Top Audio & Video Show 2006 Milan, Italy

  Of course also up for an award is Italian manufacturer of amazing wood crafted speakers Sonus Faber. By not virtually everyone around the world should be familiar with these darlings of the country. Their Guarieri Momento faithfully demonstrates the company's experience of designing a joy of both sight and sound.

 

Zingali goes a step further with custom made speakers featuring wood horn-loaded tweeter/midrange and 15-inch woofer (€24,000). Proud owners of these special limited edition will have their name carved into a special matching wood placard on the front panel. Frequency response 32 Hz to 21 kHz and they sounded very nice with famous American journalist Michael Fremer's CDR of the Grateful Dead recorded from his tweak turntable setup. Michael and I discussed how his CDR had an amazing rhythmic freedom that is generally not found on production CDs.

 

Speaking of music lover and analog fanatic Michael Fremer, his love of the art and desire to help audiophiles worldwide is expressed within his amazing DVD called 21^st Century Vinyl: Michael Fremer's Practical Guide to Turntable Set-Up. It is wonderful to have such a great way to help the many thousands of like-minded analog lovers, both newbies and experts alike, via this DVD. You can purchase it online by clicking here.

 

Two other mainstays in Italy are Opera loudspeakers and Unison Research tube amplification. Once again note the sensuously curved wood in deep, rich-yet-lively color. The Caruso (€33,000) loudspeaker has 13 drivers, is tri-amp/wireable, and is actually two separate cabinets. This statement piece is a testament to the company's abilities at design and engineering.

 

Italians are very proud -- and rightly so -- of their creations. For it is Pathos who takes this a step further by having the company's name as the side heatsinks.

 

---> Next page.