Von Schweikert Endeavor E-5 MKII Speakers, Grand Prix Audio Rack, MasterBuilt Cabling and AC Management, Esoteric Grandioso Series PIX Transport, D1X Monoblock DAC, N-03T Network Audio Transport, G1 Rubidium Master Clock, C1 Linestage Preamp, Etc.

Von Schweikert Endeavor E-5 MKII Speakers, Grand Prix Audio Rack, MasterBuilt Cabling and AC Management, Esoteric Grandioso Series PIX Transport, D1X Monoblock DAC, N-03T Network Audio Transport, G1 Rubidium Master Clock, C1 Linestage Preamp, Etc.

I don’t know about you, but I find the design of Esoteric’s Grandioso series enclosures quite attractive. In Long Beach, they also sounded great. Paired with Von Schweikert Endeavor E-5 MKII Speakers ($40,000/pair), an entire SUV full of Grandioso gear (including multiple outboard power supplies) impressed as exceptionally lively, solid, and musical.

Pro-Ject RPM 10 Turntable, Sumiko Songbird MC Cartridge, VTL TP-2.5i Phono Stage and VTL TL-5.5 Series II Line Stage, Meridian 218 Zone Controller, Vandersteen M5- HPA Monoblocks and Vandersteen Quatro Loudspeakers, AudioQuest Cabling

Pro-Ject RPM 10 Turntable, Sumiko Songbird MC Cartridge, VTL TP-2.5i Phono Stage and VTL TL-5.5 Series II Line Stage, Meridian 218 Zone Controller, Vandersteen M5- HPA Monoblocks and Vandersteen Quatro Loudspeakers, AudioQuest Cabling

It always helps to end 7.5 hours of show coverage on a high note. That was certainly the case in the Audio Concepts room, where the midrange sounded gorgeous on a recording of Beethoven’s Paris Trio

TW-Acustic Raven GT II Turntable, Charisma and Miyajima Cartridges, Horning Aristotle Ellipse PM65 Speakers, Tron-Electric Atlantic Integrated SE amp and Convergence Signature Preamps, Silent Running Audio Scuttle and Ohio XL, etc.

TW-Acustic Raven GT II Turntable, Charisma and Miyajima Cartridges, Horning Aristotle Ellipse PM65 Speakers, Tron-Electric Atlantic Integrated SE amp and Convergence Signature Preamps, Silent Running Audio Scuttle and Ohio XL, etc.

Jeffrey Catalano has come cross-country to exhibit. I missed him at the last show. I simply must go to the High Water Sound room.

Arion Apollo Loudspeakers, LS-200 Linestage, 2A3 Tube Amplifiers, and HS-500 Hybrid Mono Amplifiers; EMM DA2 DAC; Wolf Alpha 3 Music Server; VPI HW-4 turntable, etc.

Arion Apollo Loudspeakers, LS-200 Linestage, 2A3 Tube Amplifiers, and HS-500 Hybrid Mono Amplifiers; EMM DA2 DAC; Wolf Alpha 3 Music Server; VPI HW-4 turntable, etc.

An intriguing system from MK Audio LLC of Charlotte, NC, brought to the fore Arion Audio’s nearly full-range AMT line-array Apollo System loudspeaker ($24,900/pair). The Apollos, which were paired with active subwoofers, claim an astounding 105dB sensitivity—sensitive enough to work with Triode Labs' 2A3 3.5W vacuum tube amplifiers (no price supplied). At least I think I was hearing the 2A3s, because also in the rack were Arion Audio’s LS-500 hybrid Class D amplifiers ($6995/pair). Preamplification was the company’s LS-200 hybrid line-stage ($3995).

CAD 1543 DAC Mk II, Audio Transport, Ground Controls, & Cabling; Aesthetix Mimas Integrated, Boenicke W8 SE speakers, Bibacord Interconnects, HRX SXR Rack

CAD 1543 DAC Mk II, Audio Transport, Ground Controls, & Cabling; Aesthetix Mimas Integrated, Boenicke W8 SE speakers, Bibacord Interconnects, HRX SXR Rack

After trying more than once to get into the CAD room at Munich High End, I ended up hearing a significantly smaller version of their system in Long Beach. This time, the hybrid integrated amplifier was the excellent Aesthetix Mimas ($7000 without optional modules), which I’ve reviewed for the August issue of Stereophile, and the speakers the diminutive Swiss Boenicke W8 SE ($12,500).

EleKit TU-8600R integrated amplifier, Sparkler Audio S503 Spiral CD Player/Transport, AER Excenter Loudspeakers

EleKit TU-8600R integrated amplifier, Sparkler Audio S503 Spiral CD Player/Transport, AER Excenter Loudspeakers

You’re going to need to indulge me a bit, because, due to some communication difficulties, I’m not totally confident of some prices and components in this room. If I understood correctly, the handmade-in-Japan, 1-bit Sparkler Audio S503 CD Player/Transport costs $1650, and the build-it-yourself EleKit TU-8600R integrated amplifier, also from Japan, goes for $1785.

Evolution Acoustics Exact Maestoso Loudspeaker and Cabling, Dartzeel NHB Stereo Amp and Preamp, Wave Kinetics NVS turntable, Merging NADAC, Durand Tonearm

Evolution Acoustics Exact Maestoso Loudspeaker and Cabling, Dartzeel NHB Stereo Amp and Preamp, Wave Kinetics NVS turntable, Merging NADAC, Durand Tonearm

See that weird looking thing? It’s the outboard crossover to end all outboard crossovers, and it belongs to the relatively slim Evolution Acoustics Exact Series Maestoso 3-way loudspeaker system ($18,900). Heading an impressive and hardly bargain system from Blue Light Audio of Portland and The Audio Association of Anaheim Hills, the Maestoso made one of its first show appearances since I covered its debut at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest—was it three years ago?

Bowers & Wilkins 800D3 Speakers and DB1 Subwoofers, McIntosh C1100 Preamp, Aurender A30 Server, Solid Tech Racks, Synergistic Research AC Conditioner

Bowers & Wilkins 800D3 Speakers and DB1 Subwoofers, McIntosh C1100 Preamp, Aurender A30 Server, Solid Tech Racks, Synergistic Research AC Conditioner

When I entered my penultimate Scott Walker Audio room, Kevin Wolff of Bowers & Wilkins was playing outtakes from a 1989 recording by Branford Marsalis. The sound of Marsalis's sax was so distinctive and, to my ears, beautiful that I began to smile. (Trumpet was another instrument whose sound this system conveyed with perfection.) As Kevin segued into a 16/44.1 file of Thomas Dolby's "I Scare Myself," I scribbled in my notebook, "This is a system that reminds you of what the high end is all about."

Gryphon Pandora Preamplifier, Magico S5 MkII Speakers, Sonorus Reel-to-Reel Deck, Acoustic Signature Storm Turntable, Synergistic Research cables, Artesiana Racks

Gryphon Pandora Preamplifier, Magico S5 MkII Speakers, Sonorus Reel-to-Reel Deck, Acoustic Signature Storm Turntable, Synergistic Research cables, Artesiana Racks

Oh boy, was soundstaging excitingly three-dimensional in the Scott Walker room that headlined Gryphon electronics. Listening to 15ips tapes played on a Sonorus reel-to-reel deck ($19,500) by Philip O'Hanlon, of Gryphon distributor On a Higher Note, the extraordinary depth on Sarah Vaughan's "When Your Lover Has Gone" certainly seized my attention.

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