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Oswald Mill Audio AC1

Do you know about Oswald Mill Audio? Check out the website; it's fascinating.

Truth is: I'm not really into exotic loudspeakers.

I like my loudspeakers to look like loudspeakers. To me, a simple wood box is beautiful. But I was more than impressed by the extraordinary Oswald Mill Audio AC1. Completely hand-built out of solid Pennsylvania ash, it takes about a month to complete a single pair of AC1s. Each speaker uses a single 15" Alnico paper-cone woofer and a vintage compression driver for the midrange. Due to the finite quantity of the specific late '40s to early…

Daedalus Audio Ulysses

More beautiful woodwork was found in the Daedalus Audio suite. The Ulysses ($10,950/pair; add $500 for matching plinths) is Daedalus Audio's top-of-the-line speaker. It uses a 1" Eton dome tweeter, two 5" custom-modified Fostex midrange units, and two 8" proprietary woofers, and has a rated sensitivity of 97dB.

All Daedalus speakers are hand-built using solid North American hardwoods and boast hand-rubbed oli-varnish finishes.

Designer Lou Hinkley is a guitarist who may be better known for his acoustic guitar amps. His work in that arena led him to hi-fi. He told me a…

No Mountains. Smiling Faces.

I didn't see any mountains, but I did get to see lots of smiling faces. I hope you're enjoying our coverage from the Rocky Mountain Audio fest because it's really kicking ass over here.

Squeezed Box

Another thing that caught my eye in the Daedalus Audio room was this nifty, little wood case for the Logitech Squeezebox. Daedalus' Lou Hinkley told me that he had done it as a one-off project, but because so many people seem interested in it, he may decide to build more. The attractive wood case provides beneficial EMI shielding, Hinkley said.

Immedia

Allen Perkins and Immedia put together another great-sounding room.

Ah, the Spiral Groove SG1 turntable. Look at it. You love it. But it costs $25,000. Ouch. Oh, but you love it.

The Spiral Groove SG1 turntable looks totally bad-ass and has a removable armboard for easy swapping of tonearms. It made sweet, sweet music with the Lehmannaudio Black Cube Decade phono preamp ($2399; Michael Fremer's review will appear in our December 2008 issue), Spiral Groove's own Equinox series amplification (price TBA), and Sonics by Joachim Gerhard Amerigo loudspeakers in a handsome…

Sonics by Joachim Gerhard Amerigo

Joachim Gerhard kneels beside his very attractive Amerigo loudspeaker ($5500/pair). The Amerigo is a 3-way bass reflex design with a 0.8" dome ring radiator tweeter and proprietary 6" midrange and 8" bass drivers. Gerhard uses expensive birch plywood because he feels it sounds better than MDF.

Allen Perkins

If you see this man, DO NOT approach him. Note your location and call your local authorities immediately. We have reason to suspect he is armed and dangerous.

I kid, I kid.

I enjoyed spending some time with Immedia's Allen Perkins. He is a kind, thoughtful, and interesting fellow. If you see him, be sure to introduce yourself and go out of your way to listen to his gear.

Modwright Instruments

I was very happy to finally meet Modwright Instruments' Dan Wright, possibly best known for his Modwright "Truth" modifications to popular components such as the Sony '9000ES universal player and Logitech Transporter.

Here we see him with his new KWA-150 power amplifier.

Modified Transporter

And here's that sexy Modwright-modified "Truth" Transporter with its tubed analog stage. Transporter owners can have their units modified for $2000, plus shipping; Modwright provides new units for $3800. All Modwright modifications are only available factory-direct.

Jolida JD10

Check this out.

See that little blue box filled with wondrous, glowing tubes? That's the first piece in JoLida's new Glass Fx Series of affordable components aimed at younger music lovers.

JoLida's JD10 integrated stereo tube amp ($399!) is housed in safety-rated glass and features a chassis available in black, blue, or silver. The remote-controlled JD10 is rated to deliver 10Wpc into 8 ohms and provides two line inputs, a side panel input for MP3 players, and a headphone output. An iPod dock is in the works. In addition, JoLida's Michael Allen told me that they're…