Saturday’s first taste of the real thing for this writer came in the form of midrange truth. The location was the third floor Santa Cruz room put together by Optimal Enchantment, a Santa Monica-based high-end retailer whose 25 plus-year history in the business perhaps grants it the right to so audacious a name. The amps were Audio Research REF 610 monoblocks, each of whose twenty glowing 6550 output tubes help account for their 600W output and $40,000/pair price tag. Speakers were an industry given, the Vandersteen 5As, the cable Audioquest, and the turntable a Basis Debut Signature ($10,900) outfitted with a Transfiguration Orpheus cartridge ($5,000) and Basis Vector Model 3 tonearm ($3750).

After listening, I spent a while speaking with Bob Clarke of Basis. Asked how close to the sound he wished to hear he had achieved after three days at the show, Bob replied, “About 80%.” Among the challenges the exhibitors needed to address were the room’s walls, which literally moved if you pushed them hard enough. Imagine trying to achieve a solid image, let alone solid bass, in such an environment. Given such drawbacks, my proverbial hat is off to Optimal Enchantment.