search

Black Ocean Audio

To the few trolls who frequently post on this website:

If you think high-end audio is dead, you haven't met designer Nick Tarnofsky (above), a touring guitarist and engineer with an Instagram presence who is in his second year of selling Black Ocean Audio speakers direct. This man is savvy enough to have set up an enigmatic display outside his room—a piece of driftwood with a light on it—to lure people in.

Pairing Black Ocean Audio [M] Stack loudspeakers (starting at $11,000/pair, depending on wood) with VTL 450 monoblocks, whose sound he loves, Nick played hi-rez Spotify…

Acora Acoustics and Joe Harley "The Tone Poet"

I usually forego seminars and the like in favor of covering more active demos shows. But when Acora Acoustics announced, "A Very Special Listening Event with Joe Harley at T.H.E. Show," I decided to indulge in Saturday afternoon's tour of historic Blue Note reissues.

Tour guide Harley, who seems to have acquired the title "Tone Poet," has been central to the reissue of countless well-known and lamentably obscure Blue Note titles engineered by Rudy Van Gelder. He picked quite the system: Acora Acoustics VRC speakers in Blue Pearl Granite ($218,000/pair as shown), Boulder 2150…

Cake Audio Shows Lansche, Vitus, Kuzma, CAD, and Albedo

In a brand déjà vu with High End by Oz, Ken Boyce's Cake Audio of San Clemente showed Lansche 5.2 "singing flame" loudspeakers with their plasma tweeter ($55,000/pair in either white or piano black), different Vitus components, and Albedo cabling. Room dimension and acoustics were different, of course, but both exhibitors had to cope with the challenges of air walls and sonic bleedthrough.

"Sentimental Reasons" from Glen Frey of the Eagles' After Hours LP sounded quite fine at moderate volume. The midrange was superb, as in seductively beautiful. Perhaps Boyce was in a sentimental mood…

PBN Audio Gets Bigger, Bigger, and Bigger

I always approach the PBN Audio room with a mix of anticipation and trepidation. Eagerness for the huge images and power that Peter Noerbaek inevitably supplies, and trepidation for the state of my eardrums.

As has been the case on previous occasions, the first time I passed this Might Makes Right room, the sheer force of the sound barreling out of the open doors into the hallway impelled me to retreat. But when I entered, retreat transformed into real treat as music from MoFi's mid '80s LP box set of The Beatles filled the space. Well, more like treatus interruptus. How the family that…

MC Audiotech's New TL-12 Loudspeaker

Mark Conti of Pennsylvania-based MC Audiotech teamed up with Ricky Brown's Hi Fi One and Partners to present the new MC Audiotech TL-12 loudspeaker ($25,000/pair–$29,000/pair depending upon finishes and options). This new two-way loudspeaker features three of MC Audiotech's broadband WBLS-wide band line-source devices on top and, for frequencies below 300Hz, a 12" transmission-line woofer. Specified sensivity is 92dB, nominal impedance 8 ohms, frequency range 28Hz–20kHz, and weight 117lb.

Driving the TL-12 were David Berning Audio's SET Reference 20W ZOTL amplifiers, fed by Steven…

Shelley's Stereo's Outstanding Active Linn System

"This actually sounds like music!" was the first thing I scribbled in my notebook. That might seem very bottom line, as in "I would sure hope so." But as readers who are familiar the sound of unamplified acoustic instruments and voices already know, it's not something you can take for granted at audio shows.

But it wasn't only the system's musical truth that lifted my spirits. The exceptionally well-controlled and powerful bass, which was not something I had expected, lifted my spirits immensely during an energy low point that declared, once I had finished listening, it was time to break…

Pass and Usher from Katli Audio of Chino Hills

First, the big news from Pass Labs. As in BIG NEWS. The Pass Labs Xs preamplifier, which was removed from production after the manufacturer of the company's vacuum fluorescent displays discontinued them without advance notice, has found an LED matrix alternative that looks virtually the same and works perfectly. So, expect the return of the Xs preamp in the beginning of 2024.

But that's not all. A Pass Labs power amp upgrade is expected sometime in 2024, possibly in the fall. I have no other details to supply.

With those not available, Katli Audio opted for Pass…

Aurender's Prototype AP 20 and Estelon's new Aura Go to Carnegie Hall

The billboard below the Aurender marquee announced for different musically themed listening sessions during the show. Hoping for a classical music interlude, I opted for Sunday's 11AM Live from Carnegie Hall. As much as the hour began with classical, I hadn't taken into account that many pop and jazz artists have also performed in Carnegie Hall.

Aurender's Ari Margolis (above) happily surprised me with his diverse repertoire choices. First up, a 24/192 remastering, streamed from Qobuz, of Vladimir Horowitz's rehearsal before his triumphant return to Carnegie Hall. Beautiful…

Emiko Carlin Performs & Future T.H.E. Show Surprises

Blitzed as I was, there was no way I was going to miss Emiko Carlin's performance at the 7pm "T.H.E. Label & T.H.E. Radio Show Kickoff Party and Concert."

So, with the help of a glass of red wine, I sat through an electric violin performance by Abigail Shelton that was handicapped from the start by an AWOL band that left her no choice but to play over MP3 accompaniment. A true trouper, Shelton managed to smile winningly through the din and play some fine tunes. I expect she was a borderline mess inside—I've certainly been when I've been put in similar situations as a performer—but she…

Triangle Art Strikes Gold

It was a joy to cross paths again with Tom Vu, lead designer of Anaheim-based Triangle Art, at T.H.E. Show. As my laugh-out-loud listen confirmed, there's far more than glitter behind his "Artisan Crafted Analogue" gold components.

Vu blew my mind by cueing up "Hernando's Hideaway" from Provocative Percussion Vol.2, a Command Records classic from 1960 by Enoch Light and the Light Brigade. I know this recording. At least I thought I knew it. Soon after I was declared a "man" at the tender age of 13, my mother designed a cabinet for our first "stereo." Consisting of two far too widely…