Capital Audiofest 2023 Show Report / Chronicles Part 2
The 8th Floor Part B
Show Report By Rick Becker

Room 849  Alma Audio
Next up was an Alma room that caught me by surprise. I haven't been a big fan of YG speakers, probably because they are heavy and expensive. As a reviewer I like gear I can move around by myself. The new entry-level Carmel 3 floorstander always seemed like it would be too small and not a good value. (The new Carmel 3 is $28,900.) This rig topped out at over $150k, plus cables, and it was the best I've ever heard a YG speaker, including the original XV flagship that I heard at GTT Audio with Bill Parish.

Of course, the secret to any successful rig is to match the components to each other and the room. It happened for me in this room with Vinnie Rossi Brama preamp ($34k) and power amp ($34k) with an MSB Premier w/Digital Director network DAC ($44k) and an Innuos PhoenixNET network switch, all connected with Kubala-Sosna cables again.

Maybe it was the Nemesis acoustic panels that did the trick in this room? The website on the white poster leads to Alma Audio, so perhaps this is a house brand. It is certainly worth investigating if you're looking for something more creative than carpet tiles.

An Isotek power conditioner on the floor indicated a draw of 4.59 amps at one point... or was that Watts?

Then again, if this new Generation 3 that spreads across the entire Reference series exhibits the sound quality I heard here, the other models deserve investigation as well. These are the first new products from the new design team at YG. I should have gone for a close-up of the new hybrid Lattice tweeter that must be a trickle-down of the tweeter in the original XV years ago. I'm looking forward to my next YG encounter.

Suite 850  Alma Audio
This was a relatively rare opportunity to hear a Boenicke speaker, a W13 SE+ ($57k) in this case. At a previous premium audio show we saw the slightly smaller version. This Swiss brand works with solid wood and routs out internal channels for each half of the speaker and then glues the halves together. They also have internal wiring and a Firewall For Speakers from LessLoss in Latvia and use Bybee Quantum Purifiers, among other tweaks. The two side-firing 13" woofers are driven by an internal Class D amplifier. It is worth a trip to check this speaker out on their website as it is truly unique.

Note the ring radiator tweeter and the wood cone midrange, and how the flange of the drivers extends and integrates with the edge of the cabinet.

The speaker was driven by a Nagra Classic Amp ($19,500 each) and a Nagra Classic preamp ($19,500) which may account for the rather dry music I heard here. The DAC was an MSB Select w/Select Director at a whopping $144.5K. The server was an Innuos Statement Next-Gen at $25k with 1 TB. Cables were Kubala-Sosna. A YG Rack 1.3 was listed at $19,800 each and the power conditioner was a GigaWatt PC-4 EVO+ at $14,500.

I noted the speakers were aimed to cross in front of the prime listening seat, which is rather rare, but the resolution was great. A cover of Joni Mitchell's "A Case of You" was warm and inviting with a delicious bloom.

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