McIntosh Demonstration Reference Disc (Intermusic SA-CD/Super Audio Compact Disc
Hybrid/Top Music International)
Sound/DSD
2.0 Stereo: B PCM 2.0 Stereo: B- Music: B
PLEASE
NOTE:
This Super
Audio Compact Disc is only available from our friends at Top Music
International, has a Compact Disc layer that will play on virtually all CD
players and can be ordered at the link below.
There is
no doubt that McIntosh electronics are some of the best built, best performing
components in the business and have been since their launch in 1949. We use them for most of our Blu-ray reviews
and some of our other format coverage, so there is no doubt they are top
rate. So when they put their name on a
demonstration SA-CD, we were interested.
Made in 2004, this Hybrid Stereo Super Audio Compact Disc plays on all
SA-CD and CD Players and was made in Japan by Sony to be a high
watermark guide to audio performance.
The
audiophile-level SA-CD is only a two-channel affair, but uses choice recordings
from the Delos Records library. The
songs include:
1)
Stravinsky:
The Firebird Suite - Infernal Dance
2)
Starker
Plays Kodaly: Duo for Violin and Cello, Op.7 - Allegro serioso, non troppo
(Recorded in Japan 1978)
3)
Dvorak:
Symphony No.9 in E Minor, Op.95, From the "New World"
- Allegro con fuoco
4)
Bizet
- Shchedrin: The Carmen Ballet - iv. Changing of the Guard
5)
Voice
of Angels: Vos Flores Rosarum - (excerpt)
6)
AARON
COPLAND: Billy the kid (suite from the ballet) - Gun Battle
7)
Vivaldi:
Four Seasons - concerto in E major, RV 269 "Spring" I. Allegro
8)
Piazzolla:
Libertango (Tangos arranged for saxophone and orchestra)
9)
MACAL
conducts MUSSORGSKY: Pictures at an Exhibition - X. La Grande
Porte de
Kiew - The Great Gate of Kiev
10) Beethoven: Adagio Cantabile from Sonata Op. 13
(Pathetique)
11) Music
of Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique, Op.14 - Marche au Supplice (March to the Scaffold):
Allegretto non troppo
12) MACAL
conducts GLIERE: The Red Poppy, Ballet Suite, Op.70 - Chinese Dance
13) Tchaikovsky:
Serenade for Strings, Op. 48, II. Walzer
14) Shostakovich:
Symphony No.10 in E Minor, Opus 93 - II. Allegro
15) AARON
COPLAND: The Red Pony - Happy Ending
That
makes for a diverse set of recordings and not all are from the last few years,
showing the intent to have a clean analog-like sound from the choices
offered. The DSD (Direct Stream Digital)
2.0 sound is pretty impressive throughout, but I would have liked a 5.1 option
in this case. Still, as it stands, this
does allow the listener to test the various two-channel paths McIntosh
components offer and it is worth listening to overall. The PCM 2.0 Stereo CD tracks are not bad, but
they cannot compete against the higher resolution of the DSD signal, though
they are not bad demos if you are forced to turn to them.
A paper
foldout with brief notes and the top McIntosh models of the time (all still
excellent to this day and very much worth owning) are also included.
To find
out more about ordering, start with this link, then go to the ORDER icon at the
top of the page on the right-hand side under the logo:
http://www.topmusic.com/sacd8007.2.htm
- Nicholas Sheffo
