Get 'em while they're young
Stereophile's Stephen Mejias (left) is given the hard sell by the youngest audiophile at the Show, Shane Censullo. Shane was tireless throughout the weekend, handing out flyers on behalf of his father's company, Avatar Acoustics.
Good Sound from Brooks Berdan, LTD
Time and time again, I’ve had the good fortune of running into VTL’s Luke Manley just as I arrive at a show. It’s always a pleasure to chat with Luke and just as fun to listen to music with him. While his room often represents my very first chance to listen at any show, the sound he and his partners create is one that stays with me for the duration. That was the case again here at T.H.E. Show Newport Beach.
Good Stuff from Avatar Acoustics
Avatar Acoustics’ Darren Censullo builds systems that are just as easy on the eyes as they are on the ears.
Gourmet Food Trucks!
I might have missed the wine tastings, but I did not miss the gourmet food trucks. Like vinyl and nautical-themed clothing, lunch trucks have been making a big comeback. Don’t ask why. Just enjoy it.
Hegel’s Reclocking
The Hegel room on the Irvine Hilton’s 5th floor was so packed that I was initially forced to sit outside the soundstage. While I feared that would leave me in no position to critically evaluate the system’s overall gestalt, eventually moving to the center enabled me to hear how solid the sound was.
Hi-Fi Chair
I sat in the Hi-Fi Company’s Hi-Fi Chair ($1500) and, while I immediately felt ridiculous, I also kinda sorta liked it. A lot.
Hospitality Southern California Style
At the Irvine Hilton, T.H.E. Show Newport Beach offered hospitality suites from Sunny's Components, Positive Feedback Online, and the Los Angeles & Orange County Audio Society. Since the President of the latter is Bob Levi, the co-sponsor of T.H.E. Show, who not only thinks big and acts big, but also consistently delivers on his promises, the massive LA&OCAS commandeered two adjacent rooms on the fifth floor for its suite where Showgoers could chill out in a very effective manner.
Induction Dynamics: I Didn’t Want to Leave
Induction Dynamics of Overland Park, KS was showing its S1.8T 3-way tower loudspeaker ($13,500/pair). Using as a source an Oppo 85SE, paired with McIntosh’s MX150 pre/pro, MC 207 amplifier, and MT10 turntable, and wired with Kimber Kable, the system sounded far more neutral than I was expecting. Playing an LP of Billie Holiday singing “A Foggy Day in London Town” (Songs for Distingué Lovers), I marveled at the beauty, clarity, and warmth of the sound. Like a proverbial Dorothy searching for her Toto, I didn’t want to leave home without it.
Joseph's Bel Canto-Powered Pulsars
It is always a pleasure visiting the Joseph Audio room at Shows, not the least because Jeff Joseph knows how to set up a system to work with the room acoustics, not against them. In Newport beach Beach, as at some other shows, he had set-up the Pulsar stand-mounts ($7000/pair) along the room's diagonal. Source was Pure Music running on a MacBook Pro, feeding USB data to the Bel Canto. Powered by Bel Canto's new C7R integrated amp, which includes a phono preamp, D/A section, headphone output, and an FM tunerwait a moment, isn't that we used to call a "receiver?"and hooked up with Cardas cables, the Pulsar's produced an almost full-range sound. The double bass on the Bad Plus's arrangement of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" had body and good definition,a difficult trick to pull off for a stand-mounted two-way.
Just in case you were wondering
Although I had a bit of a tough time navigating some of the halls, especially at the more meandering Atrium, signage at T.H.E. Show Newport was pretty good overall. You wouldn’t find audiophiles accidentally turning up at the Whitacker Wellness Institute.