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Some of the nicest analog playback I heard at the show came courtesy of GTT Audio, in whose suite the reliably well-dressed Philip O'Hanlon spun vinyl on a Brinkmann Balance turntable ($24,000, closest to camera) with Brinkmann 12.1 tonearm ($7500) and an Air Tight PC1 Supreme cartridge ($15,000). Of special delight were selections from Ray LaMontagne's God Willin' & the Creek Don't Rise and advance pressings from the forthcoming LP reissue series, by Analogue Productions, of the Doors catalog. The rest of the system featured YG's Anat III Professional Signature speakers ($119,000/pair)…
The YG Anat III Professional Signature speakers ($119,000/pair) in the GTT room had an attractive titanium finish. I thought a 45rpm test pressing of the Doors' "Riders on the Storm" sounding astonishing, especially John Densmore's drums, which, although recorded in mono in the right channel, had a combination of weight, realistic highs, and authority that I hadn't heard before from this over-familiar track.
While Art Dudley was photographing the new VPI Classic 4 turntable, Stereophile illustrator Jeff Wong (right) cornered Michael Fremer and asked him to autograph Michael's mid-1970s stand-up comedy album, I Can Take a Joke.
The Scaena Spiritus 3.4 loudspeaker system ($110,000), which uses separate tubular subwoofer modules to reinforce its line-source arrays of midrange units and Raven ribbon tweeters, sounded better than I had heard them at previous shows. As well as the C-J ART amplifiers mentioned by Art Dudley above, the system comprised a Kronos turntable with its contra-rotating platters, fitted with an SME V-12 tonearm and a Dynavector XV1S cartridge, an AMR tube phono preamp, and a fully loaded dCS Scarlatti digital front-end.
Driving the distinctive Scaena "iso-linear array" loudspeakers in the Audio Doctor suite was a pair of Conrad-Johnson's limited-edition ART amplifiers ($37,000/pair): one of 125 pairs in existence. These ARTs used KT-120 output tubes (the amps are rated at 275Wpc when run with 6550 pentodes) and were operated without their strikingly pretty tube cages.
There were no new Abbingdon Music Research products at this show, but distributor Darren Censullo was in attendance at the Audio Doctor suite, where he spoke with excitement about a forthcoming AMR product called the iDac: a USB-friendly converter scheduled to sell for just $350.
New Jersey retailer Audio Doctor demonstrated the Merrill-Williams R.E.A.L. turntable ($7200 with clamping ring), fitted with the latest version of the long-lived Triplanar tonearm ($5800).
The lines to the registration booth stretched way down the main corridor of the 18th floor at the majestic Waldorf=Astoria. We were all very happily surprised to see so many anxious attendees arrive on a beautiful Friday afternoon in NYC. As people received their badges, they picked up complimentary copies of their favorite magazines, including the latest issue of Stereophile.
Art's already mentioned the glorious sound of the Robyatt Audio room, so with this picture I tried to capture a bit of the system's overall look and feel. This was, to my eyes, the sexiest system of the show. The only thing missing was the pinup girl. The sound was just as easy on the ears: When "Sing, Sing, Sing" came to the end, everyone in the room clapped and cheered.
As Art mentioned below, traffic was heavy in the Liberty Trading room. When I visited, I had the good fortune of browsing vinyl titles alongside this happy attendee.
"Ha!" she exclaimed. "I was just talking about this record the other day!"
She bought it and several other choice titles, convincing me that I was in the presence of someone with great taste in music.