I had attended that first New Appalachians recording session, sitting quietly in the former church in Greenpoint, Brooklyn in which David Chesky made this exciting binaural recording. I sat there listening, shaking my head and mumbling, "Game over! Elacs win!" I was having one of those rare musical and audio epiphanies. When I played "Will the Circle be Unbroken," from the New Appalachians' From the Mountaintop (24-bit/192kHz, Chesky), it all came togetherfor the Elac Debuts and for me. It seemed unbelievable: Suddenly, there was heavy-duty thump and pluckand much cleaner tweet and twang. To my complete surprise, the 6-ohm Elac Debut B6es thrived on 22W of class-A, single-ended-triode power. Nevertheless, the Elac B6es had moved Mel Tormé's performances forward with greater ease than did the Technics. ![]() ![]() Every octave became a lot more clear and articulate. When I switched to the Technics SB-C700s, the detail and color of Bennett's bass notes were fleshed out even more than through the KEFs. His staccato pizzicatiwhich had, just a moment before, ferried the song along so cheerfullynow sounded slightly drunk and thick tongued. However, I was surprised to hear that Max Bennett's bass lines were now less tautly sprung. Howard McGee's trumpet was more realistically toned. When I replaced the Debut B6es with the KEF LS50s, Tormé's voice became fuller and chestiermore natural. Was it a peak or a dip in the midrange? Maybe somewhere else, too? Closer to 2kHz? I couldn't yet say with any certainty, but I definitely noticed something. However, something I couldn't quite identify sounded a teensy bit strange. This record has seldom been more enjoyable. With the B6es I felt closer to the Velvet Fog and understood his perverse humor: "Don't step on my blue suede lips (Horrible thought, isn't it?)." I even felt more of the microphone and more of that boozy Crescendo Club air. The Elacs made Tormé's interpretation more delightful and quirky, more "Mel," than did those other estimable loudspeakers. I played this song repeatedly, switching among the Elac Debut B6es, the Technics SB-C700s, and my KEF LS50s. ![]() Never have I smiled more than while listening to Tormé's rendition of Cole Porter's "It's Alright with Me," from his Live at the Crescendo Club (LP, Affinity AFFD 100). He smiles as he sings, and I always smile back. For the listener's pleasure, he treats old standards and familiar jazz ballads like the tasty, irony-soaked truffles they are, giving them a life they never had before. Mel Tormé occupies a most special place in my record collection. I might be able to forgive you for liking Paul more than John, George, or Ringo, but if you don't grasp the genius of Mel Tormé, only God can save you. My only complaint was how, compared to the KEF or the Technics, all of the left-hand octaves lacked weight and body. My notes: "It sounds more luxurious and well-formed than it does through the KEF LS50s or the Technics SB-C700s!" The main thing I noticed was how water-clear and relaxed the sound was: open, not grainy or stiff. To my surprise, the Debut B6es did nothing to curtail the decorative opulence of Goyescas, a suite for piano inspired by the paintings of Francisco Goya and subtitled Los majos enamorados (The Gallants in Love). Instead, it spins and turns, building up into a shimmering wall of vibrating sonic splendor. Granados's music doesn't unfold logically or thematically. His palette of pianistic colors saturated the air between the Elacs like an arabesque in the Alhambra, in Granada. ![]() This artfully produced recording of piano rolls, played by a 1923 player piano recorded in stereo, shows Granados to be a very Spanish composer capable of the most luminous and imaginative harmonies. Welte & Soehne, Paris, 1913 (CD, Pierian 0002). The first recording I took notes on was Enrique Granados's The Composer as Pianist: His Recordings for M.
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