Another big system with a midrange to love, with speakers well-matched to the space. I wasn't converted to the style of singer Vanessa Fernandez, whose cut from her new platter seemed more derivative than inspired, but the midrange sounded excellent, and there was also lots of bass to attract attention.
The system’s midrange again proved a high point on a hi-rez digital recording of a bit of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 1, where Anna Fedorova’s piano shone. The system, which would retail for $364,750 without the Kubala Sosna Realization cables, was headed by Vivid Audio…
Damon Von Schweikert, CEO of speaker manufacturer Von Schweikert Audio, did something interesting in the room (1621) he shared with Gary Leeds of WestminsterLab. Faced with a challenging room whose opening to a second inner chamber of similar size all but guaranteed that bass would be a mess, set up two Von Schweikert V-12XS MkII Shockwave subwoofers ($33,000 for two), facing each other. One was in the listening room toward the rear along the side wall; the other was in the opening. Operating 180º phase, the two subs equalized pressure at their positions and canceled standing waves, resulting…
"I think both moving coil and moving magnet cartridges are terrible." That's what legendary Canadian audio designer Ed Meitner told me when I asked about the pioneering transimpedance current drive phono stage he created for his Meitner PA6 preamp some 40 years ago.
Meitner has been designing innovative hi-fi gear for the pro and consumer audio markets for more than 50 years, but for most of the last 30, he has been best known for his work with high-resolution digital audio and DSD recording (footnote 1). Despite this focus on digital—and despite that comment about the two leading phono…
Upgrades for the Wand 14-4 Turntable and Tonearm
In the January 2024 Spin Doctor, I wrote about the innovative Wand 14-4 turntable from New Zealand (footnote 3). Almost immediately after I finished that piece, I was contacted by The Wand's US distributor about checking out some upgrades that are available for the Wand 14-4.
The upgrades are mostly trickle-down developments from the 14-5 turntable, allowing 14-4 owners to get some of the benefits from that more upmarket model. The most significant is the EV Battery Power Supply, which, as the name suggests, takes the motor off…
Jorge Sadurni, whose impressive horn speakers I first encountered at AXPONA during its pre-Schaumberg years, introduced his Spherical Dual loudspeakers ($4600/pair with integrated stands—see driver in the photo.) Each Spherical Dual contains two high-damped cast-metal modules with 5" cone dynamic drivers. These drivers operate full range without crossovers and connect directly to an amplifier. Each Spherical Dual cast enclosure is 15" G x 6.5" W x 9" D and weighs 20lb.
The Duals are intended to couple with Sadurni subwoofers when used in larger rooms. In this case, Sadurni used…
Sometimes I wonder what the etiquette is at audio shows. I mean, nobody tells you anything. It’s fair to assume that playing windmill-style air guitar to songs by the Who is generally frowned upon, but is it gauche to sway and groove in your chair when the music moves you? Or do we instead straighten our backs, sit perfectly still, and concentrate? May you sing along to a favorite song? (I try not to, but it’s hard.) When an exhibitor hands you an iPad with a hundred million streaming choices, how many tracks may you play before the other people in the room have cause to hate-stare at you?…
There are times when a music critic gets so upended by a recording of well-loved music that their previous plaudits for a different recorded version demands reassessment. Thus did the first movement of Leonard Bernstein’s Vienna Philharmonic recording of Mahler Symphony No. 5, played on this excellent Gryphon system, cause me to sit up in my seat with eyes and mouth wide open as I heard more emotional impact, dynamic crescendos and decrescendos, tempo changes, and drama than on Rafael Payare’s recent Pentatone recording of the Fifth. Payare’s recording deserves accolades for recording…
Excellent, well-controlled bass was one of many strong suits in a room headlined by Vinnie Rossi BRAMA monoblock power amplifiers (gen2 - $59,995/pair) and BRAMA preamplifier (gen2 - $38,995) paired with YG Acoustics Hailey 3 loudspeakers ($63,400/pair).
I wish someone had told me to sit in the second row, because it was only when I moved back that the sound got wetter and I could tell how good this system was. How good it was despite the fact that, like many systems in the Schaumburg faced with Saturday’s internet outages, resorted to sending music wirelessly from a mobile…
Anyone who knows these brands senses the potential for great sound in this room. Great sound in and of itself, however, was not the system’s raison d’être. Rather, the resolution and quality of components were a means to an end during a demonstration of the ability of the Innuos PhoenixNet audiophile network switch ($4349) to enhance the sound of the Innuos Pulsar Network music player ($7999).
I never expected to hear how diminished a 16/44.1 file of Holly Cole’s "Bright Shiny Day" sounded when the PhoenixNet switch was removed from the equipment chain. With it, we gained, depth…
During each AXPONA, the makers of head-fi products set up their booths in the ground-floor central ballroom of Schaumburg’s enormous Renaissance hotel. The Ear Gear Experience, they call it. I always have a look and a listen, in part because the products there aren't crazy expensive: three and four figures, mostly. It's refreshing to temporarily get away from stereo systems that cost the price of a house.
Ah, who am I kidding, I love those too. But in the real world, who can afford $80,000 amplifiers and $200,000 speakers?
If your budget is perhaps just two or three…
