User Details - Johnno

recommendations

Name:
   John Marchington
Details:
  
Location:
   New Zealand
HiFi:
   Sony SCD-XA5400ES SACD player. Used in stereo only. Full Vacuum State Electronics upgrade, including Terra Firma Lite clock.
Denon DSD-SA1 stereo-only SACD player
Sony SCD-XB940 stereo-only SACD player (extensively modified by Vacuum State Electronics -- up to L5)
Sony XE597 multichannel SACD player (modified by Vacuum State Electronics, including Terra Firma Lite clock)
PureAudio Pre-amplifier auto-selection of input - no switch - no tone controls
John Linsley Hood Class-A monoblocks (one per channel). 40-50 watt output. Home-made -- superb!
Acoustat SPECTRA 6600 electrostatic speakers.
Email:
   johnm@paradise.net.nz
Web:
  
Posts:
   827
 
 
Reviews
Found: 8 show all
Alfred Schnittke: Film Music Vol. 1 - Strobel        (5 of 5 found this review helpful)
  May 18, 2006

This is a truly magnificent disc -- quite awesome in fact. The first soundtrack "The Story of an Unknown Actor" has shades of Bernard Herrmann (not his sci-fi side) and lasts for about 18 minutes, while the forty seven and a half minute "Commissar" is made of somewhat sterner stuff -- often very ... more
Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 6 - Jurowski          (4 of 4 found this review helpful)
  April 16, 2006

Like Edvin, I approached this disc with high expectations after hearing the Tchaikovsky Suite No. 3 and Stravinsky "Fairy's Kiss" Divertimento from the same forces and ended up being somewhat disappointed. First things first. I took this disc up to a friend's place for my initial listen. He has a ... more
Jeff Wayne: The War of the Worlds        (6 of 6 found this review helpful)
  July 12, 2005

I don't have a multichannel system so these comments are based on SACD in stereo only. Having said that, I'm absolutely staggered at the change from the original RBCD I have. Not only is the sound so much cleaner than before but the increase in clarity is amazing and I've been hearing all sorts of ... more
Beethoven & Mendelssohn: Violin Concertos - Heifetz/Munch        (2 of 2 found this review helpful)
  December 9, 2004

Amazing, perhaps, I had never encountered these classic recordings before purchasing the "RCA Living Stereo" SACD set and so it was a wonderful experience for me to hear them for the first time. The Beethoven is truly exceptional and it is one of the two or three finest performances of the work I ... more
Chopin: Etudes Opp. 10, 25 - Perahia      (4 of 6 found this review helpful)
  August 1, 2004

All I can do is agree wholeheartedly with Darland. This is a truly magnificent disc, with playing of incredible virtuosity and a recording that is technically truly sublime, with as realistic piano timbre as I have heard without actually being there. The works themselves are glorious too, so this ... more
 
 
Latest Posts
Pentatone: Remastered Classics - add your own wishes
July 20, 2015
Hi Chris, Where do you download your DSD files from? Sadly one US supplier I deal with and who has a number of DSD64 and DSD128 albums available will not allow me in New Zealand to download them - or, indeed, any PCM formats either. I believe the average DSD64 album is about 3 GHz in size while a DSD128 one is roughly twice that. Clearly a ... more
That Time of the Year ...
July 20, 2015
I hadn't realised that "La Vallée des Cloches" from "Miroirs" had been orchestrated. Is the orchestration by the composer? ... more
Karajan Beethoven: Symphonies Nos 1-9 & Overtures 24bit 96kHz
July 20, 2015
I've just checked it out and it's not available for me either (New Zealand). In addition, there are a couple of other download sites that don't seem to like us. ... more
Discussion: Scriabin: Symphony No. 1 & The Poem of Ecstasy - Pletnev
June 23, 2015
I've got the Muti cycle too. Nevertheless, the recent Pentatone SACDs are so darn good that I'm sure, at least technically, the Pletnev will be stunning. ... more
Discussion: Janacek: Violin Concerto, The Ballad of Blanik, Taras Bulba - Ehnes, Gardner
May 25, 2015
After enjoying volume 1, I decided to buy this volume and it is equally enjoyable - except that I'm not sure what is happening to my system near the very end of Taras Bulba. It's as if notes from the organ were beating and producing a series of diffference tones because my right channel Acoustat SPECTRA 6600 electrostatic made some most unmusical ... more