In the Lamm Industries room was a beautiful EMT 972 F transcription turntable.
Legend Audio's lovely new Nirvana monoblock amplifier ($6,500 per
pair) produce 100-watt using two 6SN7 driver tubes and four 6550 output tubes. Frequency
response is rated at 8HZ to 35kHz while the Nirvana weighs in at 55 lbs.
Seen above is Silverline Audio Technology's large Sinfonia floorstanding
loudspeaker ($20,000 per pair). This is a four-way design with a 1.25" tweeter,
2" soft-dome midrange, 7" paper cone mid-woofer, 12" woofer and a 12"
rear-firing subwoofer. Frequency response is a very wide 18Hz to 28kHz with an 8 ohm impedance. Sensitivity is very
usable 96dB/w/m. Weight? A big 238 lbs.
Atma-Sphere S-30 stereo OTL amplifier. Ooh la la!
In the Viva Musica room were their Auroras 30 watt monoblock amplifiers driving the Avantgarde
Acoustic Duo hornspeakers ($17,000). For analog duties was a Walker Audio Reference turntable ($3,000) with included Walker Audio
Ultra Reference phono stage. For cabling was the Silent Source who use OFC hardened copper in their power plugs.
Balanced Audio Technology was showcasing their VK300 integrated stereo amplifier
($4,000-6,000 depending on your pre-amplifier stage options). The VK300 (top) produces 150 watts per
channel, has a total of five inputs, one set of loudspeaker outputs plus a line level output (balanced) for bi-amplification duties. Below
it is is the VK-D5SE compact disc player ($6,000). It employs a 6H30 high output tube while the DACs are 24-bit fully balanced. Loudspeakers used within this system were the Denmark made System Audio model SA2K ($3,500 per pair). All cabling
was by Cardas.
Symposium anti-resonant devices were being used to good effect
in various rooms. From front-end gear to hefty amplifiers, the Symposium
producst may be able to enhance the music reproduction of your system.
Products range from platforms to Rollerblocks. See our Review Magazine for
our evaluation of their product line.
Jeff Joseph of Joseph Audio was proudly showing the new RM22si Mk2 Signature floorstanding loudspeakers ($2,499 per pair) and RM7si Mk2 Signature ($1,799) monitor. Both have the newest "Next Generation" crossover and woofer with larger basket. The RM7si Mk2 also features additional internal bracing. Jeff says "What's important to me is that you enjoy the speakers."
A thing of beauty... The SPJ La Luce turntable.
Pass Labs has their new XA200 monoblock amplifier ($28,000) are pure "Class A" 200 watt output.
Pass Labs new XVR1 two-way active electronic crossover ($5,000). A separate power supply insures the crucial low-level signal is not hindered by power supply noise.
Zu Cables has entered the loudspeaker market with their Druid
($3,600 per pair including custom colors, flames and stripes extra). This two-way design
makes use of a 10-inch full-range driver and 1" super tweeter. Sensitivity is 101dB with
a 12 ohm load (7.5 ohm minimum). Frequency response is rated at 45Hz to 30kHz.
Albert Von Schwiekert's new dB-99 loudspeaker are, basically, the dB-100 in a smaller enclosure with a slightly less powerful amplifier. One 10" woofer is in the dB-99 versus two 9" woofers within the dB-100. The front baffle is also minimized to enhance imaging as well. See our World Premiere dB-100 review on our
Review Magazine.
Manger had their Swing loudspeaker ($8,000 including subwoofer)
with a unique Manger Sound Transducer that reproduces frequencies from 50Hz to
33kHz. Amplification for these speakers within the Manger room was the Vincent's SP991 300-watt in "Class A/B" or 100 watts in pure "Class A" ($5,000 per pair, customer chooses AB or A model). This is a fully balanced design and provides balanced inputs (XLR) or single-ended inputs (RCA).
Thorens now has international distribution online with OEM production and parts. European licensing is alive for the next five years while
United States licensing is hopefully coming soon. Thorens model TD-170 is for sale at $540 while the TD-190 is $570.
In the Omicron Group room was the Acoustic Signature Impact turntable ($3,000 without turntable). Three active motors are used to drive the turntable platter. The 5cm thick aluminum platter rides on a high quality oil-free bearing system. The motors' power supply is completely regulated for the utmost is speed stability.
Audio Note's new Kegon monoblock amplifier ($52,000) produces 17 watts with two Western Electric 300B (seen here are a set Sophia globe mesh tubes). Of course this is a single-ended zero feedback design that Audio Note has been a proponent of for many years.
In the SAP, Blue Cow and Emotive Audio room was the SAP J2001 horn loudspeaker ($21,000)
that offer a high sensitivity of 105dB. Amplification was the Emotive Audio Caeli monoblock ($10,000 in "basic" version, $12,900 with hand etched top plate). It produces 10 watts per channel using a 300B operating in single-ended zero feedback. Their Sira pre-amplifier as
evaluated within our Review Magazine handled input and volume control duties. Speaker cable and power cords were be Golden Sound.
Harmonic Technology's new silver color Harmony-Wave (bottom), colored Harmony-Link (center) and in black is their Harmony Rainbow.
Gallo Acoustics' new Nucleus Dué loudspeaker ($599 each unit). It uses two 3" drivers with a 4" tweeter sphere.
Classic Records Press Conference!
Classic Records Michael Hobson announced two new series. As music lovers have been asking about classical
reissues, they have answered back with two outstanding future product lines. Enter the Vanguard LP Series...
The second series has taken a full year to close the deal. Enter the
Classic Blue Note Signature LP Series mono. This will also include a "deep groove" and "groove guard". Burnie Grundman will be mastering/cutting. Due to the need for a proper mono studio system being needed, Classic Records chose to refurbish a complete Western Electric monophonic cutting system.
The first record to be introduced will be a 10" release of Miles Davis LP 5013.
In other vinyl news, Mobile Fidelity has been reborn under the
guidance of Jim Davis at Music Direct. They will be using Stan Ricker and Paul Stubblebine for mastering/cutting duties. Tim de Paravicini is
reported to be building the analog chain and cutter heads. Hopes are to make the 180-gram or so LP sell
for approximately $20 each. The Sebastpol mastering studio, same one used by the original MoFi, will be used. Stan Ricker is the world renown mastering engineer who originally developed the 1/2 speed mastering process and co-founded the original Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab.
Click here to
see a complete listing of
specialty high-end audio show exhibitors.
Click here to see last
year's show coverage.
High-Performance Audio Reviews
