Stereomojo took SEVEN of our 15 staffers to Denver for this exciting event .
Left to right:
Steve Ham - California, Headphones Editor
Ryan Scott - Media Editor,
William Schuchard, Massachusetts - Reviewer
Linda Darby - Florida - Finance & Wife Factor Editor
James Darby - Florida - Publisher
Danny Richie, Texas - Technical Editor
Clark Hertz, Saskatchewan, Canada - Canadian Editor
The Fry Street Quartet reminded us all of what the Fest was all about - music. Their sparkling playing drew large crowds each time they performed.
Reviews of their recordings (and the entire Isomike catalogue in addition!) for Ray Kimber's Isomike label will be published when we launch our redesigned, all new website with a large section of music reviews - coming soon.
The Fry Street review will feature an interview with violinist Rebecca McFaul, second from the left.
Speaking of ray Kimber and Isomike, this amazing shot of a ton of Pass Labs monoblocks was taken during pre-show setup. These were to power 10 towering Soundlab speakers as part of Ray's Isomike recordings surround demo. Aren't you glad you didn't have to lug all of those around.
Publisher's note: You will notice that we do not comment on the specific sound qualities of the amps. Why? Amps running through various cables and who knows what sources sitting on who knows what stands and likewise speakers , placed in hotel rooms with any number of people crowded in? Anyone who claims to be able to assess the sound of an amp under those conditions is pontificating and/or trying to impress someone. We won't.
"Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue"
Tube/Solid State hybrid amps are something that's been around for awhile (something "old'), but this German company "Acoustic Plan" is definitely "new" to the states. The distributor, Yujean Kang, contacted us even before the show to arrange for us to "borrow" one for review, and the color is a very striking cobalt "blue". I know...we're so clever.
This is the "Sitar" integrated amp model. At $7,500, it has 4 line inputs and an optional phone stage. Output is 70 wpc. They also showed a $9,300 preamp.
The sound seemed very promising (no pontificating) and we look forward to reviewing these for you.
This was one of the more exciting new amplifiers debuting at in Denver. Made in Japan by Triode, this is their new TRV M88 200 watt tube monoblock. We thought it was handsome and the sound was first rate as well. No price has been set yet, but knowing Triode it will be in the bargain price arena. Santy Oropel, owner of Twin Audio who distributes Triode in the states, has sent us other Triode products for review. In fact, we have their 300B amp in house at the moment. Sweeeet!
This was one of the biggest and most pleasant surprises at the show. The once great Luxman of Japan is back, and big in a very big way.
They showed a very impressive and large line of new amplifiers with bold styling that was both fresh and a bit retro at the same time. The sense of ultra quality construction was very apparent.
One hour has passed since I wrote that last sentence. Noteworthy only because the interruption, coincidentally, was a call from Phillip O'Hanlon who is the distributor and marketing maven for Luxman stateside.
Talk about luck o' the Irish. (Phillip is a very proud Irishman). He had already talked to me at length at the show, but smart guy that he is, was calling to thank me and to follow up on our conversation AND to talk about what he will be doing at CES. Now THAT is how a great marketer and distributor should do business!
What he reiterated was the lengths to which Luxman goes in design testing to achieve the best sound possible. For example, they even test (meaning listen to), different types of paint for their internal components. They say it makes a difference. They design their circuits so the traces are as straight as possible with no 90 degree angles because it just sounds better.
Luxman was absent in the states because of unfortunate sales to parent companies Like Alpine that did not understand the Luxman value system and ended up bastardizing the name to sell car audio. When one sale went through, the whole design staff resigned. Looking at the 12 new items on display, it was very evident that Luxman was serious about reclaiming their place among the top echelons of high end audio. Their catalogue shows many more products to come including DACs and universal players. We can't wait to see and hear them. Unfortunately, no turntables were included.
These are two integrated amps that look very similar, but one costs $4,500 and puts out 20 wpc. The other costs $9,000 and does 30 wpc. Twice the price for an additional 10 watts?
There's much more to it than that. The L-590A II weighs 10 lbs more, which is indicative of the much different design and circuitry. For one, all the traces are 24 karat gold. Bigger power supplies
and several other features which make it a very different beast. "Beast" may be appropos.The room in which the system was assembled was very large - one of the larger rooms at the show. The speakers were by Vivid whose efficiency is is in the 80's. Yet standing about 30 feet back in the high ceiling ed room, I could swear I was listening to at least 100 wpc. The music was loud yet very clean and very musical. When Phillip told me I was listening to only 30 wpc I was skeptical. The meters even showed that the amp was not working all that hard. Later, while he was talking to someone else, I crept over to scan the cables to see if there was another output source in place. That's how strange it was to hear such power from a 30 watter. There was not. I was impressed.
One interesting tidbit is that Luxman holds the patent on Global Negative Feedback, used by many tube amps, but Luxman does not. They have invented a system that isolates noise & distortion at the output from the musical signal, eliminating phase distortion and allowing a very high slew rate (speed) and also eliminating the need for a DC servo circuit. Result? Cleaner, faster, more musical sound. Looking at their price list, the figures I see are very reasonable for what you get. Welcome back Luxman!
