The Most Affordable system with expensive sonic virtues came via the Zu loudspeaker/Red Wine Audio setup. Vinnie Rossi, Red Wine's designer appears to have something special in his tubed and battery-powered components. His new LFP -V Isabella Headphone amp/DAC combo ($4k), Signature 70.2 mono amps ($5,200) sounded most natural and noise-free (which I consider an amazing feat at this price point). This was my first extended listening session with both Zu and Red Wine and I hope it won't be my last.

The YG Acoustics Kipod ($33k) proved a worthy match for the MBL integrated and Kubala-Sosna cables. GTT Audio's Bill Parish always has something up his sleeves when it comes to music so this year he chose a Korg MR 2000S Pro DSD recorder as a source for both his rooms. Though, this room was certainly among the Best Sounding, personally for me, I was once again bowled over by the bigger YG Acoustic Anat II loudspeakers driven by Soulution electronics located directly next door....

Transcribing LPs directly from a Vyger Indian Signature turntable/Soulution 750 phonostage via Kubala-Sosna Elation series cables onto the Korg MR 2000S Pro DSD recorder, Parish had hundreds of hours of music on demand via these digital hi-rez dynamos. I didn't think to ask what the native resolution was and honestly couldn't care less because the sound was better than anything I heard at this year's show. Intimate, when the music asked, yet dynamic and resolute as the DSD could muster. Needless to say, I was depressed. I love cheering for the little guys and would love to say I heard comparable sound from less expensive rigs here at this year's show. Nope. Didn't happen.  

At a modest $104,000 asking price, the all-aircraft-aluminum built Anat IIs might be among the very few "affordably priced" elite loudspeakers available today. The big Wilsons, Acapellas and MBLs just to name but a few, will set you back three-times as much. The Anat IIs, I think, found their soul mates when they were matched with the Soulution 700 mono amps of Switzerland. Super-expensive? Hell yes! But the sound was, and still is among the very best I've experienced from anything solid-state. As far as I'm concerned YG Acoustics and Soulution have proudly garnered an elite position in what is possible in the here and now convoluted world of high-end audio. My choice for Best Sound at RMAF 2010! (price no object).