Evolutionary—Revolutionary

I went into the Blue Light Audio room at T.H.E. Show to hear the new Dartzeel amplifiers (Wes Phillips will be blogging on these presently) and to chat with designer Hervé Délétraz. But my attention was caught by Evolution Audio's beautifully finished MMMini Two speakers ($40,000/pair). Ostensibly a two-way design combining a 5" aluminum ribbon with a 7" ceramic-cone woofer, the stand also contains an 8"x12" subwoofer.

I was too fried by the afternoon of the Show's fourth day to glean any meaningful impressions of the system's sound—I'll leave that to WP—but I was impressed enough that the ingredients, which included the very promising Playback Designs MPS-5 SACD player Grand Prix stands, and an Audience AC conditioner, deserve further attention from the magazine.

COMMENTS
tom collins's picture

i think dup is also going by "jerry" in other posts.

John Atkinson's picture

As you will read in WP's forthcoming report on Dartzeel, the power amplifier was very much a prototype. The poster on the wall at the left shows what the finished product will look like.

Jason Victor Serinus's picture

I'm really glad to learn that you're going to review Evolution Audio's speakers, John. I blogged a larger model at an earlier show, and was mightily impressed.I'm equally impressed that DUP continues to post under more aliases. WindyD my assy.

The Groove's picture

I'm visiting the Las Vegas high-end show for the first time and sitting in the sweet spot in this room was as heavenly as 2-channel music reproduction gets. No other room at the show (the Venetian included) had such a level of top-to-bottom balance, scary dynamics, pure realism and sheer palpability of voices, instruments, live recordings were REAL ... and they weren't even playing vinyl! I would say the absolute best matching of components and perfectly setup.Now, those prototype DartZeel monoblocks ... my brain is still trying to comprehend how it is possible to sound SOOOO good, sound from another planet, sound for the Gods! Everyone in the room was shaking their head in disbelief! Most amazing indeed. Nothing compares.

Joseph's picture

The sound was smooth, but something was missing. Why did they switch off the self-powered woofers during the demos? Rarely would anyone listen that way except maybe for female vocals. The speakers sounded a little thin, even with the monoblocks. The bass could have integrated better. $40,000? You're kidding.

The Groove's picture

The only reason for the self-powered subwoofers to be turned off during a demo is to show how superb the base was without the sub. That is why it is called a DEMO, duh!!! And amazingly, in this room it demonstrated the fantastic sound of what would be essentially the MMMiniOne speaker. As Jonathan Atkins of Stereophile described it, this system was anything but thin, tonally right top to bottom down to 10Hz! I can think of no better sub design than closed, ultra light weight and stiff cone and powered.Joseph, next time try and sit in the sweet spot, or get your ears cleaned out before the trip.

Mr Colgate's picture

Those speakers are the most gorgeously finished cabinets I have ever seen. Sound was superb too, one of my 3 top favorite rooms this year.

X