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Sumiko's New Okki Nokki

Photo: John Atkinson

I didn’t actually see Sumiko’s Okki Nokki record cleaning machine, but people at RMAF kept telling me about it. John Atkinson did get to see it on static display in Listen-Up’s PrimaLuna/Sonus Faber room, and he says it appears to be solidly built. The machine utilizes an aluminum vacuum tube, has a dual-direction platter motor, and its aluminum cabinet houses a tank for containing used fluid. In theory, the Okki Nokki already makes my VPI 16.5 seem a little cumbersome.

The Okki Nokki is manufactured in Germany and has a starting price of $499.…

Merrill-Williams 'Table

Here's an up-close look at the Merrill-Williams Audio table featured in the Quad room. The base is made of Rubber Elastomer Acoustic Laminate (aka R.E.A.L.—got it?), and the platter of Bakelite resin composite. tHE outboard power transformer, clamping ring, etc. are not pictured. Despite its English-sounding name, the company is based in Memphis.

Quad and Merrill-Williams

Welcome to retro city. Not only did the Quad ESL2805 speakers ($10,000/pair), Classic II integrated amp ($6000) and QC24 phono stage ($2449) look from another era, but the equally classic-looking Merrill-Williams turntable ($4000), clamp ring ($649), weight ($249), and 33/45 power supply ($1150) was playing Frank Sinatra's "Days of Wine and Roses."

About Quad's loudspeakers, so many glowing reviews have already been written that no comment is necessary. Their electronics, however, are another story. Despite some positive reviews, and at least four experiences with them at shows, I…

Jolida's Small System Knockout

Jolida of Maryland sure knows how to produce good sound for people with limited budgets. Playing Leonard Cohen's classic "Back on Boogie Street" through iTunes, with all the sonic compromises that Apple's music server imposes on a system, Jolida's Glass FX tube DAC ($350) and Glass FX 25 Integrated hybrid amplifier ($350) still sounded great. This was not toy hi-fi; it was an indisputable portal into the real thing, with a musicality that put to shame some much more expensive systems I encountered at RMAF.

The speakers, the Electrocompaniet Preludes ($1400/pair), cost twice as much…

Jolida's Big System

Big does not mean five figures in Jolida's book. The most expensive equipment in their main exhibit on the second floor of the Marriott Tower were the Phase 6 Tape Deck from United Home Audio ($15,000) that was playing master tapes from The Tape Project, the Von Schweikert factory-direct VR33 loudspeakers ($3750/pair), and the Fosgate tube phono preamp ($2500).

Equally graced by the Clearaudio Concept turntable/arm ($1400) and a "sneak peak" at the Benz Ace Classic cartridge ($500), Jolida's JD 1000 P 100Wpc tube power amp ($2000), JD 3000B balanced circuit tube preamp ($1000), and…

Daedalus and Galibier

Galibier and Daedalus wanted to make sure they would not be missed. Their products surfaced, together and separately, in six different rooms in the top floor of the Marriott Tower.

Two of those were large suites. As suited as large rooms may be for powerful systems with large(r) loudspeakers, they are also harder to control. Hence, while Lou Hinkley's Daedalus Audio Room on the 10th floor was distinguished by a strong midrange, the system-room interaction muffled detail on the LP of Solti conducting Holst's The Planets. There was an equally gray sonic signature to the really nice…

MA Recordings

It's always a joy to encounter Todd Garfinkle of MA Recordings. Here he shows his latest audiophile quality CD, Nama. Also available as a 24-bit/176.4kHz hi-rez DVD-ROM format in a plain package that belies the beauty of its contents, the recording is the rightful successor to MA's Sera una Noche and La Segunda, and features some of the same superb Argentinean artists. I can't wait to take a listen, once I dig it out of my luggage.

JA in a Pensive Mood

Stereophile editor John Atkinson in a pensive mood as he listens to Jonathan Reichbach of Sonic Studio/Amarra speak at the start of the Advances in Computer Audio seminar JA chaired on Sunday morning.

Adventures in Computer Audio

Photograph: John Atkinson

After moderating the LP ripping seminar on Saturday morning, John Atkinson convened Sunday's 10am seminar, “Advances in Computer Audio,” in the Aspen Amphitheater. The star-studded panel included J. Gordon Rankin of Wavelength Audio (at the microphone), with (left–right): Ali Dixon, XMOS; Rob Robinson, Channel D Software (Pure Audio and Pure Vinyl); John Stronczer, Bel Canto Design; and Jonathan Reichbach, Sonic Studio (Amarra). Despite the early hour, the room was packed and the session over-ran, such was Show attendees' interest in the subject.

Lies, Damned Lies, and Specifications...

...was the title of the seminar presented Sunday afternoon by Audio Precision's Jonathan Novick. Audio Precision manufactures high-performance test gear (including the systems used by Stereophile for its reviews) and Novick's presentation concerned, among other things, how graphs, as published by Stereophile, are more meaningful than single figures of merit and how conventional measurements can miss problems with amplifiers that are undoubtedly audible. I came away from this presentation with some ideas on how to improve the magazine's test regime, but most telling was Novick's final…