As a full-time educator and part time writer, it always feels great to get several weeks off after the previous school year and subsequent summer school classes before the new school year begins.
Of course, I had to make up lost time in my pile of accumulated review projects, but I also took time to enjoy some extended listening to vinyl and digital playback on my two channel stereo system. On the vinyl side, I’ve really enjoyed exploring some new albums, and on the digital side, I’ve had the joy of exploring new artists on Qobuz and even downloading a few favorite albums!
My Passive ATC SCM40 Loudspeaker
One of the things that made these sessions more intriguing was hearing the media on both my passive ATC SCM40 loudspeakers and the active ATC SCM40A loudspeakers that I’ve had in for review. Both have very dynamic, detailed and — courtesy of their renowned three-inch soft dome midrange driver — a more natural and forward presentation through the midrange. However, driven by my Pass Labs X150.8 amplifier, and running through their passive crossover, the passive version plays a little more relaxed and laidback, while the active version, with its proprietary three onboard amplifiers in its amp pack and active crossover, sport higher gain, a little more saturated sounding, and a more forward and viscerally impactful delivery — especially through the mid-bass band. My review, which will appear elsewhere, should be released any day now.
It’s been fun listening to one pair, and then listening to the other. I found the ATC SCM40As made the digital version of the album, Sinatra at the Sands, which normally sounds a touch thin-sounding and sibilant — especially through the brass section of the orchestra, slightly warmer and fuller sounding, making it vastly more listenable. Normally too fatiguing to listen to more than one or two songs, I found myself taking in the majority of the album before moving on.
The effect of listening to this album was akin to swapping in the Pass Labs HPA-1 as a preamp with the Pass Labs XP-12 preamplifier, which is more neutral-sounding (the HPA-1 adds a little warmth and depth to thinner sounding recordings).
Overall, though, I am enjoying my SCM40 passive loudspeakers — especially in tandem with my pair of REL Acoustics S/812 subwoofers. The combination of the REL’s lower end support, which integrate very nicely, with the fast and low distortion delivery of the sealed SCM40s is spell-binding!
The iSonic P4875II+MVR5 Ultrasonic Vinyl Record Cleaner
Unearthed School Treasures
Towards the end of the 2024/25 school year, a friend and music teacher in my building was clearing out his storage area and discovered a few vinyl albums. I asked if he could could inquire with other music educators in the district to see if they had additional albums they no longer needed, and several days later, he delivered a handful of vinyl albums. As expected, some had a fair degree of wear and tear, but I was surprised at how good some of the copies sounded — especially after cleansing them with my iSonic P4875II+MVR5 Ultrasonic Vinyl Record Cleaner (you can find my review of it by Googling Juan C. Ayllon and iSonic). They cleaned up very nicely! I especially enjoyed Nat King Cole’s Unforgettable album. The warm, crisply articulated, and authoritative tone of Cole’s baritone, the strings, and orchestra behind him were at once soothing and enchanting.
The Mogami GOLD Headphone Extension Cables
Renowned for their crispness and transparency in numerous recording studios worldwide, their name came to mind when I thought about getting an extension cable for the Dan Clark Audio Stealth Headphones that I use for late night or early morning listening or HD TV watching when my bride is asleep. The Pass Labs HPA-1 headphone amplifier sits atop my BDI Corridor media console up front some 10-plus feet away, so in order to listen I either carried an overstuffed chair (which was comfortable, but awkward and heavy) or a stiff wooden dining chair from the back of the room that was lighter, but less comfortable — or run a long set of RCA cables out to the couch, move the headphone amp to a table next to the couch, and run an extension cord from the wall to the setup for my listen — and then move things back after my listening session, which was a pain after a late night’s session!
I obtained a 10-foot length of Mogami GOLD Headphone Extension Cables ($109.95) from their U.S. distributor, Marshall, based in Torrance, California, and it arrived several weeks later. To my pleasure, it integrated seamlessly with the Straight Wire OEM cable used in the Dan Clark Stealth headphone cable and allowed me to listen from my couch without having to endure the back-breaking chair lifting back and forth or the schlepping of the headphone amp back and forth. Now, it’s simply plug and play!
The new Pass Labs HPA-1c, at left, is compared to their original HPA-1 Headphone amplifier
Speaking of which, I’ve been reviewing the new Pass Labs HPA-1c Headphone Amplifier, which was engineered to replace their original HPA-1 that came out in 2016 with a lower the sound floor. However, comparing the two in A/B comparisons, I couldn’t tell the difference. When I reached out to Pass Labs, I found out why.
It turns out that listeners using in-ear monitors with 120 dB per milliwatt sensitivity complained to Pass Labs of noise issues with the HPA-1, so by using power filtration and other solutions, Pass Labs partner and designer, Wayne Colburn, was able to cut the noise level in half in their new and improved HPA-1c. However, as Pass Lab’s Kent English told me, listeners using over-the-ear headphones that typically have 90 to 105 dB sensitivity wouldn’t hear that improvement (the planar Stealths I use have a low sensitivity of 86 to 87 dB per milliwatt sensitivity). So, I asked Pass Lab’s president, Anastasia Protopappas, to see if one of their distributors could ship me out a pair of In Ear Monitors to complete my review of their HPA-1c Headphone Amplifier.
She made the call via email and several days ago, Drew Baird, CEO of Moon Audio, contacted me to put together an order for a pair of lender IEMs for the review. I look forward to the comparisons with the heightened sensitivity of the IEMs!
There’s more to say, but I’ll wrap things up for now. There’s lunch to eat, and a pool is calling my name!
Cheers!