In the UHF Magazine room I had the opportunity to listen to the
German ASW Genius 400 loudspeaker. I've commented favorably on
this brand in the past, and I would encourage you to check out the upcoming
review of this one in UHF Magazine Numero 73.
Lucking out with a short line, Rich and I took seats in the D-Box
motion simulation home theater recliners which retail for about $1K each.
This system uses specially encoded movie soundtracks to simulate the motion
you are viewing in the film. While the motion activated by the action
film segment seemed a bit over — interpreted, I wondered how this technology
might be used with different genres.
With Elton John on the video, a Naim DVD player, Athol pre
and power amplifiers, and large Tannoy loudspeakers, I enjoyed a few
moments of concert video. Of particular interest to me were the small
modern silver ovoid Arena loudspeakers by Tannoy that that can be either stand
mounted or wall mounted. After the third offer by the host of this room,
I relented and waited for them to be hooked into the system. I'm glad
I did. It was a very pleasing system indeed, and should have a broad
appeal to young people who are into modern décor. A six piece system
retails for $2900 CN, with stands and wall mounts extra. A color choice
of bronze, silver, white or black is offered.
Next, in a similar presentation, an all-Naim system with N-Sat
loudspeakers, a new model, played a music documentary with JJ Cale and Eric
Clapton on the video screen. The sound here was clearly superior to the
Tannoy system just heard, but at $9500 CN for the loudspeaker system, it is a
lot more expensive. Visually, the Naim stands a better chance of landing
in more traditionally decorated homes.
The Mons 2A3 PSE OTL amplifier is a parallel single ended OTL
amplifier design with 6 2A3 tubes producing 14 watts per channel and is built
in the US. The price is $5500. The unique (and patented) circuit
was published on a poster in the room.
Reference 3A MM De Cappo I ($2990/pr CN) loudspeakers were
controlled by Antique Sound Lab's new Flora line stage priced
at $3250 CN, which was fed from the excellent emmLabs CDSD transport
and DCC2 digital control center. The ASL Monsoon monoblocks at $3750/pr
with their tube cages modeled after grocery carts were the driving force for
the De Cappos. This was a very nice sound, indeed. My friend Rich picked up on the MG OTL 32 headphone/preamplifier for $799
CN seen above.
And my attention was grabbed by the new Wave Line 1 DT preamplifier at $399
CN and the AV 25 push-pull monoblocks with 25 watts each, also for $399 CN
each. The AV 25 was shown with a pair of 6L6 tubes, but can also use EL
34s.
Revelation Audio decided to jump up a league and came out with a
couple of two cabinet designs. There are two mid-tweeter monitors that
can sit on either of two bass units in a mix and match fashion, depending on
your need for bass, or your neighbor's tolerance for it.
The Mistral S-5 with Sub-5 is $4K CN, and the S-6 with Sub-6 is $6K CN.
The System began with what looked like a Naim CD player followed by an Exposure
preamplifier and an Odyssey Stratos stereo amplifier. Revelation
builds smaller floor standing models of exceptional value and quality.
A rack full of McCormack electronics drove a pair of ASW loudspeakers
from Germany very well. Gutwire provided the cabling. I
probably should have spent more time in this room, as it is not often that I
get to hear McCormack gear. A MaxCon Extreme power conditioner from
Gutwire filtered the electricity. Of particular interest to the tweaker
in me was the little gel-filled (?) Gutwire Notepads that were placed at the
front of the top surface of the loudspeakers and on top of the McCormack disc
player.
Roksan thrilled me with a Sheffield LP of Joe Cocker played on their
Radius 5 acrylic turntable with a Nima arm and moving magnet Chorus cartridge
all feeding a Caspian M series phono stage. Everything in this system
was moderately low in profile, including a pair of black monoblocks.
This all-Roksan system was a very good sounding and tidy looking rig that
rocked very well indeed!
Jumping into the Arcam room, Rich quickly picked up on the new MS250
MusicFile Server. Like the McIntosh mentioned earlier, this unit
automatically records the CD to its 250 gig drive when you play it. It
also acts as an Ethernet or wi-fi hub and acts as a zone controller. A
video interface presumably brings up cover art for the CD. At $6000 CN
(or about $4500 US) this would add about another $5 or $6 to the cost of a CD
if you filled it with wave files…less if you filled it with MP3.
Presumably, the price of such devices will drop if they become popular.
Thomas J. Norton, in the April 12, 2005 issue of Ultimate Audio
newsletter puts forth some interesting arguments against the downloading
approach to music collecting that might be of interest to those considering
it. Others think it is the coming thing.
Aside from the server, listening in the Arcam room is rarely a satisfactory
experience due to the several systems in different array and the multiple
conversations that always seem to ensue. An all-in-one silver box, the
Solo ($1595 US) provided a solution to people who just want to listen to music
and don't care to get involved with the hardware. It sounded nice with
a pair of Acoustic Energy Aelite One two-way stand mounted monitors ($900 CN).
