When I unpacked the RS520 sample reviewed by RvB, I heard something metallic rattling around inside the amplifier. The nut holding one of the speaker binding posts to the printed circuit board on the back panel had come undone. I found the binding post inside the shipping box, and when I removed the top cover, I found the nut inside the amplifier. I reattached the binding post, but when I removed the top panel, the two ribbon cables that connect it to the main circuit board detached. As hard as I tried, I couldn't manage to reattach these cables. I requested a new…
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The Pacific Northwest's premiere/sole audio show, the Pacific Audio Fest (PAF), takes place today through Sunday June 25 at the Doubletree by Hilton at SEATAC airport near Seattle. Attendees, who judging by pre-registrants, could double or triple 2022's inaugural PAF attendance, will discover 41 active exhibit rooms, eight exhibitors in "Record Row," seven exhibits (from six companies) in the "Headzone," and at least nine booths (from eight companies) in the "Marketplace" at the other end of a large shared ballroom.
Given that PAF is sponsored by Gary Gill, longtime sponsor of the Capital…
There's an established standard protocol one observes when entering a room at an audio show. First, you stand in the doorway and listen for a couple of minutes, then check in with the exhibitor and if necessary, introduce yourself. Next, you exchange pleasantries and catch up while idly thumbing through whatever literature is displayed. Finally, and only at the exhibitor's insistence, you make your way to the best seat in the house while apologizing to everyone you step over, around, and displace. That's not what happened when I visited the NOLA room where Carl (left in photo), Marilyn, and…
For the second year in a row, the first room at PAF I entered was dominated by Dan Wright's ModWright equipment. Presented in equal partnership with Seattle HiFi, who carries all the components on active display, the room was headed by ModWright's new KWA 99 fully balanced, class-AB, compact MOSFET monoblocks ($7500/pair introductory price—normally $9000). Mated with the matching LS 99 fully balanced tube preamplifier ($6500 introductory price), the system produced extremely quiet, absolutely lovely sound. This was a great start to the show.
On the LP that contained Janis Ian's song, "…
On the pretty lucky-sounding 13th floor of the Doubletree by Hilton at SEATAC, LTA and Daedalus Audio presented the larger installment of their two-room partnership. A Red Book file of Patricia Barber's "The Beat Goes On" was distinguished by lovely warmth and a very solid, all of one piece presentation.
What would "classical music" be without Fritz Reiner's Living Stereo recording of Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade? Nowhere, apparently, since it continues to occupy the top of classical playlists in multiple rooms. Here it sprang forth most seductively in DSD. Once I'd taken a few deep…
In a room whose vintage TAD Evolution One floorstanders (NFS) attracted considerable attention, Wells Audio equipment delivered consistently fine, solid sound. Jeff Wells's room was also one of many I encountered that dealt with the hotel's lack of Ethernet ports/wired internet by only playing 16/44.1 rips from CD.
A recording by Miles Davis—apologies for failing to get the title—sounded just right. Ditto for a bit of Rossini: Music for Strings and a track from Tierney Sutton. Vocals benefitted especially from the system's lively and attractive midrange.
Heard from Wells…
As much as I attempted to skip equipment we'd recently explored in Chicago, Munich, and/or Costa Mesa, my uncertainty about the intrinsic sound of CH Precision Series 1 equipment impelled me to check out their exhibit from greater Seattle dealer Audio-Ultra. While not everything in the system was from CH Precision—Ideon supplied the Absolute Epsilon DAC ($47,000), Absolute Epsilon Stream ($19,900), and Absolute Epsilon Time Signature V clock ($22,000), all of which complemented Aurender's N20 music server ($12,500)—there was sufficient CH Precision equipment in the chain to draw some…
I first heard Hungarian speaker company Popori Acoustics' top-line XR1.23 electrostats in Warsaw last year, where their deep bass greatly impressed. On Day 1 of the Pacific Audio Fest, the world-wide premiere Popori's WR1.23 w electrostats ($75,500/pair), which reside one level below the XR1.23s delivered some of the best sound I heard at the show.
Now distributed in the US by Jeff Fox's Notable Audio Products of Falls Church, VA, the Popori Acoustics WR1.23 w loudspeakers produced some of the best sound I heard at the Pacific Audio Fest. With two caveats. First, with no less than five…
"Have you heard Dutch & Dutch? If you haven't, you must." Time and again, variations on that theme were voiced either by me or many of the attendees I chatted with at the show.
As far as I can recall, my encounter with the Dutch & Dutch 8c active loudspeakers ($15,000/pair) is the first time I have heard this company's offerings. (They've only exhibited at two shows.) I sure hope it will be far from the last.
Let's start with the music, all of which was streamed from Tidal in 16/44.1. First up, Freya Ridings' "Lost Without You" and then, at my request, the start of Mahler…
On Sunday morning, I headed to the Marketplace to visit Kingrex Electric. King Rex himself, Rex Hungerford, was standing amid tables covered with a number of their modified and custom-built electrical panels and other components. He was explaining and fielding questions about what Kingrex does, which is designing specialized AC circuits and equipment to provide an audio system with absolutely the cleanest and quietest power possible. Or in website-speak, they have a singular focus, "Enriching the audio experience with clean electricity."
Hungerford explained that at the 30,000-foot level…