Focal & ASR & Pro-ject & T.A.C.
Contrary to what many seem to believe, reviewing individual speakers, amplifiers and so forth is not always such a rewarding exercise. Not all the devices are equally inspiring, and many are unenviably challenging, to say the least, in that their sound quality is not worthy of lengthy descriptions, and yet even in those cases the reviewer should find something meaningful to say. Even if the object under review didn't pose these problems, it's useful every now and then to lend one's ear to a whole system - in particular, when the system is carefully and skillfully put together by wise people who know their material because they're working on it on daily basis. These are systems that have a potential not only of sounding exceptionally good but also of teaching us something valuable on eg. synergy between the components.
Here's one such system. The digital source was T.A.C. C-60 CD player. The turntable was Pro-Ject X-tension equipped with with a 12" dynamic balanced Ortofon RS-309D. The cartridge mounted in an Ortofon wooden headshell was Ortofon's A90 MC, currently the most expensive Ortofon MC-cart. From the Pro-ject Express the signal went to a battery powered ASR Basis Exclusive phonostage.
The main amplification of the signal was provided by the mighty four-box ASR Emitter II Exclusive: the main body plus three PSs, one of which is a battery supply powering the driver stage. This amp is really something and would require a much longer story even for an intro. The amp is said to produce 280Wpc into 8 ohms, 500 into 4, and 900 into 2.
Last but not least, the loudspeaker was Focal's smallest - 125 x 39 x 670 cm and 85 kg - floorstanding Utopia speaker, namely the Scala Utopia. It's 92 dB sensitive three-way with one 11" woofer, 6,5" mid-range unit and pure Beryllium inverted dome tweeter, and frequency response from 28Hz to 40kHz (-3dB). Van den Hul Inspiration connected the speaker to the amp. From the TT to the RIAA there was Ortofon's own phono cable, and from the RIAA to the amp Van den Hul Silver. The analogue cable from the CD player was provided by TK Cable.
The system was set up in a room which wasn't extensively acoustically treated but didn't suffer from major room modes. The surface area was 30-40 m2 with a soft carpet and a big sofa.
Sound quality
Well, the sound was of an absolute high quality. No need to get excited, it simply was. It was fabulously smooth, seamless, conspicuously not distorted with a noticeably quiet black background. Competent in numerous ways. Paino, lute, cello ... all were reproduced with a stunning timbral accuracy and finess, and natural dynamics - I stress: natural effortless dynamics, not like an overly explosive show-piece.
Vocal music is telling. For instance, choral music was reproduced splendidly, - one of the best performances in this regard for a long time. One thing I really liked about the sound was that the size of the sound sources (instruments) was realistic, not too preshrunk, not inflated, with an exemplary width/height ratio. With one particular track I felt as if the double bass player were sitting right in between the speakers in 1:1 size but not bigger. Almost scary, and wonderful bass. In general the system exhibited good realism: a cliched saying about having a tangible feeling of the soloists playing in the room was not a platitude with this system.
The bass was powerful without muddying the midrange, melodic with good extension. It was not the tightest I’ve heard but in reasonable terms tight enough. Focal has three grander Utopias - Maestro, Stella and Grand - all with more woofers than the Scala. In this particular room more and more powerful bass would have been superflous.
As always, it was hard to tell what exactly and how much contributed to what aspect of the sound quality. But based on my experience, I’d say that certain transparency, see-through-ness of the sound was due to the amplifier section. And I don't only refer to the system's ability to output all sorts of details contained in the recording. I mean also that the sound had a very good 'nervousness' and surface tension; imagine the sound blinking like neurones on the surface of a neural network.
If you ever have a chance to listen to this system, don't look for obvious mistakes: there aren't any. Think what could perhaps be even better. It's much more fruitful. Two features come to mind. First, the system had, in the room at least, a tendency to slightly push the lower midrange/ midrange forward, just reminding the listener how much energy, especially the speakers have in that region. As a result, the soundstage wasn't pronouncedly three-dimensional and as distanced as it could have been. (The speakers were 0,5 m from the wall behind them). Not unrelatedly, the focus of the sound, the centre image, could have been stronger.
Second minor point concerns pleasingness of the sound. It wasn’t incorrectly pleasant, ie. too forgiving, too rounded etc. Not at all. But it wasn’t an Ensemble system either: fervently fast, pointed, biting, edgy, quarrelsome... musical in that way. This system sounds comprehensive and analytical but not in a sharp and rude way. The sound is universal, impartial between different tastes, and in that sense neat, kind, and polite. Polite does not mean too engineered, grey, colorless but that the system reproduces all kind of music with serenity and sovereignty. In doing that the system does not take major risks, and therefore cannot sound like an ingenious poet on the brink of nervous brakedown.
The sound had many strong points that are not easily noticed while listening to the system but once they are missing, one immediately knows to appreaciate them. One such feature was how calmly and without any stress the system faced big dynamic orchestral music: even during the highest volume peaks it didn’t panic at all; the relieved listener senses that there’s nothing to be afraid of, no need to be embarrassed. Another unforgettable feature was how recordings and tracks that through a minor system often sound uninteresting and indifferent, especially piano and orchestral repertoire, were reborn in the whirlpool of this system.
In some sense the sound of this system was as good – magnificent and touching - as it can get. I know it’s strongly put; there are loudspeakers that alone cost more than this system as a total, 50-60 thousand euros. But the sound of this system is precisely what people would call a high quality highend sound. What extra the money can buy is not a qualitative step upwards, only gradual refinement of certain characteristics. In some sense only the very best non-commercial realizations can compete with this sound. But those are rare, - and expensive.
