GamuT RS7i Loudspeakers, Jadis JA200 MkII Amplifier, Pear Audio Blue Kid Thomas Turntable, My Sonic Lab Hyper Eminent Cartridge, Artesania Exoteryc Rack

Retailer, concert pianist, and pedagogue George Vatchnadze, whose shop Kyomi Audio contributed products to at least five rooms at AXPONA, assembled an impressive system distinguished by a wonderful, warm midrange and excellent bass tonality. On vinyl, which is all I heard, the system's strengths came to the fore in the classic RCA Living Stereo recording by Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra of Prokofiev's Lieutenant Kije suite, where the depiction of depth and space was superb. "Soundstaging for days," I wrote in my notes, while also praising the system's midrange. I also loved the warm, smiling midrange core and the ability to hear artificially added reverb on Ella Fitzgerald's recording of "Cry Me a River" from Let No Man Write my Epitaph, and the excellent bass tonality on "Use Me" from the MoFi reissue of Bill Withers' Greatest Hits.

Vatchnadze told me that the only modification he made to the Jadis JA200 MkII 200Wpc class-A monoblocks with KT150 tubes ($35,900/pair) and JP200MC 4 dual-mono preamplifier ($36,900) with built-in MM/MC phono stage was to insert NOS Mullard tubes into the preamp's line stage. Everything else was as delivered to consumers: GamuT RS7i Loudspeakers ($41,990); Pear Audio Blue Kid Thomas turntable with Cornet 2 tonearm ($7995) and external power supply ($1995) and My Sonic Lab Hyper Eminent MC phono cartridge ($5500); unheard MBL 1621A CD Transport ($28,000) and 1611F DA Converter ($28,700); unheard Aurender N10 Music Server ($8000); Stealth Audio Sakra, Dream, Dream Petite, and Octave-T cabling; and Artesania Exoteryc four-shelf rack ($7900) and Krion Turntable Platform ($4300).

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