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I had not heard the 300W Technical Brain monoblocks ($90,000/pair) before, but driving the TAD CR1 speakers that I very positively reviewed last January ($40,600/pair with stands), they produced a sound from the Reference Recordings Nojima performance of Liszt's Mephisto Waltz that offered superb scale yet with equally superb microdynamics. The amplifier is said to run in class-A up to 120W and has "no resistors in the signal path"! Source was the Ratoc D/A converter (currently only available in Japan) fed data by a MacBook Air, preamp was also Technical Brain ($57,000) and cables were all TB…
Jeffrey Catalano’s High Water Sound room was so hidden, tucked away at the end of a shadowy corridor, that posters were tacked to the Atrium walls, reminding showgoers to stop by.
I had wondered how anyone could possibly find their way there, so I was taken aback when I walked into a packed house of bobbing heads and stomping feet. But I shouldn’t have been surprised: Audiophiles have a way of finding great music.
It was Booker T. & the MGs’ McLemore Avenue, a mostly instrumental album inspired by the Beatles Abbey Road. And it kicked total ass. I would love to get…
Von Schweikert's new VR-44 floorstanding speaker comes in two forms: passive ($22,000/pair), and Aktiv ($25,000/pair) with a 300W amplifier driving the 8.8" composite alloy-cone woofers below 200Hz. Both the woofers and the 6" midrange unit are loaded with labyrinths, and the tweeter is a ring-radiator type. Superbly finished with either Steinway Black Gloss or Mercedes Platinum Silver, the VR-44's produced a full, musical sound at THE Show, driven by Jolida tube amplification and with the source an open-reel recorder from United Home Audio playing a tape of Van Morrison playing "Brown-Eyed…
Solen is the authorized dealer for Motus Audio loudspeaker drivers, designed in the US and manufactured in China.
The units used in the speakers seen here (a 6” midwoofer and 1” tweeter) would cost around $570/pair. Interested hobbyists could purchase a kit, including enclosures and crossovers, for under $1000/pair. The system I heard was made of a MacMini, the versatile Resonessence Labs Invicta DAC, and Ayre amplification. Music files were played using the Fidelia playback software. Cables were provided by Cardas. I noted a sweet, smooth sound.
The sign says:
The San Diego Music and Audio Guild is titled the way it is because our main focus is on music rather than audio equipment.
We believe that equipment can never provide much more than a photograph of the musical event and we strive to attend as many live performances as possible.
Nonetheless, some photographs are better than others and the improvement is often predicated more on the skill and knowledge of the producer than the cost of the product.
We endeavor to bring those improvements to light and to provide information to maximize the potential…
At the Hilton, T.H.E. Marketplace was home to May Audio, Ginko Audio, Bob’s Devices, Eastwind Imports, Reference Recordings, Lavry Engineering, and Acoustic Sounds.
Here we see Acoustic Sounds’ Chad Kassem, busy assembling the latest release from Analogue Productions and Quality Record Pressings, a 200gm, 45rpm reissue of The Doors’ self-titled debut, mastered by Doug Sax on an all-tube system. Light my fire.
Back at the Atrium, T.H.E. Marketplace was home to Audeze headphones, Eddie Current headphone amplifiers, Elusive Disc, Impex Records, Kim Wilson Photography, May Audio, and Music Direct. Here we see Music Direct’s Besflores Nievera, Jr., happily manning the vinyl. I get up, and nothing gets me down.
This couple is happy because they're at T.H.E. Show Newport. And because they're surrounded by sunlight, live music, and LPs. And possibly also because they just came from the pool bar.
The sign could have easily read: Welcome to Paradise. The Sunset Lounge was home to Berdan Records, and it was kind of like heaven: It’s all glowing and lovely, there’s a swanky bar with cushy, faux-leather seats, an ornate chandelier hangs from the ceiling, a view of the open highway soothes your weary mind and reminds you of endless possibilities, LPs racks and stacks of box sets are all around, there’s a DJ booth in one corner and a bandstand in the other…Hallelujah, hallelujah!
I’m not talking any music; you can get that from my ‘94 Toyota Corolla’s car radio, which is somewhat bearable at low volume. I’m talking about a system where the pace of the Fairfield Four singing something like “These Bones” in classic doo-wop fashion—a Best Buy special, Walter Liederman told me—or the beautiful tonality and sense of space on a recording of the Brahms Clarinet Trio made me first sit up and take notice, then sit back and wish that the music would just go on and on.
I was handed five sheets of literature, yet assured that the cost of everything I heard in this Emerald…