I have no pictures of Ayre’s new AX-5 integrated amplifier, no comments on the sound quality of the system, no recollection of even listening to music while in the amazing Ayre room. I do recall very pleasant…
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Here’s a picture of Ayre’s Michael Wiedmaier pretending to enjoy a martini. I also have a picture of someone pretending to take a hit from an oversized bong; a picture of someone else looking mesmerized by a lava lamp; a picture of someone dancing on a shag rug; a picture of someone else putting out an imaginary cigarette in a real-life ashtray; and a few other funny pictures, too.
Ah-ha! I found a picture of the gear in the fantastic Ayre room.
A MacBook Pro running Pure Music delivered signals to Ayre’s DX-5 universal player. The amplifier was Ayre’s interesting, new, 125Wpc AX-5. Speakers were Vivid Audio’s Giya G3. Cables were by AudioQuest.
The AX-5’s price hasn’t been determined, but Ayre is shooting for under $10,000. Units should ship by December.
My notes read: cool, cool, cool.
I walked into the Audio Alternative room with a nagging headache and walked out cured. I credit the system: Vandersteen Model 7 loudspeakers with M7 crossovers ($50,000/pair) driven by Audio Research’s Reference 250 monoblock and new two-chassis Reference 10 preamp ($30,000); AMG Viella 12 turntable fitted with a Lyra Atlas phono cartridge; and AudioQuest cables.
The song, believe it or not, was “Here Comes the Sun.” I sat in the back of the room and was impressed by the system’s combination of sweetness, impact, scale. When I moved to the front of the room, I heard greater clarity and…
Ann Arbor, Michigan’s Paragon Sight & Sound put together another high-performance, cost-no-object system: Wilson Audio MAXX Series 3 loudspeakers ($69,500/pair); Doshi Audio (“Audio Products for Music Lovers”) Alaap v3.0 NAB tape preamp ($10,995), Alaap v3.0 line stage ($14,995), Alaap v2.1 phono stage ($10,995), and Jhor 160 monoblock power amplifier ($28,995/pair); SME 20/3 turntable ($15,500 with SME’s Series V tonearm) and Koetsu Urushi Vermillion cartridge ($5850); and Transparent Audio cables. The gear was supported by Harmonic Resolutions Systems racks. I didn’t listen to any…
It’s no surprise that Sam Tellig likes Harbeth’s Monitor 30.1 loudspeaker ($6490/pair in rosewood; seen here on Resonant Woods stands) as much as he does. (You can read about that in our November issue.) The speaker is handsome, understated, and it just looks right. Driven by Bret D’Agostino’s Bully Sound Company BSC-60s, a 60Wpc power amp built around a 1300VA toroidal transformer, the Harbeths sounded right, too. Bricasti’s M1 DAC ($8495; a favorite of both John Atkinson and John Marks) accepted signals from a Music Vault Music Streamer ($2495). Tellurium Q cables tied everything together…
In a second Audio Alternative room, I was again treated to that old, familiar Boz Scaggs classic, “Thanks to You.” I had just come from the Fidelis AV room, where I had heard the song presented with impressive speed, precision, and clarity, the sound still fresh in my mind. So, I was surprised to hear something different.
Here, through a system comprising Vandersteen Quattro loudspeakers; Audio Research’s shiny new, KT120-based, 75Wpc Reference 75 stereo amplifier ($9000), Ref5 SE preamp, and DAC8 DAC; a computer streaming, via USB, a standard CD rip; and all AudioQuest cabling, I heard…
I wish I could tell you how the music sounded in the main Emotiva room. Alas, there were so many people talking about the sound of Emotiva's XSP-1 Differential Reference preamp ($899), ERC-2 Differential Reference CD player/ digital transport ($449), XPA-1 Differential Reference monoblock power amplifier ($999), XRT-6.2 Xref Tower speakers ($699/pair), and due-by-Christmastime XDA-2 fully balanced Differential DAC ($399) that I was unable to take a serious listen. Definitely good for Emotiva, if not necessarily for you the reader.
Emotiva, the Tennessee-based company whose Chinese-manufactured components have been providing a genuine taste of the high-end to large numbers of audiophiles, previewed their all-new pro line. The combination of the Stealth DC-1 24/192 DAC ($699) and Stealth 8 powered Studio Monitors ($1499/pair), due by the end of the year, was making great sound for the price.
Scores of DIYers are familiar with Madisound, a company that distributes raw drivers, passive crossover parts, and speaker building supplies, some in kit form. On display were the SEAS of Norway A26 loudspeaker kit with a 10" SEAS A26RE4 woofer and the T35C002 1.5" dome tweeter—over 1 million sold, I was told—and the Scan-Speak Nada, with a 7" Illuminator woofer and 1" Beryllium dome tweeter.
If only every exhibitor was like Highend-Electronics, who not only prepare one of the finest equipment lists I've ever received at a show, but also generated extremely impressive, solid, warm and inviting sound. "A cut above the rest" I wrote in my notes of a system in which the ultra-efficient, single-driver Voxativ Ampeggio Signature loudspeaker ($32,500/pair) was driven by a Highend-Electronics MusicServer1 ($995), Synergistic Research The Music Cable DAC ($3600 complete with USB and interconnect cables), KR Audio P-130 preamp with KR05 tubes ($4950), and new-to-the-US KR Audio Kronzilla…