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All this verbiage is describing brute force, which we might use to push open a heavy door. But there's another kind of force that we encounter in the world, and consequently in audio, captured in the expression "life force." It denotes a sense of vitality and presence that isn't readily perceived by the senses—something lingering just out of reach of our rational minds. This force can be experienced in the terse saxophone solos of the young Sonny Rollins, the eerie abstract paintings of Mark Rothko and Pat Steir, and the deceptively quiet poems of Elizabeth Bishop. If you've ever been drawn in by one of the squat, gouged, lopsided jars made by a traditional Japanese potter, you know what I'm talking about.

When Ken Fritz died, many people wondered what would become of his stereo system. Fritz's rig was the stuff of legend. The audiophile from Chesterfield, Virginia, had built much of it with his own hands, including line-array speakers too tall to fit in most people's homes. They took 5400 hours to complete and were appraised at more than $200,000. He also designed and built a three-arm turntable that sat on a unique 1500lb antivibration platform. Fritz felt that his "Frankentable" rivaled or bested record players costing well into six figures.

That was just the beginning.

What can you get for $4750? A lot, apparently.

Hearken Audio always comes to the Toronto and Montreal Audiofests with a trove of gear, much of it exotic to me either because I've never heard of it or rarely see it anywhere else. It is invariably intriguing from a purist-artisinal standpoint and usually superlative sounding.

Soltanus Acoustics from Hungary and Brooklyn Audio from Nova Scotia [corrected] served up a seductive system consisting of a pair of electrostatic Soltanus Acoustics ESL Virtuoso Mkll speakers ($24,999/pair), an Auralic Aries G2.2 streamer ($8199), an Auralic Vega G2.2 DAC ($10,699), a Zesto Audio Leto Ultra Mkll preamplifier ($15,580), a mono/stereo Hegel H30A amplifier ($23,995), and a Synergistic Research router ($3000). Filling out the system were a variety of AudioQuest cables (various prices), an AudioQuest Niagara 5000 power conditioner ($7500), and a Quadraspire SVT audio rack ($3000).

The first time I heard a pair of standmount Kii Audio Three speakers, a few years back at a Montreal Audiofest, I immediately got them—their sound, their purpose, their futuristic, polished look. I was infatuated by these strange, complex, almost entirely self-sufficient sound-reproduction devices, so unlike anything else I'd seen they may as well have been from outer space.

Hegel hosted a few rooms. In this one, the Norway-based company’s setup included its brand-new 150Wpc H190V streaming integrated amplifier with MM phono stage ($4899, projected release: May), a pair of Andrew Jones–designed MoFi Sourcepoint 8 speakers ($4399 with stands)—the model's 8 designation refers to the size of the concentric driver—AudioQuest cabling (various prices), and a MoFi Ultradeck turntable with factory-aligned Mastertracker MM cartridge ($3999), wasn't in use during my visit.