Here at T.H.E. Show Newport Beach was the Concert Fidelity driving Reference 3a speakers and must say the sound was very impressive. This room had very nice sound and used the Concert Fidelity SPA-4C phonostage ($14,000), DAC-040 ($10,000), CF-080LSX preamplifier ($20,000) and their new ZL-120V2 monoblock amplifiers ($28,000 per pair). The Reference 3A Grand Veena loudspeakers were using experimental centrally-mounted phase plugs, so the white you see in the center of the drivers is something the company is trying out. Cabling is by Cable Research Lab (CRL).
Enjoy the Music.com has reviewed the Concert Fidelity DAC-040 DAC
and reviewed
the Silicon Arts ZL-120 monoblocks with Concert Fidelity's CF-080 linestage. As for Reference
3a, we got you covered there with a
recent review of the Reference 3A MM de Capo i monitors and our
review of the Reference 3A Grand Veena.
Neodio, Edge Electronics and Estelon teamed up with their NL12.2 dual mono single chassis
amplifier ($24,000) that were driving the XA speakers ($44,000).
YG Acoustics, the same company that won my personal award during the recent Munich show coverage, was making great sounds. Super solid construction of these speakers virtually eliminates those nasty cabinet resonance problems other speakers might suffer from.
TAD had their Reference 1 speaker that was driven by the TAD M600 ($30,000) monoblock amplifiers. Big, bold, and with a beautiful wood finish.
Focal speakers were at T.H.E. Show Newport Beach too.
Ayon Audio.... toooobes! Tooooooooobes!!!
Tonian Labs had their new, just released TL-S1 ($4300 per pair) that uses 8-inch customized Seas woofer and of course Tonian ribbon tweeter. Frequency response is from 35 Hz to 40 kHz. See
Enjoy the Music.com's review of the Tonian Laboratories TL-R1 tweeter.
Live music was available daily and at night.
Seen here is Mike Garson on piano, Lori Bell on flute and Gary Foster on
saxophone.
There was also a cigar bar and a special
location where us cigar enthusiasts could relax, enjoy live music and have a
great smoke.
The same goes for wine enthusiasts!
And if you love cars, here are a few examples
of what could be seen.
Veloce's V6 monoblocks ($14,000 and see how i
worked from cars to a V6 :-) ) are uniquely transformer coupled, battery powered 180 watt Class D units. There is a 6H30 tube driver stage so you get the benefit of tubes and of efficient solid-state amplification. The battery, once charged, operates for 40 hour and will automatically takes care of its own charging needs. This could be perfect for those tired of their power company and their delivery problems.
Vinyl junkies who love heavyweight units could enjoy the Triangle Art Reference or their Signature units ($14,000 and $10,000 respectively). The Signature weights a massive 250 lbs, with the platter itself accounting for 45 lbs. A non-inverted aluminum ball bearing supports the 4" thick aluminum platter. To ensure stable rotation of the platter, a newly designed AC Motor is encased within a 20
pounds aluminum motor housing and support both 33.3 and 45 rpm platter rotation speeds. And if you want even more, the higher end Reference offers more!
Episode Audio had their new Episode 5 floorstander and Bassy powered 500 watt subwoofer
($12,500 and $2300 respectively). The designer has over 25 years experience and took a long time to produce these finalized products for audiophiles worldwide.
The Nola Contender speakers ($3400 per pair) were making some serious big and solid powerful sound considering their slim size. The soft dome tweeter was smooth and this three-way unit was really impressing me. The lower woofer has its own separate internal enclosure per se. Seriously, if you get chance then by all mean go hear these and be ready for a nice surprise.
Click here for Part 3.
High-Performance Audio Reviews
