T.H.E. Show Newport 2012

Closing the live program Sunday at the Atrium Hotel was a concert by Audra Lee, daughter of the LA&OC Audio Society's Bob Levi. Leading a rocking trio, with a woman drummer, Audra belted her way through rock standards, including Huey Lewis's "The Power of Love." You can get a free download of Audra's single "I'm All In" here. Audra's debut album will be available in July from iTunes.

Ever wonder how Sunil Merchant of Sunny Components managed to set up all that equipment in his four different rooms? This peak behind his shower curtain tells the tale.

As familiar as I am with Eficion's flagship F300 three-way loudspeaker, which I discussed earlier I've spent little time with its smaller brother, the F250 ($10,000/pair). The wonderful sound in this room made me regret our late acquaintance. Although not ideal for my large listening room, the 3-way vented Eficion F250 with an Air Motion Transformer (AMT) tweeter has found its made-in-heaven complement in Z-Infinity Audio electronics.

Although I had a bit of a tough time navigating some of the halls, especially at the more meandering Atrium, signage at T.H.E. Show Newport was pretty good overall. You wouldn’t find audiophiles accidentally turning up at the Whitacker Wellness Institute.

I was pleased to meet Home Theater’s Kim Wilson. If Kim’s not reviewing A/V receivers and preamp/processors, she might be taking lovely photographs of musical instruments, landscapes, city scenes, architecture, and more. During T.H.E. Show Newport, Kim had a small booth near the Atrium pool—not a bad way to spend a sunny weekend. You can see more of her work here.

Audio Note’s Dave Cope was unusually glum: The E/SPe HE loudspeakers ($9650/pair; seen in a lovely Russian birch plywood) are designed to be positioned in the corners of a room, but doing so here, in the small Atrium suite, meant that they’d be tucked beneath a strange overhang that seemed to rob the speakers of their charm. The effect, however, was largely music-dependent and I nevertheless heard glimpses of Audio Note’s characteristic drama, tone color, and texture, albeit on a smaller scale. I have no reason to believe that this impressive system wouldn’t sound wonderful under better conditions.