LATEST ADDITIONS

Paddling all the way from NYC, Jeffrey Catalano's High Water Sound, aka “2 channel with attitude,” featured the premieres of Hornning Hybrid Systems Eurfrodite Mark IV Ellipse loudspeakers ($30,000/pair) and Tron-Electric’s flagship Syren II GT preamplifier ($55,000) and Seven phono/mono ($15,000). The speakers have eight 8” bass drivers in push-pull configuration, a back-loaded horn, and a PM 65 Lowther midrange, all of which help account for their 98–99dB sensitivity. Jeffrey called the Tron preamp “a work of art,” with an outboard power supply, “all-silver everything,” and proprietary caps and transformers.

I've always admired the late Randy Bankert's Sonist Audio 3 loudspeakers. But now that the entire line, including the new Sonist Recital 2 bookshelf loudspeakers ($1895/pair), which are based on the Recital 3 have been upgraded with Snake River Audio internal wiring, their sound is exceptional for the price. The pairing with de Havilland's Mercury preamp and 50A monoblocks was a winner. I've always thought of the sound of Kara Chaffee's superb electronics as somewhat dark, but this presentation was quite illumined, colorful, and satisfying.

I expected this system to wow, and wow it did. As if to up to ante after presenting the US consumer show debut of Wilson Audio's supremely musical Sasha Series-2 loudspeaker, Paragon Sight and Sound's next room paired Dan D'Agostino Master Audio Systems' new Momentum integrated amplifier ($45,000) and, on other occasions, D'Agostino's Momentum monoblock amplifiers ($55,000/pair) and Momentum stereo preamplifier ($32,000) with the four-piece dCS Vivaldi stack ($108,496 total), Wilson Audio Alexia loudspeakers ($48,500/pair), a costly amount of Transparent Reference cabling, and HRS equipment stands.