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My day began on a vital high note. After our blogging team of three—me, Herb Reichert, and Jana Dagdagan—finished discussing how we were possibly going to cover 143 exhibit rooms plus the third edition of the Rocky Mountain International Press Awards, I headed to the large lobby level room sponsored by Colorado-based retailer, The Audio Alternative. The set-up was dominated by the mono amplifiers destined to win an International Press Award later that evening—VTL Siegfried Series II monoblocks ($65,000/pair)—which mated with Vandersteen's Model Seven MKII loudspeakers ($62,000/pair) and Sub…
To paraphrase a classic early English song by Thomas Arne, “Where the big boys go, there go I.” Thus to the Marriott’s lobby and mezzanine, where many of the biggest systems found spaces congenial to their size, didst I head.
There I discovered, among setups magical and mediocre, that Hingham, Massachusetts-based distributor High Fidelity Services was producing one of my Best Sounds of the Show. Deserving of honors were Verity Audio’s Lohengrin IIS loudspeakers ($133,000/pair), mated with the North American premiere showing of the Verity Audio Monsalvat Pre-2 preamplifier ($35,000),…
One year to a human is seven years to a dog; one year to an audiophile is…?
A lot has happened in the past year: Macallan partnered with British perfumer Roja Dove to create the "Edition No.3"—an aroma-focused single-malt whisky. Gordon and Macphail released the Glenlivet 1943—one of the oldest and rarest single malts in the world. Port of Leith was announced as Scotland's first vertical distillery (to open in 2019). And Tomatin introduced Europe's first whisky barrel-aged tea leaves!
I can guess what you're probably thinking, what we're all thinking: It's all quite…
Jim Hall: Jim Hall Live!
Jim Hall, guitar, Don Thompson, double bass, Terry Clarke, drums.
Horizon Records: A&M SP-705 (LP), reissued on CD as Horizon SP-705. John Snyder, prod., Don Thompson, eng. TT: 41:29.
Jim Hall, guitar, Don Thompson, double bass, Terry Clarke, drums.
Horizon Records: A&M SP-705 (LP), reissued on CD as Horizon SP-705. John Snyder, prod., Don Thompson, eng. TT: 41:29.
These performances were taped by the double-bass player, Don Thompson, during a week's stand in June 1975 at Bourbon Street, Toronto, Canada. They are very closely miked, yet audience noises are audible although they seem to enhance rather than detract from the music. The balances are fascinating. Although one feels from the closeness as if one is listening to this trio…
High fidelity took a giant step forward in 1956 with Peter Walker's introduction of the Quad ESL. Walker's research efforts had been motivated by his firm belief in the superiority of the electrostatic dipole over the box loudspeaker, but actually to take the economic plunge and market such a speaker was surely an act of bravery. After all, those were the pre-stereo, pre-audiophile days of the mid '50s, and the public's tastes and expectations were relatively unsophisticated. The average front end was abominable by today's standards, so that making definitive assessments of loudspeaker…
It is well known that the direction of a broad-band soundsource is largely determined by interaural cues associated with the earlier-arriving direct sound to the neglect of later-arriving reflections. This is precisely the precedence effect. (Note that the precedence effect does not preclude the perception of two separate but simultaneous auditory events from a pair of loudspeakers if the spectral content of the left and right signals is greatly different.) Experimental evidence supports the notion that the time course of the precedence effect spans two "windows." Following the abrupt…
I am a student of DACs. To me they are like phono cartridges—each sounding quite different from the other—and I just need to know which I like most.
A close friend of mine uses the top MSB DAC, and his system seems so natural and relaxed and consistently alive. His system is always full of deep, wide-space magic. So I was not surprised when the first room I encountered—the MSB room—felt like it would probably end up being the best sound at the show. I was impressed with every second of what was presented.
The room was dark and shadowy; the soundstage was deeeep, and filled with…
Saturday October 14, Gig Harbor Audio (3019 Judson Street, Suite D, Gig Harbor, WA 98335), from 1–3pm, and Suncoast Audio (7353 International Place, Unit 309, Sarasota, FL 34240), from 12–4pm, are presenting audiophile events.
At the Gig Harbor event, Gary L. Koh from Genesis Loudspeakers will playing the Anne Bisson Trio's Four Seasons in Jazz—Live at Bernie's direct-to-disc album from start to finish. This landmark live recording was the inspiration of Gary Koh and Wuti Larnroongroj of Brilliance Music (Thailand). The 2LP set features jazz pianist/vocalist Anne Bisson and her trio…
Many systems at RMAF 2017, including some such as MSB's, that were shoehorned into cramped quarters, produced sound that astounded and even mesmerized. But when unquestionably fine components were given sufficient room to strut their stuff, as happened when the new Wilson Audio Alexia Series 2 loudspeaker ($58,000/pair) was mated with Constellation Audio electronics, the results were often magical.
While it's often associated with classical music, the Alexia 2 drew strong, downright nasty bass from a Stevie Ray Vaughan LP. Although someone complained to me on the last day of the show that…
Each year, in honor and remembrance of her late husband and RMAF founder, Al Stiefel, Marjorie Baumert donates one exhibit room to support "
a new manufacturer with an innovative product, or one who simply needs a little help." This year, The Colorado Audio Society selected JWM Acoustics of Austin, Texas to be the ninth recipient of The Al Stiefel Legacy Room.
JWM also exhibited at RMAF 2016, when there were fewer RMAF rooms to cover, so at that time I was able to linger, for a full half-hour, in JWM's warm bath of good music, fine sound, and the extremely enjoyable company of Joshua…