TNT-Audio >
In the '70 and '80 measures were the most important thing in audio, probably also because it was simpler to mass market a product whose excellence could be described by a single number, distortion percentage; only few people still considered the sound quality the most important element. Now we see that a few HiFi product manufacturers are moving completely in the opposite direction, sometimes disregarding measures at all. Which is your position about this? How much is sound important with respect to measures?
Kondo San >
Fine adjustment and measurement are essential to tube amplifiers, because of vacuum tubes' fluctuations in performances. The fundamentals of measurements are supposed to confirm whether certain devices are functioning as intended.
Those low-priced, mass-production and mass-marketed amplifiers need to underline the measured figures because they are difficult to sell without superb figures.
There is no means for measuring sound quality. Wider frequency band and lower distortion are desireble, of course. Distortion and frequency response figures have been utilized as a criterion for judging sound quality, and this was a by-product of transition era from SP to LP records.
The criterion for sound quality depends on manufacturer's and user's sensibility. When Kiyoshi Yamashita (one of Japan's finest artist who lead wandering life because of his chronic mental disorder) saw Picasso's painting for the first time, he cried "it's quite difficult to draw lines like this!" The lines may look plain for the rest of us, the ones seeking after the truth can understand the value.
My personal yardstick for judging sound quality is Toscanini's "Un Ballo in Maschera"(*). The album is a live recording of 1954; the 87 years old maestro suffered amnesia just a few days before, and the concert was nearly cancelled. Some may like Toscanini's reading and some may don't, but the NBC Symphony's performance is truly outstanding; the orchestra was scheduled to be dissolved within three months, so their play was ultimately tense.
The 30 inch-per-second monaural tape recording provides excellent low-frequency liveliness, and the extremely sensitive microphone's diaphragm captures the Carnegie Hall's sound space "expand" with the orchestra's fortissimo (unfortunately condenser mics cannot pick up the sound like this).
During rehearsal the maestro yelled "don't make sound like scratching a pig's back with a double bass!" to the orchestra. So the bass notes right after the choral part sound quite crisp, augmenting the story very nicely.
To reproduce the genius's performances at their best is my absolute goal. I build my own microphone and this is a part of my quest for the best way to reproduce the recordings that we can see how the artists played and how they were actually recorded.
(*) The "Un Ballo in Maschera" was recorded on January 17th and 24th of 1954 with NBC Symphony Orchestra at the Carnegie Hall. Discs issued include RCA 60301 (Vol 59, 2 discs) and Memories HR 4146/7 (2 discs).
TNT-Audio >
There is one other major question in audio reproduction: is it more important to achieve the absolute fidelity to the recorded sound or to obtain the emotional involvement of the listener?
Kondo San >
To me, both are equally important. Sometimes man's hearing senses and sensitivities can grow when properly stimulated. The manufacturers of hi-fi equipment are supposed to offer such stimulation to the customers.
If somebody who's good at electrical engineering and likes the theoretical stuff is going to take a designing job at an audio manufacturer, his choice will be wrong. Music is not just an aggregate of fragmented sound, but has some magical force to move our senses from the bottom of our minds. The same thing applies to sound reproduction.
Recently I had a chance to listen to a live performance of a native American artist. Using only one drum and his voice, the artist realized diverse expression of his emotions and I was fascinated with his performances. If we can build hi-fi equipment that can reproduce artists' performances faithfully, listeners' senses can grow and promote interests to music.
TNT-Audio >
Using paper in oil capacitors creates a very special, realistic, deep soundstage, but if you make a direct sound comparison between a paper in oil capacitor and a simple copper wire you realize that the capacitor is just modifying, colouring the sound. You agree with these experimental, but subjective, results, and do you think it is correct to use such colouring components?
Kondo San >
Most capacitor manufacturers are interested in making their products cheaper with stable performances and to market them in larger quantities. Meanwhile, capacitors for hi-fi use should sound good yet the audio manufacturers do not buy them in large amount. Therefore, the capacitor manufacturers do not care for us. Devices like mylar capacitors produce pulses of drums and cymbals sound forceful even more than the real ones, sometimes. The sound was regarded "high-speed" at a time, but they deform human voices into robot's. An amplifier using no capacitor could be an ideal, but even DC amps have capacitors at their power supply section and to eliminate all capacitors is virtually impossible.
