StereoTimes - Commentary

2006 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest

Page 2

Kill'em with kindness!

Star Sound Techonologies AKA Audiopoints showed their Caravelle ($5k) mini-monitors which performed nothing short of remarkable considering their size. Supported by their Model 100 mono amplifiers and all Virtual Dynamic cabling and Wadia digital as a source, the sound was particularly expansive, rich and detailed all at once. Star Sound's new iso-rack under the loudspeakers are said to have added tremendous sonic gains to the already fab Caravelles. Robert Maicks, head guru and chief bottle-washer was mostly outside manning sales (thanks for tee-shirts) while Rick Schultz of Virtual Dynamics entertained the rest of us.

We went from the small to the sublime....

If anyone out there is half as familiar with what the Soundlabs are capable of, then you ought to know by just one glimpse of this photo to fully understand what this room sounded like using three 8'8" Soundlab Majestic electrostats side by side powered by Pass Electronics mono amps via Kimber Kable (there's Ray Kimber posing 'til closing). The sound was so effortless and utterly life-like that it took me back to my visitation at the home of John Yves in the South of France last Fall (photo above right). Yves boasts simply the greatest system these ears have EVER heard period.

In both setups similarities abound.

For one, look at the size of both these loudspeakers, the room they reside in and maybe this serves as a clue as to why space always matters (Yves' room was simply humongous). I think we all have a little soundstage freak in us but in many cases we're forced to close our eyes and imagine being in a room as expansive as here. Combine this feature with the greatest sense of ease, transparency and effortless flow that offers few rivals and you might get a glimpse of what I heard there in Denver. The sound was so overwhelming and I was so unprepared, that I left the room and returned only once to make sure I wasn't dreaming. It's a sound that for 99% of us is simply unobtainable. Yeah, maybe one day...until then keep on dreaming.

Speaking of which....

MK Audio of northern New Jersey showed for the first time their Analysis Audio Amphitryon loudspeakers. These, their largest model planar loudspeaker ($24k), put on some show here with the Joule Electra Rites of Passage mono amplifiers. I've got to make my way back over to hear these at the home of the importer because I simply am too intrigued by what I heard however brief. To say the sound was organic, sweet, ultra smooth and yet detailed would be a gross understatement. Planar and tubes go together like Batman and Robin.

With a starting price of just $995, PS Audio's newest Digital Link III DAC (left) and the Trio A-100 power amp (right) sounded dynamic and controlled despite their miniaturized appearance. Boasting a hefty 150 watts per side I would have to say the room sounded a lot bigger than these little dynamic duos. I've their newest product in the PS Audio Harvesters and must say they're really as good as the company boasts, maybe better. Stay tuned for our upcoming review.

Art of Noise...

Advanced Ribbon Technologies demonstrated their newest Metro Ribbon Hybrid Loudspeaker ($6,900 assembled or $4,900 for kit). At less than two thousandths of an inch thick the A.R.T .7 ribbon is assembled in the Metro incorporates over twelve pounds of magnetic material, all of which is concentrated on a narrow plane to drive the ribbon diaphragm that measures 20 square inches in surface area. Why they're not on stands gets me but the North Acoustics Kitty Kat Revelator ($2,500) monitors were in the room just awaiting to get a chance to strut their stuff. As many of you are aware I'm always curious to see how new products using planar or ribbons perform and I was not disappointed listing to the new Metros. Smooth and ultra-transparent while quite open considering their narrow window. Keep an eye out for this hybrid that appears destined for greater things.

Lower the masses....

That's what Thiel says makes their new drivers look, well, sort of unusual in the new CS3.7 loudspeakers ($8k). The tweeter in the new CS3.7 employs five neodymium magnets to drive its motor assembly. The 10" woofers also sporting their new "ribbed" contoured geometry that Thiel says makes it much more rigid than aluminum and thus more pistonic in motion. Sensitivity is a remarkable 90 dB at 4 Ohms (for a Thiel, that's quite an improvement). All I'll say is driven by nearly all VTL rig, minus the Marantz CD drive, the sound was quite impressive. Though, room limitations abound, the sound was crystal clear with a warmth that had my tube love affair rise again.