Stereophile: Small and Great

Todd Garfinkle of M•A Recordings (right) has built an enviable reputation as one of the finest producers of quality audiophile recordings on the market. The repertoire is remarkably diverse. From performances of Bach organ music and the Chinese GuZheng to such one-of-a-kind gems as Buenos Aires Madrigal and the fabulous Será Una Noch albums, M•A Recordings are as notable for their diversity of instrumentation and repertoire as their full range sound.

Now Garfinkle has pushed the limits of audiophilia with his first hi-res issues. In addition to Será Una Noche as a 96kHz WAV file DVD-ROM (with four bonus 2.8MHz DSD files) and Será Una Noche: La Segunda as a 176.4 kHz WAV file DVD-ROM, M•A. Recordings' has just released Opening, a special double-disc set of Swedish jazz by Mathias Landaeus, Palle Danielsson, and Jon Fält ($40). One of the discs is a One Point stereo CD; the other is a high-res DVD-ROM that contains 176.4kHz WAV files and 88.2kHz FLAC files, as well as the cover image and liner notes. The tracks were recorded on a 5.6MHz master recorder.

Equally exciting was the sound produced by diminutive Davone Rithm speakers ($5595/pair). These attractive babies' low end sounds as if it extends beyond their published frequency range of 40Hz. And the highs extend to 22kHz. Designer Chris Sommovigo (left), who years ago achieved fame for his excellent Illuminati digital cable, had as his goal to bring great sound to "normal people's lives, people who care about how their speakers look."

Chris is also preparing to release a new line of Tombo cables at the 2010 CES specifically designed for SE triode playback. The prototypes I heard, powered by a commercially unavailable SE amp, delivered astoundingly full-range sound without the rolled-off highs and lows and over-emphasized, monochromatic midrange I have come to expect from my SE triode set-ups.

It's great to see M•A Recordings emerge from the vendor area to a room of its own. To quote Chris: "I feel Todd's recordings should be widely used to demo equipment because they're recorded in such a pure way." I'll second that motion.

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Reader Comments

Posted Sun Oct 4, 2009, 11:04 AM — By Chris Sommovigo

Thank you for the kind words about our RMAF room. I've enjoyed this year's show especially well, and enjoyed the opportunity to meet and speak with you. I do wish to correct one small misidentification: Im not the designer of the Davone, but rather just the importer for North America. Paul Schenkel is the Davone's designer, and he (and the company) reside in Denmark. - Chris Sommovigo, The Signal Collection

Posted Mon Oct 5, 2009, 2:24 PM — By Todd Garfinkle

First of all, thank you Jeremy for stopping by our room! It was a pleasure seeing you! But, of course, none of this would have been possible without the Super-Herculean efforts of Marjorie Baumert and her assistant Marcie Miller. These two women are turning out to be saviours in the unfortunately male dominated audio-sandbox. They made it truly exciting for Chris and I to be able to present my HiRez recordings on the simple and elegant sounding gear that he represents. It was a great event and we both look forward to doing it again in the coming years! Thanks again Jeremy! Thanks Marjorie and Marcie! todd/ma

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