LATEST ADDITIONS

In the spring of 1969, as an aspiring jazz drummer of 15 pretentiously and largely uncomprehendingly drawn to the music's difficult avant-garde, I learned that Don Cherry, Ornette Coleman's alter ego during Ornette's starvation years and an icon of free jazz himself, had recently moved to the village of Congers in my native Rockland County, New York, just north of New York City. Ornette was putting together a group drawn mostly from his early cohorts, and the call went out to Stockholm, where Don had settled—to the extent that he settled anywhere—with his Swedish wife, Moki. Hence his arrival practically on my doorstep.

Let's get right to it: The best way to set azimuth, as I recently wrote in this space, is to measure crosstalk using either a high-quality voltmeter or a digital oscilloscope and a good test record like Analogue Productions' The Ultimate Analogue Test LP (AAPT1). The traditional, qualitative procedure—setting the headshell so that it's parallel to the record surface—assures only cosmetic satisfaction.

A quarter century after Audio Analogue began in Italy, the company's products are again available in the United States. Thanks to Walter Swanborn and Dwight DiMartino of Fidelis Distribution of New Hampshire, visitors to AXPONA discovered the AADrive CD transport ($2850) and AA DAC ($4950), Puccini Anniversary integrated amplifier ($5850), Bellini Anniversary line preamplifier ($7750), Donizetti Anniversary power amplifier ($13,850, below), and AA Phono MM/MC phono stage ($2500).

AXPONA offered the public a long-anticipated first listen to prototypes of Mytek's forthcoming Empire Streamer DAC ($24,995) and Empire GaNFET class-D monoblock amplifier ($9995/each or $19,990/pair). The former, which I'll review, may be in production by Munich High End in May; the latter is expected to launch in September.

If you're a regular attendee to audio shows you'll notice one constant, and that's a lack of consistency. At one show, Acme Turntables represents with Manny, Moe, & Jack's speakers. The next show, Acme has taken up with Beverly's speakers, and MM&J is now with Mr. Big's turntables. It's downright incestuous.

Into this audio polygamy come the good men of Volti Audio (Greg Roberts), BorderPatrol DACs and amplification (Gary Dews), and Triode Wire Labs cabling (Pete Grzybowski). These gentlemen have been hosting hi-fi rooms as a single organism since 2005!

Located just five miles from each other in the beauteous state of New Hampshire, Sonner Audio and Small Green Computer teamed up to present a lovely mid-priced system that quickly won over hearts with its beauty. Yes, every veteran audiophile has heard tenor José Carreras sing "that track" from Misa Criolla, but far fewer have enjoyed all the atmosphere, midrange warmth, and excellent bass that this track can deliver. Carreras sounded especially clear, present, and intimate on this space-considerated system.

Peace and quiet at a busy audio show is hard to come by. I especially wasn't expecting mellow respite on a Saturday show day. But I found some lovely-sounding music and a chilled-out vibe in Vinnie Rossi's demo room 488. Only a couple of listeners came and went during that time. Control of the iPad—and Vinnie Rossi remote control—were mine.