The American Sound Rooms: Wadax Electronics, Avantgarde Loudspeakers, Transparent Cabling

American Sound distribution presented three rooms featuring Avantgarde horn loudspeakers, and, in the two rooms I visited, Wadax digital products. This was the U.S. debut of Wadax’s much-talked-about flagship, the Atlantis, the company's all-out assault on the state of the digital art. If looks are any measure, the Atlantis was designed to compete with brands like dCS and Esoteric. The design of their casework is distinctive.

The Atlantis consists of three components that may be purchased separately: a Transport ($45,000), DAC ($69,000), and server $20,000. In the main room, these items fed the Avantgarde Acoustic DuoXD horn loudspeakers ($45,000) via the Phasemation MA2000 monoblock power amps ($32,000/pair) and CA1000 tube line-stage preamplifier. Cables were by Transparent. Racks and platforms were by HRS.

The second Avantgarde-Wadax room showcased the smaller, less-expensive Wadax Arcadia ($22,000), and the smaller, less-expensive ($24,000/pair) Avantgarde Uno Fino. Cabling by Transparent; rack by HRS.

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