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     Thanks for putting out such a great magazine (and for the great education,too)! I eagerly look forward to renewing my subscription.
     I started upgrading my system a year or two ago (source first) by purchasing a CEC TL51XR belt-drive CD player (very musical/analog sounding). I have heard it paired with an Audiomat Arpège Référence integrated amp and enjoyed the experience. Then I read your article about the Sugden A21a Series 2, which sounds great!
     Now I have been offered a nice trade-in deal on my current equipment from a Sugden dealer in Ontario, but I am not in a position to audition it here in Alberta. I can afford the Sugden but the Audiomat would probably have to wait a year or more. Knowing you have reviewed both, how do you feel they compare?
     I could also use some advice as to what speakers might do either amp justice. I am giving some thought to the Reference 3A MM De Capo-i, as it seems a good performer, sensitive enough(?) at a price point I can consider in a few years. Do you know them? What do you think?
     I have two rooms I could set up in: 3.4 m x 4.9 m, or 3.6 m x 9.4 m. Would the Sugden be appropriate for the larger room?
     The CEC was my first significant upgrade and I hope the amp will be as satisfying a choice as I don't plan on replacing my next purchase for a long time. Wires will be replaced last.
Jay McHollister, STETTLER, AB

     Jay, we have reviewed the MM de Capo...twice in fact, in issue No. 60, then the improved "i" version in No. 67. The speaker is a distant cousin of the Reference 3a Suprema speaker in our Omega reference system, and it is quite efficient. Indeed, for a stand-mounted speaker it is exceptionally efficient. That is in part because of its extremely simple crossover -- simply a capacitor in series with the tweeter -- which steals little power from the drivers, especially the woofer/midrange.
     Either the Audiomat or the Sugden would work well with these speakers in the smaller of the two rooms you mention. We are very fond of the Audiomat, as you no doubt know, but it is indeed more expensive. You don't mention what amplifier you have now, but if it is really making you suffer, then you should give the edge to the Sugden, which has a sweet sound owing little to its solid state topology. How much is an extra year or more of listening pleasure worth?
     If you go for the larger of your two possible rooms, you may want to look beyond either amplifier. We should mention for the benefit of the metrically-challenged that your second room has dimensions of about 12 x 31 feet. That's a ton -- sorry, a tonne -- of space, and we would look for a beefier amplifier in that case. We would also work on the acoustics, because big rooms are harder to work with than medium-sized ones (small rooms are another matter).

     I have asked for help before and you have always helped. I came across this CD player at that great shopping emporium, Value Village. I figured that there was something I could tinker with and maybe not shock myself to coma status. I took it home set her up, put on Live at Carnegie Hall by Monk and Coltrane, and out came pretty darn good sound.
     The CD player is small by even 1980's standards, and it shows track but not time elapsed. I contacted Brian at Venus Hi-Fi in Detroit, but he couldn't find any info. Opening the CDP shows a well contracted inside with a very solid transport. I paid a whopping $5.95 for it.
     Do you have any info? What would have been its price, and what year was its conception?
Alan Callaghan, STRATFORD, PEI.

     You're not giving us much to go on, Alan, so we'll have to resort to some educated guessing.
     So let's see. CEC launched its now famous belt-drive transport in 1992, so we can suppose that the unit you spent your savings on (!) came before that. The very first CEC player dates from 1983, a year after the CD format's launch, but it would have been available in any quantities only in Asia. So our guess is that your player dates from somewhere from 1985 to 1991. But that's a pretty broad window. In the earlier part of that window, players were expensive: our original Teac player (which still runs, and is used for equipment break-in) cost $1500 in 1986. Prices tumbled rapidly over the next half decade, as expensive discrete parts were replaced by large-scale integrated circuits, made possible for the exploding market for players. In that case the price might be closer to $600.
     One thing sure, you took a calculated risk, and we would have done the same.

     I just found this site and am hoping you can help. I inherited some older audiophile equipment (a pair of Allison One speakers, Audio Research AP-8 preamp, Vandersteen II speakers, Counterpoint SA-12 tube/MOSFET power amp), and I have no idea what some pieces are worth. I know the AR was probably about $800, and one got Vandersteens for about $1200 back in the 90's, but I can't find where to go to get current used value on the Allisons and Counterpoint. There are no listings for this type of stuff on Ebay.
Victor Brok, BALTIMORE, MD

