New York Audio Show Report 2014
Bringin' it to Brooklyn 
Show Coverage By Rick Becker

Part 1

Lightnin Hopkins was in the room hosted by High Fidelity Services (importers of a lot of very fine lines) and High Water Sound, where owner and master set-up artist, Jeff Catalano, warmed my heart by recalling the two LPs he played for me when last we met (ZZ Top and Jackson Browne). It was also a pleasure to meet Julien Plechat, VP of Verity Audio, whose outstanding speakers I haven't heard in quite a while. Heard here was the Parsifal Anniversary ($24,995), a vastly updated version of the speaker they first came out with...decades ago? It now resides in the middle of their model range. In their flyer was pictured the huge Montsalvat, their flagship that was still in development when last I spoke with M. Plechat. Perhaps I need to visit CES again? Most of their models are at least the second generation from what I heard when they were first introduced. I noted a switch from spikes to special constrained layer vibration absorbing footers with visco-elastic polymer and a carbon center which converts motion to heat. These can be used effectively on either wood or carpet. Fronted by a TW-Acoustic Raven GT SE turntable ($12,500) with two 10.5 arms ($8800ea.), I heard the one with the Miyajima Zero mono cartridge ($2000) playing the Lightnin Hopkins LP. Where do they get these great records, anyway? I was told this one was recorded in a living room. I'm going to have to start shopping the garage sales in some different ‘hoods. Amplification was by Audia Flight and there was a Zanden CD player available. The intriguing Kensington subwoofer from MJ Acoustics ($4995) was not in use when I was there. Nor was the relatively petite Neat Acoustics Iota monitor ($1095). The music here was exquisite, as you would expect from a rig costing upwards of $150,000, though not everything was in use at one time. But even if there had been less expensive gear, it still would have sounded extraordinary, because... well, that's the way Mr. Catalano sets up his rooms.

 

King Sound typically wows us with their very nice and reasonably priced electrostatic panel speakers, so I was surprised to discover their room had been transformed into a head zone, complete with their own electrostatic headphones with dedicated amplifiers. David Ng helped me sort out the details of their different rigs, one of which was a portable unit. I enjoyed the M-20 tubed amplifier with their dedicated phones ($2300). If I understood correctly, they make all their own parts, including transformers (but not tubes) in Hong Kong. The H-03 headphone with dedicated solid-state amplifier at $1300 was also very good, but I'm partial to tubes.

 

In the Wes Bender Studio room, unfortunately the debut of the new Townshend Rock 7 turntable with Merlin motor ($5800) with Transfiguration Phoenix cartridge ($4250) on the new Townshend Excalibur II tonearm was silent, as was the debut of the new Zesto Audio Andros 1.2 phonostage ($4700). The Zesto, as I've said before, is gorgeous gear and while pricey, is still within reach of many. This was also the U.S. debut of the Marten Getz 2 speakers ($23,500) shown in piano black. The electronics were housed in a Stillpoints ESS 34" rack ($8905 and ESS 42" rack ($10,700) while the eight corners of the speakers were on Stillpoints Ultra 5 footers ($699 each). Bruce Jacobs of Stillpoints was on hand to tell me about their Aperture room treatment panels ($650ea.) that are resonators to handle the bass, and absorbers and diffusers to handle the high frequencies all in one unit. Uniquely, these are self-attenuating, so as the volume is turned down, they do not over-damp the music. At 24" square, they can be decorated with art work, photographs or images of album covers to suit your décor. Bruce also explained the Entreq Silver Tellus grounding box ($2699) from Sweden that connects wires to an open RCA outlet of each component and attaches them to the Stillpoints racket a top corner; then the rack is connected to the grounding box at a lower corner, turning the rack into a Faraday cage that shields the components from EMI/RFI. The grounding box does not plug into any circuit, but acts as a ground for the entire system. It can be used without the rack, but the Entreq and Stillpoints rack create what Bruce calls a super-system. I didn't get a grip on the jazz that was playing here, except to say that it was very highly focused and transparent—a very tight sound. It was a pleasure to chat with Wes again after not seeing him for a handful of years. Always a gentleman.

 

Gershman Acoustics created one of their best sounding rooms ever with an eclectic mix of components driving their new Grande Avant Garde speaker ($12,500). The black platform, which is new to the Avant Garde design, is actually a bass trap that eliminates the back wave of the woofer, making the bass more articulate. And when that happens, the midrange usually gets better, too. The digital front end of the rig used a Naim CD player as a transport to feed the highly regarded Chord Hugo DAC. The analog front end was a VPI Classic 2 turntable upgraded with the 3D printed arm holding a Dynavector XX-2 cartridge. Its signal was amplified by a prototype Vinyl One phonostage with a chrome faceplate. Backert Labs, who co-hosted the room, provided their Rhythm 1.1 preamp ($7500) with a pair of 12AU7 auto-biased tubes easily accessed through the polished plate on the top that is magnetically held in place. Ventilation intake is from a slot along the front edge of the bottom and warm air exits via another slot along the upper back side of the chassis. Capacitors are V-Caps with Teflon. A small green illuminated stripe on the volume control indicates the volume setting. This was a very clean design that undoubtedly made a significant contribution to the excellent sound of the rig. And finally, the Gershman speakers were driven with Odyssey Stratos monoblocks, a company on which I've commented favorably since the turn of the millennium. Steely Dan's "Hey Nineteen" never sounded so good, but then it was played from a re-mastered Super Sampler LP. Like UPS delivery routes, there was a right turn at every step of the way in this room.

As always, much more to come. Stay tuned right here @ Enjoy the Music.com, the industry's premiere show report site on the Internet.

 

---> Rick Becker Part 2.