In the Sound Application room they had a fresh setup of the Venture Audio speakers, Weiss digital front end
with Silicone Arts and Concert Fidelity amplification. Sound Application power filters are celebrating their 20th year in business with their new units having 2.5GHz bandwidth and zero impedance wire. They use hand wound extended foil capacitors that provides greater noise reduction yet take three days to heat up and come to full form/tension. All caps are matched to 0.05 p. Very interesting!
Raysonic had their SP100-mp2 integrated tube amplifier ($1895) with a pair of EL34 per channel in ultralinear to produce 40
wpc. This wireless remote unit, looking like it costs much more, had four line inputs and true full mono design with shared power transformer and point to point wiring. It could very well be a giant killer at seriously reasonable cost.
Everyone knows Hyperion makes truly impressive floorstanding loudspeakers, but not everyone is familiar with their longstanding minimonitors. The smallest model, 585 ($650), and larger 586 ($950) both features the same 1-inch silk dome tweeter, yet one uses the 5.25 while the other has the 6.5-inch midrange/woofer. Both come is piano black or this really deep dark walnut finish. Those seeking small monitors should check them out, as if they are like their bigger siblings they should offer excellent value for the money.
Almarro had a prototype of their A340 tube monoblocks that use a 6C33C in push-pull configuration ($5000). Made in Japan, they have mainly point to point using Teflon-coated copper wire. The front panel has lovely maple center wood with cherry sides.
Audio Note Japan now offers their very first turntable, well... not a n official product yet it was in their room. The Ginka turntable uses an AC synchronous motor driven by stereo amplification. This allows for one of the supplies being shifted by 90 degrees. The platter is made from a trio of material, aluminum, stainless steel and glass. Bearing is inverted housed steel ball bearing.
Redrock Audio had the prototype LS1 preamplifier (around $12,000) with sexy extended 6BL7 tubes coming out from each side. A manual bias is used for the utmost of sound fidelity, yet easy front panel meter allows for ease of adjustment. It has three inputs and a pair of outputs, both balanced (XLR) and single-ended (RCA). This is a true balanced design that is transformer-based. Owners can select a wide variety of front panels material and colors.
Audience room
Tyler Acoustic had their lovely Linbrook Signature Monitors ($3600) in Italian ebony finish. It is great to see a proper D'Appolito design, where time and phase is kept accurate. A 1-inch SEAS soft dome is mated to pair of 7-inch SEAS magnesium drivers. Gill Audio Design, sister company to Art Audio, had
their Lissa integrated solid-state amplifier ($2995 on up) and i gotta tell ya, the sound of this system was relaxed, detailed, and very welcoming.
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High-Performance Audio Reviews
