And now for the show's first world premiere—The Baetis Audio Reference 4 music server ($12,000), which is chockfull of features and compatible with every streaming service available, as well as being a Roon endpoint.
I've always liked Baetis Audio's audio products, both for their sound quality and flexibility—owner Joe Makkerh (above) has several models in his line, but he will modify a model to suit your listening needs so that you don't have to pay for a feature you don't want, or, conversely, so you can add a feature you do want. The servers are modular and easily upgradeable.
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The Apple Tree owner and distributor of BSC Research speakers must have done some research on what it would take to put this hard-nosed reporter on his good side because the first he did when I walked into his room was offer me a microbrewery beer. So sneaky.
I took a rain check on the beer, but I wouldn't have needed a beer to enjoy the sound I heard in this room. At the last Montreal show, the company was exhibiting its large-ish, dual-concentric, horn-loaded, full-range Dundee 8 speaker fed by a Transrotor turntable setup that was now on static display. Since owner Isik Kayhan hadn't…
Focal Powered by Naim is a newish initiative taken by French company Focal in conjunction with English company Naim designed to offer consumers all-in-one, high-performance audio systems assembled synergistically by two of the biggest, most enduring manufacturers in the audio biz.
The speakers on display in the Kennedy room included two pairs of Focal 926s, one of which, standing higher than the other, were threaded with IsoAcoustics Gaia ll feet, the other with the stock feet. Electronics included a Naim ND5 SS2 streamer ($5540 US), which comes with four 24/192 digital inputs, and a…
The Anthem/Paradigm system may have been simply assembled, but don't let that fool you into thinking it wasn't sophisticated technologically or sound-wise. The Anthem STR integrated ($6000) outputs 200Wpc, comes with a hi-rez DAC, a USB audio input that supports up to 32/384 PCM, a pair of MM/MC phono inputs, and offers room correction. The speakers being fed by the Anthem were the fancy-looking five-driver, 95dB-sensitive, class-D bass-amplified Paradigm Founder 120H speakers ($11,000/pair; review to appear in the December issue of Stereophile). These speakers employ decoupled drivers and…
Audio Note UK is one of those companies that makes entire systems, including cables, so that you don't need to look elsewhere for compatible products—same-brand audiophile systems have the theoretical advantage of using components that were made to work well together. This can also, theoretically, avoid misfires when trying to match different components, especially those made by people who don't share the same design philosophies, or just don't listen to music the same way.
After saying "Bonjour" to Vincent Bélanger, cellist extraordinaire (above), the first thing I noticed about the all-…
It's the first music I heard in the morning and the last I heard come evening, after doing my last round of the day of room-to-room visits: Pink Floyd, courtesy my neighbor, two doors down from me in the Crown Mountain Imports/Audio by Mark Jones room. I like Pink Floyd, so it was all good. And it's not like my neighbor only played Pink Floyd. Pink Floyd just seemed to bookend the listening days there, probably to provide both a boost of encouragement and a respite for the host. I was also intrigued by the sound in that room, because even though I'd only heard the music it played through my…
I heard some very nice sound in retailer Toronto Home of Audiophiles' room, whose system included the Gershman Grande Avantgarde speakers ($16,995/pair), a perennial favorite of mine at shows because they always sound good, hooked up to a Pass Labs XP22 preamp ($14,400), the Pass Labs X150.8 amplifier ($10,500), a source combination of a PS Audio DirectStream Memory player ($9500) and a Roon Ready Weiss DAC 501 ($12,495), another product featuring room EQ. Cabling was all GutWire: interconnects, digital cable, speaker cables, and power cables, with a GutWire power conditioner.
The…
I heard welcoming sound in the room shared by retailer Corby's Audio and manufacturer Saturn Audio when I walked in on Steely Dan playing on a system fronted by a pair of 3-way Alta Audio Adam speakers ($19,000/pair) that looked spiffy in their premium Rosewood finish ($1000 extra).
As soon as I saw what the source was, an image of a smiling Ken Micallef popped in my mind. That source was a Kuzma Stabi S turntable with power supply and Stogi 5 arm package ($7760) and a Kuzma CAR40 cartridge ($3170), which were sending their liquid analog signal to an MM/MC Saturn Audio 401 phono stage…
There is something ancestrally earthy about the sound of Acora speakers that is hard to pinpoint. Sure, the fact their enclosures are made of stone might have something to do with the Stonehenge vibe I'm getting from them, but once you hear Acora speakers, I think you'll get a glimpse of what I'm talking about. They sound timeless and wise, like musical sages from another time. They convey the earth-bound existence of artists before they died like few other speakers do. They conjure the essence of music, back to when cavemen tapped sticks on stones.
This was the first time I heard the…
If an audio company is in a position financially and infrastructurally to build components to make a complete system, it probably makes sense to do so, especially when it comes to mid-priced gear that isn't necessarily audiophile oriented. A lot of people who like music and want quality sound, without feeling the need to go overboard in that department, want to be able to buy a turn-key system from a reputable company so they won't have to worry about finding components from separate companies that'll work well together. This same-brand system philosophy also makes sense for us, the audio…
