RMAF 2010

Audio Plus Services' John Bevier was sporting a snazzy bow tie at RMAF, echoing the sartorial sang-froid of another well-known audio distributor. More than one visitor to his room was puzzled by the apparent lack of any source component, yet the Focal 1038Be speakers ($12,000/pair) were playing the Gary Karr transcription for double bass and organ of the Albinoni Adagio and sounding sweet. John pointed to his MacBook, which was running iTunes with the Amarra front-end and sending the data via WiFi to the Micromega Airstream integrated amplifier ($4995), which has a WiFi front-end based on an Apple Airport Express router. This limits playback resolution to 16 bits and 48kHz, but for someone who wants to rip his CDs and play them with minimal fuss'n'muss, the Micromega is a contender. The system was wired with speaker cable from Crystal Cable, for which Audio Plus is now the North American distributor.