In April 2013, Stereophile editor John Atkinson took part in two Music Matters evenings held by Colorado retailer ListenUp. JA took time off from the formal presentations to talk to ListenUp's George McClure about how we perceive music and about what matters most when we record and playback music.
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Ensconced in the third hotel in its four-year history, the three-day California Audio Show opened on August 9, 2013 in the five-floor Westin Hotel in Millbrae, CA. Otherwise known as the Westin SFO, the hotel resides on One Old Bayshore Highway, a hefty stone's throw from San Francisco Bay, directly across the water from the airport runway where Asiana Flight 214 crashed on July 6.
For those who turned around as they approached the hotel's main entrance, the view of three huge black trailer-like structures on the runway, positioned when the FAA investigation got underway, served…
JIB cabling, long linked to its factory in Berlin, has now birthed a distinct US branch. Aptly named JIB-USA, it's located in Fremont, CA. At CAS, Allen Ong and his son displayed, among other models, the company's new DSP-001 speaker cable ($7150/2.5m pair). Composed of UP-OCC that is cryogenically treated, insulated with Teflon, and terminated with rhodium connectors, the cable made its silent show premiere.
Yes, JIB almost always mounts passive displays. Instead, they offer a 90-day money-back guarantee, which should give folks plenty of time to discover what lies beyond their cables'…
Time to settle into deeper listening. We'll spend a bit of time in Loggie Audio's second room, built around Ypsilon and (TEAC) Esoteric electronics and the equally excellent YG Acoustics Sonja 1.2 loudspeakers ($72,800/pair), not only because it sounded so good, but also because it presented the US debut of what may very well prove to be a major cable line.
The YG Sonja 1.2, which has one less woofer that the 1.3 that John Atkinson called "superb" in the July issue of Stereophile, joined forces with the mighty Ypsilon Aelius monoblock amplifiers ($36,000/pair); Esoteric's P-02 transport…
Far more beckoned on the lobby level, but you can only keep them down on the farm so long. Eventually, the lure of unexplored territory pulled this Cancer crab out of the questionable security of his shell onto the wilds of the Westin's second floor. There I encountered the wildest of them all, Sean Casey (above), spinning platters in the Zu Audio room.
Sean must have been a chameleon in another lifetime, because his Zu Audio loudspeakers, cabling, and other equipment sound radically different each time I encounter them. Three shows ago, they sounded bright and abrasive, like a hybrid…
While I didn't reach anywhere near the altitude of the planes leaving SFO's runways, I was finally making headway on the Westin's 3rd floor. The home of many of CAS' exhibits, it got even homier when I entered the room sponsored by Pass Labs. Pass rarely if ever makes an appearance at a consumer show, but with no dealer in the greater Bay Area—the closest is Reno Hi-Fi, which happily arranges in-home demos for CA consumers—the company's Desmond Harrington and Kent English finally decided to let "local" consumers hear why so many critics rave about Pass products.
Neither Desmond nor Kent…
This front view of the Music Lovers Audio/Musical Surroundings room gives but a hint of the huge, expansive, amazingly coherent, air-filled, three-dimensional soundstage of this system. My hands-down "Best of Show," the room was dominated by dominated by Wilson Audio Alexia loudspeakers ($48,500–$50,000/pair, depending upon finish)—another pair of Alexias now resides at John Atkinson's home for review—and Spectral Audio DMA-400RS monoblock amplifiers ($28,000/pair). Peter McGrath of Wilson Audio (left) and Hugh Fountain of Music Lovers Audio (right), as well as Garth Leerer of Musical…
There's nothing like highlighted text from Stereophile brother Art Dudley to get a fellow writer's attention. Then again, so do the Burwell & Sons Homage Series loudspeakers ($80,000/pair), whose price will tempt many vintage horn lovers to burn a hole their pockets.
Equipped with Altec Lansing's "Voice Of The Theater" model 804 A compression drivers for the high-frequency horns and model 803 A woofers for the low-frequency cabinets, and a port that has been tuned since their show debut to improve bass response, the Burwell & Sons beauties joined forces with Esoteric's K…
Hey, we were in earthquake country, the land from which Carole King may have received inspiration to write, "I Feel the Earth Move Under my Feet." Then again, she could have received equal inspiration from the Von Schweikert VR-100 XS 4-piece loudspeaker system ($140,000/pair). Paired with the debut of Raven Audio's Silhouette monoblock amplifiers ($12,995/pair) and Reference Silhouette preamplifier ($12,995), it sure inspired me with its ability to move air with musicality.
I returned to this oversized exhibit on the last day, after a defective cable and music server had been replaced.…
The fourth California Audio Show had just come to an end, but from the vigor with which the Music Lovers Audio staff launched into take down (above), it could have just as well been set-up day. Perhaps some of their energy reserves arose from the fact that attendance seemed significantly lighter than anticipated, even on Saturday.
Why have I devoted so much time and energy to writing up rooms at what was essentially a modestly sized regional show? To my way of thinking, exhibitors, both newbies and industry regulars, invested so much time and energy into making a good showing at CAS that…