SSI 2010

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Art Dudley  |  Mar 26, 2010  |  2 comments
Because I have a review pair at home, I was eager to hear how the new Wilson Sasha loudspeakers ($26,995/pair) would sound under show conditions, in the largest Coup de Foudre room. Driven by a Brinkmann Oasis turntable ($13,700), Brinkmann 10.5 tonearm ($6300), Brinkmann EMT cartridge ($4300), VTL TL5.5 preamp ($8000 with phono), Berkeley Alpha D/A converter (45700), Pathos Adrenaline amplifiers (price unknown!), and all Transparent Audio cabling, the Sashas were just as colorful, dramatic, and involving today as they've been for the past several weeks in my own listening room. Of course today's performance owed a great deal to the quality of the recordings made by master recordist Peter McGrath of Wilson Audio (left), whose sessions with Cuban-born pianist Jorge Luis Prats were nothing short of sensational. On the right, making sure I didn't miss the VTL preamp, is VTL's Luke Manley.
Stephen Mejias  |  Mar 27, 2010  |  15 comments
Here we see John Atkinson caressing the relatively compact Vivid B1 loudspeaker ($15,000/pair). With the help of a second rear-mounted mid-woofer, the B1 produces a sound far larger than its modest proportions. On A Higher Note’s Philip O’Hanlon tells us that women, in particular, have been fond of this speaker.
John Atkinson  |  Mar 27, 2010  |  2 comments
I first heard the battery-powered amplification from Veloce at the 2009 SSI; this year the Philadelphia-based company was sharing a room with YG Acoustics, whose 3-way Kipod speakers ($38,500/pair) were being driven by the V6 mono 180W amplifiers ($12,500/pair) via Kubala-Sosna Emotion cables. A V.Y.G.R. Baltic M turntable, fitted with a 12" SME 312 tonearm and Air Tight PC-1 cartridge fed Veloce's new LP-1 transformer-based phono module ($3000) and the Veloce Platino LS-1 tube preamp.
Stephen Mejias  |  Mar 28, 2010  |  1 comments
To Kevin Mokry and his friend, I’m just another old dude at a hi-fi show. Which is awesome, because I’m tired of being the new guy, and I’m always happy to see young, enthusiastic faces enjoying high quality sound. Kevin is just 18 years old and already deep into hi-fi and A/V gear, selling for his dad at Quebec’s Centre Hi-Fi, and he is very impressed by the robust bass of Monster’s Beats by Dr. Dre headphones ($350).

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