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PAF 2023
Millercarbon, Townshend, Tekton, and Origin Live
Brian Damkroger  |  Jun 28, 2023  |  1 comments
Visiting Chuck Miller's Millercarbon room at PAF gave me the opportunity to check in on Townshend Audio, a quirky British manufacturer of audio gear best known for its well-engineered and very effective isolation products. I've always respected the engineering that went into the development, and liked their "luxurious execution meets form follows function" aesthetic. I've always smiled too, at their straightforward, almost simplistic approach to marketing, one that assumes customers will use logic and common sense to make purchase decisions. The Townshend products in use included $2650/pair Seismic Podiums under the speakers, a $795 Seismic Platform under the amps, and several Seismic Pods at $150/each.
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PAF 2023
Magnetic Attraction to Klaudio's New Magnezar Turntable
Brian Damkroger  |  Jun 28, 2023  |  0 comments
One of the highlights of my visit to PAF 2023 was the debut of Klaudio's $80,000 Magnezar Turntable. The world of super-premium turntables is curiously large and active these days, and it's not that surprising to hear of another one hitting the market. From the first glance, though, it was obvious that Klaudio's Magnezar was something extraordinary.
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PAF 2023
Klaus Bunge's Wondrous Odyssey-verse
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Jun 28, 2023  |  1 comments
Entering Klaus Bunge's intentionally low-lit Odyssey room was like entering another dimension. Showgoers may have had no idea what the purpose of the room was—even I couldn't discern it from the display—but they could not possibly have been less than fascinated.
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PAF 2023
Vanatoo's Much Anticipated Transparent One Encore Plus
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Jun 28, 2023  |  0 comments
"It's the gateway drug to the High End," Vanatoo's Rick Kernan quipped of the larger of Vanatoo's two diminutive active loudspeakers. He was speaking of the successor to the Vanatoo Transparent One Encore that I reviewed in 2019, the Transparent One Encore Plus (T1E+) active loudspeaker ($650/pair, up from $599/pair four years ago).
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PAF 2023
The Forthcoming Baun Hydra Loudspeaker
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Jun 28, 2023  |  0 comments
In the hallway outside the JMF Audio/Ideon Audio room, Benno Baun Meldgaard, former speaker designer for Gamut, Raidho, and Gryphon, discussed his prototype Hydra loudspeaker. Expected in October, the cost for the for the entry-level 3-way floorstander—the smallest model in Baun's forthcoming Reference line of speakers—is projected at "around $150,000/pair."
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PAF 2023
Multiple Premieres at PAF from JMF Audio and Ideon Audio
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Jun 27, 2023  |  0 comments
There were multiple world and North American premieres in the large room shared by JMF Audio and Ideon Audio. The exhibit was set up by the two companies' North American distributor, Michael Vamos's Audio Skies, in cooperation with Michael Farnsworth's dealership, Farnsworth Audio, of Draper, UT.
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PAF 2023
A Bustling Marketplace
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Jun 27, 2023  |  0 comments
By the time I reached PAF's large Marketplace near noon on Saturday, the place was pretty active. Saturday was the busiest day by far at PAF, with reportedly far greater attendance than at last year's show launch in the middle of summer. I left the show early on Sunday, but from what I could see, the coincidence of Day 3 with Seattle Pride put a major damper on attendance. In 2024, the third installment of PAF moves to the weekend after Labor Day.
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PAF 2023
VAC + Von Schweikert = Wow!
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Jun 27, 2023  |  2 comments
Once again, VAC paired four of its amplifiers with Von Schweikert loudspeakers in a huge room sponsored by The Audio Company. Distinguished by sophisticated lighting design and fabulous sound, this system, which can fill rooms far larger than the Dutch & Dutch 8cs that so impressed me at PAF, vied with them for my personal Best of Show.
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PAF 2023
JVS's Best of PAF 2023: Dutch & Dutch 8c all-in-ones
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Jun 27, 2023  |  2 comments
"Have you heard Dutch & Dutch? If you haven't, you must." Time and again, variations on that theme were voiced either by me or many of the attendees I chatted with at the show.

As far as I can recall, my encounter with the Dutch & Dutch 8c active loudspeakers ($15,000/pair) is the first time I have heard this company's offerings. (They've only exhibited at two shows.) I sure hope it will be far from the last.

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PAF 2023
Twin Showcases from Spatial Audio Lab with Don Sachs and Lynn Olson Design
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Jun 27, 2023  |  0 comments
It took two visits until this room got silent enough for me to get a handle on what was going on sound-wise. There was a lot going on, and it was not always easy to parse.

The big items of note were prototype Spatial Audio Lab open-baffle loudspeakers (price and release date TBD) that descend to 30Hz and two components from Don Sachs and Lynn Olson Design, the Statement 300B monoblock amplifiers ($18,500–$19,900/pair) and Raven preamplifier ($4600). Both products will be manufactured by Spatial Audio Lab later this year.

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