Vaughn Loudspeaker's Zinfandel 9-0 Compact Line Array, with their bespoke plasma tweeters and line array mid-bass driver configuration, sounded magically present and open. Alison Krause and company illuminated the back third of the room with convincing depth layering, rich tone, and impressive image stability. My notes highlighted the system's impressive dynamic punch, good overall transparency (though not as "windowpane" clear as the BOS contenders), and convincing musicality. On hard transients, I thought I detected a hint of creeping box resonances at play, but this could also have been the room. The starting lineup: Vaughn Zinfandel 9-0 Compact Line Array speakers (with Plasma Tweeter - $12,000/pair), Linear Tube Audio ZOTL Ultra-linear tube amplifier ($7650), MJ Acoustics Reference 400 subs ($2200 x 2), Aurender N10 8TB music server, Wavelength Audio Crimson High Speed USB DAC ($9000), Anti Cable wires.
The Volti Audio/Border Patrol/Triode Wire room once again delivered the musical goods, the synergistic system exhibiting great imaging and staging, superb tone and timbre, fine overall transparency, and blinding transient speed. As expected, the horn loaded Volti RIVAL speakers ($19,900) delivered heightened dynamic expressiveness and fine overall cohesion, with, larger-than-life scaling and solid imaging. A BOS contender. Tomasz Stanko's "Domino" and Shirley Horn and company's fine rendition of Buster William's "A Lazy Afternoon" were simply transcendent.
A Border Patrol P20EXD 20W/channel push-pull 300b power amp with dual PSUs ($20,650), Border Patrol DAC SE-I (SPDIF + USB at $1850,) the electronics linked by Triode Wires Obsession power cables ($1399 each), American speaker cables (bi-wired at $1099), and Spirit II interconnects (starting at $399/pair, all hand-made in the U.S.A) sang.
The sonically and visually striking Daedelus/VAC/Lampizator room was a clear BOS contender. Superb in just about every respect, this unusual system rivaled the big boys in tone, focus, and dynamic shading, but obviously not in dynamic scaling and impact. Eerily realistic and involving, my listening notes highlighted "incredible detailing, bloom, and presence. Is there a speaker on the planet that doesn't sound fantastic when driven by Kevin Hayes' remarkable VAC 450i iQ integrated amplifier?" Pat Barber's rendition of "Inchworm" was in the room real and present, as was Lou Reed belting out "A Walk on the Wildside." The system featured a Lampizator Statement server ($8000) and DAC (the mighty Pacific at a smooth $27,850) pairing. The Daedelus Audio Apollo speakers retail for around $18,500/pair, while Kevin's tubed tower costs a whopping $150K.
Triangle Art's counter-intuitive near field setup of the floor standing Usher TD-10 Diamond DMD speakers, these paired with TA's tube preamp and solid-state power amp, really sang on LP after LP. The Art Pepper Meets the Rhythm Section LP hit hard, Pepper's peppery alto soaring with a purity that was addictive. Krall's "The Look of Love" rendition was exceedingly tender, with no sense of the listening room impinging on the music. Bass was a tad light, but the sound overall was superb. My notes summed up my feelings to perfection: "Near reference sound at a reasonable but not cheap price point. "
Garth Leer, the head honcho at Musical Surroundings, put together a swell little system headlined by the affordable and overachieving Maggie .7 speakers ($1399/pr.), Rogue electronics, Wire World cables, a baby blue AMG Giro turntable and matching arm (around $15,000), this fronted by an entry-level DS Audio E1 optical cartridge/phono stage ($2750). There wasn't much bass, but where this system played, it played with a conviction and resolve that commanded my attention. I found the presentation very open, transparent, and quite rich in tone and timbre. More to the point, everything sounded of a piece sonically.
Paul Simon's "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes" rocked and rolled with real conviction, while jazz songstress Cassandra Wilson's bouncing rendition of "Seven Steps to Heaven" filled the room with layered magic. The DS Audio Optical Cartridge is a model of clarity, balance, and lightning transient precision, with notes starting and stopping on the proverbial dime. The little .7s were not at all outclassed by the 20k phono front end. Garth and I discussed the possibility of my reviewing the entry-level E1 cartridge/phono stage sooner rather than later. Stay tuned for further updates.
The Sound Organization/Bryston room knocked the ball out of the proverbial ballpark with a system fronted by the superb new Rega P10 turntable and matching Apheta 3 cartridge ($6695), Rega Aria phono stage ($1495), a Bryston integrated amp (the $6,495 B135³) and server/DAC combo (the BDA-3.14 at $4195), Chord Sarum cabling, and Fyne F205 speakers (these using coaxially mounted drivers like those employed by Tannoy). My notes described the superb sound as "full-bodied and transient rich. Great staging and overall clarity. Stunning overall musicality and coherence. Beck's Morning Phase LP, various pop and jazz digital streams, and just about everything else we played sounded really swell, with great dynamic expression and laser focus." This was among the two or three most entertaining systems I heard all weekend. A BOS contender.
