In a third Audioarts room, the company’s Gideon Schwartz selected “Burning” from Wild Beasts’ Smother, one of my favorite albums of the year.
The speakers were Voxativ’s Ampeggio, using a new AC-3x driver, said to go lower and smoother with greater efficiency. The source was a laptop running iTunes without the benefit of any aftermarket software such as Amarra, Pure Music, or Decibel: “I just downloaded music from iTunes,” explained Schwartz. “I like to keep it simple. It sounds good!”
Indeed. I heard a smoothness and richness in the lead vocal that was completely new to me…
The sound of the Harbeth Compact 7 speakers, driven by an LFD integrated amplifier via TellurideQ cables was as musically communicative as I was expecting. But then I saw the triangular Stein Magic Diamond sitting on top of the speaker cabinet and knew I was in the presence of serious audio strangeness. Sam Tellig wrote about the Stein devices in his September 2011 issue column: "The Harmonizers, Magic Stones, and Magic Diamonds helped make the room boundaries disappear and the venue of each recording matter more. It was as if sound flowed more freely through the air."
Ulp!
But…
Doshi Audio was new to me, but the sound the Doshi Jhor 90W monoblock amp ($18,995/pair) was getting from Wilson Sasha W/P speakers with—shudder—an MP3 of Porcupine Tree was impressive. I was relieved, however, when a Milt Jackson LP, featuring Ray Brown playing a bowed solo version of Thelonious Monk's "'Round Midnight," went on the SME 20/3 turntable fitted with a Koetsu Onyx cartridge and SME Series V tonearm. The rest of the system included Doshi's own Alaap v2.1 full-function preamplifier ($14,995), a Wadia S7i CD player and 171i iPod Dock, with Transparent Audio cables used throughout…
Despite their size, the Dynaudio Confidence C2 Signature loudspeakers ($15,000/pair) managed to disappear, leaving a clear view onto the music.
This was also the North American debut of the amplifier we first admired at the Munich High End Show, Octave’s RE290 ($10,000), partnered here with Octave’s tube-based Phono Module ($6950). The source was T+A’s G1260R turntable ($4300, with tonearm) using T+A’s C10 moving-coil cartridge ($800).
The system produced voices with eerie realism. The Avett Brothers were in the room with us, and I could easily follow every line, every rise…
Dynaudio’s Mike Mannousselis always brings a ton of awesome music to hi-fi shows, and this time he played a track called “Suzanne” by Asobi Seksu, a band I once booked to play at Uncle Joe’s, a small but dearly loved dive bar in downtown Jersey City. And, though that show took place nearly eight years ago, I was quickly and easily transported to that time. It was a cold winter night and we huddled around the fireplace of Uncle Joe’s cozy backroom. Asobi Seksu proceeded to heat us up with their music, a tantalizing mix of shoegaze and psychedelic sounds.
Making their North American…
“Oh, man,” I heard someone say. “You’ve got the XX on vinyl?!”
Dynaudio's Mike Manousselis turned, smiled, and nodded to the small group of young attendees.
“You’re killing me!”
I laughed. Manousselis proceeded to blow minds with LCD Soundsystem’s “All My Friends,” one of Natalie’s favorite songs. (It was one of the songs she requested during her birthday party.) Had she been at RMAF, I’m sure she would busted out her signature dance moves. I got up from the sweet spot and our young companions quickly sat down, seemingly captivated by the sounds.
Their politically incorrect poster may have raised some hackles, but it has to be admitted that Odyssey was making some great sounds in their room at RMAF. Klaus Bunge was showing off the Kismet Reference Monitor standmounts ($2500/pair including stands), which use a Scanspeak beryllium-dome tweeter, driving the speakers with the two-chassis Odyssey Reference Line amplifier ($3500), which combines a tubed input stage with solid-state output. I listened to that old audiophile classic, Radka Toneef singing Jim Webb's "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress," and the tangibility and solidity of the…
I know audiophiles are not supposed to like Diana Krall. But the singer/pianist has true jazz instincts. Her version of Joni Mitchell's "A Case of You," played back an open-reel tape on a Right Sound-modified Studer A80, with the Usher Dancer Mini 2 speakers ($4999/pair) driven by Usher amps and connected with JPS Aluminata cables was gripping. Undoubtedly contributing to the quality of the sound was the fact that, like many exhibitors, Usher had made a serious attempt to modify the acoustics of their room at RMAF with acoustic treatments.
Retailer Denver Audio Designs was featuring Thiel's elegant-looking SCS4T tower speakers ($3690/pair) in its RMAF room. But the Dire Straits album playing when I entered the room had more low bass than I remembered the Thiels giving when we reviewed them. The system was familiar—Simaudio Moon 360D player, 350P preamplifier, and 330A amplifier, all wired with StraightWire—but then I saw in the corners a pair of Thiel's new USS subwoofers. The towers were bring run full-range, with the subs reinforcing the sound below 40Hz.
The USS uses a 10" drive-unit powered by a 550W amplifier, and the…
Though there were plenty of new Emotiva components on display—and 27 more in the pipeline!—the story here wasn’t as much about products as it was people. Emotiva’s Dan Laufman has never been happier.
“I spent so much of my life doing things I didn’t want to do. Now that I’m doing what I love, it feels like I’m living a dream.”
“We can’t change the world,” Laufman continues, “but we can change the parts that we’re involved with. We want to reinvigorate the hi-fi hobby by creating products that are actually accessible to people who want better sound.”
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