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2006 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest
One of my
favorite loudspeakers, in case you don't know,
is the ESP Concert Grands SI ($40k). Fond
memories abound when I think my first foray
into this hobby and hearing these for the
first time. Life was never quite the same.
Here are the latest iteration of Sean
McCaughan, who hails from the UK and in a
previous life worked on the Beveridge
electrostats. This tells only part of the
story as to why this 10-driver per enclosure
sounds so wonderfully open and truthful to
whatever is placed before it - and in many
cases that can be its biggest problem. This
show was no exception. The room which featured
Alex Peychev's latest
Esoteric-on-the-outside-my-stuff-on-the-inside
modified NWO-2.5 ($21k) player, replete with
its tube bulging rear-end. Preamplifier was
importer Mike Verretto's usual suspect in the
tubed Concert Fidelity CF-040 linestage ($14k)
built in Japan by zen master Masataka Tsuda.
New to the crew was the super impressive and
attractive Shoreline 300 mono amplifiers
($42k), which can be had at half the price in
stereo as well. Built by super tinkerer and
mod-man John McCormack of Rainbow Electronics.
After days of
playing with different cables, ultimately
choosing Silversmith's Palladium, AC
conditioners constantly being swapped in and
out, the gang finally settled on a sound, and
Thor AC conditioner, that made all the cooks
happy (imagine how tough that must've been).
In the end, the sound was as expansive and
deep as I've heard from the ESPs and I've
heard them in many instances. One thing
appears certain; the Concert Grands simply
love power because they expressed a sense of
ease with oodles of body and low end
definition that I can't recall ever hearing to
this degree. Easily among the best sounds I
heard at the show.
On a Higher
Note's always dapper importer Philip O'Hanlon,
put on yet another show stopper pairing his
Halcro electronics with the Wilson Audio Max
2s in a huge parlor room. Some years
back, at a winter CES, I witnessed this
pairing when the Max 2s were first introduced
and the results were similar; dynamic,
expressive, and as musically accurate as I've
heard. This room also featured hi-def
music download service from Music Giants (www.musicgiants.com)
while all wiring featured XLO Electric.
Conspicuously located out in the open was the
Talon Audio Thunderbird subwoofer, compliments
of their new owner Richard Rives of Rives
Audio, whose room equalizer was less obvious
but nevertheless sonically felt. The
seamlessness of the signal from the Max 2s to
the Thunderbirds was most indistinguishable.
 Bel
Canto's John Stronczer specifically asked me
to visit his room because he wanted me to hear
the new Pioneer S-1EX-W ($7,500) driven with
his electronics. Promises made, I would
definitely not miss the invitation, but my
interest became more tweaked when I got no
less than a dozen "you gotta go over to the
Pioneer/Bel Canto room" from folks walking the
show. I admit to being very pleasantly
surprised by the look and quality of this
(Pioneer's reference line) impressive
3-way floorstander sporting a coax mid/tweeter
assembly and TAD Beryllium tweeter. Built in
France, with contributions coming from both
Japan and the USA, this infinite sloped, 89
dB, 6 Ohm baby delivered the sonic goods and
then some. The setup, placing the speakers
catty-corner versus the conventional method,
was particularly smart due to room's
limitations. The sound, especially the overall
neutrality, was right up there with the best
I've heard period - regardless of price. The
new ICE powered e.One M300 monos ($995 ea)
from Bel Canto sounded big, bold and powerful
considering their (two on one rack) diminutive
stature. Bel Canto boasted their own speaker
cabling in addition to their wonderfully built
all-format PL-1A universal CD player ($7,500).
You Light Up My
Life...
This room that
featured Wilson Benesch A.C.T loudspeakers,
deHavilland and Audio Aero did equal justice
to the visual as well as the aural with this
setup. The setup featured the illuminated
Ultrasonic Quadrack and their Ultrasonic amp
stand from Custom Isolation Products Inc.
George
Kielczynski of deHavilland looked quite proud
showing the new GM70 monos and Mercury
linestage atop this well-lit production. No
it's not a wishing well (which is what I
thought at first glance) but the new
Infrasonic Generator from Wilson Benesch. My
hunch is calling this a subwoofer would be too
simple considering it's build and location.
Overall, I enjoyed the sound of this setup and
LOVE the sound of deHavilland electronics.
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