search
Also in the Gini Systems/Audio Space room was the Gini iTube 2.1 Audio System ($199, show price). As you can see, it looks like a big iPod with a little tube and speakers.
Jon Iverson might like this.
Widea Lab is a young Korean company. The company says they’ve got some strong candidates for US distribution and will also be selling via Amazon. Their first product, the Aurender (short for Audio Renderer; $5700), is a digital music server utilizing a customized Linux OS, linear power supply, and storage for over 5000 lossless and uncompressed CDs. It offers coaxial, optical, and AES/EBU outputs and can be controlled using a clever iPad app which displays album art, all useful metadata, and, on first glance, even seemed friendly to classical music.
I…
Brodmann Acoustics was demonstrating their pretty little Festival Series loudspeakers. The Austrian company has a background in piano manufacturing as well as sound engineering, and the FS speakers ($3990/pair) have an interesting design: 8-layer piano lacquer works to stiffen the speaker’s wood enclosures while dried oak sound rods are situated in front of the speaker’s side-firing drivers for dispersion. The cabinet is completely empty; it uses no dampening.
The Brodmann FS speakers were mated to an all-Electrocompaniet system: ECI-5 integrated amplifier ($4990), EMP-1/S SACD player ($…
Jon Iverson might also like this.
I noted generous scale, midrange detail, full body, and an overall effortlessness to the presentation of this system: Wilson Sophia loudspeakers, Pass Labs amplification, and the new Light Harmonic Da Vinci 384K USB DAC ($15,000 [NOTE: The actual retail price ended up at $20k-ed.]).
The zero-feedback, fully-balanced design has USB and S/PDIF inputs, is compatible with sampling rates up to 384kHz, operates in asynchronous mode, and boasts native support and plug-and-play operation for Mac OS and Linux platforms. Oh: It also looks crazy, like it…
I noted deep silences, good spatial effects, good low-end impact, and a fine sense of scale in this room occupied by Salk Sound and Van Alstine: Salk Sound Soundscape loudspeakers ($12,000/pair) and 300Wpc Van Alstine hybrid amplifier ($3000).
This system offered a bold, vibrant sound when the music called for it, a gentle, subtle sound when the music called for it, and always exhibited a good sense of momentum and flow.
MSB’s Vince Galbo explained that the company’s Data CD IV transport ($3995) was “intensely designed to read CDs like they’ve never been read before.” That means it sends jitter-free digital audio data from its solid-state memory to any D/A converter, with resolutions up to 32-bit/384kHz. It uses an optical ROM reader to read the disc over and over until the file is read perfectly, then stores the information…
There was a jovial, festive vibe in Philip O’Hanlon’s On A Higher Note room, featuring Luxman amplification and source components, Vivid loudspeakers, and music courtesy show attendee, Raymond.
As I walked into the room, O’Hanlon explained that Raymond had been knocking everyone’s socks off with his vinyl selections.
“As much as I like the music I brought, I’m also kinda sick of it,” O’Hanlon chuckled. “What’s next, Raymond?”
Raymond dug through his bag of vinyl and handed O’Hanlon a record. The charming host took that record and placed it on Luxman’s PD-171 belt-drive…
We listened to a track from Nat King Cole’s Love is the Thing, a beautiful 45rpm reissue from Chad Kassem’s Analogue Productions.
The system was made of Sony’s big, gorgeously finished SS-AR1 loudspeakers ($27,000/pair; reviewed by Kal Rubinson in our July issue), Pass Labs amplification, Parasound Halo JC3 phono preamplifier, and Clearaudio Concept turntable.
Overall, the sound was as Kal described the sound of the Sony SS-AR1: Smooth, unaggressive, and rich, with a generous bottom end, ample soundstage, and good detail. Sweet, sweet, sweet.
The attractive Fritz Speakers Carbon 7 ($1750/pair) were matched with ModWright KWA 100SE power amplifier ($3995), ModWright LS 100 tube preamplifier ($3495), Esoteric SA60 universal disc player ($4995), Zesto Audio Andros PS1 MM/MC phono stage ($3900), and Thorens TD 309 turntable ($1900). WyWires provided the speaker cables ($1299), interconnects ($849-$1299), and power cords ($329). Room treatment was by GIK Acoustics and ASC. Steve Blinn Designs contributed the equipment rack ($1899). Billie Holiday’s Songs for Distingué Lovers (priceless) provided the mood.
The two-way,…
I walked into the Margules room and was welcomed by Peter Frampton’s funny cover of Soundgarden’s late grunge-era hit, “Black Hole Sun,” with all the fuzzy, phasey, talk boxy effects you might expect from Frampton held perfectly in check, well-focused within the wide soundstage.
Margules’ Grand Orpheus loudspeakers ($30,000/pair) were mated to the company’s 40Wpc U280 power amplifier and F220 preamplifier ($3000). Source was the M6 CD player ($2500) and cables were all Cardas.
Whether playing solo piano or large-scale orchestral, I was impressed by the system’s sense of flow…