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“Steve and I were of one mind about the gorgeous midrange that enriches mezzo-soprano Marianne Crebassa and pianist Fazil Say’s award-winning recording of Debussy’s Trois Chansons de Bilitis (24/96 WAV, Erato 564483). Turning to very different music, a recording of Xenakis’s Psappha on percussionist Kjell Tore Innervik’s superbly recorded Utopias (MQA 24/352.8, 2L 2L-141), I was thrilled by how masterfully the Monsalvat Amp-60 conveyed the contrasting colors of Innervik’s various instruments, and how well it handled the sustains and natural decays of their sounds. The complex overtones, undertones, and sonorous core of a single bell resounding in space were conveyed to perfection. Lows sounded a bit boomy and lazy, but everything else was of demonstration class.

Using the dCS Rossini SACD/CD transport, we listened to “Duke’s in Bed,” from a reissue of tenor saxophonist Ben Webster’s 1965 recording My Romance (SACD/CD, Top Music International UD-SACD8934.2). Beyond the hard-left/-right nature of the recording, we both felt the sound was too romantically warm, and the bass was mush.”

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