ELYSIUM
THE SOUND
THE MUSIC
John Scofield – Country For Old Men is one of the albums, that from my first listening, simply stuck with me with, with what it seems endless repetitions.
Country For Old Men comes as entirely non-original music, where John expertly and soulfully renders the compositions of George Jones, Hank Williams, Merle Haggard, Dolly Parton…
The album never loses the jazz equivalence, yet it encompasses the vibrancy and emotional essence, that is rarely infused at such rate and with such intimacy. I’ve had a strong feeling why John’s playing is so powerful, but I’ll not dig deeper into this occasion.
In the company of Larry Goldings (piano, Hammond organ), Steve Swallow (bass) and Bill Stewart (drums) the quartet forms a world class band with a fantastic musical power, that had earned Scofield a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album.
Yes, Country for Old Men is a studio album, but it offers a great balanced sound (recorded and mixed at The Carriage House Studios), that compliments all the instruments an equal way. Still, when needed, especially on my favorite track “You’re Still the One” (Shania Twain, John Robert Lange) John’s guitar bites with the unmistakable grip, signature off timing and with almost poignant energy, that fully resonate with the very nucleus of the original. John managed to infuse something very, very personal, that resonates deeply with me.
Trafomatic Audio Elysium power amplifiers projected the John Scofield rigorously and imperatively, by creating a unique sonic dwelling, with the uncommon zest, that fused the dynamism of solid state and the vitality of the tube domain with unforgettable easiness.
Country For Old Man embarks rare guilelessness and Elysium elucidated the very foundation with unrivaled, unequivocal ability. It’s complicated to translate the experience with the exact wording and phrasing, but Trafomatic Audio Elysium have stepped deeper into the music’s core, that I’m used to. And I’ve witnessed quite some of the extraordinariness…
We’re mostly bound to the great classical performances from the past in sort of hypnotic following. Well, personally in most cases I do prefer the earlier performances from the previous century, where there was no cut & paste, collaging like with many modern classical productions. And on top of it, the musicians, as well as conductors, were first class.
Then again, I don’t to be related with the snobbery. There are quite few of the present-day-golden-exception like fairly recent Anne-Sophie Mutter, Wiener Philharmoniker, James Levine – Carmen-Fantasie ‘Deutsche Grammophon – 00289 477 9179). One just needs to be a bit open-minded and au courant.
With this riveting recording, no upper echelon amplifier, either solid state or tube should take anything away from the flow of both violin and the orchestra. Particularly with Carmen-Fantasie, everything can fall apart without proper definition. But, there is more. There is a certain level of enticement, that some stick out high-performance power amplifiers can accomplish. Yet, there are still some greyish, anodyne peculiarities, that prevents the very last bits to enter the mind of the distinguished listener.
Yes, there will always be some traits of the initial design choices, but these are more in the domain of subtle flavoring and not major sonic shifts. We do live in a material world, where utterly perfection seems to be reserved for non-conditioned abode. Yet, the material conditioned nature can be perfected to a certain, still high degree, and as such we can enjoy the heavy portion of such perfection. Even within high-end audio.
And within these highest attributes, Trafomatic Audio Elysium amplifiers have unveiled the very entrance to the non-typical sonic horizons where each and every detail matters. Returning to the Anne-Sophie Mutter and Wiener Philharmoniker, the Elysium expertly handled convoluted passages without being too forceful and in absence of becoming a dynamic beast. It’s one thing to handle the audio energy transfer in a profound way. The complete opposite mechanics deliver the power as an aural tornado, where music is thrown around and parcelled into the non-harmonics bits and pieces. On contrary Trafomatic Audio tube amps’ delivered raw energy of the orchestra estimably, persuasive and with the most healthy dominance over the PRAT!
