Gershman's Sonogram
Eli and Ofra Gershman of Gershman Acoustics have been exhibitors at just about every audio/home theater show that I've been to in the last few years. They always manage to have good sound, but it's been a while since they've had a new product. They had one this time: the Sonogram ($2500, shown in photo) has a conventional box shape that's unlike their exotic-looking Black Swan, Gap 828, and Avant Garde models. However, I'm told that while the outside appears conventional, appearances can be deceiving, in that the internal structure resembles the pyramid shape that characterizes their higher-priced models. I quite enjoyed the sound of the Sonograms, driven by Linar amplifier and Simaudio CD player.
It's About the Music
If attendees were asked to rank order their interests in "electronics, music, home theater, and gaming," I have a feeling that music would be ranked first. (And gaming almost certainly last.) Although, unlike the Primedia Home Entertainment shows, FSI does not have daily live music as one of the attractions, it had an exhibit by a store selling musical instruments, the well-established Archambault. (They also had, in addition to instruments and sheet music, CDs and DVD, including a good selection of HD-DVDs at very attractive prices.)
KEF Debuts Reference Series Speakers
KEF is one of the show's sponsors, and had several systems on demo, including a particularly impressive-sounding one featuring the $11k (unless otherwise specified, prices are US$, speaker prices are per pair) 205 Reference, with Chord Electronics digital source (Blu/Dac, $21k) and electronics (CPA 5000 preamp, $24k; SPM 6000 monoblock amps, $53k/pair).
Meet the New LP12—Not the Same as the Old LP12
Turntables were very much in evidence at FSI, some being on demo by their distributors, and some being used by exhibitors who just wanted people to hear what their speakers/amps/preamps sound like with a good vinyl source. Perhaps the most interesting turntable demo that was of the venerable Linn Sondek LP12, which is the turntable that I own. Linn has recently announced a series of upgrades they say make a major improvement in the sound of the LP12. Not content merely to make promises, Linn had a comparison of two versions of the LP12 and its matching arm, one that was current as of a couple of years ago, and another that had the new SE upgrades installed, both with the same cartridge, both optimally set up by Linn setup expert Gary Dilliott (who had set up my own LP12 a few years ago). I didn't have time to listen closely to the comparison, but I overheard at least one Linn owner in the room exclaim that he wouldn't have believed that such an improvement was possible. Looks like my LP12 is due for a trip to the shop. Pictured with the two Linns is Gary Dilliott. Can you tell which turntable is the upgraded version?
Mk.2 Antique Sound Labs Amp
Antique Sound Labs' 845-triode-based AQ 1006 monoblock amplifier has been around for a while, but it has recently undergone some significant revisions, and is now in Mk.II designation. It certainly looks different than before, with a new construction that is said to provide better mechanical isolation between the transformer and the actual circuitry. Price remains at $4495/pair. I like the new cage with the concentric metal circles on top.
Monitor Audio Goes Platinum
I have to admit that Monitor Audio has been one of those companies whose products I've just taken for granted. I went into the Monitor Audio room at FSI more-or-less from a sense of duty, but was almost literally stopped in my tracks. What's this? A new speaker that doesn't have the conservative look that I associate with Monitor Audio, and sound that was arrestingly lifelike. The speaker was the Platinum 300 ($8995—all prices in this report per pair), the top of the Platinum range that will be available in May 2007. It uses a ceramic-coated aluminum-magnesium ribbon tweeter, honeycomb-sandwiched midrange and bass drivers, in an enclosure made of a cast anti-resonance composite material. The claim bandwidth is 28Hz–100kHz. (I could hear a small peak at 45kHz, and another one at 82kHz.) If I remember correctly—I wrote this info down but can't find it—the source was a Simaudio CD player and the amplification was courtesy Linar Audio.
Red Red Wine
Red Wine Audio is the name of the company making amplifiers designed by one Vinnie Rossi, "an electrical engineer with a true passion for music and implementing the electronics that recreate it," whose name, if you pretend that Vinnie is spelled with one "n," means "red wine" in Italian. (Actually, "vini rossi" means "red wines," but let's not quibble.) What makes Red Wine Audio amplifiers interesting is that they're all battery-operated. The system being demoed used a pair of the Red Wine Audio Signature 70 monoblocks ($2999/pair), driving single-driver speakers ($2495 MaxHemp or $949 Super 3XRS) from Omega Speaker Systems. The source was a battery-powered computer server, so that the only AC-powered devices in the room were some table lamps. I can't say whether it was the battery power source or some other aspect of these designs, but the sound was uncommonly natural and easy-on-the-ears. The small Super 3XRS speaker, which uses a proprietary 4.5" Omega hemp-cone driver, had a coherence and focus that reminded me in some ways of the $7000/pair Fujitsu Ten Eclipse TD-712z single-driver speaker that I reviewedhttp://www.stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/107fuj">reviewed; in the January, 2007 issue. Shown here are Vinnie Rossi (left) with Omega Speaker Systems' designer Louis Chochos and the Red Wine/Omega system.
Show Report Coming Soon!
Stereophile's Robert Deutsch will be covering the Montreal Festival Son & Image electronics show starting April 13.
Sonus Faber's Elipsa
This is in the "Better Late Than Never" department: At the end of the 2007 CES, John Atkinson auditioned Sonus">http://blog.stereophile.com/ces2007/011407elipsa/">Sonus Faber's new Elipsa loudspeakers, but he ran out of space on his camera's memory card, so he was not able to take a picture. After the show, JA emailed the other writers that had attended CES, asking if anyone happened to take a picture of the Elipsa. None of us had. So, John, this is for you: a picture of a pair of Elipsas, which were making sweet music, driven by Ayre electronics.
System Audio Speakers Sound "Quick"
System Audio A/S is a Danish manufacturer of loudspeakers that's been in business since 1984, but I must admit that I've never heard of it before—probably a function of the fact that North American distribution has been spotty. Listening to the new SA Rangers ($4000), I was convinced that the fault was certainly not of the speakers. The sound was open, with a wide and deep soundstage, and a great sense of "quickness." (The system used an Arcam CD source and electronics, and Nordost Valhalla speaker cables.) The SA product literature also convinced me that this is a mature, fully developed product line, with some proprietary technology, including a dome tweeter that weighs just 80mg, making it possibly the world's lightest. Pictured are S/A's sales manager Frits Dalmose (left), Canadian distributor Bruno de Lorimier (right), and the SA Ranger (middle).