Tweak it with some ERS paper and vibration absorbing footers and you might
have something really nice!
A room ostensibly sponsored by Poth Audio Cables appeared at
first to be something of a joke. A hand written sign on a piece of paper
at the foot of one loudspeaker said "Odaiko, wired by Poth Audio."
The room was a hodge-podge of unusual components, all unrelated by
manufacture. Visually the system featured a pair of one of the wildest looking
loudspeakers I've ever seen. I felt something like Mr. Jones in
Dylan's Ballad of a Thin Man, but after a brief listen, it was very
clear that something special was happening here. The freestanding
baffles that comprised the boxless loudspeakers were fabricated by Mitchell
Despaw, the same woodworker who built the unassuming tables of exceptional
quality in the Brinkmann room at last year's show. Mitchell said the
room was thrown together by a bunch of audiophiles in Northern New York State
just for fun!
They seem to have brought a lot of equipment with them,
and by the time I reached their room late on Sunday, they had it very well
tuned. The ribbon tweeter, for example, was added later in the show. The front
end was a Linn LP-12 turntable at the time I visited. And the
loudspeakers were tri-amplified with a Transcendent Sound stereo amp, Art
Audio Jota monoblocks and a solid state amp all fed from an external
crossover in the center stack. And of course the cables were by Poth.
The soundstage was detailed and deep. The frequency extremes were
extraordinary with tight, tuneful, effortless bass, from the large paper cone
drivers and the treble went way past what I can hear. Rich picked up on
the only shortcoming of the system: they could have used a few more feet
between the loudspeakers. Oh, and they could have used a Boston Audio
Design Mat 1 on the Linn, too. Nonetheless, by the end of the day on
Sunday, this was another of the Best Rooms at the show, and a prime
example of a boxless loudspeaker done right. Just don't ask me how
they figured it all out.
Brooklyn Audio was showing deHavilland electronics combined with Nola Viper Signature
loudspeakers to produce yet another Best Rooms. The front
end was a Naim disc player. The deHavilland preamplifier is $3500 US and the
Aries 845G monoblocks are
$7500 US including the tube cages and 845 tubes. I believe this was the
first time I've heard the deHavilland products and one of the few that
I've heard the Nola (Alon). The Viper Signatures were modest in size
with a tasteful contemporary design that could cross over into traditional décor
with a little decorating license. The Aries 845G exhibits a unique
industrial, but architectural styling that should fit well in all but the most
eloquent homes. deHavilland is now in a mutual dealer/distribution agreement with Coincident
Speaker Technology, who was not at the show this year due to heavy product
demand.
Robert LaMarre was in his RL Acoustique room this year with a more
economical horn loaded single driver loudspeaker driven by a Tectronics
tube amplifier ($2K CN) with 300B tubes that was controlled directly by an Orpheus
CD player when I visited. The Orpheus was tweaked with a special shelf,
vibration absorbing footers and damping devices on top.
In what was supposed to be a comparison of a conventional mid-fi turntable,
a laser turntable and an SACD player, the results were a little confusing due
to an imbalance of playback levels. What was clear was that the
laser turntable works well and has the capacity to reduce the clicks and pops
somewhat by adjusting the focus of the laser from the bottom of the groove up
along the walls. Doing this to an extreme, however, also changed the
sound of the music, however. It also works well on severely warped LPs,
I was told, and the primary market for this product seems to be those
specializing in archival work. Manley 500 monoblocks powered Joseph
Audio stand mounted monitors, which was a bit of over-kill in this smaller
room.
With time running out, Rich and I scrambled over to Opus II room to
apologize to the Gang of Four at the auDIYo.com booth for not getting
around to reviewing the fine silver cables I had made up from the materials
they gave me last year. I told them I'm planning an article on Maximizing
Your Tuner in which their cable will be used. Also to be
included in that article will be testing of the colonial blue AVM
anti-vibration goop that was handed out to lots of reviewers in the Accentus
Speakers room in the Holiday Inn. The Gang of Four was proud to announce
that they now carry Furutech products. Hmmm. Maybe another project
coming down the road?
It was time to bust out of Montreal, and Rich and I were glad to see there
was no threat of ice or snow on the horizon when we emerged from the Delta.
I didn't catch every room, I'm sure. And I probably overlooked a lot
of interesting components, but that's the nature of audio shows.
Fortunately, lots of others covered this show, so hopefully the important
stuff will all be covered. Take this review, throw it in a bowl with all the
others, mix in some Salamida's original State Fair Spiedie Sauce, kick back
and enjoy the music. It's a New York State of Mind. See you there, G-d
willing.
High-Performance Audio Reviews
