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The Good, The Bad and
The Ugly
The Bad.
Don't know why this super expensive setup
always sounds so drab and disappointing to
these ears each of the four years I've sat
and listened to this demo. I blame the room
and rather cavalier moods of the Audio
Federation exhibitors more than the
electronics. The $295k Marten Design
Coltrane Supreme loudspeakers might be
considered sacrilege as they've never came
close to sounding anything remotely close to
what Coltrane, the MAN sounds like. The
gorgeous sounding but ultra expensive $135k
Lamm ML3 Signature amplifiers didn't come
nearly as alive as I've heard in previous
iterations.
The Ugly.
What I heard coming from the new JM Lab
Utopias and Boulder electronics made me
scurry for the exists as fast as I could
after taking these photos. Personally, I
would never blame the products as I've heard
them in too many instances sound utterly
delightful. My guess is you just never know
what you're going to get when putting
together an assortment of gear under
worst-case-scenarios such as hotel suites.
Also, at the time of my visit I had to
endure tons of what sounded like Grunge
music. On vinyl no less!
The Good.
Go figure! In literally every instance I've
heard the YG Acoustics loudspeaker, I felt
them to be cold and analytical. I've never
had the luxury of hearing them with my own
music until now thanks to the keen ear of
Darrin O'Neill, owner of Audio Limits. The Anat Reference II
($106k) serve as the company's reference and
let me say here for the record, using the
Weiss Medea digital electronics along with
FM Acoustics model 811 amplifier ($125k) and
model 255 preamp, I heard arguably the best
sound at this year's RMAF show! You know
this must have come as a surprise
considering how unimpressive they performed
in the past - not to mention all the other
great sounding setups heard at this RMAF.
This time the YG Acoustics Anat Signature
IIs vindicated themselves handily. With my
very own compilation sampler CD in one hand
and the Weiss Jason CD player's remote in
the other, and through dozens of my favorite
tracks, contributor Moreno Mitchell and I
walked out convinced the Anat Signature II
loudspeaker may be the "World's Most
Accurate" as YG's advertising campaign
boldly claims. The Anat Signature II is one
of the fastest, cleanest and most accurate
sounding loudspeaker I've heard whether in a
show or home. Outstanding performance! In
essence, this is a system that will appeal
to the accuracy nut.
"Artistic
Audio Imports garnered perhaps one of the
best sounding rooms at the show that
featured the outrageously huge and expensive
Acapella Triolon Excalibur loudspeakers
($170,500.00). Einstein electronics provided
the source as well as amplification and I
have to admit as cost prohibitive and
vainglorious
as this system certainly looked, it
nevertheless produced a sound that was
utterly magnificent. This was the second
time I've had the opportunity to hear that
ion-plasma (ozone free) tweeter and I've got
to admit it is perhaps one of the purist
sounding top-ends I've ever heard."
The Good Continued.
I wrote that about the Acapella/Einstein
room last year! Apply the exact same
accolades only this year without question
proved to be BEST SOUND AT SHOW! This
room was directly next door to the YG
Acoustics/FM Acoustics setup so doing a
quick A/B was a cinch. The one advantage the
Acapella/Einstein system had was with regard
to all the room acoustics that were used
again this year. This is a system that plays
with your heart rather than your head and
never makes apologies for its sweet,
luxurious and tubey sound. If forced to live
on a deserted island...I'm taking horns. For
all their misgivings and colorations they
still know how to pluck at my heart strings
like nothing else.
The Good Continued.
Rick Schultz of Virtual Dynamics had me
shaking my head and scratching my wig at the
same time. Having owned, reviewed and
referenced Schultz's Virtual Dynamic cabling
over the years, I've come to know him and
his designs quite intimately...or so I
thought.
What I
heard coming out of this room that featured
the Audio Parsifal loudspeaker and Schultz's
latest $100k Luminance Audio Reference
amplifier was nothing short of astonishing.
How Schultz plans to justify making a
conventional designed solid-state stereo
amplifier, rated at only 165 watts per side,
at that price and expect any sales is beyond
me. But then again, this room sounded much
better than the other far more expensive
aforementioned setups in the same
less-than-ideal hotel room. Maybe we've gone
a little whacky chasing behind all the big
and powerful gold-plated badges while the
real winners continue to remain undesirable
and anonymous but to their credit - and most
importantly - unrepentant.
The Good Continued.
Speaking of anonymity, it's going to be very
hard for German loudspeaker Kaiser Kawero to
keep a low profile, along with LessLoss cables and
electronics. Together, they put on a
performance that easily won me
over as among the Best & Affordable setup!
The Good Continued.
The Ascendo System C8 ($10k) driven by
the behold Gentile Integrated (prices start
at $18k) along with the Nova Physics Memory
Player showed what is possible in a more
modest and simple system. This system
sounded far more sophisticated and expensive
than its sticker price would have otherwise
indicated. Another Best & Affordable winning
setup!
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