This may not widely known, but in fact capacitor is used at the input stage of DA converter (even though the incoming digital signals do not contain DC signal) and it has a large influence on overall sound quality. Existing capacitors could be considered as a necessary evil.
At Audio Note Japan, we made comprehensive research for capacitors that do not affect sound quality, and we have decided to manufacture our own capacitors to resolve existing problems even though these are quite costly. Our KSL capacitors are now used in our amplifiers and in our speaker's crossover networks as well. The capacitors in the crossover are used basically as a bypass filter, and we believe that we have achieved uncolored sound with the KSL capacitors, especially when compared with the electrolytic and mylar capacitors. The differences can be recognized instantly. With the KSL capacitors, we came one step closer to a "single wire with gain" amplifier.
TNT-Audio >
Why have you chosen to work only with tubes?
Kondo San >
Tubes deal with only 1/10th of electric current than transistors, and operate with 10 times higher voltage. Larger current leads to larger magnetic field, and mutual induction of the amp's component parts can adversely affect the sound quality. The lower current of tubes is one of the reasons why I use tubes. Also the tube's higher operating voltage can speed up the motion of electrons, resulting in lower stray current and better sonic reproduction. The tubes with increased efficiency, however, are not to my taste.
TNT-Audio >
What do you look for in a tube?
Kondo San >
Primarily good sound quality. I think gentle sound (of tubes) help us to recognize reality. In Tchaikovsky's symphony No. 6, there are passages where french horns play low-frequency notes very subtly. They are quite important in forming the symphony's particular images, and the piece will sound significantly different without the notes of french horns. I believe tubes can reproduce them better than any other devices, and this is the "raison d'etre" of vacuum tubes.
TNT-Audio >
Which specific technical and sound characteristics your silver wire transformers present compared with normal ones?
Kondo San >
When I was young, I worked for a major record company and developed recording equipment for their studios. At that time I noticed the characteristic sound of Europe-made tape recorders such as Neumann and Steuder. Especially Steuder's sound was unforgettable to me because of its sweet high notes. After examining Steuder's details, I figured out that the transformers and Permalloy used in the heads are the key to the excellent sound.
Soon after establishing Audio Note, I've concentrated on developing good transformers. Fortunately I could obtain quality materials as good as those used in Steuders, but I understood that I could never excel Steuders with my transformers of that time. While looking for better ways, I hit upon an idea of using silver wires. In the beginning I didn't expect much from this, but the result was simply amazing. High distortion and low resolution peculiar to existing transformers were not observed and the new transformer sounded magically sweet!
Recently, I've made another improvement to my transformers with the "KSL technology." This new technology allowed us to lower the silver wire's intrinsic distortion and the improved sound quality is highly evaluated by customers and reviewers. The world of analog audio is profound, and there are still remains so many things that I have to take care of.
TNT-Audio >
Which is the effect of material seasoning and which is the physical reason for this effect?
Kondo San >
Whether it is silver or copper, all wire materials receive considerable mechanical stress while they are rolled out. Anneal treatment is carried out to restore the material's "torn apart" molecules by carefully heating and cooling down the material while preventing any oxidation. Unfortunately, existing anneal treatment is not perfect for restoring the molecules to their original states. The wires, however, resumes by themselves when stored properly for very long period of time -- about 30 years. In fact, any wires can sound good when they are stored this long. Interestingly, the heat-plastic materials such as CDs and analog discs sound better when they are stimulated with laser beams or stylus tips.
TNT-Audio >
What do you think of the new technologies, SACD/DVD-Audio and Multi-channel?
Kondo San >
I haven't tried SACD and DVD-Audio. Rather, I'm interested in preserving enormous legacy of the past. The multi-channel technology is not to my taste because it seems to weaken our sense of imagination. Whenever I listen to the third Act of Toscanini's "La Traviata" (recorded in 1946) , the orchestra's sound stage expands within my brain and the violins play melodies from each side of the stage, sometimes playing the same melodies togher almost like explaining the scenes to me.
TNT-Audio >
Have you programs to move into any of these directions?
Kondo San >
I'll take the new technologies seriously only when their intrinsic problems are sorted out, and this may need some more time. I am against for the move to make these technologies intentionally "worn-out" within a short period of time - just like what's happening on the digital cameras and personal computers.
Courtesy by Kondo San of Audio Note Japan for TNT.
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