The Elysium feather-like lightness ability was quickly revealed with the wonderful Hans-Martin Linde & Konrad Ragossnig: Musik für Flöte und Gitarre. As non-complex as baroque music might seem, it’s not! There is always a hidden mosaic structure behind the baroque’s modesty. It’s actually the purity, that is never easily chased within the high-end audio reproduction realms. Especially in the ultra-fi domain fortitudinous nature is more than desired and Trafomatic Audio Elysium managed to act homogeneously within baroque elementariness. The interplay of guitar and flute creates particular vibrancy and note overlapping, that demands more than typical high-end audio amp’s gestalt in order to form the objective and fully believable illusion. Elysium remarkable straightforwardness and naturalness, had encapsulated naiveté and sophistication with impressive classicality, that not only heavily stood out of the crowd, but have also created a norm of itself.
With Musik für Flöte und Gitarre’s obviousness of tone and timbre, there is no easy deciphering of this music’s blending; especially when lurking into the endless microcosmos of quark like resonant anchor points. Elysium carried out the transmission with articulate timbre and with most cogent narrative, entering the new, so far very, very rarely explored heights and with quite a few of the attributes established new landmarks in my reviewer’s book of truths.
CONCLUSION
In an utmost sense, the time rarely stops with any tube amplifier, but I’m yet to stumble upon such objet d’ acoustique art as Trafomatic Audio Elysium monoblock power amplifiers. They can (as esoteric as this might sound) somehow manipulate senses and fool them with a grander illusion, where time seems to disappear and lose its earthly value; translated into the earthly language-it offers extremely-prolonged-fatigue-free listenings.
For me, the music was always something beyond mortal comprehension. Even quite a few different ancient teachings talk about the sound being the very constitutional part of the creation and how the music follows such paths with the endowed, timeless DNA.
High-End audio and especially ultra-high-end audio should deliver more than what’s normally expected when it comes to the reproduction of the music. At such level, electronics must disappear and whole music momentum should operate in the absence of typical mechanics (that can be sometimes highly notable with the listening). Trafomatic Audio Elysium ultimate tube power amplifiers are the exemplary creations, that avoid such traits with the complex and utterly potent design.
It was both privilege and the real luxury to spend so much time with Trafomatic’s ultimate tube power amplifiers. At one point I had to let them go and let me assure you, how I was not the happiest man in the world when the tube masterpieces had to return to the proud fathers…
“Voici mon secret. Il est très simple: on ne voit bien qu’avec le cœur. L’essentiel est invisible pour les yeux.” – Le Petit Prince – Antoine de Saint Exupéry
Here is my secret. It is very simple: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.
This quote from the – Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince) by Antoine de Saint Exupéry sums up my review thoughts perfectly. Trafomatic Audio Elysium acts and performs beyond typical norms and in absence of typical solid state of tube sound designations. It can touch the very core of the heart and these amplifiers have touch mine! Profoundly and deeply!
Even as sole creation Elysium has a meaning that a simple commodity, even high-priced amplifier rarely have. The ownership of these bespoke beauties would tell a lot about such person as Elysium expose more enduring value, that many would dare to think out loud.
The demand for such sonic marvels as Trafomatic Elysium will never disappear as long there are people appreciate the finer things and are willing to shell out money for them. As much as some audiophiles and music lovers morally fight against such bespoke and highly priced products, the wide array of people usually benefits from trickle-down technology, that is associated with such Objet d’art. It’s no different in the car or watch industry, but there the hidden marketing mechanics are running for far longer time.
While Elysium tube monoblocks were not designed with any particular type of speakers in mind and they will work with all types of speakers, I’ve really liked and loved how they’ve locked with the contemporary and classical horn speakers. There is some special chemistry in play with horns, that
For what Elysium represents technically, for the amount of dedication and efforts, that Saša Čokić and Trafomatic team have invested into this project, and most importantly, for the sonic excellency, that it can deliver, I’m wholeheartedly awarding these tube amplifiers with Mono & Stereo Upper Echelon Class Award.