In the Solen room, in addition to tables full of raw
drivers, were a bunch of small and larger headphone amps, some with built-in
DACs, each of them only a few hundred dollars. Linda ventured over to the
table with the wood cone driver I featured in last year's report while I
snapped a photo of the little amps.
In another coupdefoudre
room there was a very mod-looking rig with Vivid
B1speakers ($15,000) with supplemental rear-firing drivers from
South Africa. It's nice to see this contemporary looking brand gaining
traction, probably as a result of its hugely successful Giya flagship model.
The rig was fronted with a Luxman
PD-171 belt driven turntable running into a Luxman L-550AX integrated
amplifier complete with bass, treble and balance knobs as well as power
meters. Very classic! There was also a Luxman USB DAC in the rig. The piece
that caught my attention here was the new Luxman integrated amplifier SQ-N10
with EL34 tubes (12 wpc @ 6 Ohms) and a headphone amplifier built in on silent
display. Also available with this amp is a companion D-100r docking station
with a high quality DAC for iPod and iPhone. It connects to the SQ-N10 with a
dedicated cable and comes with a remote that overrides all functions of the
iPod to give you easy track selection with on-screen navigation. With its RCA
outputs, it can be used with other integrated amps or preamps.
In another coupdefoudre
room just down the hall was the PMC
twenty-23 floor standing monitors playing in a room full of people, most of
them in conversation. With its transmission line of 7.8 feet, it is said to
have a frequency response of 29 Hz to 25 kHz. PMC (Professional Monitor
Company) is a British firm I remember from long ago that seems to be making
greater inroads in the consumer arena. Last I knew they were partnered with
Bryston for cross-pollination on both sides of the Atlantic, but with Bryston
coming out with their own loudspeakers I'm not sure if this is still true. The
PMC was being driven here by a Brinkmann
integrated amp that also featured a headphone output. A Clearaudio
Ovation turntable was one front end, but I was hearing music from a computer
source. The bass here was pretty boomy but I stopped back on Sunday for a more
enjoyable presentation. The twenty series include two stand mounted monitors
and two floor standers in four finishes
An attractive small floorstanding speaker from ASW
in Germany, the Cantius 404, was driven by a Unico
Nuovo integrated amplifier with phono stage that was serving a Clearaudio
turntable. Again, the room was noisy, but it was evident that this rig was
doing a fine job with the LP. The magnetically shielded speaker is a 4 Ohm
drive with a frequency range of 35 Hz to 25 kHz, which also speaks well for
the Nuovo amplifier driving it.
Perhaps in honor of the French alliance with the break-away
colonies, AudioShop of Quebec combined a pair of Cabasse
Pacific floorstanders ($16,000) with McIntosh
electronics including the MCD1100 SACD/CD player with the D100
Digital preamplifier and their MC601 Quad Balanced monoblocks. I noted the use
of special footers under the speaker spikes, but failed to ask about the
unusual 8" woofers that jumped out at me in the photo. The white eye, of
course, is their trademark coaxial tweeter and midrange driver. Music here was
clear and very dynamic, but a bit bright on the top end. Here again, it was
the item that caught my eye on the way out the door that was most interesting.
In this case it was the very first example of the new MAC6700 Receiver,
complete with phono stage, tuner and tone controls just like the old days, but
also including a built-in DAC, I was told. For someone who loves the MAC
sound, but doesn't want to go all out with separates, at $6500 this could be
just the ticket. With 200 wpc I'll bet this becomes a real winner for
McIntosh.
I was looking forward to hearing the Danish Raidho
D-1 stand mounted speakers with their quasi-ribbon tweeters and diamond/carbonite
mid/bass driver. I also foolishly hoped that in spite of all the good press
they've been given they would not be $28,000. They certainly look the price
with their superb "Do not touch" finish and the unique stand which really
makes the brand. The front end was an Esoteric
P-05 CD player (used as a transport) followed by Jeff Rowland Aeris DAC, Corus preamp and a Rowland power amp
too low on the stack to identify. Transparent
Reference MM2 speaker cables led to the Raidho monitors.
Unfortunately, this room generated a lot of conversation, and while it was
probably one of the best rooms in the show, that's not what I heard. I
believe I returned on Sunday for a more definitive listen. There is a less
expensive C 1.1 version of the Raidho with a ceramic driver rather than the
diamond dust for considerable savings.
Across the hall I came upon the $15,000 entry level Raidho
S2 floor stander being driven by a VAC
stereo amp and preamp. With a ribbon tweeter and larger ceramic mid-woofers
they were certainly moving more air than the D-1. I asked about the backbone
of the speaker, which seemed unusual in a tapered design, but could not get
information. At 92dB/W/m sensitivity and 6 Ohm impedance, they recommend at least
50 wpc, but claim they have heard wonders from small tube amplifiers, too. The
VAC used here was not a small tube amplifier, for sure. The speaker is a
ported design with a downward facing port on the graceful arching base that
adds stability to the tall, thin speaker. Transparent cabling was used and
there was both a digital and analog front end. I heard the digital, but
didn't catch the brand.
AudioClub put
together a Linn rig with a
computer front end that played over Linn Majik Isobarik speakers ($6200) with
concealed twin bass drivers working in tandem. The music heard in this sparse
room was of the techno variety and that is probably the Linn's forte. While
I'm a big fan of their LP12, especially since completing my radical
modification of the turntable with off-the-shelf components, it seems to be
extremely rare to find a current production model in action.
Somewhere, lost in Vinyl Land, I came across the new and
very impressive Hannl Mera ELB
24V record cleaning machine for $4990. At that price you get variable speed
and vacuum control. I was so dumbstruck I forgot to ask for a demonstration
using my Running on Empty LP.
Every few years you stumble on something that is completely
different. This year it was the Leedh
speaker that looked like it stepped out of a Star Wars movie. Leedh stands for
a French laboratory of holographic studies. At this point I can either veer
off into a recapitulation of their white paper, or simply tell you how it
sounded. In the interest of getting some sleep, I'll simply say it sounded a
whole lot better than I expected. It is available for $12,000 without the
subwoofer, or as shown here, $15,000 with the sub. So where's the sub, you
ask? It's those little nearly cylindrical things that look like they might
polish your shoes if you stuck your feet under them, down near the floor. The
sound was big and transparent and nearly full range. The music had no trouble
getting out of the box because there was none. But I had a lot of trouble
taking my eyes off the speakers. Looking like a cybernetic evolution of
Giacometti's stick people, I didn't trust them. The new Lua
Sinfonia GS-Autobias amplifier from France that was driving them was a
different story. These beautiful tube amps I could relate to. The 65 wpc
Sinfonia GS includes an adjustable phono stage for both MM and MC, phase
control and a metal remote control in addition to the autobias function, all
for $12,577. The amp by the speaker was probably the Lua No. 6, a 130 watt
monoblock. On the rack in the center of the rig were probably a CD player and
preamp from this German company who also make their own speakers. They have
been getting good press in Europe where they are well established and are
apparently looking to find a foothold in North America. As you might expect,
this room was buzzing with conversation from people wanting to know more about
this gear. From what I heard, both of these companies deserve a shot on this
side of the ocean.
That's it for Part 1 and thanks for reading and here is much
more to come!
Click here for part 2 of our Salon Son & Image Report 2013.
High-Performance Audio Reviews
