LATEST ADDITIONS

Robert Schryer  |  Mar 25, 2024  |  2 comments

Hegel hosted a few rooms. In this one, the Norway-based company’s setup included its brand-new 150Wpc H190V streaming integrated amplifier with MM phono stage ($4899, projected release: May), a pair of Andrew Jones–designed MoFi Sourcepoint 8 speakers ($4399 with stands)—the model's 8 designation refers to the size of the concentric driver—AudioQuest cabling (various prices), and a MoFi Ultradeck turntable with factory-aligned Mastertracker MM cartridge ($3999), wasn't in use during my visit.

Robert Schryer  |  Mar 25, 2024  |  2 comments

"I could live with a system like this," I thought, as I sat beguiled by what I was hearing and seeing in the room co-hosted by Luna Cables, Thöress, AudioNec, The Wand, and Wattson Audio. At that moment I wasn’t thinking only of the system’s sound quality but also of the artisanal, passionate, old-values aesthetic these companies represent. Certainly those components—those values—were making beautiful music together, music with touch, tactility, air, pure tone, expressive delicacy, vocal purity, solid bass, transparency, and informational fullness.

Robert Schryer  |  Mar 25, 2024  |  1 comments

For a couple of years now at the Montreal Audiofest, Classé Audio and Bowers & Wilkins have been exhibiting together. That’s no surprise considering that both brands are owned (for the moment at least) by the same company, Masimo. (Medical-device manufacturer Masimo may soon be spinning off the former Sound United home–hi-fi brands.)

Robert Schryer  |  Mar 25, 2024  |  0 comments

And now for more from the Montreal show.

You want guts? You want music with explosive dynamics, effortless sonic propulsion, and a bass beat that punches so low and hard it makes you sit up at attention? How about if with all that power came high-level transparency, dimensionality, tonal purity, vocal naturalness, and microdetail?

Mark Henninger  |  Mar 25, 2024  |  0 comments
This powerful yet precise system was tasked with filling a small ballroom with sound; in the process, it delivered a captivating performance. A pair of Stenheim Alumine 5 SE speakers ($72,000/pair) did the heavy lifting.
Mark Henninger  |  Mar 25, 2024  |  0 comments
Sound Lab is an electrostatic speaker specialist. The company's G745-3C ($20,000/pair) debuted at the first Southwest Audio Fest. These speakers aren't small, but they are suitable for relatively compact spaces, thanks to the panels' modest 20" width.
Mark Henninger  |  Mar 25, 2024  |  0 comments
At the Southwest Audio Fest in Dallas, Børresen Acoustics took a room and outfitted it with two killer systems. The cost-no-object system featured the flagship M6 speakers; the other showed the capabilities of the more affordable but similarly imposing X6 towers.
Mark Henninger  |  Mar 25, 2024  |  0 comments
VAC and Acora were a compelling combo at SWAF 2024. In this demo, a pair of granite-bodied Acora SCR-2 loudspeakers ($48,000/pair) sounded rock-solid powered by a pair of VAC Essence amplifiers ($9900/each).
Mark Henninger  |  Mar 25, 2024  |  0 comments
This superb high-end audio system, featured at the Southwest Audio Fest in Dallas, included Estelon Forza speakers ($170,000/pair) in dark silver liquid gloss powered by MSB M500 mono amplifiers ($75,000 each).
Mark Henninger  |  Mar 25, 2024  |  0 comments

Southwest Audio Fest v1.0 in Dallas, Texas, was the site of the North American debut of the YG Acoustics Sonja 3.2 loudspeaker.

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