December 9, 2011

  • AudioQuest Lapis, Part 1

    In late 1981, I was merely 9-years-old.  In hope of hearing my favorite songs, I would scan the radio.  It ticked me off, that radio stations never played Genesis' "Abacab."  So when my family went to the Record Factory on Geary and Parker, I begged my parents to buy Abacab.

    When I brought the album home, I discovered that it included a trio of killer songs, "Abacab," "No Reply At All," and "Keep It Dark."  I would play these songs over and over again.  On his solo album, Face Value,     Phil Collins had utilized Earth, Wind & Fire's horn section.  So it wasn't surprising that the EW&F horn section also appeared on Abacab.  And of course, a few years later, Collins would duet with EW&F's Philip Bailey on "Easy Lover."

    I absolutely love the instrumental jam at the end of "Abacab."  Because of that, when I later became an audiophile, I would occasionally bring Abacab with me to demo gear.  Such was the case in late 1991, when I went to San Francisco's Performance Audio to audition, among others, the NAD 5000 CD player.  At the same time, I also spotted the AudioQuest Topaz, Ruby, and Quartz interconnects.  The Topaz ($50) was a good budget interconnect.  The Ruby had a burning upper midrange.  The Quartz was simply very, very good. 

    But you see, I was a student at UC Santa Cruz.  Thus, I had pockets of free time, time I used to corrupt my mind with Stereophile.  I would read about AudioQuest's Lapis interconnect.  Over time, no matter how good my Quartz was, I just had to have the Lapis!  The Lapis was $400 for a 1-meter single-ended pair.  In those days, that was a lot of money.  Put it this way.  That NAD 5000 listed for $499.  My Adcom GFA-535 listed for $330.  To me, it just didn't make sense to spend as much on an interconnect, as a component.  So I did the "next best" thing.  I sold my Sony receiver and speakers for $100, combined that with my Christmas money, and purchased a half-meter Lapis.