What we have here is the Roksan
Xerxes20plus turntable ($4880) with a Tabriz tonearm ($2200) and a
power supply at either $750 for the basic one or $1770 for the one in use. Oh,
and don't forget the cartridge — a Shiraz at $4500. Of course you can
substitute their more affordable Nima tonearm and a less expensive cartridge.
The tonearm is attached to the suspended sub-platter in the plinth, and then
there is another suspension between the stained wood plinth (that is not
really as red as in the photo) and the black plinth barely visible beneath it.
Music was coming from a stand mounted Roksan K2 TR-5 monitor with a ribbon
tweeter and 130mm woofer ($1980) that sounded very nice. The driving force was
a new Caspian amplifier ($2700). As always, Roksan puts out a very respectable
system.
LaFleur Audio
is showing real staying power with their finely crafted stand mounted
monitors. I heard this 2.5-way model driven by a sweet rig comprised of a
modest Clearaudio turntable with
a Musical Surroundings Nova
Phonomena phono stage. He was very bullish on the little Luxman
D-N100 CD player, and I'm always bullish on the Pathos
hybrid integrated amplifier he was using. The speaker is $17,500 with the
standard tweeter without the dispersion dome, but the one playing with the
ring tweeter was $18,500.
I was intrigued by this open baffle speaker with an 8"
full-range driver on top that crosses over at 70 Hz to a pair of woofers —
one forward facing, the other rearward facing. The $6300 price includes the
pair of amplifiers for the woofers seen behind the speaker on the floor. A
separate amplifier of your choosing is needed for the full range drivers. A
server was serving as the source for the rig.
From Scandinavia comes this Amphion
Argon 3 monitor, about $3000. A Hegel DAC
with USB inputs, and optical as well as coax inputs was about $2000. Outputs
were balanced XLR only. Most interesting was a Tangent black cube stereo radio designed by Jacob
Jensen (who also designed a piece for Bang & Olufsen) that lit
up when you moved your hand over it to reveal the touch controls. You can
stick an iPod in a slot on top, a CD into a slot in the front, and there are
speakers facing outward on each side — all for $600. The cube is about 6"
or 7" on each side and can be wall mounted or used as a table radio. Very
cool.
In another of the Coup de
Foudre rooms, John DeVore
made the trip up from New York City to support his new O/96 loudspeaker, the
first in his new Orangutan series, a ground up effort in a new direction from
his highly acclaimed Gibbon Series and Silverback model. Where most speakers
strive for a minimum front baffle, this DeVore
Fidelity two-way sports a broad fascia with a luxurious book
matched veneer. The box behind the baffle is always a glossy dark stain,
allowing him the economy of production in batches, but the front baffle can be
ordered in a variety of veneers to suit your décor. This also gives the
speaker a very retro look that blended very nicely with the Leben
tube integrated amplifier and the analog front end of the system,
not to overlook the complimentary décor provided by the padded headboard,
lamp and flowers. The music was detailed, but warm and very inviting,
suggesting all night listening sessions, and hinting at the sound of vintage
Klipsch, Altec and Tannoy speakers of the ‘60s and ‘70s. With its 96 dB
sensitivity it was very open and dynamic. But the 0/96 is not about playing
music loud — it is about emotional connection with the music and letting it
take you back to the point in time of the recording. It is not about absolute
sound, but rather absolute listening enjoyment, which is very much a trait of
John's earlier work. In this special way, this was one of the Best
Rooms at the show and my visit here was way too short.
Atoll,
from France, gave us the North American premier of their new CD400 CD player
($5900) which was designed to mate with their new IN400 integrated amplifier
($5400). My photo without flash revealed an orange backlighting around the
control knobs of the amplifier and horizontal curved ribs of the top loading
CD player. Sculpturally, this was a very unique combination. The CD player
boasts a suspended drive unit and a 125dB S/N ratio. It has both coax and
optical digital inputs and outputs in addition to its balanced analog output.
The integrated amplifier continues the horizontal aluminum rib theme for both
structural rigidity and heat dissipation. Using MOS-FET transistors it puts
out 160 watts into 8 Ohms and 300 watts into 4 Ohms with S/N ratio of 100dB.
Unfortunately, I did not get to hear these pieces in the Audio
d'Occasion room, probably because they were playing the Cambridge
kit below.
The Cambridge Audio
Minx line up is comprised of both single (Min 10) and double (Min20) cube
speakers shown here, and three subwoofers — small medium and large. Combine
them for a sub/sat stereo rig, or a 5.1 surround set-up. The cubes are
available with a Minx table stand, a pivoting wall mount and a minimalist
adjustable floor stand. The surround rig I heard with the Min20 was $1800 with
the medium sub and $1500 with the small sub. Powered by a Cambridge Audio
surround receiver, this was a pretty decent system with a minimal visual
footprint. The opera they were playing on Blu-ray disc was not my cup of tea,
so it was difficult for me to get a grip on the quality of the sound, but
nonetheless, it was pretty impressive. The flat drivers of these small cubical
speakers use a honeycomb sandwich membrane that give it their wide frequency
response of 130 Hz to 20 kHz. The subs augment the output of the active
drivers with passive radiators.
