Friday
Live From San Francisco
By Ian White
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If the industry had any real
marketing sense, it would send EveAnna Manley of Manley
Labs on a worldwide public relations tour, because she seems to be
one of the few professionals in the industry who has an inkling of what it
takes to promote a business. Not only does she work the crowd better than
anyone else, but she does it with sincerity and a level of enthusiasm that
makes listening to her a lot of fun. A prime example of how effective
she is, was illustrated on Friday when one show attendee, following a
demonstration by Manley Labs and Joseph
Audio exited the room and exclaimed, "that was “F**king
Fantastic!". I’ve never seen anyone that animated after an audio
demonstration (well, I have but the Italian government has promised not to
press charges if I stay away from Milan until 2008), but it certainly
increased the enthusiasm of everyone waiting in line.
Jeff Joseph demonstrated his flagship Pearl loudspeakers ($20,000 pair) in
San Francisco, with the Manley Neo-Classic 250 monoblocks, Manley Steelhead
phono pre-amplifier ($7,350), La Luce turntable, Cardas Heart MC cartridge,
Cardas Audio Golden Reference, and Orpheus Zero CD transport ($7,000), and
Orpheus One DAC ($4,800). The Pearls were exquisite when Joseph played
some Louis Armstrong and the applause was unanimous. They certainly
require some current to open up, but the amplifiers were up to the challenge.
Manley also had its Snapper monoblocks on silent display, but they looked
absolutely gorgeous.
One of the most frustrating rooms on Friday was the MartinLogan/Faroudja/
Parasound room as it had some of the best video reproduction at the
show (actually, some of the best video reproduction anywhere), but the audio
seemed out of step with the picture. Faroudja demonstrated its top of
the line DLP projector, D-ILA projector, and digital cinema sources.
Their processor/DVD transport units were spectacular and far superior to any
of the DVD players I've seen so far. The MartinLogan Odyssey and
Cinema were simply disappointing, coming across as harsh, sterile, and rather
fatiguing. As a long-term MartinLogan user, I was extremely confused by
the poor quality of the audio because I have heard MartinLogan surround
systems sound unbeatable in numerous set-ups. Parasound brought its
brand new surround processor to San Francisco and upon close inspection,
looked rather promising.
As a committed user of single-ended amplification (hey, 5 years in this
business is an eternity), I have made the extra effort (both as a reviewer and
consumer) to seek out the "ideal" loudspeaker for the 7 beautiful watts
that I have become emotionally attached to. Of everything available, the
product that has frustrated me the most is the AvantGarde
Acoustic series of horns. The brand new Trio/Basshorn
loudspeaker system certainly makes a statement, but I am not sure as to why I
cannot wrap my head around its sound. The system, driven by Balanced
Audio Technology’s statement amplifier, pre-amplifier, CD player,
and phono preamplifier displayed true moments of greatness, but I found myself
emotionally detached from its presentation. As someone who values
dynamics and scale, I do appreciate the Trio’s ability to reproduce not only
the most demanding passages, but the softest, quietest as well. BAT also
brought its brand new VK-600 power amplifier to this year's show and it was
unfortunately on static display. At first, I thought I was looking at
their multi-channel amplifier that has earned a great deal of critical
acclaim, but upon further inspection, it is their brand new two-channel
reference which is rated at 300 watts per channel. The VK-600 is also
available as a monoblock and in a "Special Edition" versions.
Click here
to see a
complete listing of show exhibitors.
Click here to see our
2002 show coverage.
