AXPONA 2010

Acapella Horns

John Atkinson  |  Mar 10, 2010

As you will see from the forthcoming May issue of Stereophile, modern horn speakers don't suffer from the colorations and idiosyncrasies that plagued the genre in earlier decades. Such was the case in the room shared by Aaudio Imports and Sanibel, FL retailer Lee Island Audio. The German Acapella High Violoncello II speakers ($80,500/pair) with their ionic tweeters, driven by Einstein The Turntable's Choice phono preamp ($9,800), Einstein The Tube Mk.2 balanced line stage ($18,400), and a pair of Einstein The Final Cut tubed OTL monoblocks ($34,900/pair), connected with Stage III interconnects, speaker cables, and AC power cords, produced a seamless soundstage and a smoothly coherent tonal picture. With the LP of Rickie Lee Jones singing "Chuck E's in Love," played on a Galibier Stevio turntable ($15,000) fitted with a Triplanar Mk.VII tonearm and a Dynavector XV1s phono cartridge ($5250), the sound was one of the best I heard at Axpona. I have asked Aaudio Imports' Brian Ackerman for review samples of the Acapella speakers.

COMMENTS
Rustin Rodgers's picture
Submitted by Rustin Rodgers (not verified) on March 12, 2010 - 2:42pm

Sweet. So, for the low price of ONLY $165,000.00 USD (quite a bit more than the cost of my house), I too, can have top-notch sound. Yeesch!

jason Victor Serinus's picture
Submitted by jason Victor Serinus (not verified) on March 14, 2010 - 1:58pm

I can tell you don't live in California, Rustin. I wish this system cost quite a bit more than the cost of our house in the rundown flats of Oakland.But you needn't spend $165,000 to have top-notch sound. You only need to spend $165,000 to have this particular sound. Spending a whole lot less will net you different sound, but it won't necessarily leave you wanting. I'm amazed at how good some of the far more affordable systems at Axpona sounded.

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