T.H.E. Show Newport 2012

KT Audio: Visually Dazzling

Jason Victor Serinus  |  Jun 9, 2012

"Whoa!" said self to self upon entering the KT Audio Imports room. This display is so dazzling, how can I begin to take it all in?

Arrayed before me were the Triangle Art Referent turntable ($13,990); GamuT CD3 ($6500); NAT Audio Magma 160W amplifiers ($45,000/pair), Symmetrical dual balanced preamplifier ($8700), Signature battery phono stage ($7800); Eventus Audio Nebula loudspeakers ($65,000/pair), and Wireworld cabling. Not playing were the Triangle Art Signature turntable ($9990), NAT Single Integrated ($7800), and NAT Magnastotat battery preamplifier ($17,490). Some of this, as well as two other Eventus loudspeakers, was off to the side.

Surprisingly, a cut from the Billie Holiday LP, Songs for Distingué Lovers, sounded too bright, the equally classic recording of Bruno Walter's Brahms Four sounded wirey on strings, and the bass of the large speakers overwhelmed the room and blurred detail. Tonality was far more neutral on my Rosa Passos/Ron Carter CD from Chesky Records, with a lovely warmth replacing the hard edge heard on vinyl.

COMMENTS
Pro-Audio-Tech's picture
Submitted by Pro-Audio-Tech on June 22, 2012 - 11:03am

Nice looking and sounding room I thought, didn't hear any hard edge when I was there, (?).

JasonVSerinus's picture
Submitted by JasonVSerinus on June 27, 2012 - 1:26pm

Given the reports I received about electric fluctuations, it's possible that I hit the room at a low point. There is nothing any blogger can do about this in a show this large; you can't return to rooms for a second lsiten, especially when there's no guarantee that anything will have changed, because doing so means that another room will not b covered. Plus, the electricity could be worse the second time around. 

This is why a show report must be understand as a show report, not a review - it's a snapshot of an often hastily set up system in a far from optimal environment. Home audition is essential.

 

jason

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