This review page is supported in part by the sponsors whose ad banners are displayed below Placing the Kapell disc on my Kuzma Stabi/Stogi table armed with an EMT Labs TSD15 cart, the music was a revelation. Though G+ in condition, this all-analog LP (AAA?) sounded so natural, flowing and rich, it instantly drew me in. I am not that familiar with Chopin’s Mazurkas but Kapell performs here with great sensitivity and an overall sense of introspection. His notes are delicate, lyrical, even playful and the 3XLs revealed the essence of his performance with great clarity. Through the 3XLs I also hear a certain sunniness sparkling through. It sounds like a hall recording, not a studio, and you can imagine high ceilings and paneled walls. The sound is full and lush and covers the frequency extremes. It’s natural, the performance reflective in mood, even meditative. The piano stands out clearly in the wide soundstage and the 3XLs portray Kapell’s personality on the piano. I’m engrossed in the flow of the notes. I can hear every hammer drop with Kapell’s delicate touch. When Kapell goes on full attack with clusters of notes, the 3XLs expose all the dynamics of his mood shift, every change occurring naturally. The sound from this 40-year old LP is crystalline, open and very beautiful (if scratchy!). Excellent spread and transparency. Recalling Sting’s advice the 3XLs seem to say, "if you love someone set them free." Who needs Rilke when you've got Sting? Since the Kapell LP was beat, I played a Murray Perahia disc of Beethoven Piano Sonatas for comparison. A 1982 CBS Masterworks LP proudly stamped with "Digital Digital" on the label, it sure sounded like it. The soundstage was open but the sound was hard and a little unfriendly. And the 3XLs delivered that honestly as well. Still, Perahia is a magical pianist so except for a few brittle flourishes I enjoyed the music. I preferred the mood, immediacy and atmosphere of the fuzzy Kapell disc however. Again the Devore 3XLs revealed the truth, the flow, richness and delicacy of the Kapell disc to overshadow the "Digital Digital" Perahia. Over at Other Music the offerings were more eclectic. I picked up a fantastic Ennio Morricone soundtrack, Le Clan Des Siciliens. A classic Italian gangster movie starring Alain Delon, Jean Gabin and Lino Ventura, the music is prime 1969 Morricone. An excellent analog to digital to analog transfer, the disc is a surreal combination of the haunting and the comic, of Jew’s harp and angelic wordless female vocals, Theremin, clavinet and Wurlitzer piano. Its main comic/tragic theme repeats in various guises but never gets tiring. The record has dewy-eyed moments, lush windswept John Barry moments and swinging ‘60s moments but always with that twanging Jew’s harp and clavinet front and center marking the central melody. I can listen to this disc over and over mostly because the 3XLs reproduce such beautiful tonality from the vinyl. Like a red leather couch in a crusty 70s’ British living room walled with mahogany, Le Clan Des Siciliens is sonic sensuality at its best. Because the 3XLs are in the truth telling business, that’s exactly what you hear. The light ping of a ride cymbal, the wide-spread string section behind the main group, that weird Theremin and Jew’s harp plonking over it all… this is an odd record but wonderfully so. The soundstage is enormous, no doubt recorded on a large film score stage with full orchestra in one spot, pop rhythm section in the other. Electric bass is powerful. The production favors hard panning left to right, the Jew’s harp to the left, clavinet placed mid to left and slightly back in the giant soundstage. When the info is there, the 3XLs cast a wide stage. The 3XLs never failed to reproduce Le Clan Des Siciliens’ wide dynamic range. Again, they told the truth, they flowed the music with lightning speed to enhance dynamics and create a sense of expectation. It’s easy to cite the 3XL’s defining trait: refinement. Very transparent, fast and casting a ginormous stage when present in the recording, the 3XLs also deliver exemplary mid bass performance to where I stopped noticing. It was just natural and connects the threads so well, the crossover point between the refined Silverback tweeter and Seas woofer seems dialled in perfectly aiding its exceptional refinement. Its transparency also revealed the hot-blooded dynamics of the EMT TDS15. This is the best sound I’ve ever heard in my rig.