I had previously heard EgglestonWorks' Andra II loudspeaker, but this was my first opportunity to hear the fairly new Andra III ($24,000/pair). In addition to new aluminum cosmetics and a $6000 price increase, the Andra III has a completely new crossover, designed by Jim Thompson; a new Morel carbon-fiber midrange; as well as a new…
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If the Soundsmith exhibit invariably brings a light show, the EgglestonWorks/Arte Forma Audio room created the opposite effect. All of the horrible energy-saving fluorescents were turned off, leaving the room lit only by what came through the window.
You can always count on several things from Soundsmith: rich, luscious, extremely seductive sound (especially from the moderately romantic Strain Gauge cartridge/phono preamp), and a flashing light show from multiple components that is curiously at odds with the refinement of most of the vinyl Peter Ledermann plays.
Soundsmith's Axpona exhibit was no exception. Heard were the warm and somewhat romantic Strain Gauge cartridge (pictured) with SG 610 preamp (approx. $12,000, and sold as a system), VPI HRX TNT turntable (approx. $12,000), Frank Schröder Reference SQ tonearm (approx. $…
Midway through Axpona, Norbert Mundorf, maker of the fabled Mundorf capacitors, flew in from Germany to bring the Steinmusic Harmonizer H2a and H2b to the Jaton room. Although I had already blogged the room, I happened to be in the right place to learn what was going on.
Making their show debut, presumably before they appear at the Munich High-End Show at the end of March, the Steinmusic Harmonizer, Magic Stones and E-pads are room acoustic optimizers that have been engineered by Holger Stein. Although I did not have the opportunity to take a before and after listen, as I have done…
In the Audiowood/Glow room, I again made the acquaintance of the diminutive, low-priced amps that were playing across the hall with Sonist speakers. This time, I had the opportunity to hear the story behind them.
Patrick Tang of Hercules, CA, designer of the Glow amps, speaker and subwoofer, explained that he was initially a "transistor guy." Then he moved his living quarters, and his wife nixed taking all his large components along for the ride. In their place, he designed his own, considerably smaller components. He went into business two years ago.
Teng certainly…
Sonist of Studio City, CA was touting the premier of the Recital 3 all-wood floorstanders ($2195/pair), with a lower-price black textured finish model ($1795/pair) also available. . Featuring a 6" woofer and ribbon tweeter, the 8 ohm speaker has 93dB sensitivity, and a frequency response of 45Hz–40kHz. Audience and Cardas parts point to high quality. Shown next to the larger Concerto 3 ($4195/pair with all-wood cabinets, otherwise $3495 and reviewed by Art Dudley in April 2009), the Recital 3 is an 8 ohm, 95dB-sensitivity speaker with a frequency response of 30Hz–40kHz. Current…
Remember our old intern, Ariel Bitran? He left us to become a rock and roll star. (But only after we managed to infect him with a taste for high-quality sound and an even deeper appreciation for music.) His band, Heroes of the Open End, will be performing tomorrow night at Arlene’s Grocery (95 Stanton Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan). This is one of those extremely important shows in the life of any aspiring band: You know, if you don’t draw at least 15 or so people, the club’s manager holds your head down in the toilet bowl while the bouncer pulls out your toenails. It’s bad…
In addition to his enormously impressive hi-rez surround-sound dem mentioned earlier in this report, Mark Waldrep of AIX Records and iTrax.com gave a well-attended seminar on all three Show days explaining how a computer can be used as a valid source in a high-end audio system and demystifying HD music.
Stereophile senior editor Michael Fremer hosted two turntable set-up seminars at Axpona, explaining how to optimally install and set-up a phono cartridge and tonearm for lowest distortion and best sound. He did a great job of demystifying an arcane subject; for those who couldn't attend Axpona, you can see an expanded version of the seminar on his DVD 21st Century Vinyl, available from this website.
Jim Smith, author of Get Better Sound, spent a full hour discussing a host of topics from his book. Among the subjects he was prepared to cover were optimal use of subwoofers, loudspeaker set-up, multi-channel system requirements, room acoustics and treatments, system enhancements, bi-amping, and analog vs digital. In the brief time I spent in the room, questions were lively and plentiful. One in particular, on compression in modern pop recordings, harked back to John Atkinson's recent "As We See It" and his Rocky Mountain Audio Fest presentations on the subject.
My loudspeaker seminar on Saturday featured Dick Diamond of YG Acoustics (to the left in Jason's photo), John MacDonald of Audience (far right) and Bill Dudleston of Legacy (immediate right with hand raised). The first half of the session featured each panelist discussing what his goals were as a loudspeaker manufacturer, what technical parameters he felt most correlates with good sound, how he balanced all the various aspects of performance to get a good balance at a specific price, and where he felt there was the greatest room for continued improvement in speaker performance. The…