In addition to the new Echole…
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Wonderful, truly musical warmth and clarity were the hallmarks of a system built around the Absolare Passion integrated amplifier ($26,500), ReQuest The Raptor Plus music server (1TB version with DAC that handles PCM up to 32/384, and DSD up to 256: $15,900), Rockport Atria speakers ($21,500/pair), Echole Limited Edition Power Center power conditioner ($20,000), and new Echole Infinity cabling ($TBD). On multiple tracks, starting with "Love Man Riding" from Philipp Fankhauser, I was simply and totally seduced by this system's warm and inviting sound.
Lovely, smooth sound, fine timbres, and a very large soundstage in the nearfield were the hallmarks of a system that was dominated by Vitus Audio's brand new, "hardly broken in" SIA-030 Signature integrated amplifier (35,000). The SIA-030 has a fully regulated power supply for its output stage and a 22kW transformer, and claims 400,000 microfarads capacitance prior to regulation. It operates in two modes, either 30Wpc class-A or 200Wpc class-AB, and has a volume control that adjusts by 0.5dB steps while using only one resistor in series with the signal.
The SIA-030 uses no…
The "Ocean Mystery" colored Estelon Forza loudspeaker (110,000/pair) made quite a statement all by itself. Paired with a Kronos Pro turntable (37,600) with SCPS1 power supply (13,500), Black Beauty tonearm (8400), and ZYX Universe 3 cartridge (8100); Bassocontinuo racks; Kubala-Sosna Realization cabling; Audes ST-3000 power conditioner (3900); and Furutech NCF Booster-Signal (2780), it conveyed electric guitar with natural bite, relayed all instruments except Eugene Istomin's somewhat tinkly piano on the Reference Recordings' LP of Mozart Piano Concerto No.21 with natural timbres and a…
Having heard at previous shows the pairing of Aavik electronics, Børresen loudspeakers, and Ansuz cabling, I've been trying to find language adequate to describe the quality of its earth-rooted bass and midrange. There's a very special, aged-in-wood component to its bass sound that I find fascinating. Combined with clear highs that, while not shy, are capable of conveying intimacy, the system made Anette Askvik's "Liberty" compelling listening.
This was the first showing of Ansuz's forthcoming PowerBox D-TC supreme active cables (12,000). These were paired with two other new Ansuz…
John Atkinson wrote about the KEF LSX in June 2019 (Vol.42 No.6):
When Herb Reichert reviewed this tiny, network-connected active speaker system ($1099.99/pair) in our May 2019 issue, he concluded by saying: "The LSXes sounded pure and resolving. Detail was always exceptional, bass always clean. Soundstage mapping was top shelf." I was sufficiently intrigued by what Herb described, and what I'd found when I measured the LSX, that I spent a couple of weeks living with the speakers.
Herb didn't use Roon with the KEFs, but as the LSX is Roon Ready, I used the speakers with my Roon…
Thanks to Michael Fremer, whom I ran into at the MOC while we both waited for the show to open on Day 3, I ended up at a private listening session in the PMC room. There, after Michael pulled out his video camera and engaged in a thorough, only-Michael-would-know-enough-to-ask-such-questions Q&A with PMC's Maurice Patist—it will appear at AnalogPlanet.com—we listened to two revivified tracks from Miles Davis's iconic Kind of Blue that have been given the full Dolby Atmos surround treatment.
I haven't spent much time thinking about Dolby Atmos, which I've always thought of,…
Raidho Acoustics' new TD1.2 speaker ($24,000/pair), whose unveiling I missed at AXPONA, resurfaced in Munich. Hearing a track from the Ray Brown Trio's Soular Energy led me to write, in my notebook, "Pretty amazing how well these small speakers create such a big soundstage." Transparency around solo instruments and percussion was quite exceptional. Save for a touch of dryness, which could have been room-related, this system sounded excellent.
The TD1.2 replaces the D1.1. The only things that remain from the former model are the dimensions and shape of the cabinet. Even the internal wiring…
Given the background noise, it was a little difficult to focus on the music from Yello and
Roger Waters of Pink Floyd in the system from Vienna Acoustics and Vincent, but this little system's ability throw a large, ear-catching ambient soundstage was its strong point. Speakers were the Vienna Acoustics Mozart (1800/pair). Vincent electronics included (I think) the new DAC-7, which handles up to 32/384 and DSD256 and has a tube output stage, along with the SA-T7 preamp (2499), SP-T700 mono hybrid amplifier (1999/each), CD-S7 hybrid CD player (2199), and PHO-701 phono stage (649). Cables…
Excellent bass, a somewhat toned-down presentation and somewhat dry midrange, and excellent imaging—the speakers completely disappeared—were the hallmarks of Zellaton Reference Mk II Loudspeakers (2018) (147,950/pair). As with all our show reports, how much of what I heard was due to electronics previously unknown to me, and whose sound I cannot begin to describe until I hear them in a familiar context, I cannot ascertain.
The 2018 model of Zellaton's Reference loudspeakers contain Duelund Cast capacitors and inductors with a paper-based dielectric along with Duelund wiring. Also in the…
Krell had a big display at Munich High End show and seems to be on the brink—or maybe in the midst—of a major new-product and marketing surge.
Walter Schofield, the company's COO, told me that in addition to a few new products recently introduced, many more are just on the horizon. The new products—and the new marketing push—are based on two recent technical advances. The first, iBias, which was introduced by Krell in 2014, is a sliding-bias scheme that ensures there's always a positive bias for both phases of the waveform. Sliding bias is like class-A in that a bias voltage is always…