A provider of direct-to-tape vinyl records and master tapes, Straight2Tape prides itself on using classic Neumann, Nagra, and Studer microphones and tape decks. They record and mix in real time ala Rudy…
search
I followed the throng towards the Straight2Tape booth. A darkened entryway beckoned, promising access to a hidden music haven. But as I neared, the illusion shattered. The passageway was a masterfully crafted cardboard facade, complete with lifesize musicians frozen in mid-performance, a gleaming microphone outstretched, and a realistic pop filter catching the nonexistent light.
High End Munich is a global stage for established audio brands, already heavily covered by the international press. How do smaller manufacturers get noticed in this crowded, high-profile event? I made it a mission to seek out hidden gems and share my discoveries.
Genuin Audio is an German company operated by former high-end dealer and recording studio owner Thomas Wendt.
“I’m the CEO of a telecommunications network company, which develops its own software. I am very familiar with digital technology,” Wendt explained from his corner room in Halle 2. “That's why I developed my…
This large system employed a reel-to-reel deck and a DAC for sources, abetted by a new product designation, at least for me, a combination tape/phono stage.
The Hachidori Fukami tape/phono stage ($75,000) with Fukami tubed power supply is made in Japan by Jonathan Knight as part of a collaboration with Hachidori (product and circuit design), Age Design (3D mechanical design), and Chubei (Wajimi nuri lacquer). A beautiful product, the stage features a tubed power supply.
The digital front end was a Thrax Maximus Mk2S DSP-controlled 32bit/384kHz DAC ($38,500)…
Triode Japan premiered two products at High End Munich: the Triode Evolution Pre Preamplifier and the Triode Evolution Musashi Integrated Amplifier ($10,830). The latter runs in class AB in a push-pull configuration, outputting 100Wpc into 8 ohms. It uses four KT 150 and four 12AU7 tubes for its power and pre stages, respectively.
A Cyrus TTP turntable ($5495), Grimm M2 DAC/streamer ($17,450), Triode TRX-EQ7 phono stage ($1070), Triode TRV-CD6SE CD player (€4990), Peak Consult Sinfonia speakers ($55,000/pair), and Inakustik Referenz Air cables completed the system.
…
Evaluating a loudspeaker that would become Stereophile's 2011 Product of the Year, Art Dudley, at the time the magazine's editor-at-large, wrote, "The Voxativ Ampeggio went beyond sounding good: More than once, with too many records to mention, I found myself stopping to marvel at its brilliantly good pitch certainty. In terms of being able to simply nail a note, whether in isolation or tucked within a whole string of the little bastards, I've heard few other speakers this accomplished. And while it's one thing to focus on such a characteristic for a moment at a time, it's quite another to…
Side view of the 8" Voxativ AC-1.9 full-range driver.
"Most of the horn's throat is filled with two different kinds of acoustically absorbent material," Art wrote about the original Ampeggio. "One such blanket, in fact, covers the rear of the throat and almost—but not quite—makes contact with the rear of the magnet once the driver is tightened into place."
This has changed with the 2024. "There is not much internal damping in the speaker," Adler wrote about the Ampeggio 2024. "Only some small wool directly behind the driver to add damping to eliminate higher frequencies,…
Sidebar 1: Raising the Full-Range–Driver Bar
In his 2011 review of the original Ampeggio loudspeaker, Art Dudley wrote about Inès Adler's and Ampeggio's efforts to move beyond the original Lowther's shortcomings. "After working for Mercedes-Benz for a number of years—and with 14 patents to her name in the field of electronic monitoring systems for diesel motors—Adler and some friends decided to try to make a better wideband driver. 'I think everyone who owns Lowthers becomes interested, at some point, in improving them…
Sidebar 2: Specifications
Description: Floorstanding loudspeaker with 8" full-range driver with a horn-loaded cabinet with a 14 ¼" mouth. Driver variants: AC-1.9 with Simili Japon paper cone; AC-4B with cone of wood (recommended) or paper. Phase plug made from brass, aluminum, birch, maple, or oak. Frequency range specified as 40Hz–20kHz but depends on choice of driver. Impedance: 10.5 ohms. Sensitivity: 94dB/W/m (AC-1.9) or 97dB/W/m (AC-4B).
Dimensions: 47" (1193mm) H × 16" (406mm) W × 16" (406mm) D. Weight: 120lb (54kg).
Finish: Piano black.
Serial number of units reviewed:…
Sidebar 3: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: VPI Avenger Direct turntable/VPI FatBoy tonearm/Hana Umami Blue MC cartridge.
Preamplifiers: PrimaLuna EVO 100 phono stage, Shindo Labs Allegro.
Integrated amplifiers: PrimaLuna EVO 300 Hybrid, Triode Lab EVO 45 (in for review).
Power amplifiers: Shindo Labs Haut-Brion, Rogue Stereo 100.
Loudspeakers: Devore Fidelity O/baby, Volti Audio Razz.
Cables: Interconnects: Agent Pur, AudioQuest Pegasus, Analysis Plus Silver Apex, Triode Wire Labs Spirit II (RCA). Shindo (XLR to RCA). Speaker: AudioQuest William Tell, Voxativ Due…
Sidebar 4: Measurements
I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system, a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone, and an Earthworks microphone preamplifier to measure the Voxativ Ampeggio 2024's quasi-anechoic frequency- and time-domain behavior in the farfield. I used an Earthworks QTC-40 microphone for the nearfield responses and examined the loudspeaker's impedance with Dayton Audio's DATS V2 system.
The Voxativ Ampeggio 2024's impedance magnitude (fig.1, solid trace) lay above 12 ohms from…