     As you know, Victor, used gear is worth what someone is willing to pay for it. The rarer the equipment, the lower are the odds that there is any of it out there for anyone to show interest in, and that makes evaluation difficult.
     The Allison One still exists, though of course audio pioneer Roy Allison is no longer with the company that bears his name. We haven't seen an Allison One for years, though, and its very obscurity makes it difficult to sell for more than a small fraction of its original cost. Much better known is the Vandersteen II, because it is still made in a more modern incarnation, and looks the same as it always did. It is much sought after, and rightly so, but Richard Vandersteen has never followed the lead of other makers and inflated his prices to the bursting point. The Vandersteen II would, however, probably sell used for its original selling price, at least if it's in mint condition.
     The Counterpoint SA-12 is more problematic, because the company is no longer around, and that tends to depress prices. What's more, the model is old, dating back to somewhere between 1984 and 1988 (it was superseded by the SA-100). Put that together with the knowledge that tube gear runs warmer than solid state and may therefore have a shorter life, plus the fact that some early Counterpoint tube products had reliability problems, and you can guess that the selling price will be in the low three digits. On the plus side, the original designer, Michael Elliott, does repairs and upgrades at Alta Vista Audio, so even a dying SA-12 can be saved.
     We have no information on your preamp, and we wonder whether you actually mean Audio Research (which is today merely a brand owned by economy marketer Audiovox, but in bygone years was famous for speakers), or Acoustic Research, known for tube gear in the main. Either way, that model name is unknown to us.

     I guess you do not like to give an opinion on a particular component, because it may not be useful for your whole readership., but I would be happy to have your opinion, about a CD/SACD player, I am saving money for.
     I have build, in several steps by listening a lot, a system that now sound rather fine. I have also, with the help of my dealer who came to my living room, made some accoustical treatment (absorption, diffusion, and even some kind of bass traps: I realized that my sofa and my two armchairs were made of leather lying on empty wood cabinet. I filled them with mineral wood, which did a lot for the bass.
     The system I started to build a few years ago is the following: Marantz 11S2 CD/SACD player, Mimetism integrated 15.2 amplifier and 45.2 power amplifier, that I use for biamping my 802D speakers. I have an interconnect cable linking the player to the integrated amp, and a second one linking the preamp section to the second amplifier (both are Atlas Mavros XLR). Finally, my speaker cables are Atlas Mavros.
     To me it is a terrific system, but I still have a feeling that something could bring in more music. I have the impression it is the source. I want to stick with my dealer (because he knows me and gives me now a sytematic 10% discount on new equipment). He suggested the dCS Puccini player, and I had the impression that it was improving listening pleasure. This player has also the advantage of having digital inputs. Nevertheless, it is a major investment, and I will have to save money for almost a year. I also know that auto-suggestion can play a role. Did you ever happen to insert it into one of your reference system
Philippe Martiat, BRUSSELS, Belgium

     Philippe, our guess is that the dCS (which we have heard under very good conditions, though not in our reference systems) would be a major step up from the Marantz. As you note, the Puccini's digital input is an advantage, and can give you the option of adding a computer as a second audio source.
     It appears that you have made considerable efforts to optimize your system, and filling your sofa with mineral wool would strike most people as a heroic measure. Though there is nothing really wrong with your Marantz, you are probably ready for an upgrade to your source.

     I have been a reader of your magazine since the French version (ULTRA), but i left reading audio mag for a couple of years. My setup is: Integra Research RDC 7.1, Anthem MCA-20 and MCA-50, Pioneer PRO150FD, Toshiba XA-2, Sony PS3, Paradigm Studio 60 v2, Studio CC150 v2, Studio ADP v2 and Heybrook HB1 My source is mainly my PC
     I am checking to upgrade my amps. I find the Anthems harsh and cold. I am looking at the Classé CA-2200 for my front left and right. I would like your advice on it and any other recommendation.
Claude Poitras, ST-JOSEPH-DU-LAC, QC

     Claude, in the past we have also found Anthem products less smooth than we liked, and perhaps that was a relic of their origin. Anthem was a division of the now-vanished Sonic Frontiers, but built for economy with cheaper parts. The sound then was downright gritty, and we heard no improvement when the brand was picked up by Paradigm. We lost interest a long time ago, and to be fair we haven't heard any recent Anthem products. But of course you have, since the MCA-20 and MCA-50 are current products.
     But if you're looking for warmth -- and we mean the natural warmth of live musical instruments, not some artificial coloration superimposed on music -- a very large Classé amp may not be your best choice. Classé, which is now part of the B&W group (along with Rotel), has long had terrific build quality, but its emphasis was on competing with the king of huge amps, Krell. Warmth is not what leaps to mind when we hear Krell mentioned either. Truth to tell, the more powerful the amplifier, the more difficult it is to make it sound transparent. The last time we lent an ear to Classé power amplifiers, their smaller models were musically more interesting than their big ones.
     It's well known that we consider Simaudio an exception, since we own two of their large power amps. At a less breathtaking price, Bryston manages to break the rule as well, and at a much higher price (with corresponding quality) so does Linn. Those are examples.
     But before you make any expensive changes to your electronics, you may want to take a good look at the interface between your main source -- your computer -- and your preamplifier. If the link is a sound card, that's the place to start.