Aretai’s entry-level Contra 100S stands 8.25" x 15.75" x 10" (WxHxD) and weighs 33 lb. It’s a 2.5-way, acoustic-suspension design with a pair of 6" polypropylene woofers—one up front, another around back. Bass response is…
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Ryan O’Connor, president of ReVox North America, was working the rooms and the halls, but his ReVox B77 reel-to-reel machine ($15,900) failed to make it to Tampa for the ReVox room. No matter; the room offered a solid setup, including a Playback Designs IPS-3 integrated amplifier ($13,000) producing 260Wpc into 4 ohms, driving Aretai Contra 100S speakers ($9000/pair).
It’s 3am on a Sunday morning. I must complete my tasks before Mark Henninger is awake. There are a handful of rooms left to write up, beginning with Room 265, where Supreme Acoustic Systems brought on Soulnote and others.
A Soulnote D-3 DAC ($22,900), with a Soulnote X-3 Clock Generator ($5495), sent signal to a Soulnote P3 Preamplifier ($22,900), followed by Soulnote M3 monoblocks ($21,900/pair). Also on board were an AirTight Reference Phono Stage ($34,975) and an AirTight ATH2 SUT ($6975). A BennyAudio Odyssey Turntable ($36,190) fed signals into these before reaching the rest of the…
Thirty-six years ago, I was 23. Why does that matter? Because that’s also when the Montreal audio show had its inaugural year. 36 years is a crazy milestone to reach for any annual event, especially one centered around a hobby as niche as ours. I’m not just saying this to gloat about my hometown audio show, as proud as I am of it, but to point out how our hobby is, after all these years, still very much alive and kicking.
The Montreal audio show had one of its best years last year, and this year’s edition, so far, looks promising. I see it as proof that our hobby, and the love of good…
Audio Research? That’s right! The iconic brand, now owned by Val Cora of Acora Acoustics, is not only back in circulation but was making beautiful music at the ’fest via its just-released, dual-channel, fully differential, 100Wpc solid state S-100 integrated amplifier ($16,500) and LS-3 preamp, equipped with optional phono and DAC modules ($15,500 altogether).
These mighty electronics fed a pair of 2.5-way bass-reflex, high-sensitivity Acora MRC-2 speakers ($17,000/pair), which extend to 23Hz and sport a gorgeous Natural Marble Stone finish. Sources were a Grimm MU streaming preamp ($17,…
Lenbrook Americas was demoing a couple of systems in its room, all DALI–NAD–Kimber Kable configurations.
The one I sat down to listen to was the main one abutting the far wall, which consisted of a 200Wpc NAD M23 Master Series power amp ($4899) and M66 streaming preamp ($7499) feeding a pair of DALI EPIKORE-9 speakers ($50,000/pair). Cabling was by Kimber Kable from the company’s Carbon line.
As I’ve come to expect from the synergy between the DALI and NAD gear, the sound was robust, detailed, transparent, and bass-propelled, with a well-delineated soundstage populated by bold,…
I remember when everyone but my grandmother wanted a pair of Von Schweikert VR-4 speakers. They were the talk of the town. The press loved them, customers praised them. And they weren’t too expensive. Things have changed since, of course—the VR.thirty on display at the Audiofest costs $88,000/pair, but it’s also quite a bit more ambitiously designed than the VR-4 was. The VR.thirty also sounds ambitious.
Along with a Network Acoustics Muon Pro Ethernet filter ($2760), a Yeti Acoustic Reference switch ($3240), an Antipodes Oladra server/streamer ($39,995), a Rockna Wavedream…
Holy cannoli—was there bass in retailer Laliberté Électronique’s room. But not just bass. Also transparent mids, smooth highs, and floods of detail blowing through a vast soundstage. Even so, there’s no doubt this system was configured to appease the bass gods.
Standing at the end of a chain centered around the new and versatile Eversolo DMP-A10 network streamer with DAC and preamp stage ($5299) and a 200Wpc Eversolo AMP-F10 power amp were two SVS Pinnacle standmounts ($7999/pair), a speaker already rated to deliver bass tones down to 37Hz, plus two SVS SB17 Ultra subwoofers ($4250.50…
Discovering music as it is being recorded—singer Holly Cole seeks that kind of spontaneity on her recordings including her latest, Dark Moon on Rumpus Room/UMG Records. As she put it, she wanted this record with her longtime quartet to capture "the moment when the light turns on for us."
"On Dark Moon, you hear the essence of when we discover a song," she said during a recent interview. "We had very brief rehearsals, and then went in and recorded. I had a lot of faith in this band, and that's why I cherry-picked them. They know me, they know I'm a minimalist, and we were able to arrange…
Linn brand ambassador Lorenzo Pacitti earnestly offered demos in Room 481, and I happily obliged.
Lorenzo’s assemblage included the classic Linn Klimax LP12 turntable ($32,880) and Linn Klimax DSM ($45,500)—an all-in-one preamp/streamer featuring Linn’s Organik DAC. Also on hand was the new Linn Klimax Solo 800 power amp ($90,000/pair), which delivers 800W into 8 ohms (and up to 1.2kW into 2 ohms).
Driving the recently introduced Linn 360 loudspeakers ($71,500/pair)—Linn’s flagship that uses their Passive with Aktiv Bass (PWAB) technology—familiar flat Nordost cables connected…
"Paul Klipsch was a genius," Roy Delgado told me recently, with the sound of genuine amazement in his voice. "Me, I'm just a tinkerer." I've spoken to Delgado, Klipsch's chief audio engineer, a handful of times over the past few years and find him affable, plainspoken, and almost absurdly humble. His LinkedIn page describes him simply as "engineer at Klipsch." His bio on the Klipsch Museum website lists his interests as "a closer relationship with God [and] the pursuit of the ever-elusive largemouth bass." To be sure, Delgado holds several patents, has an intimidating grasp of loudspeaker…