T.H.E. Show 2019

Red was more than the color of my true love’s hair toward the end of T.H.E. Show Long Beach, as I moved from one winning red speaker to another. This time, from Alma Music & Audio, it was the Wilson Audio TuneTot ($9800/pair), the entry-level loudspeaker from Wilson, which I was hearing for the first time. Although engineered to perform optimally when placed near boundaries (e.g. on bookshelves or close to walls), here it sounded exceptionally fine sitting out in the open on unidentified stands.

We began with a DSD file of Henry Mancini’s “Theme from The Pink Panther,” which established how nice this system could sound. Next, from LP, Count Basie’s “Mountain Swing” literally started me with its wide dynamics when the brass got going. Really got going. Imaging, while not especially deep, was quite good, bass had punch (which was surprising for a speaker with limited low frequency extension), and highs were very fine. This system even managed to allow an early CBS digitally recorded LP of Wynton Marsalis playing Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto to shine.

Essential to the system’s success: Luxman L-509X integrated amplifier ($9450), MSB Discrete DAC ($10,000 + options), Innuos Zen mini music server ($1250), Bergmann Magne turntable ($14,000) with Ortofon A95 cartridge, D’Agostino Momentum phono preamplifier ($29,000), and Kubala-Sosna Elation cabling.