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Thursday:
The end of High End 2010's first day had me
feeling tired and sore. This type of travel
and back to back events have no mercy on the
weary. I managed only a short nap on the
8-hour flight from Newark Liberty airport to
Munich. Forget jetlag: I hit the ground
running from the airport directly to the MOC
with little concern of the 6-hour time loss.
Hans Jurgen Kaiser had guaranteed a 7:00PM
meeting at the Munich Marriott for the
45-minute (110 km) drive north of Munich to
the city of Regensburg. Fortunately, I was
able sleep for a majority of the ride. Nice.
I felt
refreshed upon meeting Rainer Weber,
designer of the Kaiser Kawero, a small but
mighty 3-way (4-driver), dynamic loudspeaker
($65k). By all appearances, the Kawero is
a very new loudspeaker company considering
they only debuted at the 2008 Rocky Mountain
Audio Fest (where they earned very high
remarks). After a short listen, you can hear
why this loudspeaker continues to capture
the imagination of music lovers far and wide
(if I'm not mistaken, I think I met two
Russian and one US Kaiser Kawero dealer on
this very trip). Rainer's real day to day
business involves designing high-end
acoustic solutions for show rooms, board
rooms and auditoriums. His immaculately
built listening space is something to admire
when you see all the specially chosen types
of acoustic treatments and how they
seamlessly meld into the very fabric of the
room.
This was a
very different look from my first trip where
the all-tube Master Sound 845 mono amps,
Absolare preamp and Reimyo CD player were
riding high at the helm. They were no-where
to be found. Instead, they were replaced by
a top-of-the-line Kuzma turntable, a Trinity
DAC and a sextet of Trinity amplifiers
compliments of GTE Audio (Germany). Each
triangular-shaped chassis is a mono
amplifier supported by TWO individual
power-supplies. The Trinity DAC as well as a
pair of Trinity amplifiers retail for $100k
each. Ouch. The Trinity website (www.gte-audio.com)
is the place to go for anyone interested in
these products.
 Another
major addition, in my humble opinion, was the all-new and absolutely
gorgeously built Absolare Byee AC Purifier.
Absolare's designer and president Kerem
Kücükasian was authorized to build a
European-only version of the Bybee AC
Purifier built here in the states (formally
by Laufer Teknik, now by the Tweek Geek).
This all occurred, of course, only after
Kücükasian heard the Laufer version of the
Bybee Purifier (the same version I also
use), in his own personal system and
concluded it was the best AC conditioner he
has heard. Being the perfectionist
Kücükasian is, he decided to best the
American version, if not sonic-wise then
cosmetically for sure, as his version sports
the very best Oyaide Schuko-type outlets the
company manufactures. In addition, the
easy-to-grasp rounded corners, chrome and
Porsche-leather exterior give it a certain
look that's quite unique.
Echole
cables, an excellent, tonally-rich line of
cables and AC cords also manufactured by
Kücükasian, were also used throughout in
this system.
Mr.
Harmonizer himself Holger Stein was also in
attendance as was his amazing Steinmusic
Harmonizers and Magic Stones.
Immediately, within seconds of the first
song Rainer cued up on his computer-based
hi-rez server, did I notice improved
transients on a ultra-resolute soundstage. I
also sensed a faster paced drive, with a
slightly hurried rhythm boasting greater
sure-footedness in the low-end. All this was
nice but it came at a price for the Kaiser
Kaweros began to sound as if slightly
over-driven. After only a few minutes, it
was as if the Trinity amps had overtaken the
loudspeakers by a show of force. This wasn't
the sound I so enjoyed upon my first visit
when the Kaisers were being driven
beautifully by a compliment of Master Sound
845 tube mono amplifiers, a Reimyo digital
drive and Absolare tube preamp. I could
sense the age-old debate of tube superiority
over solid-state and vice-versa beginning to
take form among the half-dozen listeners who
were in attendance. We broke for some
well-timed sandwiches and coffee while
Rainer asked what the consensus was with
regard to the system's performance. When I
mentioned I much preferred his tube sound,
which was echoed by almost everyone else
(who also had heard his tube rig), Rainer
mentioned the system was using "Echole
cabling that had only been placed into the
system earlier that very day and had
virtually zero break-in." Kücükasian
mentioned his cabling needs a minimum of 500
hours to perform at their best. Okay, I
said, as it stands now, the system isn't
ready for any serious listening in its
current iteration. Rainer suggested he go
back to some inexpensive generic cable he
had lying about. Surprisingly, once that was
accomplished, the sound got better: smoother
and not as hot on the top. But I still got
the sense the speakers were being
over-driven and thus still sounded stressed.
It was
getting late and I was fading fast. Rainer
says he loves the sound and although it
wasn't burned-in fully, he thinks of it as a
major sonic upgrade. Heck, I've been in that
very same situation more times than I care
to admit. One thing's certain, this system
is composed of one of the most impressive
loudspeakers I've heard in a very long time.
I am certain Rainer will dial in a sound
beyond the stellar sound I originally heard
back in 2009. My reasons are simple:
Rainer's got a group of folks surrounding
him that are honest and seek only the truth.
I witnessed this with my own two-eyes. We
all agreed the system was not up the
standards they hoped for. Not once were
excuses offered. Rainer took our
observations with a very gracious "Thank
You." Wow, how rare is that? is all I kept
asking myself on van heading back to Munich.
Hey Rainer,
I'm planning on another visit to you in
2011, so I ask this one minor suggestion of
you, please...don't touch a thing until we
return! |
