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Ultra Fi - Distinction In Sound
By Malcolm Hyde | April 23, 2008
Hi Fi or High End?
In the world of music reproduction the terms used to describe the various levels of performance can be confusing and often misleading. Here are some terms you may have heard of, which will render a more clear view of the inside world of music reproduction. Terms like high fidelity, high end and ultimately Ultra Fi need to be revisited so that these levels of quality come closer to their original meaning.
- Hi Fi/ High-Fidelity - Back in the 1960’s and ‘70’s Hi Fi or High-Fidelity was a term which came into usage to describe the pinnacle of reproduction quality and listener experience available at that time. During the latter years overuse of the term eroded the original meaning until the term had ceased to offer any guarantees as to the design, implementation or listening experience on offer.
- Hi-End/ High-End - Next up was Hi-End/ High-End which were new marketing terms that came into play in the 1980’s and ‘90’s. Unlike the ‘High Fidelity’ music centers which were on the shelves of Woolworths by the late ‘70’s, Hi-End equipment did not get less expensive with the passing of years. In fact the opposite was true: the cables got thicker, the boxes got bigger – and in proportion, the price tags did too.
Some experts still debate whether real advancement in music reproduction was made in this era, but if one thing is true, it was that High-End became synonymous with High-Price.The audio press it seemed had lost their way too, often becoming obsessed with technology features and wattage, by bass and treble response without as much as a nod to the main question – indeed to Ultra-Fi enthusiasts, the only question – of interest: “How Well Does it Play Music?“
With the sometimes brash and clinical approximation of music portrayed by these expensive ‘trophy’ High-End products, public interest in high-fidelity began to wane, as customers turned to the burgeoning home-cinema market.
The Cult of Ultra-Fi
So what are the origins of the cult that is Ultra-Fi? These date back to the Summer of 1999 when the press in Japan and the US came face to face with a small military-looking device named 4706 Gaincard. The device was developed by an unheard-of Japanese audio company called 47 Labs.
The general press reaction after hearing this amplification device was a mixture of awe and disbelief.
“Everything you know is wrong or how I was fooled by mainstream audio gurus” was the title of one review from Enjoy the Music.com after listening to it. How could something so small and plain looking create reactions like this:
“… there is a deep inner detail and a seemingly infinite depth while the music washes over my soul. It is as though I sit here now trying to explain a more spiritually moving experience vs. the usual “here’s another piece of equipment that does A, B and C, right but D could be better”. The 47 Laboratories 4706 Gaincard transcends all this … and goes into the rare realm that only pieces such as the Ongaku travel.”
Steven R. Rochlin, EnjoyTheMusic.com 1999 - full review
The Ongaku, incidentally, was a rare valve-based amplifier made by a Japanese master, costing at the time close to $100,000.
The second defining moment for the cult of Ultra Fi was when it came to light that the secret of the 47 Labs Gaincard was its use of an over-the-counter chip op amp – the LM3875 – from the Overture Series by National Semiconductor. The cost of this chip from electronics e-tailers was approximately $5 each.
Defining Ultra Fi
Ultra Fi is essentially about taking the listening experience and everything component associated with it to the extreme. Every effort is made to reproduce the original performance “exactly” as it was performed. As with master craftsmen generally, Ultra-Fi enthusiasts are focused on the end result irrespective of how painstaking it is to achieve. Whether components are constructed of old or borrowed or new technologies – the final listening experience is paramount. Here are some characteristics of Ultra Fi:
- An over-arching focus on musical performance
- Origins in the on-line do-it-yourself (DIY) audio forums
- Almost entirely hand-manufactured
- An adherence to a “less is more” philosophy
- The adoption or re-invention of some legacy technology (most notably vacuum tubes)
- The use of the correct materials and components for each part of the circuit - this can mean the use of rare and exotic materials, such as Silver-Gold alloy and Mu-metal, to a simple $5 IC op-amp chip
Ultra Fi - An End In Perfection
Ultra Fi is focused on how music sounds as an end result, regardless of how odd or old the technology is. The minimalist philosophy of Ultra Fi combined with a vision beyond the boundaries of convention is what makes Ultra Fi both unique and ultimately enables its proponents to create devices which let the listener get closer to the musical event than was previously possible. If you think about it, any creation of mass production cannot approach the refined, hand tooled and crafted works of this caliber.
This is where Ultra Fi enthusiasts deviate from what we can consider “ordinary” craftsmanship. The methods, materials and development of Ultra Fi components are on a par with works of art and refinement anywhere. In the end, Ultra Fi enthusiasts seek and often approach their goal: to exactly recreate the original musical event.
Topics: Ultra Fi |