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Audio Physic's sub-$5000 system featured the Audio Physic Classic Compact $2000/pair), Ava Media server/ripper/storage ($1600, new at the show), and Ava Media Maestro-50 50Wpc digital amplifier ($525). All AVA Media products are made (not just designed) in the UK—unusual at this price level.
Sony's contribution to the sub-$5000 system endeavour was a combination of the HAP-S1 Hi-Rez digital playback/amplifier/HDD unit ($999) and a pair of SS-HA speakers ($698/pair). As you can see from the picture, the setup was not ideal for listening.
Ledoux Acoustique speakers are handcrafted in Magog, Quebec, each speaker signed by designer Patrice Ledoux. The Ledoux Concert 5 ($1595/pair) formed the centerpiece of a sub-$5000 system that included a Ledoux Gaia-10 subwoofer ($1950, Cambridge 651A integrated amp ($795), and Blue Circle BC6000Si power line conditioner ($1295). If you do the math, you'll see that the total is $5635. I questioned M. Ledoux about this discrepancy, and he said that this system could be sold as a "show special" at $5000.
Also, there was no source component included in the price. The system actually sounded…
A sub-$5000 system that apparently involved careful consideration of alternatives was the one assembled by Patrick Sareault, Director of Sales for Montreal area dealer Brosseau Audio Video. Serault told me that the first component he picked was the Hegel H-80 ($2000), a DAC/integrated amp (75Wpc) that had impressed him greatly. He combined this with the Dali Zenzor 7 loudspeaker ($1700/pair) and Marantz CD 5004 CD player ($550). That brought the price up to $4250. The next item in the system was one that's seldom considered in assembling an audio system, but which he thought was extremely…
I think of Woo Audio as a manufacturer of fairly modestly-priced tube headphone amplifiers, so I was surprised to see in the Woo Audio exhibit something that was clearly more upscale. The WA5 is described as an "SET class-A transformer-coupled speaker and headphone amp." It's available as a base model at $3400, but the version with all upgrades (special tubes, etc.) brings the price up to $6400. The power output is 8Wpc, so your speakers had better have high sensitivity.
There is a long-standing tradition of a snowfall in Montreal during or just after the show; in fact, several people at SSI 2014 joked with me about whether there would be some "audio snow" this time. For a while, it looked like this year would be an exception—and then the snow came down Sunday morning, blanketing the city. It stopped around noon, but left the streets covered, turning into slush.
My original plan was to walk down to Old Montreal in the afternoon, taking pictures, etc., but the weather was too nasty for that. So I ended up staying at the show until closing time, and this…
I must admit that I was a bit worried when the change in ownership of Salon Son & Image was announced. What if the new owners want to move the show in directions that ruin what made the show successful in the first place? (I still remember when, a decade ago, new management decided to change the name of Stereophile Guide to Home Theater, thus discarding almost 10 years of brand equity.)
Having attended SSI 2014, I'm relieved to be able to say that the new ownership has followed the principle of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." The show still runs like a well-oiled machine, and…
When high-end audio retailer AudioVision San Francisco got hit with an unexpected eviction notice, Antonio Long and Randy Johnson realized they had to either raise funds fast for a move or close up shop. That's when they decided to generate support via what is undoubtedly the first high-end retailer Indiegogo fundraising campaign.
"We got inkling of the move right before the holidays," Randy told Stereophile. "About a year and a half ago, the non-profit that owns the building told us they might eventually want to reclaim our retail space. But because they weren't at all certain if they…
Three years ago, Ambrose Akinmusire, 28, burst upon the scene as the most promising young jazz trumpeter since Dave Douglas. His debut album, When the Heart Emerges Glistening (on the Blue Note label), was hailed (and not just by me) as one of the best of 2011. His new CD, The Imagined Savior Is Far Easier to Paint (also out on Blue Note), is better.
His tone is similar to Douglas’s—melancholic, tending toward minor keys, but capable of uncorking brash, fast flourishes when they’re called for. (Both musicians cite Booker Little as an influence, and it shows; Akinmusire also lists Clifford…
I can still see both their faces, the Los Lobos lovers and those who’d dismissed them as a roots rock band, albeit one with East Los Angelino Latino flavors, when the band’s masterpiece Kiko came out in 1992. One listen to “Angels With Dirty Faces,” or the odd, musical weeping willow tree that is the album’s title cut and of the two groups, the fans were probably more shocked because their heroes had gone all art rock on them. This was not the straight ahead, often danceable vibe the band had been purveying since the late 70’s. Sure, there were still tunes like “That Train Don’t Stop Here,”…