Measuring approximately 43” x 12” x 15”, the CWT500 (€14,000/pair) is the smallest and prettiest loudspeaker in T+A’s Solitaire line. The transmission-line design uses an 18” x 2” electrostatic unit mated to two side-firing 8” woofers and three 5” midrange units. The speaker is available in several high-gloss finishes, including the luscious Macassar ebony seen here.

Rosemarie walked by, ran her fingers through her thick brown hair, made a joke about “T and A,” and sent this 1000W T+A M10 monoblock (€9990) into a frenzy.

The girl is a hazard to hi-fi.

Wednesday, May 25 (yikes, that's tomorrow!), 5–9pm: Stereo Exchange (627 Broadway, Manhattan) will host a “Music Matters” event with Stereophile’s Michael Fremer.

Peachtree Audio, BelCanto, Amarra, Wisdom Audio, Simaudio, Transparent Audio, Meridian, and Vienna Acoustics will demonstrate their equipment. Learn how to get great sound from the digital devices you already own. Cocktails and hors d’oeuvres will be served. (Who can ask for anything more?)

This is definitely going to be a fun evening, and I hope to see you there!

The Brinkmann Pi cartridge's Benz-Micro heritage was obvious from the get-go. The motor is built to Brinkmann's specifications by Benz-Micro and includes a Micro-Ridge stylus. The cantilever material is not specified. The Pi's output is approximately 0.25mV, and its compliance is moderate at 15µm/mN. Recommended are a tracking force of 1.8–2gm, a VTA of 23°, and a resistive load of 600 ohms.

Helmut Brinkmann says he tweaked the Pi's design for a year and a half before he achieved the results he desired, including making the tiny set screws out of various materials. The Pi, with a body of machined aluminum designed to control the dissipation of resonant energy, weighs a hefty 14gm. Brinkmann supplies aluminum screws and titanium washers, which, he claims, in combination with special damping between the cartridge body and headshell, have been "sonically tuned to create a unique musical instrument."

Brinkmann's 9.6 tonearm ($3990) resembles the German company's longer, more expensive 10.5 and 12.1 arms, which in turn resemble the legendary Breuer. The new arm includes the same headshell, armtube, mounting socket, and cueing device used in the other arms. The bearing system differs, though the Swiss-made ball bearings are identical.

While the more expensive arms use traditional fixed-gimbal bearings, the 9.6 has a unipivot-like construction for the horizontal bearing. The weighted arm housing sits on a small ball that rests on a pivot, also as in a typical unipivot design. A second ball at the bottom of the housing prevents "arm lean," but since the arm's weight rests on the top ball, the lower one isn't critical, and I could feel some play when I handled the arm. Vertical arm motion is effected via a second pair of captured bearings. This arrangement allowed the use of less costly parts and kept the price down, Brinkmann says. The arm's effective length is 248mm (231.5 from pivot to spindle, plus 16.5mm of overhang), while its effective mass, referenced to the center position of the headshell slot, is 12gm.