One of the first records which landed on the platter of the review unit was actually an album I rarely pull out because it's been a big disappointment ever since its purchase. U2 have always been one of my favorite bands. I used to love to listen to their music. The problems began after I purchased my first decent hifi. I soon learnt that the quality of their recordings did not match their artistic and musical values. A few years ago U2 released an anniversary two-disc edition of their wonderful Joshua Tree. I of course purchased it hoping that this time they managed to deliver better sound quality than on the original. After several disappointing spins, this album too was shelved along with all the others. I couldn't hear this promised 'definitely higher quality'.

For whatever reason, I now decided to give it another whirl with the Initial. The stylus hit the groove, I heard "I want to run ..." from the first track and found myself truly surprised. I kept listening through the entire first side singing along with Bono. My foot was tapping, my head bopping… wow! That was unexpected. I flipped the record to the other side and kept going. Clayton's powerful bass marked the rhythm perfectly, Edge's guitar sounded surprisingly clean, the drums were still more firmly tucked in the back but I could finally hear the cymbals shimmering as they were not as dull as usual. Bono's vocals finally expressed at least some of his passion, of the emotions one can witness during U2 concerts. Granted, the presentation still lacked proper depth and dynamics weren't quite what one expects from a Rock band but it was by far the best presentation of Joshua Tree that happened in my room, on any system, from any medium. Encouraged by such a successful beginning of my adventure with the Initial, I reached for more Rock albums.

I do not remember the last time I spent so much time listening exclusively to Rock. If only a recording gave the Initial a chance (which in the case of Rock was none too frequent but some did), it proved how vinyl is capable of well-defined and differentiated powerful fast bass, how much energy there is to dig out from a groove. Was is doing this better than my Standard? I would not go that far. The latter delivers even more slam, goes even deeper/lower, provides an even better focused,more stable bass foundation. Just so, the difference was less significant than one would expect considering the price delta. I can't think of no other turntable with a similar price tag which delivers equally impressively on Rock!

When it came to a quite good-quality production with Peter Gabriel's New Blood, I saw how much the Initial really had to offer. While on previous records its role was, at least in part, to control and not add to the mayhem that is a characteristic of many Rock recordings, now it could showcase its ability of extracting maximum information from the groove and present it with high accuracy. The vocals of Gabriel and the artists singing with him sounded remarkably natural. The orchestra stunned me with its power and momentum. I could almost feel the massive tutti, not just hear them. Even with the full power of the orchestra, the Initial stayed in full control. It was a particularly dynamic, clean, transparent reading which, partly due to an exceptionally low noise level from the turntable, translated into a detailed, precise, well-arranged performance. Very important was that simultaneously, the sound remained remarkably rich and saturated. There was a proper not exaggerated leading edge, nice sustain and finally a full long decay.


To assess the Initial's full potential, I finally reached for some of the highest quality records in my collection, 45rpm pressings included. One of them was in frequent rotation: the MoFi release of Patricia Barber's Companion. This is a live recording with mostly acoustic instruments. Here I could appreciate another advantage of this Polish turntable: its ability to recreate a realistic soundstage. It was quite huge. Front-to-back layering was even more impressive than left to right though the latter was still wider than the speakers. I was impressed although considering my experience with the Standard, not surprised. With the stability and focus of this presentation, each element had its defined spot on the stage, each had a weighty three-dimensional body. This created a feeling of a close intimate contact with musicians. It made me feel as a participant of an extraordinary musical event. The Initial rendered Patricia's deep rich vocal beautifully. It didn't forget about her characteristic sibilants but even those were enfolded in a very natural way.

While listening to this album, I confirmed what I'd heard earlier on a Stevie Ray Vaughan record to attribute to the tonearm rather than deck. I noticed a less immediate attack than delivered by my own Standard with Schroeder CB arm. For example, on "Tin Pan Alley", SRV sings "I heard a pistol shoot ..." and simultaneously all instruments including his guitar imitate the pistol in a very powerful fast direct fashion. When played by the Initial, it sounded good, really good. Yet it lacked this incredible immediacy which the bigger brother with its 4 x pricier tonearm delivers. Patricia Barber's "Black magic women" uses a lot of varied percussion. While differentiation was great, it was not as fast as my reference turntable. These weren't significant differences. It was mere evidence of remaining differences with a component twice as expensive. Classic Records' release on a clear one-sided vinyl of Cannonball Adderley's "Somethin 'else" sounded amazing. I loved Miles' trumpet and Cannonball's saxophone in particular. The sound of these instruments was incredibly open, full of air, powerful and vigorous, delivering as much of both masters' virtuosity as any recording could. It sounded incredibly pure, vibrant and palpable, as though I was sitting in the front row of a small club. Hank Jones with his piano was located somewhere far behind the rest of the musicians. Even when he took the lead, the sound came clearly from behind to not push forward. The high resolution, good differentiation, beautifully conveyed timbre and texture of instruments, the tiniest details and subtleties perfectly captured on the recording... it all added up to pure music assuming playback on a high-end system. This is one of those records in my collection that, when played, captures the attention of even most music-magic-resilient friends who (surprisingly) stay absolutely quiet and focused until the very last note decays in the distance. Then they ask me to play another side of the disc. The Initial was able to extract almost as much magic as my Standard and many other much more expensive top performers I have reviewed.