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Best Of AXPONA 2024 Blue Note
Awards
As mentioned at the outset, here are my Top Five Rooms, presented in the same order as the main show report is laid out, starting on floor 16 and working down to the ground floor. Keep in mind that, given your personal biases and musical preferences, any of these Top Five Rooms might have filled your top honor qualifications. They were all fabulous and deserving of such remarkable recognition. Let's literally, "Take it from the top...."
1621 – Von Schweikert Audio,
LampizatOr, And Hear This First, Fred Ainsly, of Maryland's Destination Sound Group, the North American importer of Poland's remarkable LampizatOr gear, was showing the latest DAC from Łukasz Fikus, the new Poseidon DAC, with volume control. At about half the price of their flagship Horizon, I can attest to the fact that it offers the Lion's Share of the Horizon's performance!
Next, with offices in Manchester, England, the Hong Kong-manufactured WestminsterLab founder and designer, Angus Leung, had a few tricks up his sleeve. WestminsterLab is represented in the USA by Gary Leeds of Newport Beach, California's Hear This, and instead of using one Quest Preamplifier, Angus arranged two to work together in tandem, one for the left channel only, and the other for the right channel only. Then, instead of using one Rei Class A monoblock per channel, he was using a pair in a vertical bi-amplification scheme. And while Von Schweikert Audio of Riverside, Californian had changed up to the VR-55 Special Editon version, digital audio was sourced by Andy Gillis and his New Hampshire-based Small Green Computer sonicTransporter i9.
System Details: LampizatOr Posiden Balance DAC/Preamplifier - $25,800 WestminsterLab dual Mono Quest Balanced Pre-amplifiers (full carbon edition) 2 used - $53,800 WestminsterLab Rei Class A Monoblock Amplifiers (4 used in a vertical bi-amp configuration) - $67,800 Von Schweikert VR-55 Special Edition Loudspeakers w/ Foundation/ARC bass controller - $85,000/pair Von Schweikert V-12XS MkII Shockwave Active Room Correction Systems – 2 used - $33,000 Masterbuilt Audio Ultra Balanced Interconnects - $18,000 Masterbuilt Audio Ultra USB - $12,000 Final Touch Audio Sinope USB - $1,500 MasterBuilt Audio Ultra Power Cords - $17,000 Vividuszwo Grounding Box (for source components) North American debut - $13,000 Folgenhaüs Bespoke Three-Tier Double-wide Rock Maple Component Shelves - $18,000 FalkenOhr Amplifier Stands (custom for WestminsterLab Rei monoblock amplifiers) - $14,000
As impressive as the VSA sound is in their larger installations, I have to say that this may be the very best bass I've ever heard represented in a more typical and modest-sized room. Further, listening to the Larry Carlton Trio playing "Sunrise (Live Version)" from the 2005 New Morning: The Paris Concert release, Larry's distinctive guitar was well fleshed out, tonally district and rich, and presented with an engaging representation of texture. Such a wonderful-sounding room – which is why it made my Top Five Room cut.
1627 - GTT Audio, Kubala-Sosna, Vivid Audio, And Mola-Mola
Main Room System Details: Dejitterit Switch X Ethernet Switch - $3,500 Audionet Stern Linestage - $48,950 Audionet Heisenberg monoblock amplifiers - $105,000/Pair Vivid Audio Giya G1 Spirit - $105,550/Pair Kubala Sosna Xpander - Power Distribution - $5,400 Kubala Sosna Realization Speaker Cable - $12,000/$2,300 1m/additional meter Kubala Sosna Realization Power Cable - $3400/$7001m/additional meter Kubala Sosna Realization AES/EBU Cable - $5,600/$800 1m/additional meter
Second Room System Details: Mola Mola Makua preamp/with internal DAC card - $20,700 MolaMola Percaamplifer - $9,850 Vivid Audio Kaya K-45 - $21,000
During all my listening in the main room, it was the playing of Beethoven's 9th Symphony, by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Sir Georg Solti, that highlighted what a grand-slam home run this system represented, with an almost hypnotic rendering of the fourth movement. First, the vinyl was so quiet that the listener sitting beside me asked me why they were letting the LP spin since they were playing a digital track! And the effortless, natural bloom of instruments, and especially the body of the soloists, was just exceptional. The system's ability to highlight the individuality of massed strings and voices was beyond reproach. The system easily earned its inclusion in my Top Five Rooms / Best Of AXPONA 2024 Blue Note Awards.
The smaller room was pulling off miracles as well. Listening to Benny Carter's, "A Walkin' Thing," from his late 50' Jazz Giant release, revealed a superbly amazing sense of body while offering surprising bass extension, speed, and impact. Bravo!
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