The AXPONA 2023 Chronicles: Part 8
The fascinating 5th floor of premium audio gear.
Audio Expo North America 2023 Show Report By Rick Becker

Computer Audio Design
Computer Audio Design of both the UK and USA was one of the first companies to develop specific grounding technology and it is now a category with several major players as well as a couple of companies that specialize in installing dedicated circuits for listening rooms and home theaters. One of my very first reviews was of the JPS Labs In-Wall cable for dedicated lines and 20 years later I reviewed the outstanding Audience Hidden Treasure In-Wall power cable. The CAD system came to my attention in 2019 and I have watched the company grow consistently since then.

The front end here was the 1543 DAC Mk II ($15k), a resistor ladder NOS USB DAC fed from CAD Audio Transport (The CAT) ($17.5k), a digital server with SSD storage, automated CD ripping, and streaming capability. These were connected with the CAD USB II-R cable ($1500) with a patented filter built-in. (They also make a version of this filter to adapt to other USB cables.)

The third shelf down housed two GC1.1 Ground Controls ($2,250 ea.) and a GC3.1 ($5,500), all resting on a 1" thick layer of cork. A much larger GC-R ($29,500) was on the floor to the left of the rack. Special Ground Control cables are $350 each. Isabel Whitley, who has been assisting Scott Berry for years, explained that their system allows you to use different Ground Controls for different components, and to keep the grounds of components separate from each other.

Digital components typically have the most noise and it is helpful to keep their ground separated from the analog components. Because each system is different, they work closely with their customers to optimize the application of their Ground Controls. The Ground Controls are dead-ends for components that drain noise out of them. They may be effective when connected to your mains ground but they are passive and do not plug into an AC circuit.

Below the Ground Controls were the Aesthetix Audio Pallene preamp with headphone output ($6,500) and the Aesthetix Dione power amp ($7,500) with balanced and single-ended inputs. The speakers were Vandersteen Treo CT ($10k) .

In case you were wondering about any sort of power conditioner used here, there was none. Only a very favorably reviewed Vibex One 11R reference Power Block ($1650) which uses no metal screws or metal chassis. I also recognized the leg of the component rack as belonging to MosArt Fine Art Furniture which I mentioned at the last Capital Audiofest. While this rig was a bit top-heavy with the CAD front end, it produced very good music.

High Water Sound
High Water Sound in New York City is both a distributor of many lesser-known brands and a retailer of many brands, some of which are very well known. As the importer of TW Acoustic turntables and many major brands of tonearms and cartridges, Jeff Catalano is an acknowledged expert in analog, if not everything else. His rooms are typically among the best-sounding small rooms at major shows.

I didn't have much of a chance to talk with Jeff as he was busy with a serious customer.

As the importer for TW Acoustic, it is no wonder that he is such an analog expert. If you've been following along in my AXPONA Chronicles, you likely have noticed that there were quite several TW turntables on display. Shown here was the TW Acoustic Raven LS-3 Copper ($24k) with a very heavy penny for a platter. Raven 12" tonearms ($6500 ea.) were at the right and rear of this 3-arm set-up. The arm on the left I believe was a Glanz MH1000 ($10.5k). He ran a handful of cartridges including Ortofon Diamond ($10k), Ortofon SPU Century ($5k), Stein Music Aventurin6 ($6,500), Tzar SPU DST ($14.5k), and a Miyajima Infinity Mono ($3,475).

TW Acoustic electronics were used, including the Raven Phono ($25k), Raven Line stage ($25k), and Raven 300B monoblocks ($35k), which looked as stunning as the Cessaro Horn Acoustics Opus speakers ($45k) and Opus subwoofers ($20k ea.?) sounded. Why two big subwoofers in such a small room? They were dialed in to preserve the ‘room tone' of the recordings and enhance the midrange, not to blow you away by overemphasizing bass notes.

Racks, isolation, and tuning were from Codia Acoustic Design, Silent Running Audio, Stein Music, and Dalby Audio Design.

More Coverage Coming Soon
That winds up the 5th Floor on a high note. I'm now about 2/3 of the way through AXPONA. Part 9, covering the 4th Floor will appear early next week. Hope you have lots of time over the weekend to enjoy your music.

---> Onward to the next part of Rick Becker's extensive AXPONA 2023 show coverage.

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