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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.
For me, the biggest, most exciting, and most inspiring news of the show came in the form of VPI's latest and least expensive turntable, the Traveler ($1299). The turntable is a tribute to Sheila Weisfeld, who passed away in December of last year.
After his mother passed away, 27-year-old Mathew Weisfeld decided he would assume an active role with the company. "We wanted to do this for mom," he said, and explained that she was an avid traveler. "I'm very excited to be working in this industry, and especially excited to be working with my dad."
The Traveler, which takes ideas…
German amplifier specialists AVM have been in business since 1986, but until now have served only the European market. The company's new owner, Udo Besser, who was with Burmester for many years, has decided to broaden their target and is now exporting their high-end electronics line to the US. Of the products on display at the New York Audio and AV show, I was especially intrigued by the AVM C8: an all-in one package that combines a 150Wpc stereo integrated amp with a phono stage, FM tuner, USB and SPDIF D/A converter, and a (hermetically sealed!) CD drive. The styling is elegant and spare…
I remember being impressed when I looked inside my low-impedance Miyabi 47 phono cartridge and counted approximately 14 turns of wire per channel on its coil former. Haniwa has now produced a cartridge with an even lower number of turns per channel—two!—for an internal impedance of just 0.8 ohms. Nevertheless, Haniwa has used various materials and construction techniques to maintain a quite reasonable output of 0.35mV. The Haniwa HCTR01 cartridge, which is also a notably high-compliance design, is available for $12,000. Michael Fremer reviewed it in his November 2011 “Analog Corner” column.