Peter Ledermann of Soundsmith is a nice guy, I promise.
Ultra Systems present the Audio Desk record cleaner.
Proud of being an audiophile.
Jeff Dorgay of Tone Audio and Art Dudley talk vintage audio.
Flipping through the stacks provided by Acoustic Sounds. Art Dudley investigates in the background.
Steve Guttenberg (right) gets more info on the Cable Company’s headphone trade-in program.
Headphone racks at the The Cable Company's table.
Jenn Atocha from Atocha Designs… Because I know Wes Bender and E.A.R.’s Dan Meinwald are always open to new sounds, I took the opportunity in the Wes Bender Studio room to play the title cut from Aidan Baker’s latest release, Already Drowning.
As always, the duo put together a system that was beautiful to both the eyes and ears: Making its NYC debut, Redpoint Audio Design’s Model D turntable ($29,000) was equipped with Helius Omega Silver Ruby ($5225) and Tri-Planar Ultimate ($9800) tonearms and Dynavector DRT XV-1t ($9250) and Transfiguration Proteus ($6000) cartridges. The signal went to the gorgeous Hagerman Trumpet…
JPS Labs leaps into the world of headphones with the Abyss: a highly customizable head-gripping $5495 listening device. More info on these intense cans be found on their website.
Music Hall’s Roy Hall was excited about his new a15.3 integrated amplifier and matching c-dac15.3 CD player/DAC combo. Just as any good integrated amplifier should, the 50Wpc a15.3 includes a headphone output, front-panel mini-jack input, moving-magnet phono stage, and remote control. The one-box c-dac15.3 combines a three-input (optical, coax, USB-B) Wolfson DAC section with a CD player, itself based around a Burr-Brown 24-bit/192kHz-capable DAC. Build quality seemed excellent. Each unit will sell for $549. Music Hall just keeps churning out interesting, affordable products. I’ll look…
In his report of the Rutherford Audio room, Ariel Bitran wrote, “There was something magical about this sound, and there was a sweet-spot to be found everywhere.”
Gary Koh of Genesis Advanced Technologies is seen here with his 2.2 Jr. loudspeaker ($80,000/pair). When I asked him about the large room’s lack of acoustic treatments, Koh laughed and said, “I cheat!”
He directed my attention to the room’s front wall and explained that a subwoofer had been placed in each corner. “Using a subwoofer in each corner energizes every mode in the room, and when you energize all the modes, you…
Michael Fremer entertains a packed house with an in-depth discussion on various pressings of the Beach Boys’ classic album, Pet Sounds. The event was co-hosted by Classic Album Sundays’ Colleen Murphy. For more info on Mikey’s seminars, visit AnalogPlanet.com.
Mikey Fremer gets so animated when he discusses something as close to his heart as music on LP that it is difficult to get him to remain still enough for a photo! (Photo: John Atkinson) I saw her first in the Clue room. She exited at the same time as random bald man #72. Were they together? I’m not sure, but the dangerously punchy sound was not helping my listening fatigue. I left. She walked into the Audio Doctor’s KEF Blade display. Should I follow her? That would be weird.
A gentleman from Music First Audio started talking to me and pointing at my camera: “We have a colorful preamp for you to take pictures of.”
“No thanks.”
There she was in the darkened room, wide-eyed and listening. Sitting alone. This didn’t make any sense.
Are you seriously…
Many attendees at the New York Audio Show 2013 were afraid to admit they were audiophiles, opting for complicated explanations about their passion for music. Yet, what is just so scary about being an audiophile? I walked around asking folks the next day, "What is an audiophile?" in hopes to discover just what it meant.
Thank you to all of those who participated.
Upon visiting the room of Colleen Cardas Imports, I was impressed by yet another small loudspeaker: the Signature version of the model 1920 mini-monitor ($3450/pair) from British firm MAD (for My Audio Design). The 1920 is described as designer Timothy Jung's take on the classic BBC LS-3/5a theme, and while it didn't sound precisely like that hallowed box, it was pleasing in much the same way when driven by the 65 WpcClass-A Monoblock Reference power amps ($15,500/pair) and Control Preamplifier ($9500) from Pure Audio, a company founded by the previous principals of Plinius. Source components…
One of the most talked-about exhibitions at NYAS 2013—and, indeed, one that impressed me more than most—was by a newish company called Symbol Audio, specializing in heirloom-quality furnishings that are aimed, it must be said, at non-audiophiles possessed of both good jobs and good taste. The centerpiece of Symbol's room was their Modern Record Console, which combines a high-quality record player from Project, a built-in Apple MacMini with a Meridian Explorer D/A converter, a tubed (push-pull EL84s) integrated amplifier by ENG Vista (with source selections for phono, D/A, and…
