Part 7: Rooms 301 To 325 On The Third Floor
Thrilling stereo systems on the third floor.
Capital Audiofest 2024 Show Report By Rick Becker

312  Blink High End
Blink High End out of Cambridge, MA put on a fine demonstration with an Aavik U-588 integrated amplifier ($35k) driving Borresen C1 stand-mounted monitors ($16.5k). With the speakers spread wide on the long wall and toed in sharply toward the center seat along the opposite wall, they produced a wide soundstage, but the image was optimal only from the center seat. This is Audio Group Denmark's preferred orientation, but it has its limitations.

The C1 monitor is stunning on its matching stand and draws more attention to itself with gloss white which contrasts the carbon fiber band on the side. The gloss black option blends in with the carbon fiber and is a little more formal and elegant. Those are not scratches on the side of the monitor, but rather reflections of the plant in the mirror-like high gloss finish.

On the top of the Ansuz Acoustics T2 Supreme rack was the new Aavik U-588 integrated amp supplemented with a Creek Audio Voyage CD player ($3,125) used as a transport as the U-588 has a built-in DAC, along with a power amp capable of 300 Wpc into 8 Ohms, doubling down to 600Wpc into 4 Ohms. The hosts were very accommodating, offering to play music from visitors' CDs – a practice that has all but become unheard of. You're more likely to get your LP played in a room than your favorite CD.

I noticed what looked like Stack Audio Auva footers under the Creek CD player feet, but research proved them to be Axxess Noir, very high-tech (and expensive) footers from Audio Group Denmark. Then I looked around and found them under almost everything, including the stand.

Ansuz Acoustics power distributor and cables were used throughout.

315  Triangle Art
Triangle Art is another of those rooms that looks and sounds the same, show after show – which is to say, outstanding. It doesn't matter which of the three levels of turntable is playing or the two levels of tonearm or cartridge. Without a direct comparison, it always sounds great. Maybe next time I should compare a couple of the turntables with one of my own LPs.

Since everything in the room was Triangle Art, the names I mentioned here are the names of models. The speaker has always been the Metis, at least in recent years. It was large with a large wooden horn atop a piano black cabinet with a large woofer, at least 15". And maybe another driver between these two hidden behind what looked like a grille. No matter the sound was high resolution, airy with a nice bloom, and full range. The Metis was also very efficient which let it be driven easily by the I-20 tube, single-ended, dual-mono integrated amplifier that sat out front on a heavy wooden amp stand. Like the speakers, it too was large with a 1" thick aluminum faceplate. A single EL 34 tube put out 20 Watts at 5% distortion, and 10 Watts at 2% distortion, and was run in pentode mode. There was no clipping of the music with the efficient Metis speaker. Paul Schumann reviewed the amplifier in the September issue and gave it a Blue Note Award for 2024. At $12,500 it answered the question of why you don't need separates, at least if you have an efficient speaker like the Metis ($60k).

I get the impression Triangle is most proud of their turntables as they go to great effort to set up three models at most shows: the Master Reference ($48k), the Anubis ($18k), and the Maestro ($9k). They also offer two tonearms: the Osiris Mk2 Diamond 12" ($9k) and the Horus 12" ($4,400), which they fit with either the Apollo MC cartridge ($9k) or the Zeus ($4,800). Their P200 tube dual-mono phono stage ($18k) brings the low phono signal up to line level.

Their RA Ultimate power conditioner ($13k), Rhea Ultimate power cords ($7,500), Rhea Reference power cords ($3k), interconnect ($3k), and speaker cable ($6k) are expensive but help deliver the sound quality of the other components. They don't do anything in an inexpensive way. That's what it takes to deliver such outstanding sound quality. The "same old, same old", show after show. Special show prices were offered on the demo equipment that would have covered your cost to attend from almost anywhere on Earth. Check on USAudiomart for other specials.

316  Triode Wire Labs & Border Patrol Audio
The Border Patrol Audio and Triode Wire Labs were getting to be "same old, same old" when teamed up with Volti Audio for several years running, but the folks at Border Patrol are now the sole U.S. dealer of Living Voice speakers from the UK. (In Canada they are available from Guelph HiFi in Ontario.)

While relatively rare over the years here in the U.S., Living Voice is well represented throughout Europe and the Far East. It is a high-quality brand noted for its efficient, tube-friendly designs and fine finishes. The R80 OBX model shown here was a 2-way ported design with a sensitivity of 92dB/W/m and an easy 6 Ohm impedance. It is available with either an internal crossover or external crossover as shown on the floor behind the speaker in a matching high-gloss finish. Prices start at $42,750 and rise to $49k in gloss finish with the inboard crossover and start at $46,875 and rise to $54,250 in gloss finish with the outboard crossover as shown.

The Border Patrol S20EXD amp puts out 16 Wpc with parallel single-ended Western Electric 300B power tubes. It is point-to-point hard-wired, uses tube rectification, has no negative feedback, features a copper and hardwood chassis, and both the amp and power supply unit have been cryogenically treated. Prices start at $22.5k and vary with the price of 300B tubes selected. From personal experience with other tube amps that put out 16 to 20 Wpc, I can tell you the jump-up from 8 Wpc from a 300B tube is very significant. It opens up the possibility of using more speakers in larger rooms.

The Border Patrol DAC SE-i is a mainstay in this room and ranges in price from $1,650 to $2,125 depending on the number and type of digital inputs you select. It is a basic, non-oversampling DAC with no digital filtering. It features a resistor ladder (R2R) DAC and a tube/solid-state hybrid power supply. Like the amp, it features a copper chassis. It plays files only up to 24/96kHz but it has been highly praised for its sound quality. Sale prices of $250 off plus free shipping to the USA and Canada were mentioned at the show and may still be in effect if you ask.

The Triode Wire Labs cables included "The Obsession NCF" power cord with Furutech FI-50 NCF connectors ($1499), the "High Power Digital American II" power cord ($749), the "Digital American II" digital power cord ($549) used on the DAC, "Bi-Wired American Speaker Cables with TWL Jumpers, terminated with Cardas CAB bananas, (starting at $1099, jumpers at $299/set), "Spirit II" RCA interconnects with Ohno continuous cast 7N copper (starting at $399/pr), and "Passion" USB digital cable – a true 90-Ohm cable ($329). All are very reasonably priced considering they are handmade in the USA.

For streaming an Innuos Statement Music Server with a Next-Gen power supply with a 4TB SSD ($26,200) was used.

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