Filtronique Son-Or–Magico–Ayre

Montreal dealer Filtronique Son-Or brought to SSI a system built around Magico's floorstanding S3 loudspeaker ($22,500), with a digital source in the form of the dCS Puccini CD player/D/A converter (ca $25,000) and amplification by Ayre Acoustics. The latter consisted of the Ayre KXR 20 line-level preamp ($27,500) and the newer-than-new, long-anticipated Ayre MXR 20 mono amplifiers (price to be determined).

Apart from a bit of overhang on the bass notes in the 24/192 file of Dave Brubeck's "Take Five," the system had a subtle, organic warmth—and it sounded even better on a vinyl drop of Frank Sinatra's "There's No You," the system conferring upon the voice an uncanny degree of presence.

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