Elephantears
Trunkated Aesthete
I was lucky enough to hear some Sonneteer amps with my Harbeth C7 ES3’s a couple of weeks ago and I’ve been wanting to give a report since I was so impressed. There have been a few people recommending Sonneteer recently, and Adam Wyskonski has recommended the Orton with Harbeths in particular, so I was keen to hear it. I auditioned both Alabaster and the Orton, and also the Byron cd player. My main digital source is in transition – the cd5/teddycap was switched off and I was using an old Linn Mimik as transport into a Lite DAC-AH – a ludicrously cheap but surprisingly effective DAC if used with a good transport. My LP12 was in a transitional state before upgrading and sadly I didn’t play vinyl through the Orton – I really regret this.
What I heard with the Orton, from the first moments really, was that it was extraordinarily clean and clear at the same time as it was expansive, dynamic and fast. The combination of clarity and airy breadth seemed to make the Compact 7’s seem more like SHL5’s and in this sense it was an ideal pairing for a room that isn’t quite big enough to accommodate the 5’s. The Alabaster was more dynamic, very ‘front-row’, and in some cases it was quite extraordinarily vivid, especially with the Byron; the two seemed very well tuned together.
I spent a lot of time listening to Miles Davis’s ‘ESP’, and two great female vocal albums: ‘Sarah Vaughan with Clifford Brown’ and Joanna Newsom’s ‘Have One on Me’. The main tracks were Miles’s ‘Little One’, Sarah Vaughan’s ‘I’m Glad There is You’, and Joanna Newsom’s ‘You and Me Bess’.
It was ‘Little One’ that gave me the first impression of the Orton; beautiful airiness, liquidity and attack with the trumpet. Sarah Vaughan and Joanna Newsom showed how magical the midrange can be, but there were some interesting variations here. Using the Alabaster with the Byron as source, there was an amazing presence to Joanna Newsom’s voice, and a real wow moment on trying this combination for the first time. Overall though I was still inclined to the Orton; on the faster and dynamic tracks on Miles’s ‘ESP’ the Alabaster was very dynamic indeed, but the Orton was clearer and more refined, without losing the dynamics. The key was going to be bringing out the same vivid presence in the mids with the Orton. I found that using my cd/NOS DAC combination had a really positive result here. Its not the most refined of sources perhaps, but it was a rather magical combination with the very clean and refined Orton. On both Sarah Vaughan and Joanna Newsom there was a real wonder to the voices, and when listening to Joanna’s ‘You and Me Bess’ the emotion of the song built beautifully. The song climaxes very dramatically in a complex section where the brass, harp, and vocal harmonies come together, and I had the rare experience of a new sense of detail going together with and supporting the emotional impact of the music. Joanna Newsom’s harmony with the supporting voice was revealed in a new way to me. The different sources presented the harp in quite different ways; it was more precise and refined with the Byron, whilst on the NOS-DAC it had a subtly different and heavier twang which was, I would admit, rather more coloured. But it was a beautiful balancing.
With Sarah Vaughan I felt that the Orton managed to reveal the miracle of the central voice, along with the resolution of low level detail that makes for a sense of real spatial presence. I’ve heard different amps make choices here; either preserving the beautiful sculptural presence of the voice by putting everything else firmly in the background, or bringing out the low level detail more whilst losing a bit of precision and immediacy in the voice. This is in part a facet of the recording, which pushes everything very far back to allow the soloists to step up, but the Orton managed a very fine balance between central voice and background. I wondered if the dual mono Orton was enhancing the separation of the channels a little here; Sarah’s voice was a little more to the left than I am used to here, but afterwards I found that this was the same with my other amps – it was a matter of minute changes in seating position with the pin-point imaging of the Harbeths. Generally speaking I found that the stereo imaging of the Orton was very well judged, and the width and height was just right. Where the Super HL5’s give you a vast soundscape that exploits the slightest hint of space on the recording, the Compact 7’s need a bit more encouragement, and the Orton provided this. In the context of my room the C7's are, in general, much more successful than the SHL5’s, although I don’t believe the 7’s cannot achieve the wonderful luxury of the 5’s when heard in the correct space and set-up.
I threw quite a few other pieces at the Orton/C7 set-up, looking for a variety of qualities; ‘Coltrane’ by Coltrane came out well; if an amp can’t get Coltrane right its of no use to me, and the complex tone on this recording came out very well; both grainy and velvety, very free and yet compressed in timbre. Pollini’s version of Beethoven’s 28th piano Sonata demonstrated dramatic transients, speed and intensity, although I would have liked to play this more, along with a good deal more classical piano music. LFO by LFO was played for pure sub-bass wallop. This was moderate on the Orton rather than especially expansive, but the balancing of different bass frequencies was very good. I played various tracks from ‘Classic Funk Mastercuts: Volume 3’ to get a better sense of the bass response, with good results. Although I wouldn’t say that pure rhythmic drive is its greatest strength, the Orton can definitely put on a good party with the C7’s.
Sadly that was all; in retrospect, I wish I’d heard more. I’d like to have heard more Coltrane. And more large scale classical. And I didn’t listen to any rock music at all.
