In the Laufer-Teknik room, I had the opportunity to audition the Ascendo C8 loudspeaker ($9800/pair) with stand. This three-way includes a rear-firing ribbon tweeter and upward-firing, internal woofer, and has a specified sensitivity of 88dB
Barrows Wurm urged me to "take a picture because it’s beautiful." This is PS Audio's as-yet-unnamed, forthcoming transport. A replacement for the aged PS Audio Lambda used in their RMAF rack display, it should cost under $2000. Other components included the Power Plant Premiere ($2195), GCC250 class-D Control Amplifier ($3495), and DL3 DAC ($995).
Theta Digital, the "Digital Done Right" pioneer of separate DACs and transports, has been sold to Amplifier Technologies, Inc. ATI has pledged to immediately begin work on selected Theta audiophile and home-theater products.
How am I to convince music lovers that this CD is markedly different from Attention Screen's first two live CDs?
The question kept running through my head as I marveled at the breadth and maturity of Attention Screen's remarkable improvisations during a pre-concert sound check in the Piano Salon of Yamaha Artist Services, Inc. (YASI), at 689 Fifth Avenue, in the heart of Manhattan.
Attention Screen impressed even more at the public concert the following night, April 24, 2010. As the band members engaged in one improvisational miracle after another, fearlessly exploring new territory, the beauty and inventiveness of their playing astounded me.
Audible Images of Melbourne, FL treated AXPONA visitors to a 5-channel MartinLogan set-up that managed to look big even in the huge Florida Salon B. Capable of playing five different formats, the system did full justice to a two-channel recording of Jimmy Smith from 1958, with sound very warm and laid back. Further treats were in store with a 3-channel Mercury Living Presence SACD of Rodrigo's famous Concierto d'Aranjuez, the system capturing both that label's in your face brightness as well as the beautiful delicacy of the guitar. In multichannel, Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here sounded as though "here" had come to me, which was a good thing. My own disc of Mahler Symphony No.2 sounded convincingly big and bright, although for some reason the low bass lines were not as full as I'm accustomed to hearing.
Headlined by Aerial Acoustics' Model 7T loudspeaker ($10,000/pair, to be reviewed in the May 2012 issue of Stereophile) and Audio Research's Ref 5 SE preamp ($12,900), Ref 150 amplifier ($12,900), and DAC 8 ($5000), the system from Audible Images of Melbourne, FL delivered very clear, warm (rather than neutral), and crisp sound from a Japanese compilation Three Blind Mice. "Excellent," I wrote in my notes. Undoubtedly the Krell Model 505 CD player ($10,000), and Transparent Audio's Reference XL speaker wire, Reference interconnects, Power Ix, and Power link power cords had something to do with it.
One of the high points of my time blogging the first Stereophile-sponsored Axpona Show in Jacksonville was hearing the Audience ClairAudient 16+16 loudspeakers and meeting John McDonald. This time, John went from extremely large to relatively small. Instead of the 16+16 or 8+8, he brought his smallest loudspeakers, the Audience ClairAudient 2+2 ($5000/pair), augmented by a prototype ClairAudient subwoofer ($5000).
At T.H.E. Show in the Flamingo hotel, a mere half mile, 500 hawkers, and 2000 gambling-addicted alcoholics away from the bulk of high-performance audio exhibits in the Venetian, John McDonald of Audience was showing his new Adept Response aR6-TS power conditioner. Each unit comes complete with an Audience powerChord. The units sell at two different price points, depending upon choice of Audience power cords ($5000 with a standard Audience powerChord e, or $6550 with the Au24 powerChord).
The 6-outlet version of the Adept Response aR6-TS was in use in the room. A 12-outlet version is also available ($8600 or $10,150, depending upon powerChord choice).
What’s new about the unit is the “S” in aR6-TS. “T” stands for the Teflon version of power conditioner, and “S” for its new Audience Teflon aura-TO capacitors. John McDonald says the new capacitors are significantly more resolute and transparent.
Here's a more modest system than some of the others featured so far that really nailed the raucous highs on a curious wind version of Revueltas' wild, ritualistic Sensemaya. Veteran high-end designer Frank Van Alstine was justly proud of his Ultra 550 hybrid power amp with its 300Wpc ($2395), Transcendence Eight vacuum-tube preamp ($1299 with optional remote and phono stage), and Insight Solid State DAC ($999). Paired with the Jim Salk Sound Veracity HT3 3-way loudspeakers with their 10" woofer ($4895), this system was making sounds worth checking out.
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.
Jason Victor Serinus
The question kept running through my head as I marveled at the breadth and maturity of Attention Screen's remarkable improvisations during a pre-concert sound check in the Piano Salon of Yamaha Artist Services, Inc. (YASI), at 689 Fifth Avenue, in the heart of Manhattan.
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