|
Art Dudley poses for our camera. A Wonderful
guy I might add.
 Team
Laufer Teknik is quite an eager, young and
spirited bunch that includes their fearless
leader in Sam Laufer (top photo far right).
Importers of German high-end products; Ascendo
loudspeakers, Behold electronics and the
Halcyonics platforms, Team Laufer and I are
kindred spirits when it comes to our fondness
for these state-of-art sounding products.
Speaking of
which, the sonics of
this space were exemplary. The Ascendo
System M ($45k photo left) was driven by a
single Behold BPA stereo amplifier ($45k) with
the greatest of sonic ease. Hotel room
limitations notwithstanding, the sound of this
setup was not only respectable, but better
than I can remember under the same
circumstances. The Ascendos love breathing
room and this room wasn't an ideal space but
that didn't stop them from showing what
potential lies in this otherwise excellent
transducer. Kudos to Team Laufer.
My initial
impression in comment as to the price of the
Cabasse La Sphere loudspeakers ($150k) was HOW
MUCH did you say? Shown here with multiples of
Bel Canto electronics, the overall sound was
impressive that's for sure but I'm having a
hard time being convinced, intellectual and
proprietary design matters aside, that
something could (or should) cost this much
money. Hearing them in a more controlled
setting may change my mind so I welcome any
offers. I've been conditioned to seeing a lot
of pretty wood veneer, and a stack of
dedicated subwoofers standing 8 feet high
whenever I see prices like this attached to a
loudspeaker. Call me jaded.
Bolzano Villetri
showed with Behold electronics and the sound
was rather disappointing considering what I've
experienced in my listening space with these
loudspeakers. Truth be told, attempting to
tame otherwise poor hotel spaces may require
the services of David Blaine, so please note I
don't always expect the best. Also, I am aware
that the gents who handle Bolzano Villetri are
new to these events and basically don't know
all the tricks to the trade; notice not a hint
of room treatments or AC line conditioners?
Lastly, I guess someone like myself who owns
these very products knows what they're fully
capable of only wanted the world to hear it
too.
What a wonderful
sounding setup this was! The TAD Ref One
($60k) had me in serious business mode due to
the remarkable sound I was hearing via MSB's
model 200 monos ($15k pair) and Ref CD Station
($10k - add another $1k for internal volume
control). Using their famous concentric
mid/tweeter drivers the sound of this room was
nothing short of splendid. My only regret was
that I wasn't able to stay as long as I would
have wanted. This was not my first time
hearing the MSB monos although I've not heard
them driving the TAD loudspeakers. Got to take
my hat off to those guys too because these
amps sounded delightfully open, clean and most
importantly, musical.
Strictly in
terms of tonal rightness with a splendiferous
sense of musicality that is rare under most
conditions and hardly, if EVER, attainable
under dreaded show conditions, I must tip my
hat to the Canadian designers of Aurum
Acoustics. At $42k for the entire rig makes
this even that much more unbelievable
considering all the hyper-priced rigs flanking
this very room. Simplicity is the word
according to Aurum Acoustics (if you can call
a tri-wired system simple, please be my
guest). Their logic makes plenty sense and
moreover the sound was incredibly liquid and
three-dimensional. I can go on and on
telling you about how Aurum Acoustics designs
each of their 300B tubes specifically to drive
each midrange and tweeter driver
independently and crossover-less while the
bass drivers have their own dedicated
amplifiers built in to the loudspeakers.
Our own Mike
Silverton uses their CD player which lists for
$12k and asked me to seek this room out since
Mikey thinks much of their player. Well, now I
can fully understand what's got Mikey all
excited. The sonics of this room wowed me
enough to nominate it as my Best of Show
though, I will admit there was stiff albeit
more pricey competition coming from the Scaena/Behold,
Ascendo/Behold, Magico/VAC and the TAD/MSB
rooms. Though grossly more expensive by
comparison the Aurum Acoustics stood up toe to
toe with no apologies except one: NOT gouging your bank account. Bravo.
Until we meet
again,
Clement Perry
Back to Show
Page
|