Its so hard with such demos – I think you really need to live with something to know it properly, but I would say this is the most impressive integrated amp I’ve heard up to this point; a really fine achievement made with great care. Beautiful mid-range, wonderful clarity, a surprisingly solid and articulate bass without being at all exaggerated, and just the right scale; never closed in or congested, but not so wide and tall a soundstage that the focus of a recording is lost. It’s a shame there aren’t as many Ortons made as pairs of Harbeths because it’s such a wonderful match.
What I heard with the Orton, from the first moments really, was that it was extraordinarily clean and clear at the same time as it was expansive, dynamic and fast. The combination of clarity and airy breadth seemed to make the Compact 7’s seem more like SHL5’s and in this sense it was an ideal pairing for a room that isn’t quite big enough to accommodate the 5’s. The Alabaster was more dynamic, very ‘front-row’, and in some cases it was quite extraordinarily vivid, especially with the Byron; the two seemed very well tuned together.
I spent a lot of time listening to Miles Davis’s ‘ESP’, and two great female vocal albums: ‘Sarah Vaughan with Clifford Brown’ and Joanna Newsom’s ‘Have One on Me’. The main tracks were Miles’s ‘Little One’, Sarah Vaughan’s ‘I’m Glad There is You’, and Joanna Newsom’s ‘You and Me Bess’.
It was ‘Little One’ that gave me the first impression of the Orton; beautiful airiness, liquidity and attack with the trumpet. Sarah Vaughan and Joanna Newsom showed how magical the midrange can be, but there were some interesting variations here. Using the Alabaster with the Byron as source, there was an amazing presence to Joanna Newsom’s voice, and a real wow moment on trying this combination for the first time. Overall though I was still inclined to the Orton; on the faster and dynamic tracks on Miles’s ‘ESP’ the Alabaster was very dynamic indeed, but the Orton was clearer and more refined, without losing the dynamics. The key was going to be bringing out the same vivid presence in the mids with the Orton. I found that using my cd/NOS DAC combination had a really positive result here. Its not the most refined of sources perhaps, but it was a rather magical combination with the very clean and refined Orton. On both Sarah Vaughan and Joanna Newsom there was a real wonder to the voices, and when listening to Joanna’s ‘You and Me Bess’ the emotion of the song built beautifully. The song climaxes very dramatically in a complex section where the brass, harp, and vocal harmonies come together, and I had the rare experience of a new sense of detail going together with and supporting the emotional impact of the music. Joanna Newsom’s harmony with the supporting voice was revealed in a new way to me. The different sources presented the harp in quite different ways; it was more precise and refined with the Byron, whilst on the NOS-DAC it had a subtly different and heavier twang which was, I would admit, rather more coloured. But it was a beautiful balancing.
With Sarah Vaughan I felt that the Orton managed to reveal the miracle of the central voice, along with the resolution of low level detail that makes for a sense of real spatial presence. I’ve heard different amps make choices here; either preserving the beautiful sculptural presence of the voice by putting everything else firmly in the background, or bringing out the low level detail more whilst losing a bit of precision and immediacy in the voice. This is in part a facet of the recording, which pushes everything very far back to allow the soloists to step up, but the Orton managed a very fine balance between central voice and background. I wondered if the dual mono Orton was enhancing the separation of the channels a little here; Sarah’s voice was a little more to the left than I am used to here, but afterwards I found that this was the same with my other amps – it was a matter of minute changes in seating position with the pin-point imaging of the Harbeths. Generally speaking I found that the stereo imaging of the Orton was very well judged, and the width and height was just right. Where the Super HL5’s give you a vast soundscape that exploits the slightest hint of space on the recording, the Compact 7’s need a bit more encouragement, and the Orton provided this. In the context of my room the C7's are, in general, much more successful than the SHL5’s, although I don’t believe the 7’s cannot achieve the wonderful luxury of the 5’s when heard in the correct space and set-up.
I threw quite a few other pieces at the Orton/C7 set-up, looking for a variety of qualities; ‘Coltrane’ by Coltrane came out well; if an amp can’t get Coltrane right its of no use to me, and the complex tone on this recording came out very well; both grainy and velvety, very free and yet compressed in timbre. Pollini’s version of Beethoven’s 28th piano Sonata demonstrated dramatic transients, speed and intensity, although I would have liked to play this more, along with a good deal more classical piano music. LFO by LFO was played for pure sub-bass wallop. This was moderate on the Orton rather than especially expansive, but the balancing of different bass frequencies was very good. I played various tracks from ‘Classic Funk Mastercuts: Volume 3’ to get a better sense of the bass response, with good results. Although I wouldn’t say that pure rhythmic drive is its greatest strength, the Orton can definitely put on a good party with the C7’s.
Sadly that was all; in retrospect, I wish I’d heard more. I’d like to have heard more Coltrane. And more large scale classical. And I didn’t listen to any rock music at all.
Its so hard with such demos – I think you really need to live with something to know it properly, but I would say this is the most impressive integrated amp I’ve heard up to this point; a really fine achievement made with great care. Beautiful mid-range, wonderful clarity, a surprisingly solid and articulate bass without being at all exaggerated, and just the right scale; never closed in or congested, but not so wide and tall a soundstage that the focus of a recording is lost. It’s a shame there aren’t as many Ortons made as pairs of Harbeths because it’s such a wonderful match.
IMO "refined" is the word that described the Orton's characteristic best. Together with SHL5, it makes me want to listen to more and more music.. Great combo they make.