While I was working on the design of the PW1 phono stage there were a few particular LPs that I used a lot to evaluate my progress. One of them was “Wild Things Run Fast” (GEF 25102) by Joni Mitchell, it came out way back in 1982. This LP is more accessible than many of her other records. Most songs are lessons for life, lessons from life. The music is mostly calm, even relaxing, with Larry Klein on bass and Wayne Shorter on soprano sax. One song is based on an epistle written by Paul 2000 years ago: 1 Corinthians 13, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud”.
The opening song of side 1 is Chinese Cafe / Unchained Melody. It is moving, Joni looks back on her life. While working on the PW1 I listened to this song quite a few times, as well as to Be Cool. The recording quality of the entire LP is beautiful, really excellent, and the songs never fatigue. Which makes it absolutely no punishment to listen to them multiple times.
During the design I had to decide which components to use. 50 years of experience is an important factor here, but also just looking at specs. And I measure quite a bit to see if a component technically does what I want it to do. But listening to resistors, capacitors, field effect transistor and what have you is the final and most critical step. And while listening to different capacitor options it suddenly struck me that the instrumental intro of Chinese Cafe is uncannily revealing. It’s the first 31 seconds, before Joni’s voice comes in. It starts with a piano, in an eery atmosphere, followed by electric guitars and percussion. Most capacitors just passed the signal but some made the music sing in an enchanting way. Those found their way into the PW1 phono…
Peter van Willenswaard
