Apple AirPods Pro 3: First Impressions

Hegel H150 Integrated Amplifier Officially Announced

Sonus faber Announces Amati Supreme Speaker

FiiO M27 Headphone DAC Amplifier Released

Audio Advice Acquires The Sound Room

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CAS 2011

Magico, Spectral, Audio Research, MIT, Tim Marutani Consulting, Bill Schnee, Blue Coast Records: Awesome!

Stephen Mejias Jul 17, 2011

Though they were also seen at the Munich Show, Magico’s Q1 monitors ($24,950/pair) are making their US debut here at the California Audio Show. The speaker incorporates much of the technology and design philosophy used in Magico’s Q5, reviewed by Mikey Fremer, but puts it in a smaller package. Like the Q5 and Q3, the Q1 is a sealed-box design with extensive internal bracing.

CAS 2011

Indie Album Unexpectedly Embraced by the Audiophiles

Stephen Mejias Jul 17, 2011

There are other examples: Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago, Iron & Wine’s Our Endless Numbered Days, Feist’s Let it Die, Fleet Foxes’ self-titled debut, and the XX’s XX come to mind. All of these albums were darlings of the indie pop scene and embraced by audiophiles. (What the?)

CAS 2011

Smooth and Forgiving: Neko Audio, Chapman Audio Systems, Cary Audio, Parasound, MIT Cables

Stephen Mejias Jul 16, 2011

I’d never heard of Chapman Loudspeakers, but they’ve been around for 40 years, designing and manufacturing a range of compression-line floorstanders, right here in the USA, on Vashon Island, Washington. The company’s T-8 ($8995/pair) uses a new Scan-Speak tweeter, revised Scan-Speak side-firing woofer, and has a sand-dampened internal chamber.

Chapman’s Jesse Jones explained that they wanted the tweeter to be smoother and more forgiving to more types of music while retaining the music’s essential energy.

CAS 2011

That VooDoo That You Do: VooDoo Cable

Stephen Mejias Jul 16, 2011

The fellows in the VooDoo Cable room were playing Joni Mitchell’s Travelogue, arranged and conducted by Vince Mendoza.

CAS 2011

Excited About New Music: Wilson Audio, D’Agostino, ASC, dCS, Transparent Audio

Stephen Mejias Jul 16, 2011

When the hell did Wilson Audio’s Peter McGrath become so hip? Has the old dude been subscribing to The Wire, hanging out in Greenpoint, going to noise-rock shows in abandoned warehouses?

McGrath used a system comprising Wilson Audio Sasha loudspeakers, gorgeous D’Agostino Momentum monoblock amplifiers, Sooloos Control 15, dCS Debussy DAC, Transparent Audio cables, and ASC Tube Traps to demo music from Pan Sonic to James Blake to Nicolas Jaar.

Nicolas Jaar? Peter McGrath? What the hell? Where am I?

CAS 2011

A Busy Day

Stephen Mejias Jul 16, 2011

On Friday, the California Audio Show seemed fairly quiet, as can be expected for the first day of any show. But early on Saturday a long line to the registration desk promised a busy day of music and hi-fi.

CAS 2011

The King of Limbs: Simaudio, Dynaudio, Shunyata, Quadraspire

Stephen Mejias Jul 16, 2011

In one of several rooms set up by local dealer Audio Vision, an attractive and deceptively simple little system was making some outstanding music: Simaudio 650 D CD/DAC transport ($7999), Simaudio 600 I integrated amplifier ($7999), Dynaudio C1 Signature loudspeakers ($8950, with stands), and cables and accessories from Shunyata: Black Mamba power cables ($595 each), Anaconda power cables ($1999), Anaconda speaker cables ($3499/2m pair), Anaconda interconnects ($2499/1m pair), Dark Field cable-lifters ($295/pack of 12). The components sat on a Quadraspire Sunoko rack ($395/level).

Dyanudio’s Mike Manousselis always&#151always&#151plays good music and on this day it was Radiohead, Cold Cave, Low:

CAS 2011

Channel D's Pure Vinyl

Stephen Mejias Jul 16, 2011

Typically, the mere thought of digitizing my vinyl is enough to give me the heebie-jeebies&#151the process can be so tedious and time-consuming&#151but after watching Channel D’s Rob Robinson quickly and easily set track markers on a virtual LP using his clever Pure Vinyl software ($229), I imagined that even I could have fun with it.

CAS 2011

Lithe, Alluring: Playback Designs, Evolution Acoustics, darTZeel, Wave Kinetics, Channel D

Stephen Mejias Jul 16, 2011

At a hi-fi show, the halls, stairwells, and elevators talk. If you listen closely, they’ll tell you where the show’s best sound can be found. On the show’s first day, I kept hearing whispers about Jonathan Tinn’s Blue Light Audio room.

CAS 2011

Napa Acoustic & Mistral

Stephen Mejias Jul 16, 2011

Napa Acoustic seemed to have a million and one pretty little things on display.

We listened to the Mistral 35Wpc MT-34 tubed integrated amplifier ($1199) and Mistral BOW-A3 loudspeakers ($1699/pair). Delivering a violin piece, the system created a thrilling sound, full of speed and sibilance.

Moving to the larger, 4-way BOW-A2 loudspeakers ($2299/pair) and 150Wpc MM6 hybrid integrated amplifier resulted in a darker tonal balance, with just as much speed and better image focus.