The Stenheim room featured the new Alumine 3 compact aluminum-bodied floor-standing speakers ($29K the pair). VAC amps (the Master Line Signature pre at $28,000 and the Signature 200 iq stereo model at $14,500), an Acoustic Signature table/arm combo (the XX table at $5K, TA-2000 arm at $3K, and TANGO Reference phono stage at $5K), these mated to a Dynavector XX2 MC Cartridge, with Wireworld cables, and an Aurender streamer, delivered a dynamically effortless presentation. The robust low end growled to perfection. Steely Dan's Aja LP hit fast and hard, Tom Scott's funk-flavored tenor driving the bluesy "Black Cow" cut with pure energy and electric urgency. The title cut shimmered with just the right bloom and upper octave air. Stage height sounded a bit truncated and compressed, but the system offered very good focus overall. The 3s are stupid good speakers that represent fine value in the under 30k region.
The MC Audiotech room, featuring, yet again, LTA amps, delivered very open sound with sweet mids, a somewhat light but highly tuneful bass register, and quick electrostatic transients. The manager of this new venture is none other than Mark Conti, the man behind the sadly defunct Veloce Audio line of tube-hybrid electronics. The open baffle 18-inch woofers provided good dynamic expression and mated seamlessly with the planar array. I wasn't at all familiar with the recordings, but one featuring Ben Webster and Oscar Peterson sounded lovely. Someone at Positive Feedback with a big room should review these fine speakers.
The novel MC Audiotech Forty-10 speakers clock in a MSRP of $35,000/pair. The Linear Tube Audio electronics are much more affordable, the MicroZOTL preamp priced at $4450, and the ZOTL Amplifier and more powerful Reference 40 Amplifiers priced the same at $6800 each. The PS Audio DAC ($6K) and Wolf Audio Systems Server ($6895) delivered a pristine digital signal with nary a cartridge or tonearm in view.
The Focal/Aesthetix room featured Focal's Kanta 3 floor-standers, these driven by the enticing Aesthtix Mimas tube/SS hybrid integrated amp. As with most of the other smaller rooms, I heard limited depth, but good transient response and great tone. Transparency was not what I hear with my reference Focal Sopra 1 compacts, but the Kanta 3 walks over the 1 in dynamic explosiveness and bass reach. I noted stable imaging, good rendition of instrumental timbre, if a bit recessed in the presence range; quick transients, and good bloom. This was a great showing for both Focal and Aesthetix.
The Modwright/Eggleston Works/VPI room was stunningly good: gorgeous tone and timbre on a USB-streamed version of Melody Gardot's "The Rain," with excellent presence and focus. The new Modwright integrated amp (the KWH 225i – $8495) delivered lovely articulation, with a delightful frisson of tube sweetness. Again, the room compromised depth recreation, but all else was ravishingly beautiful, with air and bloom to die for. Ms. G's Worrisome Heart LP was every bit as gorgeous, airy, and holographic as the digital tracks, but with superior liquidity and depth of tone. The relatively new VPI HW-40 table ($15,000 with arm) and VPI Shyla MC ($1200) delivered the analogue goods with grace and composure. Speakers were the $11,995 Eggleston Works OSO floor-standers, a model to watch.
Oz Turan's Audio Solutions/Vitus Audio/UHA reel-to-reel player-based system sounded lovely if a touch dark in the upper-midrange/lower treble region. My cellphone notes indicated "good presence and articulation; good tone and timbre; top end sweet and open; quite non-fatiguing; Lou Reed's "Take a Walk" via the R2R setup delivered good image stability, good depth of field on Strawberry Fields, and good 3D solidity." The AS speakers look and sound great and seem to represent a bit of a bargain at $22.5k/ pair. Bass was solid and taut, the top end a bit soft in this room, but solid impact and good overall extension. I also noted fine dynamic expression and really room filling sound, the Vitus electronics driving the speakers effortlessly.
The Carver room really sang this this year. Cécile Salvant's rendition of the classic "I Didn't Know What Time it Was" sounded superb. The Carver line array tamed the room magically, with stunning linearity, wonderful presence, and superb driver integration between the array and the Rel subwoofer. The system sounded particularly fine on sharp transients, with holographic staging and imaging. The speakers are fast as all get up and sensationally coherent. Few speakers reproduce the human voice as accurately as these, with superb intelligibility and transparency. I did note a touch of room-induced bass boom, but this was well down in level. A BOS contender.
