The Chester Group's New York Audio Show 2013 -- Saturday

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  Audio Doctor's Auralic Vega $3500 has advanced tech including the Femto clock, 32-bit/384kHz, does DSD, etc, and etc. Lots of great tech for kinda sorta low(ish) price. Sweet! Digital inputs include two S/PDIF, one AES/EBU, one USB 2.0 and you can adjust the volume in the digital range.

 

The whole gang from the Waterfall room, and Nadine's Waterfall speakers from France were smooth, very musical and harmonically rich yet never ‘rose’ colored.

 

Audio Space, Music First Audio, etc.

 

The Clue room system was a grand total of well under $10,000 and they were touting it as the best... Uh huh, and so did the guys within last five rooms... and it is always a perfect time to buy a car/home/boat/plane/etc, just ask the salesperson! The Clue loudspeaker ($999 per pair) were being driven by the Hegel H300 integrated amplifier ($5500) and they were using the Oppo as transport ($499) and Supra cabling ($400) for a total system of $7400!

Yes the system really did sound very good indeed, and in this day and age it seem $10,000 in 2013 is like the old $2000 in the year 2000. Inflation is a heartless bitch due to price instability and devaluating currencies. I will say that there is a high amount of $20,000 products here in NYC yet will of course be hunting down more reasonably priced gear tomorrow. I recall only a small handful of years ago $5000 was the common price. Looks like inflation is here to stay so expect quite a bit of $20,000 units in this report... and in 2020 expect the investment to be at least $30,000 on average for anything truly high-end handmade of excellent quality. Don’t blame me or the manufacturers or the parts guys, you smart investors know what entities are to blame and how to front-run their game  :)

 

Merill Audio had the single row, three seat room. Simply perfect for audiophiles... who love a great back massage.

 

Audio Note UK room had, as always, a sound that is truly natural, with full bass, smooth highs and incredibly musical midrange. Here is another room system i'd like to just transport home.

 

Harbeth mixed with Red Wine Audio and they were using the Stein Music Harmonizers too.

 

Symbol had their cool retro all-in-one system Modern Record Console $26,500. Anyone on Facebook or who regulars Enjoy the Music.com’s Industry News page has seen these over a year ago. In person, it does look retro cool indeed! No "nice beaver" jokes, please.

 

Pure Audio amplification was driving the MAD 1920s speakers.

 

Joseph Audio and Cardas Audio cables made a great appearance here at the Chester Group's New York City 2013 show.

 

GTT Audio had the new Soulution 530 integrated amp ($49,000) driving the YG Acoutsics Carmels with Kabala-Sosna cables. Note the new power distribution center from Kubala-Sosna below.

 

The new Veloce Saetta monoblock amp ($18,000) produces 350 watts per channel via hybrid tube pre and solid-state Class D for power output. Cables in this room were by Kubala- Sosna.

 

Krell amps and Martin Logans...

 

Coincident Speaker Technology Turbo 845SE is constructed as true dual mono in every way as the only shared component between the two channels is the chassis. The Turbo has the convenience of remote control and having the linestage and stereo amplifier all in one chassis. Coincidence's Turbo has an enormous power supply and generates 28 watts per channel via 6EM7 tube for input and a 300B driver per channel.

 

Man-o-man it was very busy here at the NYC show! Some rooms were very hard to get into.

 

Woo Audio earns my Best Value At The Show Award. In this world of $30,000 this and $10,000 that, they have a variety of $1000 units and look at that view outside!

 

Stereolab Master Reference balanced cable $1500 is built from raw materials by the company. This includes custom wire 36 gauge pure copper, then it is specially braided around the core material (interpole).

 

Audioengine had their award earning powered monitors such as the A5+ and A2+ ($399 and $199 respectively).

 

The Wes Bender room had a variety of gear from E.A.R., with turntable by Redpoint Audio Design model D ($29,000).

 

Dupuy Acoustique room.

 

I will say there is a very high amount of $20,000 on up products here in NYC yet will of course be hunting down more reasonably priced gear tomorrow. I recall years ago $5000 was the common price. Looks like inflation is here to stay so as a warning, expect quite a bit of $20,000 in 2013... and $40,000 in about 7 years from now.

 

---> Click here for Sunday's New York Audio Show 2013 report.