Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2005

Sunday
Page 3

  Artemis Lbs' new SP-1 stereo amplifier ($11,400) is a single-ended KR-300BXLS enabled unit produced 15 watts per channel. The rear unit is a tubed external power supply for rectification 6N1P triode connected to an EL34. The entire audio signal path is hand wired point-to-point, has shunt regulation for the driver stage... 

 

OK, i got suckered into this as my love for the vintage KEF 104/2. The front end is a modded custom system that drives a pair of Parasound monoblocks (modded). The KEF 104/2 loudspeakers' crossover is modded as well. Bottom line is the music... Frankly, it sounded as though there was too much digital processing and other problems, and no where near the great sound achieved from my pair of 104/2.

 

DaVincini Audio Labs' 12-inch tonearm ($6,700) is a carefully crafted work of functional art. Made in Germany, you know the precision is a given. The turntable is TW/Acoustic's Raven AC. It uses an external power supply for the motor.

 

When i stop investing into property, cars, mechanical watches... an amplification unit from Electro Luv will fill my humble abode. Like anything truly exotica, if you have to ask the price you can't afford it. And yes, it is indeed functional art as the music gracefully pours out of these units as it should.

 

Nola, was Alón, new Viper Reference ($12,000 per pair) produces 25Hz to 25kHz with a pair of twin cast magnesium 220mm bass drivers, 110mm tri-laminate cone midrange, and 25mm dipole dome tweeter. Sensitivity is 87dB/W/m yet were being comfortably driven by the deHavilland 845G SE (reviewed here) and Mercury 2 preamplifier (reviewed here). As for wiring, Cosmos interconnects and loudspeaker wire, Samadhi interconnects by PranaWire, and digital cabling was by Acrolink.

 

Welborn Labs' Ultrapath ($1,200 kit, $1,700 assembled) battery powered line stage has five inputs and can be controlled via wireless remote. A mix of point-to-point and circuit board can be found inside. Tubes are old low voltage 6GM8 car audio devices.

 

Eminent Technology fan subwoofer. The setup appeared to need at least a 12-foot long enclosure. The test tones demonstration, while good, told me nothing about how the unit can handle dynamic and ever-changing frequencies. Maybe it is the next best thing since sliced break, but in the back of my mind i doubt such a setup will be fully realized for a long time.

 

AV123.com Strata mini loudspeaker ($1,595 per pair) features a round ribbon tweeter, 8-inch ribbon midrange, 5.25-inch midbass, mass loaded 8-inch woofer with 350-watt amplification with phase and crossover adjustment. Loudspeaker binding posts for the mains and loudspeaker or RCA input for the subwoofer.

 

Sonicweld's Pulserod solid aluminum rod cabinet loudspeakers ($24,000) have six AuraSound 2-inch drivers, a single 1-inch modified ScanSpeak neodymium silk soft dome tweeter, and six (three front, three rear) AuraSound 4-inch woofers. These are active speakers totaling 400 watts per speaker. Welcome to modern times as the speaker is entirely hand assembled while the cabinet is done by sophisticated CNC equipment!

 

The Lotus Group had a table filled with audiophile tweak goodies from power filter and electrical outlets to resonant-control cones, points, etc.

 

Audio Physic has a wide variety of new models including their Scorpio ($6,500) with a 1-inch dome tweeter, a pair of 6-inch midrange driver and four 7-inch woofers with each pair mounted back to back in push-push configuration. The tweeter has been modified in-house to achieve higher results while the entire cabinet is angled 7 degrees for optimum phase/time alignment. The rear has a special anti-resonance plate for "Vibration Control Terminal" (VCT).

 

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