The Antal Audio Group, importers of the celebrated Triangle Speaker line from France, the Soulines tables from Serbia, and the over performing Tsakiridis tube electronics from Greece, delivered great sound at a genuinely affordable price. The detailed, open, coherent, transient rich sound, here blessed with great presence and commanding power, really took me for a loop. The $8k Triangle Delta floor standers are world-beaters priced for real people, while the Tsikaridis electronics represent one of the great values in high end audio, period (the ORPHEUS 15w mono blocks priced at $4095 the pair, the matching ZEUS line stage a cool $2695). A 2-disc Kat Edmondson LP (Dreamers Do) sounded just lovely, with good punch and open, sweet, and surprisingly natural highs. The system captured the child-like rasp of her voice to perfection with fine staging and imaging. The Triangle Signature speakers were superbly balanced and engaging. An affordable BOS contender that rivaled the Sound Organization / Bryston suite for sheer goose bump-inducing entertainment value.
Gayle Sanders's Eikon system (which includes the Eikon DSP processor/DAC/pre) and the superb Image 1 speakers offered room filling sound all out of proportion to its modest footprint (both speakers and controller). The complete system (not including source components) represents great value at $25k. Great imaging, stellar bass, perhaps a touch recessed in the midrange, but very, very musical, nevertheless. I predict a thunderstorm of approval when this system hits the market.
The Muraudio team, in Tampa exhibiting the firm's celebrated SP1 hybrid electrostatic speakers ($16,400 the pair), produced riveting sound. The system punched way above its price and weight class, with neck-breaking speed of attack, stunning transparency, wonderful scaling, and remarkable dynamic expression. The sound was squeaky-clean and superbly linear (down to around 40Hz or so). Trap drums showed not a hint of compression, with fine articulation and timbral accuracy. One of the few transducers at the show to sound genuinely real, the SP1 also proved utterly invisible in the compact exhibition room. A BOS contender. This system, driven by a $3400 Moon Audio integrated amp/server combo (the amp fed the incoming digital signal via a USB cable), delivered the best recorded piano sound of the show. Stunning, friends, just stunning!
The affable Wynn Wong of Canadian distributor and retailer Wynn Audio delivered my final BOS presentation. Wynn's unusual system featured the Metronome DSS streamer at $4300 (this show marking the streamer's U.S. debut), Metronome's Le DAC at $7000 (the firm's entry level DAC), a Thales Slim II turntable ($6750), Thales Simplicity II tonearm ($9450), EMT HSD 006 cartridge ($1760), EMT STX 5/10 step up transformer (this marking the SUT's U.S. debut and priced at a cool $9280. The SUT features silver transformers and user-selectable 14 or 20dB gain options.) Front-end electronics hailed from, you guessed it, Serbia again, the tasty and beautifully built Karan Acoustics PH1 phono stage ($14000 – ouch), KAL MK3 preamp ($10800), and massive Karan Acoustics KAS 400 stereo amp ($16900) making a real musical statement. Speakers were the shoebox sized Kiso Acoustic HB-N1 monitor speakers (from Japan), these hand-made and priced at an upper-crust $9500 (sans speaker stands) the pair. Entreq Olympus Infinity Ground Boxes ($3600) and Crystal Cable Future Dream wires rounded things out.
The sound was so palpable, so immediate, and so natural, that I quickly lost sight of the gear and focused solely on the music. Mr. Wong knows how to set up a system and has superb taste in gear to boot (and music). BTW, the Thales Slim II turntable/Thales Simplicity II tonearm/EMT HSD 006 cartridge/EMT STX 5/10 SUT ranked, alongside the equally diminutive Rega P10 discussed earlier and the mighty Kronos Pro in the Audio Company suite, as one of the three finest sounding LP setups at the show, IMHO.
The Wynn Audio analog setup just had that magic!
Á la carte productions introduced Dynamic Sound Associate's new phono stage, the DSA Phono III ($19,000), a stunning, remarkably detailed, and sonically invisible assault on the phono preamp state of the art. The DSA/Chord/SME/Spendor setup delivered frightening dynamic scaling with stunning transparency and liquidity. A must hear phono stage! The DSA Phono III does not, as far as I can tell, replace the previous DSA Phono II, but will be offered as the best such unit that the company knows how to build. The SME Audio Model 12 table with 309 arm ($10,900 the pair) and Ortofon Windfled TI cartridge ($4300) really sang at the front of a Chord's CPM-3350 integrated ($12,300) and Spendor D9.2 tower speakers.
This was great stuff!
Finally, the oh so idiosyncratic Haniwa single driver speakers, matching integrated amp and transimpedance phono cartridge/phono stage sang with the same coherence, impact and immediacy I noted last year. The 3-inch full-range speaker driver (mounted this year in a new enclosure) sounded surprisingly robust, full-range, and linear. My listening notes highlighted very low system self-noise, remarkable cohesion (to be expected with a single-driver speaker), and pure listening fun. KUBOTEK, Inc.'s head-honcho Robert Bean (KUBOTEC imports the Haniwa gear to the U.S.) and I talked about a possible review of a complete Haniwa system, which also includes a custom Transrotor-designed turntable. Stay tuned!
All in all, FAE 2020 was a resounding success, and suggested that global pandemics and disruptive trade wars notwithstanding, the state of the high end remains strong, if not impenetrable.
Cheers!
