AirHush Comes Out to T.H.E. Show
After Emiko Carlin of T.H.E. Show basically ordered me to check out AirHush’s display at T.H.E. Show, I spent a few minutes speaking with company CCO Michael Quinby.
Alaia Audio Ekahi Loudspeaker, Verito 1 integrated Amplifier
Please join me in giving a hearty shout out to newcomer Alaia Audio, whose exhibit proved that all is not parched in the state of Arizona.
Arion Apollo Loudspeakers, LS-200 Linestage, 2A3 Tube Amplifiers, and HS-500 Hybrid Mono Amplifiers; EMM DA2 DAC; Wolf Alpha 3 Music Server; VPI HW-4 turntable, etc.
An intriguing system from MK Audio LLC of Charlotte, NC, brought to the fore Arion Audio’s nearly full-range AMT line-array Apollo System loudspeaker ($24,900/pair). The Apollos, which were paired with active subwoofers, claim an astounding 105dB sensitivity—sensitive enough to work with Triode Labs' 2A3 3.5W vacuum tube amplifiers (no price supplied). At least I think I was hearing the 2A3s, because also in the rack were Arion Audio’s LS-500 hybrid Class D amplifiers ($6995/pair). Preamplification was the company’s LS-200 hybrid line-stage ($3995).
Assessing T.H.E. Show Long Beach 2019
See the smiling woman in this photo with a dazed-amidst-all-these-rooms yours truly? Meet T.H.E. Show’s fabulous Director of Social Media and Marketing, Emiko Carlin, a former classical pianist and musician whose 3000 songs include some #1 pop singles. I don’t know how this dazzling woman comes across to others, but for me, discovering Ms. Carlin was like meeting an old friend.
ATC CD2 CD player and SIA2-100 integrated amp/DAC
Small does not mean negligible. Especially when a system includes the first West Coast showing of ATC's new CD2 CD player ($2349) and SIA2-100 integrated amp/DAC ($3749).
ATC SCM50SE Active Tower Loudspeakers and CDA2 MkII CD player/preamp/DAC, Cardas Crosslink Cables
As one of the only companies to send out a press release prior to the opening of T.H.E. Show, ATCalong with its host, Lone Mountain Audioearned pride of place in my "I can't possibly do them all" list of show coverage priorities.
Ayon Epsilon Gen 4 mono amps, Auris preamp, CD35, and S-10, Lumenwhite Kyara Speakers, BBS Audio Racks
I visited three large rooms on the second floor, and of which suffered from the same serious problem: soft convention-type moveable air walls whose porous surfaces and interior reek havoc with soundwaves and let sound bleed between rooms.
Bowers & Wilkins 800D3 Speakers and DB1 Subwoofers, McIntosh C1100 Preamp, Aurender A30 Server, Solid Tech Racks, Synergistic Research AC Conditioner
When I entered my penultimate Scott Walker Audio room, Kevin Wolff of Bowers & Wilkins was playing outtakes from a 1989 recording by Branford Marsalis. The sound of Marsalis's sax was so distinctive and, to my ears, beautiful that I began to smile. (Trumpet was another instrument whose sound this system conveyed with perfection.) As Kevin segued into a 16/44.1 file of Thomas Dolby's "I Scare Myself," I scribbled in my notebook, "This is a system that reminds you of what the high end is all about."
CAD 1543 DAC Mk II, Audio Transport, Ground Controls, & Cabling; Aesthetix Mimas Integrated, Boenicke W8 SE speakers, Bibacord Interconnects, HRX SXR Rack
After trying more than once to get into the CAD room at Munich High End, I ended up hearing a significantly smaller version of their system in Long Beach. This time, the hybrid integrated amplifier was the excellent Aesthetix Mimas ($7000 without optional modules), which I’ve reviewed for the August issue of Stereophile, and the speakers the diminutive Swiss Boenicke W8 SE ($12,500).
Dan D’Agostino Progression Integrated, Wilson Sasha DAW speakers, Aqua La Voce S3 DAC, Innuos Music Server, IsoTek Mosaic Genesis Power conditioner, Kubala-Sosna Realization/Sensation Cabling
Having had components from Wilson, D’Agostino, Aqua, IsoTek, and Kubala-Sosna in my reference system, I have a good sense of their strengths.