Copied from another thread that I doubt anybody would want to wade through to find this. I love the opening line.
"Emma's appeal... Four months and four thousand miles later ... she's been to some interesting places and seen some miraculous sights. And I thought...what would I want to hear if I'd covered that much ground? My answer: Robert Johnson, Taj Mahal, Joe Cocker, Youngbloods, Beatles, and Janis. Friday night... it began quietly and ended up loud -- not window rattling, let's just call it three-beer loud...she wasn't a bit tired (but I was...). I smiled a lot and I believe I heard a few notes (and instruments) I have not noticed before. Saturday was "grading exams day": Moby Grape, George Harrison (All things...), and more Beatles (Yellow sub remastered). The music was played at below-moderate to moderate levels -- I heard lots of detail. I cleared my ears (and head) that night with a gospel choir concert. Sunday ... was a sacred day: Parker, Ellington, Coltrane, Mean Mothers (women and blues 1927-1949), and Otis. The music was primarily mono played at moderate levels. Emma does mono well (see my comment below). Fine musical detail.
My stuff: Mac 6100, 40w tube integrated, musical fidelity xray cd player (with x-10v3), aq cables, tannoy arden speakers (15 inch, dual concentric, horn-loaded,), and Ling II speakers. I had been listening to the tannoys and Ling II's the week before Emma arrived.
"Hear [sic]" follows some preliminary observations: Both Ling and Emma require power -- but if the power is available, there is no problem (except when it's time to pay the tab...) All three speaker pairs image well... the Ling better than the horns, the Emma better than the Ling. With regard to dynamics, perhaps the horns demonstrate (I'm not sure if this is the correct verb) the best dynamics, then Emma, and then the Lings. I suspect (speaker) size (and drivers and crossovers) matters after all. The Emma may have the best soundstage of the three speaker pairs -- deep and wide (especially wide -- two or three times I have been surprised by the soundstage). Bass -- Emma's bass has been previously praised, but (to my ears) perhaps the Ling reproduces better acoustic bass and Emma produces better electric bass. In fact, acoustic and electric may be how I would initially distinguish between Ling and Emma (their sizes and prices accepted): The Ling does acoustic music very, very well and the Emma shines with electric music. (Please note: I have not listened to a cacophony of acoustic music with Emma, yet.) The Ling also seems to do mono better than Emma. Top end: thus far, I like Emma's top "over" the Ling's. I have not decided why (but I am thinking that the Lings sound brighter on top). Mid-range seems may be smoother on the Lings, but I suspect the reason is that I have played a lot of acoustic jazz and acoustic guitar/ piano music on the Lings. I appreciate Emma's bass; it rivals the ardens (but I have yet to play any bass-saturated pieces.) (NB: I have not connected Emma to the 6100...yet... I'll wait until next weekend for that hookup.) I like Emma a lot and I think Tim has created something very fine indeed. That's all for now. See ya!"
Nice review from another Emma customer. Hey, I didn't ever get the Emma's hooked up this weekend. I was buried at work all week and I'm afraid my new pre/pro came in on Thursday and that took up Friday night and most of the weekend to get it right. BUT, boy is it right, now.
I'm helping Nancy set up her system tonight so I'll hear the Emmas with her new NAD C320BEE and the Cambridge Audio 540C. This should be a great set-up and the NAD should power the Emmas very nicely. I'll report further when I've had a listen.
Sorry it disappeared. My notes when I shipped the speakers to ed were the CD was to travel with the speakers so everyone could hear a bit of the same music. The disc was supposed to make its way back to Tim to use an evaluation of what people were using to make comments.
I can still make a copy of the demo disc, if anyone is interested.
BTW, I'm loving the early Elvis CDs from across the Pond. Way too clean, cool and well recorded. Heck, they even sound like Elvis, can you imagine that?
"Can you almost smell the Peanut Butter and Banana sandwiches?"
Almost Nuck - probably what I'll have for lunch - you must be psychic. Don't want to divert this thread, but the DVD-A is "Elvis 30#1 Hits". He's never sounded better to me than on this disc, but there are a few strange mixes, considering some of the original masters were mono I'm not surprised.
JC has not received the remastering attention Elvis' catalog has seen. Probably somewhat due to the fact Elvis stayed with RCA from the time he left Sun Records until he died. Columbia owns most of Cash's catalog and has done several reissues of various collections and brought back a few complete albums. I've not found one that stands out quite like the Elvis material, though most are good to very good quality. In general the quality of the early material from both performers comes from their choice of what to sing. Each pushed the boundaries of their respective fields. While Elvis was the phenom, Cash strode between the country and pop charts. The sound quality comes from the simplicity of the recording process back in the day. Three microphones pushed the limit of studio technology in the mid 1950's and there weren't any effects added beyond some echo on the lead vocals.
Both EP and JC had a first love of Gospel and one of the best collections I can recommend would be a gospel album with Elvis on one side and Cash on the other. It was available on CD also. I can't remember the name and my copy is stuck in a file behind some furniture at the moment. I can't find it in the current catalogs but possibly you could run across this CD in the used bins. Higly recommended. It's difficult to say who is on top here. Overall Cash's performances swing more broadly than Presley's, though Elvis' renditions of "Swing Low Sweet Chariot" and "Joshua Fit the Battle" are timeless and not what any little Catholic kid ever thought of as the appropriate way to do religious music.
There are several versions of Cash's Sun recordings available though I'm not aware of any that have had the careful remastering that you will find on "Elvis at Sun Record Company". This was recently remastered by Sam Philips' son, and on LP is a remarkable achievement in sound.
For just a good all round dose of Cash, I would begin with "Love God Murder" and "Cash Unearthed". Both are box sets which cover most of Cash's career and hit the highlights of his style.
Thanks. I have to admit, they are. I'd been listening to a pair of Emmas for the last few days and this morning I plugged in the Myras. While the Emmas are nice, Myra is on another level.
Thanks for the "heads up" on the JC and EP gospel album. That should be an incredible duo. You are absolutely correct about the quality of the early EP recordings. It's about as clean as music can get and everyone I play them for is blown away by the sweet simplicity and pureness of his voiceand music.
Tim,
"Thanks. I have to admit, they are. I'd been listening to a pair of Emmas for the last few days and this morning I plugged in the Myras. While the Emmas are nice, Myra is on another level."
You're such a tease. LOL
I will come to Seattle eventually and I will hear the Myras and the we'll get a semi-objective opinion. LOL again. Dave.
She is absolutely thrilled. She said that even in the first room with the Emmas sitting on the floor, they sounded many times better than what they replaced.
This weekend she was able to get her living room put together and she put the Emmas on stands and played with their placement and she laid down and listened to music for a couple of hours, something she claims she hasn't done in years.
She says the sound is "amazing." Anyway, I think that's an "atta boy."
And, she just keeps telling me "they're so pretty, too."
No one ever says this about me. LOL
P.S. - Now that it's put together, she's willing to let me drop by and have a decent listen. So, I'll report any change in sound when I get that done.