Integrated Tube Amp. 2 x 12 wpc, 6
Also debuting at the show LSA's new Statement hybrid integrated amp. "It is really our best value in that the biggest leap in performance is between the Signature, our middle amp, and the new Statement", said Brian Warford. "It really is stunning".
As you know, we have reviewed LSA's other two integrated amps with the "Standard" model sinning not only a Maximum mojo Award, but also our Integrated Amp of the Year. If what Brian says is true (and he's never told us anything that isn't), the new Statement, which truly is their no-holds-barred statement piece, should be some impressive amp. We'll see shortly as it is promised to us for review ASAP.
John Tucker , who does a lot of the design work for LSA amps, also has his own gig as owner of Exemplar Audio. He makes his own custom amps as well as modifications to things like this heavily modified Shanling CD player. We hope to be reviewing some of his ideas in the near future as well.
In addition to some of the finest turntables in the world (TW Acustic), Jeffrey Catalano of Highwater Sound also represents TRON, a premiere maker of tube amplification. Made in the UK, Tron's design goal is simple - to build the best amplifiers in the world regardless of price. "They build to the best specs, not to a price point", says Jeff
The gorgeous tube amp you see here is the Tron Syren.
Tron Seven Line Stage $5,500.
Tron Seven Phono w. 2 inputs $4,500
On top is the Tron Seven linestage
This is the Tron Seven The Seven line has the following: 5 RCA inputs, mono/stereo switch, mute switch, earth lift switch, silver RCA sockets, non ferrous case and it is all made in the UK. It also has fitted a very high quality Elma selector switch and a close tolerance Noble volume control.
If you're running a state of the art turntable with four arms, you'd better have a great phone stage.
Here is another new name. Operetta from Jaton. As you can see, the amp employs modular "cards" - one amp on each card . Not a surprise since Jaton is more famous for its computer graphic cards. This one has 5 channels, but a two channel is available as well. The AP2140A (2 Channels) / AP5140A (5 Channels) are 140 wpc @ 4 ohms. It's made in 3 different finishes; Silver with mirror, Black with mirror, and whole silver aluminum finishing.
A marque with which everyone should be familiar, Bryston showed this new BP-26 Preamp with separate power supply for a tidy $3,590. Features a polarity toggle.
We think Bryston is often overlooked when people go shopping for amps. Maybe because they don't market themselves as being sexy. They are the Volvo of the audio industry. Perhaps a bit plain, but they are very consistent when it comes to sound quality and bulletproof design and construction. Their 20 year warranty should tell you something. They are still a big player in recording studios, too, which should also tell you something about their sound and reliability. You never see a load of Bryston on Agon or Ebay, and if you see one, the resale is always pretty high.
Doshi is the brand and the designer's last name .Featured here is the Alaap Full Function Preamplifier at $12,990. It is hand built in Michigan to very high specs and includes very high quality phono circuits. In fact, 3 of the 6 inputs are dedicated to MC/MM phono.
Doshi goes so far as to custom tailor the phonos to ZYX, Koetsu and Benz carts for absolute best matching. That's different.
One line input is fully XLR balanced while the other 2 are single ended. Impressive. Stay tuned for more.
We discovered this brand over a year ago when it was first introduced to the US market. We took a chance a did the first US review. Now other mag rags are catching on for which we are glad because Audio Space is a worthy contender in the tube amp market. Chinese, to be sure, but they are very reliable and stable. Not just the products, but the company as well. I'll never forget the demo they did where a KT88 tube was pulled from the amp while the amp was playing, then reinserted moments while still playing with no damage. The amp just kept producing very musical tunes as if nothing had happened. What's more, they had done that same potentially disastrous demo many times during the show which is nothing short of extreme abuse. At it wasn't even their most expensive amp!
They are constantly upgrading and improving their products as well, showing several new amps modeled after their statement Reference 2 which a US print mag recently salivated over.
This is an interesting picture. If you notice, there is an AudioSpace integrated on the floor in Albert Von Sweikert's room. This was taken after the show was over and I happen to be present. He was auditioning the amp with his new Signature VR4's. He was more than a little impressed. I could tell you more, but it's not for publication - strictly off the record stuff. But he had some very interesting things to say about AudioSpace.
JD: Steve McCormack has been around. Remember the Mod Squad? That was him. Tiptoes? Steve. McCormack Audio and those DNA amps? Uh-huh.
That was bought by Conrad Johnson around 1998 and Steve since started SMc. This is his latest and debuting at the show: The VRE-1 Preamp.
- Fully balanced, active / passive hybrid design
- Heavy, non-resonant enclosure contributes to outstanding sonics
- Lundahl and Jensen coupling transformers
- External, choke-filtered power supply
- Stable, reliable, no heat, no noise, no ground loops, low voltage
- Discrete, wideband JFET circuit uses no feedback
- Precision stepped-attenuator for accurate volume adjustment
Available for about $6800
We're working on getting one of these for you. We think it's probably a big winner.
