Robert Lighton's custom rig included his prototype turntable with a rosewood armboard and customized 10" Audio Note tonearm with a Miyajima Madake MC cartridge. An Audio Note S9 step-up transformer ($28,000) and M9 phono preamp ($185,000) did the analog business. An Audio Note CD 4.1x ($16,000) made music from shiny silver discs. Finally, an Audio Note Gaku-On amplifier ($330,000) drove Lighton's speakers. Audio Note Sogon interconnects and speaker cable provided the connectivity. A Furman power conditioner worked silently.
"This is the first showing of my RL 12 speaker system ($95,000/pair)," Lighton said. "It uses a 12" AlNiCo woofer and an 8" AlNiCo full-range driver. All drivers are custom made in Japan and include custom curved paper cones and custom, low-carbon pole pieces heat-treated to 1800°F to enhance the magnet system. The cabinet is six-sided, solid Sapele mahogany. Internal wire is Audio Note silver. It features a first-order crossover using Audio Note copper capacitors in the signal path. The speaker is time-aligned and phase-coherent."
Divining my musical tastes, Lighton played Bill Evans's Sunday at the Village Vanguard and a Ben Webster album. The sound was pleasant and tactile, clean and focused. I'd like to hear more.
"This is the first showing of my RL 12 speaker system ($95,000/pair)," Lighton said. "It uses a 12" AlNiCo woofer and an 8" AlNiCo full-range driver. All drivers are custom made in Japan and include custom curved paper cones and custom, low-carbon pole pieces heat-treated to 1800°F to enhance the magnet system. The cabinet is six-sided, solid Sapele mahogany. Internal wire is Audio Note silver. It features a first-order crossover using Audio Note copper capacitors in the signal path. The speaker is time-aligned and phase-coherent."
Divining my musical tastes, Lighton played Bill Evans's Sunday at the Village Vanguard and a Ben Webster album. The sound was pleasant and tactile, clean and focused. I'd like to hear more.
