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The all-one-family of Børresen loudspeakers, Aavik electronics, and Ansuz cabling, distributed by Gated HiFi and displayed by Chicago dealer NextLevel HiFi, was having a really rough time of it until their new Aavik U-380 integrated amplifier ($39,000) showed up. It was several days late. RMAF had been chosen for its Global Debut, so everyone was on pins and needles until the arrival of this 300-watt-into-8-ohms, class-D baby, which includes separate DACs for PCM and DSD, four clocks and four power supplies, separate volume controls for each input, and optional dual phono stages claimed to…
Once I took a look inside, I had to know and hear more.
Meet Jeff Merkel, a CU-Denver researcher studying 3-D Audio. “I’m just evangelizing 3-D Audio,” Merkel told me during a brief lull before a group of people who had been hanging in the headphone area descended for a listen-and-chat. “We’ve been mostly doing electronic music and working with VR and video games, but we’re also interested in classical and immersive theater,” Jeff said
Turns out Jeff has been working with Rainbow Militia, a local Denver performance group. He’s also taken the rig to Burning Man. If you’re thinking…
This company’s loudspeakers have Art Dudley’s name all over them, said Serinus to self upon viewing Troy Audio’s Hellena MK II loudspeaker ($120,000/pair with outboard crossover, $80,000 pair with internal crossover). The Hellena MK II uses a 604-8E alnico coaxial driver, made by Great Plains Audio, that owes its design to the original Altec 604-E. Its woofer, Great Plains Audio’s handmade Model 515-C, incorporates a massive alnico V magnetic assembly. There's also an alnico horn supertweeter. The cabinet is composed of sandwiched layers of Russian Baltic birch. The Hellena is big and heavy—…
High End by Oz and United Home Audio joined together to present the US premiere of Vitus Audio’s SIA-030 30W class-A/200W class-AB integrated amplifier ($40,000) and AudioSolutions Virtuoso M loudspeakers ($32,000/pair). The speakers, which weigh 165lb each, claim a sensitivity of 92dB, 4 ohms nominal impedance, and an in-room frequency response of 25Hz–30kHz. Together with Vitus Audio’s SCD-025 MKII CD player/DAC ($25,200), United Home Audio’s Ultima 4 OPS-DC tape deck ($30,000), and Ansuz Acoustics cabling, this system was playing an interesting and unusual selection of music, including the…
Eye-catching as all get-out, Alsyvox Boticelli loudspeakers ($89,000/pair)—having arrived from Spain with their optional external crossover ($25,000) —made a useful connection with Italy’s Omega Audio Concepts DNA CDP disc transport ($12,000), DNA DAC ($9000), and DNA mono amplifiers ($20,000/pair complete with integrated preamps) to produce intriguing sound.
This system excelled at color and transparency, although it couldn’t completely transcend the space's diffuse presentation and overemphasis of the midrange at the expense of the top end. Focus and color improved when I moved farther…
I hadn’t planned to visit the Göbel/CH Precision/Kronos/Bending Wave USA room, having spilled a lot of ink on Göbel and CH products at Munich High End. But, given that I’d heard everything in the room before and was familiar with the excellence of its sound, I wanted to see if it could surmount the sonic difficulties posed by the Gaylord Convention Center's huge rooms.
This big, expensive system was comprised of Göbel High End Divin Noblesse loudspeakers ($220,000/pair); CH Precision’s M 1.1 power amplifier ($54,000), L1 preamplifier ($34,500), C1 DAC with USB option ($35,000), and P1…
Paradigm’s Canadian-designed-and-engineered Persona 7F loudspeakers, which have beryllium diaphragms, anchored a system that received additional grounding from the Paradigm Persona SUB ($6500). The sub’s six 8" woofers are powered by a 1700W “Ultra Class D” amplifier that, aided by DSP and other stuff, descends to a formidable 12Hz.
The room also featured the premiere of the production version of the Wolf Alpha 35X music server ($9295), which was previously shown at the Hong Kong show in prototype form. The company’s Joe Parvey told me that the 35X includes $1200 retail worth of…
In the Gaylord Hotel’s North Tower, where room after room, regardless of its size or layout, seemed conducive to good sound, Raidho Acoustics was making a major impression with the world premiere Raidho TD2.2 2.5-way loudspeakers ($46,000/pair in black). Designed by Benno Baun Meldgaard, who formerly designed loudspeakers for Gamut, the TD2.2 was intended for rooms just a bit larger than the hotel room in which it slayed visitor after visitor.
While the TD2.2’s exterior is similar to the previous version, the TD2.1, the drivers have a new motor design with better sensitivity (89dB), and…
Krell’s immensely energetic Walter Schofield was in the middle of a system description when I entered the room, so I didn't know exactly what I was hearing, but whatever it was, the fact that I’d just submitted my review of the Krell K-300i integrated before boarding a plane for Denver left me very eager to hear it.
Dean Martin’s voice, on LP, sounded drop dead gorgeous. The sound was open and inviting, with just a tip of bright edge on top. (It's OK; I’ve got a bright edge in my own system.) I could hear every overdone portamento, every little extra bubble of sentiment-laden vibrato. But…
What is this strange creature with an upper driver that looks like something from a Marvel movie? Is it benign, or is it the blob that obliterated Kansas?
Once my eyebrows had lowered enough to get out of the way of my ears, I discovered that Endow Audio’s prototype FS301 loudspeaker ($44,000/pair), whose price includes a patent pending outboard passive signal processor, delivered lovely sound on David Wilcox’s “Chet Baker’s Unsung Swan Song.” Paired with an integrated amp from Hegel whose model and price I failed to record because I was too busy listening, the FS301 conveyed an excellent…