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Music Hall's USB-1

Music Hall’s inexpensive USB turntable, the two-speed, belt-driven USB-1 ($249), uses an aluminum die-cast platter, has a groovy S-shaped tonearm equipped with an Audio-Technica AT3600L moving-magnet phono cartridge, and comes in a high-gloss black finish. Overall, it resembles something Run DMC might’ve brought to a gig.

“You can scratch with it,” according to Music Hall’s Leland Leard.

It has a USB output for transferring vinyl to a PC or Mac, comes with Audacity software, and throws in a USB cable. Basically, in the Music Hall USB-1, you’ve got everything you need to…

New Stuff from Music Hall

“Oh, this is new…and this is new, too. And, oh yeah, we’ve also got this,” went Music Hall’s Leland Leard around and around his busy room, a funhouse of hi-fi and vinyl.

As usual, Music Hall had about 80,000 new products on display (I’m exaggerating), including the Music Hall a15.2 integrated amplifier ($499) and matching cd15.2 CD player ($499)&#151both to be reviewed by Sam Tellig in our December issue&#151the 24/96-compatible dac25.3 USB DAC ($595), and, oh yeah, the 85Wpc a35.2 integrated ($799) which replaces the 50Wpc 25.2, and the cd35.2 CD player ($799), which has…

Naim's NDX Network Player

After walking me through the Naim Uniti display, Naim’s David Dever then ushered me over to a second Naim room where the company was showing off its new NDX network player ($4750, shipping this November).

“Networked audio has clearly gone full circle in terms of performance,” Dever said.

From top: Naim’s NDX network player, CDX2 CD player ($5500), NAC 202 preamplifier ($3000), NAP 200 power amplifier ($2950), and Hi-Cap power supply ($1950) and PSC-2 control supply ($450).

We listened to the Pretenders’ “Precious,” and I heard a very rocking sound with a well-…

The Naim Uniti

I walked into Naim’s Uniti display to hear the Killers doing an alright impersonation of the Beatles. Who knew? The sound was very expressive&#151not a big sound, but an entirely friendly and welcoming sound&#151in touch with the emotion of the music.

Speakers were Naim’s N-Sat ($2000/pair), partnered with the N-Sub in a nice black lacquer finish ($3900). From left: The Naim Uniti all-in-one music player ($3850), Uniti Qute ($1995), and Uniti Serve with 1TB drive ($3000).

Anat Fort's <I>And If</I>

The Israeli pianist Anat Fort’s second CD, And If (on the ECM label), is an album that I like a lot, though it’s hard to explain why or even to describe. Her music is rhapsodic but spare, tender but propulsive, flush with melodic hooks that loop in sinuous, unpredictable shapes.

Her first recording, A Long Story (1997, also on ECM), was more intriguing than fully satisfying. The trio tracks (with Paul Motian on drums and Ed Schuller on bass) had a bracing quality with a slight Sephardic lilt; the other tracks (the trio plus Perry Robinson on reeds) were a bit doodly.

And If…

The Mighty Kronzilla

Driving Von Schweikert VR-3S speakers ($7995/pair) in Room 8032 was the awesome-looking Kronzilla SXI Mk.II monoblock, featuring the largest tubes I have seen in an audio amplifier. Source was the French EEra CD player, and there my handwritten notes become illegible. Apologies :-(

Emillé Amplifiers

Despite the recession, which hit the world of high-end audio hard in 2009, every Show features many new brands. One such was Emillé from South Korea, named after a 10'-high, 18.9-ton bronze bell cast in that country in 771AD, using the "lost-wax" process. Shown in my photo is the Emillé Rapture tube monoblock power amplifier, a zero negative-feedback design that uses four 6550 output tubes to produce 110W into 8 ohms at 2% THD. Emillé products are being distributed in the US by Solos of Cerritos, CA.

Lansche & Ypsilon

Also distributed in the US by Aaudio Imports, the German Lansche speakers feature a horn-loaded ionic "singing flame" tweeter similar to that used by Acapella, also from Germany. In an off-site demonstration Friday night, I listened to the company's impressive-sounding flagship, the $80,000/pair, 243-lb Cubus, which combines the ion tweeter with a horn-loaded midrange unit and an 18", reflex-loaded woofer. The Lansche display at RMAF featured the somewhat more affordable three-way No.5 speakers ($40,000/pair), driven by the Ypsilon Aelius monoblocks ($34,000/pair) and PST-100 tube…

Familiar Acapellas

Not only was the sound in the Larkspur Suite familiar, so were the speakers. The $80,000/pair Acapella High Violoncello IIs being demmed were the exact same pair that I had very favorably reviewed in the September issue of Stereophile. Amplification was all-Einstein, including The Tube preamp that Michael Fremer reviewed in October.

As I listened to the CD of Leonard Cohen's recent London concert, I noted that the speaker's top octaves in this large room were in perfect balance with the lower ranges. If you read my review, you will see that I conjectured that the speaker's balance…

Kaiser Kawero/Echole/Absolare/Bybee/Concert Fidelity/Silicon Arts

Elsewhere in this blog, Stephen Mejias enthuses about the Kaiser Kawero loudspeakers ($66,000/pair). I first encountered these loudspeakers at RMAF 2008's Kaiser/Echole exhibit extension in the nearby Hyatt, and have coveted them ever since. Optimally paired and internally wired then and now with Echole's excellent cabling, as well as with modded tube amps that had been re-wired with Echole, the sound of this system was so large, rich, and true that it blew me away. Stephen's summation—"This system, more than any other I heard at RMAF, seemed to bring the musicians and instruments into…