A visit to Nagra

[David Spearritt]

Wonderful! A picture says a thousand words.
6moons industry features: RoadTour Nagra

[Blast9]

huge pair of torroids! - That amp must be quite a beast!

[John Willett]

Thanks for posting this David - very interesting.

He did have a couple of small mistakes though:
1) Nagra actually means "will record" (*not* "it records") as Nagra themselves keep telling me.
2) The competition that Stefan Kudelski won in 1952 was *not* a "French competition" - it was actually the very first International Amateur Recording Contest.

I am actually the President of the organisation that runs this contest (yes, it's still going strong - entries from the USA most welcome) - details can be found HERE.


I actually went round the Nagra factory about 20 years ago and an extremely interesting visit it was.

[retractablezing]

thanks for posting this. the prices on their Pro stuff are a bit steep, but i suppose excellence has a price, i just can't pay it myself, otherwise i would. thanks for a very interesting report.

[surflounge]

yeah, thanks for blowing my budget, and giving new sweet dreams about this wild gear
6moons.com: Show Case

[Plush]

Extreme Pornograffiti!

WOW--high end audio as fetish object--this slant not denied by the reporter!

Do the Swiss have no shame?

It is amazing what they have come up with. Main market must be in the "Middle East."

THIS PART (below) is never talked about, however.

BUSTED!!

=======>The fact remains that the high end hi-fi listener never has access to hearing what the source really sounds like.

ALL else is gaslight!

[tsvisser]

very cool article. wish I could spend some time there talking to engineers or even work for a bit.

[John Willett]

Originally Posted by Plush

=======>The fact remains that the high end hi-fi listener never has access to hearing what the source really sounds like.

I take your point.

Though if he/she regularly attends live concerts he/she will know what real instruments sound like in a real acoustic.

[Roland]

The quality of their engineering is truly outstanding! They always seem to have a knack of comming up with products that perfectly sum up what the industry needs (I'm thinking of the Nagra VI here).

Interestingly, Gaston placed some samples of a recording he did on one where he compared the Crookwood with it's ADC's against the Nagra, whilst personally I prefered the Crookwood, the Nagra's quality was still truly outstanding, particularly when it's compact size is bought into the equation and the fact that it is all in one box!

Regards


Roland

[Plush]

Originally Posted by John Willett

I take your point.

Though if he/she regularly attends live concerts he/she will know what real instruments sound like in a real acoustic.

Hello John,

I admit that I am singularly cynical about high end hi-fi. When I was starting out I worked at a well known super high end "salon" here in Chicago where I sold hi-fi gear.
I love good reproduction equipment.

At home I am using a Shindo Laboratory Aurieges tube pre-amp in to a VAC 8B (Marantz 8B) reproduction amplifier. I'm listening on ProAc Response 2S speakers. Linn-Sondek LP12 is the turntable.

However, what you have written is what the high end priests often parrot. They say, "Music is my reference." At first this phrase seems irrefutable. Then, upon examination, it falls apart.

A recording is, to my mind, a separate and distinct art form which does not seek to reproduce the concert hall experience. It offers its own brand of musical illusion and those who enjoy it usually do so because the recording transports them to an acoustic where a music sound is offered up. (the recording does not bring the performance room in to the person's living room)

Nagra's pursuit of uncompromised reproduction through selling what even they would admit are fetish objects is laudable. In the article in 6 Moons I was struck by the beautiful pictures some of which verged on documents of industrial art.

The images were fetishized.

When a writer or listener proclaims that his $75,000 hi-fi system offers the best reproduction of the master tape, guess what I am thinking? I'm thinking he's guessing.

I am thinking I made the master tape and he has never heard it.

This is the central conundrum of high end hi-fi. I propose that it is even more laughable as the price of the system goes up.

[Gaston69]

"Wonderful! A picture says a thousand words"

what about using your ears because that's what's about listening to music NOT equipment.

Don't get me wrong I also liked the photo shoot at the Nagra workshop and think that they put real effort in making good quality products but where is the limit?

I like what Plush said about music etc etc and I do like equipment a lot but sometimes we forget why musicians write music....to express emotions and if the music played is something you like then a small mono transistor radio will do the job as well.

So put your feed back on the ground gentlemen......(maybe I should start by myself first)

That Nagra stuff is for sure very nice

[David Spearritt]

Believe me Gaston, I am not an audiophile. I purchased a Nagra for its reliability and long life for professional location recording, the sonics are unquestionable of course, a bonus. The Nagra does not stuff me around, like a lot of other equipment does! This is the main reason for purchase and paying the premium price.

The picture saying a thousand words was referring to their culture, passion, attention to detail, state of the art design, devoted staff, clean factory, hi-tech capability, superb ergonomics, all visible from that pictorial essay. All of this is why their equipment is a joy to use and listen to.

I have an inexpensive hifi at home, chinese valve amp, kit di-appolito loudspeakers, peerless drivers, benchmark DAC, but it sounds excellent, because I used my ears and knowledge and not my wallet.

Don't take things too literally.

[Remoteness]

Outstanding!

Thanks for sharing this awesome link with us.

[Matti]

In 1980 I had a Nagra IV driven over by the camera track van and it survived!
The guy driving the van didn´t though... needed career planning after that

Matti