LATEST ADDITIONS

T.H.E. Show 2019
Alaia Audio Ekahi Loudspeaker, Verito 1 integrated Amplifier
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Jun 11, 2019  |  2 comments
Please join me in giving a hearty shout out to newcomer Alaia Audio, whose exhibit proved that all is not parched in the state of Arizona.
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T.H.E. Show 2019
TW-Acustic Raven GT II Turntable, Charisma and Miyajima Cartridges, Horning Aristotle Ellipse PM65 Speakers, Tron-Electric Atlantic Integrated SE amp and Convergence Signature Preamps, Silent Running Audio Scuttle and Ohio XL, etc.
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Jun 11, 2019  |  1 comments
Jeffrey Catalano has come cross-country to exhibit. I missed him at the last show. I simply must go to the High Water Sound room.
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T.H.E. Show 2019
Arion Apollo Loudspeakers, LS-200 Linestage, 2A3 Tube Amplifiers, and HS-500 Hybrid Mono Amplifiers; EMM DA2 DAC; Wolf Alpha 3 Music Server; VPI HW-4 turntable, etc.
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Jun 10, 2019  |  10 comments
An intriguing system from MK Audio LLC of Charlotte, NC, brought to the fore Arion Audio’s nearly full-range AMT line-array Apollo System loudspeaker ($24,900/pair). The Apollos, which were paired with active subwoofers, claim an astounding 105dB sensitivity—sensitive enough to work with Triode Labs' 2A3 3.5W vacuum tube amplifiers (no price supplied). At least I think I was hearing the 2A3s, because also in the rack were Arion Audio’s LS-500 hybrid Class D amplifiers ($6995/pair). Preamplification was the company’s LS-200 hybrid line-stage ($3995).
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T.H.E. Show 2019
CAD 1543 DAC Mk II, Audio Transport, Ground Controls, & Cabling; Aesthetix Mimas Integrated, Boenicke W8 SE speakers, Bibacord Interconnects, HRX SXR Rack
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Jun 10, 2019  |  1 comments
After trying more than once to get into the CAD room at Munich High End, I ended up hearing a significantly smaller version of their system in Long Beach. This time, the hybrid integrated amplifier was the excellent Aesthetix Mimas ($7000 without optional modules), which I’ve reviewed for the August issue of Stereophile, and the speakers the diminutive Swiss Boenicke W8 SE ($12,500).
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T.H.E. Show 2019
EleKit TU-8600R integrated amplifier, Sparkler Audio S503 Spiral CD Player/Transport, AER Excenter Loudspeakers
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Jun 10, 2019  |  4 comments
You’re going to need to indulge me a bit, because, due to some communication difficulties, I’m not totally confident of some prices and components in this room. If I understood correctly, the handmade-in-Japan, 1-bit Sparkler Audio S503 CD Player/Transport costs $1650, and the build-it-yourself EleKit TU-8600R integrated amplifier, also from Japan, goes for $1785.
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T.H.E. Show 2019
Evolution Acoustics Exact Maestoso Loudspeaker and Cabling, Dartzeel NHB Stereo Amp and Preamp, Wave Kinetics NVS turntable, Merging NADAC, Durand Tonearm
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Jun 10, 2019  |  4 comments
See that weird looking thing? It’s the outboard crossover to end all outboard crossovers, and it belongs to the relatively slim Evolution Acoustics Exact Series Maestoso 3-way loudspeaker system ($18,900). Heading an impressive and hardly bargain system from Blue Light Audio of Portland and The Audio Association of Anaheim Hills, the Maestoso made one of its first show appearances since I covered its debut at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest—was it three years ago?
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T.H.E. Show 2019
Bowers & Wilkins 800D3 Speakers and DB1 Subwoofers, McIntosh C1100 Preamp, Aurender A30 Server, Solid Tech Racks, Synergistic Research AC Conditioner
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Jun 09, 2019  |  5 comments
When I entered my penultimate Scott Walker Audio room, Kevin Wolff of Bowers & Wilkins was playing outtakes from a 1989 recording by Branford Marsalis. The sound of Marsalis's sax was so distinctive and, to my ears, beautiful that I began to smile. (Trumpet was another instrument whose sound this system conveyed with perfection.) As Kevin segued into a 16/44.1 file of Thomas Dolby's "I Scare Myself," I scribbled in my notebook, "This is a system that reminds you of what the high end is all about."
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T.H.E. Show 2019
Gryphon Pandora Preamplifier, Magico S5 MkII Speakers, Sonorus Reel-to-Reel Deck, Acoustic Signature Storm Turntable, Synergistic Research cables, Artesiana Racks
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Jun 09, 2019  |  21 comments
Oh boy, was soundstaging excitingly three-dimensional in the Scott Walker room that headlined Gryphon electronics. Listening to 15ips tapes played on a Sonorus reel-to-reel deck ($19,500) by Philip O'Hanlon, of Gryphon distributor On a Higher Note, the extraordinary depth on Sarah Vaughan's "When Your Lover Has Gone" certainly seized my attention.

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T.H.E. Show 2019
VAC Master Signature Preamp, Magico M2 Speakers, MSB Premiere DAC, Synergistic Research Cables, Power Tech Stand
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Jun 09, 2019  |  1 comments
Tonal beauty, clarity, and transparency were just some of the hallmarks of a system that, to my ears, was musical to a "T." (Should that be "M"?) I loved the warm yet neutral sound of a recording by Ana Caram—I detected no extra "tube-like" sweetness, for example—and the system's ability to present music with a quality I can best describe as "grace": not scientific, I know, but when the spirit moves you, the least you can do is acknowledge it.
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T.H.E. Show 2019
Magico A3 Speakers, Constellation Argo Amp, MSB Discrete DAC, Aurender ACS10 Server, Synergistic Research Accessories
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Jun 08, 2019  |  1 comments
In the second Scott Walker Audio room I visited—since I visited five of them, I know it's going to start sounding like "Five power cables, four balanced interconnects, three phono cartridges, two mighty monoblocks, and a speaker shaped like a pear tree," but it really did sound like Christmas in most of these rooms—the Constellation Argo integrated amp ($29,000), Magico A3 Speakers ($12,300/pair), and MSB Discrete DAC ($12,500) vied for pride of place with an Aurender ACS10 server ($6000) and Synergistic Research PowerCell 12 UEF SE Power Conditioner ($6,495), Atmosphere cabling ($18,500), and various room acoustics products ($3,500), plus a Solid Tech Rack ($2,600).
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