Natural beauty audiofile
Audiophile terms are not that hard to appreciate. Sounds are described either as “murky” (if the music being recreated is incoherent) or “liquid” (if the music is intelligible); “silky” if the music seems to fill the listener with musical bliss, or “warm” if the sound glows, giving it a sort of goose-bump feel.
When audiophiles describe their systems’ sonic quality as musical, it means that the sounds of their speakers are distinct notes recreating a musical piece in perfect harmony. It also means that their respective sound systems have matured into efficient sonic gadgets from which they no longer hear just mere sounds of moving air with only a tinge of melody. But what if somebody claims that, from a long-playing album of a live concert, he could actually feel the performers’ sweat and the electrifying mood of an audience in a trance? Or he could almost smell the fragrant breath of Diana Krall as she sings All Or Nothing At All?
It may seem like an exaggeration, but this is how businessman Robert Tan attests to the strengths of the various models of the Transfiguration moving coil cartridges that he exclusively distributes in the Philippines. You won’t see Robert more animated than when he discusses why Transfiguration carts are sought among audiophiles the world over, and are to date still without rival since their entry in the market in the ‘80s.
At 60, Robert has witnessed how different high-fidelity audio gear has come and gone. He was among the early hi-fi distributors who were instrumental in bringing high-end brands of audio gadgets to the country, such as the world-famous Dalquist and Genesis line of speaker systems. Robert is also one of the few to possess so-called golden ears — he can discern minute or subtle sonic changes in every passage of a musical track.
Could he have really exaggerated when he described the sonic character of his Transfiguration products? The only way for me to find out was to try them out. He lent me the three Transfiguration MC cartridge models — the entry-level Axia, the mid-level Phoenix and the high-end Orpheus. As soon as the styli of the Axia touched the groove of my LP album “Royal Ballet,” pure, unadulterated music flowed freely and effortlessly, track after track. The same held true for the “Phoenix” and “Orpheus” albums, leading me to conclude that the house sound of the Transfiguration carts ranked high in accuracy and neutrality. You get more musical details as you climb up the Transfiguration’s product ladder.
Transfiguration carts are purveyors of natural musicality; I actually felt like I was part of the Royal Ballet audience. While I stand pat on my earlier review ranking Swiss-made Benz Micro Glider M as the cart to beat in its price range, the more pricey Transfiguration cartridges have a lot more to offer in terms of accuracy. Transfiguration cartridges projected holographic voices of male and female singers when listening to my LP album, “LA Jazz Choir,” giving me a sense of real persons performing right in my own music room. In my system, Transfiguration carts offered sonic images of neutrality. Jo Stafford exhibited her luxurious and full-bodied vocals, the sound of Harry James’ trumpet floated from its highest to the lowest of frequencies, while James Newton Howard’s synthesizer was transformed into a full dynamo of a musical machine.
Transfiguration carts enjoy the Immutable Music Inc.’s patented yokeless ring-magnet generator, the construction of which places the moving coil at the focal point of the magnetic flux field. This invariably reduces phase errors, which usually result in distortion, that are generated by the magnet-pole-pieces construction of other carts. This may be the possible explanation for the high level of focus and natural resolution in all Transfiguration MC carts. Smooth and transient; the sound of the attack and decay of sound instruments is simply awesome!
Robert was right: Transfiguration carts give you nothing less than naturally beautiful music.
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For comments or questions, please e-mail me at audioglow@yahoo.com or at vphl@hotmail.com. You can also visit www.wiredstate.com or you can tweet audiofiler at www.twitter.com for quick answers to your audio concerns.