In a room that presented a very precise musical sound Trigon
combined their CD player with their Energy integrated amplifier (100 watts
into 4 Ohms; 70 watts into 8 Ohms, dual mono construction) to drive Audio
Physics' new Tempo 25 ($6500) loudspeaker. This speaker uses new
drivers that have a ceramic coating deposited on the aluminum cone that
eliminates the ringing. Tapping on the midrange cone gave a sound akin to
tapping of a drum skin rather than metal. This technology is also used on the
tweeter and side-firing woofer. Additionally, dual baskets are used on the
midrange, the outer being cast aluminum and the inner being a plastic polymer
that does not transmit the ring of the aluminum basket. Silicone is used in
the surrounds of the midrange for additional damping.
Also of interest, when many midrange drivers have a cone in
the center, the phase plug here is flat and the cylinder that supports it
contains neodymium magnets as part of the motor. These technologies allow them
to lower the distortion by an order of magnitude I was told. And judging by
the openness, transparency and speed of the music, I'm inclined to believe
them. Nordost ribbon speaker cable no doubt contributed. Let me not forget to
mention the fine veneer on the Tempo.
In the Verity Audio room
the music was excellent, as usual, with their speakers being driven by Nagra's
new 300B stereo tube integrated amplifier ($18,000) where a sophisticated
solid state input stage is used to drive the 300B output stage in a polarized
push-pull Class A configuration to a luscious 20 watts per channel. A power
amp only version is also claimed to exist. But the real story here did not
materialize in time for the show. Nearing completion is a statement
loudspeaker ensemble projected to cost $325,000. Tall floorstanding speakers
including an upper module for midrange and tweeter and a bass module with four
front firing drivers comprise the main speaker, while tall subwoofer towers
are implemented in the corners of the room to augment the bass. This room
perennially earns Best Room
recognition, but I can hardly wait until next year!
At Musical Fidelity
I saw the M6500i integrated amplifier with 500 watts per channel with dual
mono construction ($6999). The volume control is a digitally switched stepped
attenuator with ˝ dB steps. The really intriguing box was the new M1 Clic,
their universal music controller that also acts as a pre-amp if you wish. With
both analog and digital inputs you can bridge your "old school" rig with
the modern internet age/music server technology. Plug in your memory stick,
iPod, or choose Ethernet or wireless access to the web. Then with either the
fixed or variable outputs, use it as a source component, or drive your
amplifier or active speakers directly. All this for about $2000.
Falling squarely in the realm of Surreal Audio and begging
to be driven by a pair of Blue Circle Pumps was the Specimen
Products Little Horn Speakers ($2100) driven here by a small
Specimen tube amplifier ($2450) largely unseen on the lower shelf of the
equipment rack. It puts out 8 watts per channel with pentode tubes wired as
triodes. What's most unexpected is that the designer, Ian Schneller, is more
renown as a guitar builder and luthier in Chicago. The pearl finish of the
inside of the horn and candy apple blue of the outside were exceptional,
making the speakers look more like large hand blown Christmas tree ornaments
or flowers. The speaker uses a full range Fostex driver. Speaking of the
equipment rack, the shelves were sheets of foamy blown aluminum that looks a
lot like lava. A small square of this material is seen beneath the Little Horn
speaker and on the face of the custom speaker stands. With an endlessly random
web of aluminum, no vibrations pass through it. I'd love to have a slab of
this stuff to cut up and play with, for sure. On another pedestal between the
speakers was a pair of veneered cubes with this same aluminum material on the
front side. I was told these were 25 watt monoblocks. I didn't get a chance
to hear them and I have no idea what the gauge is on the top of one of the
amps.
By this time the Press Day exhibitors were locking their
doors and heading for the cocktail party in honor of retail sales consultants.
An awards ceremony ensued presenting Lifetime Achievement Awards for
contributions to the consumer audio video industry. Michel Plante and Sarah
Tremblay, organizers of Salon Son & Image made the presentations. Seen
here from left to right: Michel Plante, Michel Plante with Gerald Rejskind,
editor of UHF Magazine, and Vince Bruzzese of Totem Acoustics with Sarah
Tremblay.
With wisps of vapor rising from the motionless rooftop pool,
I turned in my second ticket for another beer and retired for the evening. It
was a long day for all involved, with another yet to come.
Click
here for Salon Son & Image 2011 page 4 show page.
High-Performance Audio Reviews
