott; the 077 preamp, 082 inte-
grated, and extending the “B” series tower
loudspeaker lineup to more moderate
price ranges will be prominently featured.
Audiophile Systems dealers for dCS will be
throughout the show, Besides their mas-
sive display in the Humboldt Peak meeting
room on the Mezzanine level of the Mar-
riott, Nordost and Boulder dealer The
Audio Federation will be showing Odin
Supreme Reference and Reference prod-
sound 2007 product of the year Notting-
ham Analogue Space 294 turntable, as
well as the amazing Quantum Resonant
Technology Qx4 and Nordost Norse
series cables and power cords.
Enjoy the show!