Flipping from Old School to New School the Vivid
Audio Giya G3 featured on the cover of the April issue of Stereophile
was in one of the smaller Coup de Foudre
rooms. A beguiling jazz version of Paul Simon's "The Boy in the Bubble"
revealed the intimate delicacy of which this speaker is capable. They then
switched to a DSD copy of Paul Simon's original version, but boosted the
volume, negating a fair comparison of the sound quality. Electronics included
the Luxman DA-06 USB DAC, the new C 900u Ultimate control amplifier, and the
new M 900u Ultimate stereo power amp. The Luxman turntable was shown spinning,
but not playing at the time. While the sound here was certainly very good,
unless you are enamored with the curly styling of the G3 ($39,990) you might
want to take a listen to their K1 model for $24,990. Regardless, it is nice to
see this fine sounding line from South Africa gaining recognition and
acceptance with their outstanding atypical designs. With familiarity comes
acceptance.
In the GTT Audio &
Video room Bill Parish readily
admitted that his presentation was more for the music lover than the
audiophile, which is not to suggest that it was not audiophile quality sound.
The Grimm Audio LS1speaker
($39,900 as shown with woofers) is really most of the system, incorporating
digital preamp (with A to D converter), crossover (with DSP for driver
correction) and amplification for the mid-woofer and tweeter (a 120 watt NCore
Class D amplifier for each) in the upper cabinet and the optional woofer with
a 400 watt Hypex Class D amplifier in the lower black base. Also included are
a contemporary remote control which appeared to be user friendly after a brief
learning curve — not your typical AV remote with dozens of buttons. The
source was digital software from a computer via J River over Ethernet cable
and analog from the new (#004) Kronos
Sparta turntable ($21,000, plus $6500 for the 10.5" Andre Theriault tonearm).
Power cables were from Kubala-Sosna
Master Reference series. The music heard here was neutral, precise,
transparent and tuneful, but not with the bloom and sound staging typically
associated with tube gear. Just music that was very close to live; from a rig
that was expensive, though not pretentious looking. As Bill said, this is not
for the gear-head, but for the person whose focus in life is the music. I will
come across the Kronos turntable again, later on.
Early in the show I passed up on the room with the Raidho
C1.1 speakers ($18,000) because the room was jammed with people — and for
good reason. On my sweep at the end of the show I had the room to myself and
refreshed my memory of just how really good these speakers are. They were
driven by Bel Canto's premium
Black line and they were fast, transparent, dynamic and musical. Across the
hall was their new baby brother, the K1 for $8000 on a much simplified stand,
driven through Transparent cables
by a Rowland integrated amp fed
with a Bel Canto digital front end. I was expecting C1.1 sound from this
little guy, which was foolish on my part. While the sound was very good, it
ain't no C1.1 and at that price it has some serious competition both from
other stand mounted monitors as well as floor standers.
In a large darkened room that housed the Totem corporate
display last year, Muraudio set
up their passive Domain Omni PX1speakers ($58,000) powered by the large Bryston
7B SST2 monoblocks and an emm
Labs front end. I had raved about the active DA1 version of this
speaker ($67,000) that premiered at the Toronto show last fall in a much
smaller room. The all-black version I heard there were on silent display in
the Canadian exhibition and frankly, I think the all black scheme is much
better looking. The black and white is much too casual for this price and
quality speaker. The other disappointment here was the sound. The bass, coming
from three opposed conventional drivers, was muddy and disconnected from the
more precise electrostatic midrange and treble of this speaker. It may not
have been so much that the speaker was under-powered, but that the set-up was
wrong. (82dB efficiency is a tough load to drive in such a large room.)
Aligning the speakers on the long wall was probably not the problem as I know
this often works very well — especially when you have the depth available as
was the case here. But the speakers were equidistant from the side walls (I
paced it out.) setting up reverberation nodes. The good news is that the
midrange and treble were not affected and the clarity and omnidirectional
dispersion gave a good taste of how this speaker is capable of performing.
Walking around the room the music became softer or louder as I got further
away or closer, but there was no shift in tonal balance or the believability
of the sound. Moreover it was much more listenable with a more natural
sounding treble than the harder sounding MBL room with the Class D
amplification of their Corona line. A video projector served up the software
selection and I requested Tracy Chapman singing "Fast Car" with which I am
intimately acquainted. It was just right, sounding just about as it should in
a large space as there is little bass in this cut. Muraudio is a new company
and they've got a great speaker if music is important enough to you to justify
the price and the omnidirectional nature of the design is relevant to your
room and listening habits. I talked briefly with Murray
Harman about the bass issue and how it might be improved. As they
gain experience with audio shows I expect their future will be bright. The
presentation at TAVES last fall with
the active version was very impressive and I'm certainly looking forward to
hearing them again.
Lest I give the impression that the show was all about the
Big Guys, let me introduce you to Victor
Kung of VK Music who came all the way from British Columbia to man his
table of kit gear for the DIY crowd. And crowd there was — around his table
near the base of the escalator to the lower level. Seen here is Victor
explaining his TU-8200DX integrated amplifier kit ($725) shown assembled with
a pair of the acclaimed Psvane 6L6GC Black Bottle tubes. The amp was driving a
handsome full-range driver speaker with a wood cone that unfortunately is no
longer available. Even in the noisy corridor it was easy to tell this was a
very sweet little rig. Also in evidence was an upgrade kit with a handful of
parts for early adopters to bring their older versions up to current form. His
motto is undoubtedly "Leave no audiophile behind!"
I apologize to you for the delayed posting and the brevity
of Part 1, but the stars are crossed against me with pressure from my
business. I will return from the furniture show in a week and resume this
report posthaste. There is a lot more fun
to come! Until then, spin some vinyl and enjoy the music!
---> Click here to see part 2.
High-Performance Audio Reviews
