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2006 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest
Page 3
Ayre's MX-R 300-watt mono amps ($16,500)
employing their patented EquiLock technology
(not ICE or Class D) teamed up with the new
Vandersteen Quatro loudspeakers ($10,700) to
produce a wonderfully open and dynamic sound.
Punchy and clean throughout its frequencies,
this was another interesting room.
Artistic
Tunes...
 Artistic
Audio Imports is proud importer of Domenicio
Foreintino's Eventus Audio Phobos loudspeaker
($13,800). While covering the Munich show, a
quick stop into the Eventus Audio suite has
always been a must during my travels there.
Denver's a lot closer than Munich and to see
this beautifully crafted transducer here at
the RMAF was a treat indeed. Driven by
Einstein electronics, Accustic Arts transport
and dac Stealth cables and Isoclean AC
conditioners. The sound was as I suspected:
warm and inviting without missing a single
rhythmic beat.
By George,
you've done it again...
Tyler Acoustics
has done it again, but this time they decided
to use a horn loaded loudspeaker in the Tyler
Acoustics PD15 presented a beautiful zebrawood
finish. Driven by a Jolida tube integrated and
CD player, the sound was dynamic, smooth and
present with a very nice sense of the acoustic
space. Tyler Acoustics has a strong following
for his skill at taking affordably priced
designs to the next level.
You've got stars
in your eyes...
TMH Audio's head
honcho Jim Ricketts' space looks sparse but
don't let these little Manger Zerobox 109s
($7,500) fool you because they're super adept
when it comes to disappearing acts. Driven by
Boulder mono amps and the enviable Metronome
CD5 Sig ($18K) that, employs its own volume
control along with a tube output stage,
literally had me in this room for what I would
call a long stay rate. Ricketts' a wonderful
professional and has been at this for as long
as I can remember. His taking on Manger's
loudspeakers is in my opinion a smart endeavor
because that special made tweeter they've
patented is just that. The sound of this room
was quite impressive.
My what nice
feet you have...
Paul Wakeen of
Stillpoints looked quite proud to see the
Sentient Acoustics loudspeaker; a first
loudspeaker employing his Stillpoints
Components Stands. We can't wait until they're
available for review as a formal request has
been made.
My, my how red
you are...
Newcomers Forte
Sounds really looked somewhat overwhelmed
based from the looks of their room. These
bright young audiophile/engineers wanted to
present their best but had trouble getting
into Denver due to bad weather, thus causing
them to rush and present this less than ideal
setup. My hopes was they got their act
together by Saturday (unfortunately, I didn't
make back to their room). Throw in for good
measure a slew of very hard-to-operate
Meridian electronics. That said, the Ferrari
red Triathlon loudspeaker ($8k) are quite an
ambitious first outing using Morel mids and
tweeters and Peerless woofers. Using 1st and
4th order crossovers at the mid and tweeter
makes bi-amplification mandatory due to the
woofer employing no crossover whatsoever.
Forte explains this as offering a "pitch
definition to bass, while giving far better
dynamic contrasts" as the reasoning behind
their design.
Just in time for
the holidays....
Audio Media
Group, formally Audia Soundlab, and makers of
excellent planar ribbon hybrid (dipole)
loudspeakers, were at it again debuting
another affordable design in the Djavan series of prototype planar
monitors. The bi-wireable Djavan uses a 12"
planar-magnetic ribbon which employs a neatly
designed 2nd order (@ 350 Hz) crossover
between midbass and ribbon. Rated impedance is
a user friendly 8 Ohm while sensitivity is a
decent 90.5 dB. The cabinet uses special
inlays of of maple hardwood over MDF to give
it a real furniture appearance. Franklin and Fernando Mack,
co-designers and brothers behind the Audia
Media Group promise to have this product among
others readied before the end of the year.
With a starting price at around $1,695.00
retail, I bet they'll make a nice gift
under the audiophile mistletoe.
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