Parasound’s Richard Schram explained: “We’re convinced there are enough people out there who love audio and who still don’t trust computers. We think they’ll welcome an extraordinary way of playing their CDs.”
The Parasound CD 1 ($5000…
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Even as my dear friend Michael Lavorgna lays down the law in the Wild Wild West that is Computer Audio and continues to rid himself of Compact Discs, I find myself more and more attracted to the little silver discs and their associated players. So I was happy to learn about Parasound’s new CD 1, which adds a computer to the conventional CD player.
Sound Representation’s affable Jon Zimmer introduced me to the Rogers High Fidelity EHF-100 integrated amplifier ($6000), which was driving a pair of Totem Element Fire loudspeakers.
The 100Wpc EHF-100 is a push-pull, class-A design. It uses two EF86, two 12AX7, and four KT88 tubes, and offers four analog inputs. The overall build-quality seems outstanding with gold-plated Furutech binding posts, stainless steel hardware, hand-wired circuits, and a lovely hand-applied lacquer finish.
The EHF-100 is gorgeous and hand-made, one amp at a time, in New York.
Totem was showing their new Element Series of loudspeakers. Both the stand-mounted Fire ($6000/pair) and floorstanding Earth ($9000/pair) use Totem’s 7-inch Torrent hand-assembled driver and employ no crossover parts in the woofer section.
The speakers’ 4-coat polyester finish is exquisite, smooth and gleaming to the point of appearing wet. The cabinet itself is cleverly sloped and angled so that the speakers seem much smaller than they actually are; from the listening position, all one can see is the front baffle. This construction, Totem’s Vince Bruzzese explained, works to get rid…
Riding the Acoustic Signature Storm ($7500) was the new FXR II tonearm ($1995) by the Funk Firm. Super cool.
The idea is that the tonearm acts as a “beam with no flexing.” A cutaway of the arm shows its patented crossbeam construction, said to reduce typical tonearm resonances by up to 25dB, reducing surface noise and high-frequency glare. If my experience in the Audio Physic/Acoustic Signature/Trigon room is any indication, the Funk Firm arm works as promised.
Plus: It’s red, which is always nice.
In the room presented by Audio Physic, Acoustic Signature, and Trigon, music was sweet and nuanced, played at low volumes, but nevertheless involving and deeply enjoyable. I admired the subtlety of touch, richness of texture, and ease of flow. We listened to a few minutes of One Foot in the Gutter, a live, 1960s recording by the Dave Bailey Sextet, and I swear I could hear the joy and humor in the band’s playing.
The system: Acoustic Signature Storm turntable ($7500, without tonearm and cartridge), Trigon Chronolog disc player/music server ($9495), Trigon Energy integrated amplifier…
There was a lot of buzz over the new high-performance, highly versatile Invicta DAC/preamp ($3395) from Resonessence Labs. The Invicta handles all resolutions up to 24-bit/192kHz from all of its inputs, including asynchronous USB 2.0.
In addition: There are two front-panel headphone jacks with independent trim levels; an HDMI video output allows the user to view playlists on a monitor; an SD card reader supports AIFF and WAV files via a handy front-panel SD card slot; the simple remote control provides remote access to all features, including USB host control; and the power supplies…
It was around this point of the show that I started to feel weak and dizzy, overwhelmed by the size of RMAF and disappointed by the lack of truly affordable gear. Thank goodness for Gold Sound. The Colorado dealer had pieced together not one, not two, but five affordable, audiophile systems priced under $5000.
One, in particular, was especially familiar: Marantz PM5004 integrated amplifier ($450), Marantz CD5004 CD player ($350), and Wharfedale Diamond 10.1 loudspeakers ($350/pair), for a total retail price of $1150, not including cables and stands. Awesome value, great sound. To…
Ron Sutherland was extremely excited about his versatile, new preamplifier.
“Want to know what it’s called?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“The N1.”
“Oh.”
“Get it?”
“What?”
“N1!”
“Hmm?”
“It’s all-in-one!”
I still didn’t know what he was talking about, but I did my best to hide my ignorance—a technique that I’ve mastered over years of attending hi-fi shows. I nodded and smiled. “Oh.”
I admire Sutherland products for their apparent simplicity and their elegant design. The N1 ($10,000) combines a line stage and…
Angel City Audio built a system comprising their Trinity loudspeaker ($6999/pair), Melody Pure Black 101 preamplifier ($4499), and Melody M835 monoblock power amplifiers ($5899/pair), along with an Onix XCD50 CD player and Melody cables and interconnects.
The Trinity loudspeakers use a VIFA XT25 concentric ring-radiator tweeter sandwiched between two custom 7-inch woofers. The speakers’ rated sensitivity is 90dB and their nominal impedance is 4 ohms. The Melody M835 monoblocks have a tube complement of one 845, one 2A3, and one 6SN7, and offer 21W of class-A power.
We…
I’ve grown used to hearing good sound in rooms occupied by Joseph Audio loudspeakers and this was no exception. We had a toe-tapping, hip-shaking, good time in here. The system was locked in a deep and heavy groove, sounding dynamic, fun, lively, and totally listenable.
Yes, listenable. You’d think that everything at a hi-fi show would be listenable, but you'd be surprised.
Anyway. The system:
Joseph Audio Perspective loudspeakers ($11,800/pair), Bel Canto CD3t transport ($1495), Bel Canto REF500M monoblocks ($3990), and a complete Bel Canto Control DAC system (DAC3.…