RMAF 2006

As mentioned in the introductory post to this blog, Peter "PJay" Smith (above), Bob Cordell, and Darren Kuzma presented gratis "Amplifier and Loudspeaker Listening and Measurement" clinics throughout the show. One of the clinics, which I was unable to attend, interpreted amplifier measurement data supplied by Stereophile's John Atkinson.

At the advice of Jeff Wilson and Bob Kuehn, two highly discriminating members of the Bay Area Audiophile Society back home, I auditioned a system with truly enviable, openness and three-dimensionality. The combination of the ART Audio Adagio 26Wpc stereo amplifier ($13,000 with the eye-catching canister light), Gill DAC/preamp ($7500), Audio Excellence power supply, Silversmith Platinum cables, Pranawire power cables, and Ars Aures Midi Sensorial speakers ($19,000/pair—where do they come up with these names?) offered a glimpse of the grace and vulnerability rarely exhibited by many of the brutes of the industry. As Karina Gauvin shared a bit of her soul on Canteloube’s Songs of the Auvergne, I basked in the system’s all-enveloping warmth. The Bill Evans track chosen by Lee Landesberg of Landes Imports sounded fabulous. Definitely one of the high points of my Saturday morning at the RMAF.

Rapidly approaching the staggering state observed among inveterate show attendees on Friday evening, I stumbled upon the debut of Duke Lejeune’s $4000/pair Jazz Modules. Note that the speakers were not intended specifically for jazz; the name came to Duke in a dream as he was preparing to graduate from amateur speaker builder to fledgling audiophile professional. With a claimed sensitvity of 92dB, the speakers extend from the upper 30s to about 17.5kHz. Port tuning is changeable according to listening position. Even with only two days of break-in—the woofers require several hundred hours to sound their best, Duke told me—the speakers threw a huge soundstage, and sounded remarkably full, warm and luscious in the midrange, I felt.

In a room tuned and focused by a fascinating assortment of diminutive Acoustic Resonators, Behold's modular electronics and Ascendo's loudspeakers offered a great sense of air and depth, albeit with an at times oversized sense of proportion on the Reference Recordings Rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances. Ralf Ballmann, designer of the Behold audiophile product line, assures me that the name Behold was not chosen for its biblical connotations. The line was first introduced at CES 2004, and is now distributed by Behold USA of New York. The preamp-to-amp connection is accomplished by a narrow, unobtrusive 50 ohm cable that ranks high for spouse acceptance factor. I’d love to hear this system in larger quarters.

For some system configurations, hotel rooms present near impossible challenges. Such was the case in one padded cell on the 5th floor of the Marriott Denver Tech Center, where the frustrated purveyors of a modestly priced A/V surround system raided the linen closet in a desperate attempt to tame errant sound. I didn’t have the heart to ask if the reflective surface of the black plastic tape might be making matters worse.

I confess. The Ferguson Hill mini horn speaker system from England ($1195), distributed in the US by Ron, Ginny, and Rob Lapporte of Chicago’s Ultimate Audio Video, caught more than my eye. To compare their mellow sound with that of the hideous computer speakers that currently deface my home desktop was enough to make me weep. Instead, I entered their totally random drawing for a pair. Note the separate little woofers. A perfect combination for an iPod or a computer.