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| REVIEW |
| Tsakiridis Devices
Artemis |
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| LISTENING,
CONCLUSION... |
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The amplifiers
remained for a quite long time in the listening room and before the
evaluation process there was a period of about ten days of regular
use in daily basis, in order that they have a limited operating time
in their past. Among the speakers used, there was the Audio
Physic Padua, as well as a small Eros system with
subwoofer by Audio Spectrum. Our first contact with the
amplifier in the listening room of Tsakiridis Devices have been
effected with a big Triangle (maybe more suitable
in theory for the given amplifier and definitely with an interesting
sound quality) however it's been clear from the very first moment,
that every reasonable combination of room/load makes Artemis
feeling comfortable, giving it it's first point: Tube or
not tube, the amplifier does not demand "special" speakers, one of
these that cover every other characteristic by their own sound
signature. This fact allows to the Artemis' owner the luxury of
disposing a speaker with enough detail to enjoy the rest of his
system. Despite that this is not unusual for the modern good tube
amplifiers (we have seen it some time ago to VTL and more recently
to Conrad Johnson MV60) constitutes of course a definitely positive
characteristic. Speaking for the "rest of the system" Artemis
had the opportunity to function with a range of preamplifiers such
as the Melos Linear Amp (also a tube design), the
Rotel RHC-10/RHQ-10 (passive/phono) combination, as
well as the direct analog path of Parasound's
C1. In all cases, cooperation has been without
problems (the 100kOhms of the amplifier's input resistance was not a
problem not even for the passive preamplifier). After the
first days, the cathode current control and adjustment procedure (in
15mA) have been followed, which practically didn't go any further
from just a simple check, since the amplifier appeared
particularly stable in its original adjustment even
till the end of the test. The adjustment procedure is
described in detail and the only thing the user needs is a
multimeter.
During the listening test, the Artemis
monoblocks has been proved amplifiers with a sound
definitely "bigger" than their physical presence. Despite
their size being small, their power have been proved
adequate enough for an average room (with 90dB and up
speakers) and they can be a good listening tool for any kind of
music. The amplifiers are quiet enough to
confirm the S/N ratio given by the manufacturer (85dB), but the
first thing one will notice, is their excellent performance
in the upper mid and the high frequency range. Having
as of the first moment a fantastic positive feeling for the
performance of the amplifier in this particular area, we used some
cds and vinyl records with interesting as well as demanding program
in this range (Arne Domnerus/Jazz at the Pawnshop, Stella
Gadedi/Solo flute, Jan Garbarek/Visible World) in order to
confirm that Artemis are in position to perform with remarkable ease
the air and the spectral content of percussion instruments, and the
flute, as well as the artificial sounds of Garbarek's Red Wind. In
the typical technical characteristics of Artemis, the 70kHz
are given as maximum limit of the response this value
stating, at least, a very attentive manufacture of the output
transformer, a fact that is most probably the main reason of the
amplifiers' excellent performance in high frequencies. The mid range
belongs of course, rightfully, to the Artemis' tube nature. The
amplifiers uphold the tradition demanding this kind of amplification
to feel "on spot" in the voice tracks and one could
say that they have an excellent ability to cope with all the
sorts of voice music: Lyric works are performed it their
right scale as to the presence of the singers and with punctuality
in the particular sound colours of their voices (Eva
Marton-Jose Carreras/O Dolci Mani, Vasiliki Karayanni/Aria of
Olympia) while through Artemis we had our first contact
with the voice of Anastasia Eden in one of the best Greek works we
have recently listened, the "Ex-Avaton" of Ioannis
Papadakis. Despite their 35 W, Artemis are performing
quite well as to low frequencies too. Frankly
speaking, the classic vented-box loudspeakers are performing the
worst possible way as loads to this frequency range and it is also
truth that this is the part of the spectra which sets
eventual limitations to the user of the amplifiers who,
given their very good performance in the mid and high range, will
very often watch himself overacting as to volume setting in moments
of zest, and at this point -of course- sometime the amplifiers
are..off. However, these limitations are practically narrow
and if the cost of the devices is considered, they are negligible
too. As to other critical points of performance, all
positive components are in position and in the proper share for a
good result: Volume and control with the big string
groups of the symphonic to be described clearly and with the right
amounts of air and movement (Tchaikovsky/Romeo and
Juliette-Fantasy Overture/Netherlands Philarmonic Orchestra/Yakov
Kreitzberg/Pentatone SACD), the details that of the
acoustic bass (Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio/The Way we
Were) and the presence of low frequencies in disks like
The Dark Side of the Moon (Pink Floyd/SACD) and
Kundun (Philip Glass) over justify the 200 Joule
power supply. All above are accompanied with a
respectively good image (which is obviously
partially due to the Artemis' monoblock architecture) that is
characterized from stable width, depth, excellent motion, and
detail, with the two last characteristics probably due to the
amplifier's abilities in high frequencies and reaching the peak, as
it is expected in high resolution recordings. I left for the end
comments concerning the experimentation with the switches of
feedback and output stage configuration. Artemis, has no surprise to
demonstrate as to this point. The Ultra Linear
configuration sounded better with better performance as to
the frequency response and of course similar reasoning prevailed to
the feedback adjustments too, with the higher percentages tending to
reduce distortion but also the gain of the output stage at the same
time. The answer to the obvious question "which is the
proper position of the switches" is, also, obvious: "To the
position imposed by the current mood and the kind of the
program." |
| Conclusion... |
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You may notice maybe that
very little reference has been made since the beginning of the text
as to the price. "Listen to the amplifier with
the criteria of its performance and not its price" (or
something like that) told me Odysseas Tsakiridis when I thought that
I misunderstood the price and the truth is that the 810 Euros, that
is the cost of a pair of Artemis "New" (940 Euros for the Plus) in
the Greek market, is an excellent price indeed for the offered
stuff. With absolute no doubt it is the biggest
opportunity in the market of the tube amplifiers and an
excellent way for someone to enter to high quality tube
sound.
Dimitris Stamatakos |
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