Clark Hertz: The VRE-1 ($6800) is a fully balanced preamp without remote and encased in a çorian enclosure.
Frank Van Alstine was showing his new $1500 OmegaStar EX, 90 wpc integrated amp. He was also soliciting opinions about the various new color schemes you see here. Which one do you prefer? Linda and I both liked the top, black & gold combo, though the all gold (not shown here)was nice, too.
No review is scheduled, though it is not for our lack of asking. Frank is from the Julian Hirsch school of "Everything sounds the same that measures the same" and "old lamp cord sounds as good as Nordost Valhalla". Frank and I have had some very friendly, spirited debates over our opinions. What's mystifying to us is that we are a value oriented review journal where his products would seemingly be a perfect fit, but he chooses instead to have reviews by TAS - known more for their ultra high-end reviews. The kicker is, TAS does not perform any measurements, which Frank believes are all important. He also places some pretty pricey ads in TAS. Just seems a bit odd.
Here is yet another name that has been largely ignored in the US audio press - Electrocompaniet. Since 1973 these products have been produced in Norway. Highly respected (and reviewed) in Europe they make some of the best looking gear anywhere. According to the reviews, some of the best sounding as well. Matthew Waldron of Escalante is the new distributor in the US and he tells us he wants to revitalize the marque.
Electrocompaniet makes three lines, including a new "Prelude" line that is for "budget conscious" audiophiles. Products there are in the $2-3,000 category such as the PC-1 & 2 shown here.
Of course, they make a high-end line with things such as the $16,000 monoblocks. In the middle is their Classic line which is still pretty price competitive. For example:
Check out their specs on this EC-3 integrated for only $3,000:
The ECI 3 features Electrocompaniet’s unique FTT (Floating Transformer Technology) power supply, which is capable of delivering twice as much current as conventional power supply designs. The ECI 3 contains the same components used in our most prestigious models. A 550 VA transformer, in FTT configuration, and a current reservoir of 40.000uF delivers 2 x 70 W of clean and powerful dynamics into an 8 Ohms load. Like the rest of our amplifiers, ECI 3 is stable down to 0,5 Ohms. The balanced output of the ECI 3 can feed an additional power amplifier in a bi-amped set-up
JoLida. Mike Allen's company was a pioneer in the Chinese amp movement. He's lived through and seen it all.
He has also been instrumental in improving the quality and reliability of said imports. We are currently reviewing his 300B amp. So far, so good!
Esoteric is not a new name, but they have been busy. Mark Gurvey took me through each piece and pointed out rich features. Nice job,Mike.
We have arranged for a review of the SA-10 universal player.
Clark Hertz: In the Rives Audio room the Talon Hawks were driven by the new VAC Alpha Integrated amp ($12,500). These were fed by the new Wadia 581se CD player ($9,950). Helping with the bottom end was the Talon Thunderbird 13" powered sub ($10,000). The sound was clean and coherent with good transparency and a deeply detailed soundstage.
JD: Ok, this was lust at first sight for me. I like the simple yet elegant look. I know from experience that VAC makes good music. Of the many integrateds I saw, this is one I wanted to take home. Kevin Hayes uses KT 88's to produce 100 wpc, which is impressive in itself. The Alpha brings together the best of the vaulted Phi 300 with a triode line stage and a phono stage as well. He even incorporates a remote control for the 5 input and volume. I want it. Now.We will see if we can get one to test for you. And me, too.
Ryan Scott: The AudioNote room was chock-full of AN gear, a full digital and analog rack as well as the AN-E speakers. Peter Qvortrup of former Snell fame builds the speakers, with a lot of the same design philosophy applied ‘back in the day’.
JD: Audio Note AN/E Spe HE
Audio Note OTO Phono SE
Audio Note TT2 turntable with Arm Three
Audio Note AN-S4 moving coil step up transformer
Audio Note IO1 moving coil cartridge
Interconnect: Audio Note AN-Vx
Speaker cable: Audio Note Lexus XL
Acoustic Dreams 4-shelf equipment rack
Audio Note CD 2.1X/II CD Player
These Atma-Sphere MA-1 MK III monos aren't new, but always amazing
at which to look.
140 watts per side.
Ohhh yeah.
ASL was showing their Cadenza mono power amp. A cadenza is the section of a concerto where the orchestra accompaniment drops out and the soloist is highlighted in a section usually written to showcase the artist's technique and prowess. This is where he gets to really show off.
The Cadenza puts out 60 watts and costs $6,500 per pair.
In a not quite so remarkable room, Quicksilver Audio was showing their SET Mono amplifier $2800pr and the Triode Mono amplifier $3595.
I don't think it was the fault of the "Quickies", though. The horn speakers just weren't sounding very well.
I like George Kaye of Moscode. He's a great guy with a head and heart full of music and audio knowledge. He can also be hysterically funny.
We both happen to like to give people a very good natured hard time. George was waiting for me and locked and loaded.
"So where's my award, Darby?"
"Oh no...George...I forgot it...".
His new hybrid amp had won an Best of NY Show award and I was supposed to bring it to Denver with me.
He went on with mock indignation. Finally i said, "OK George, what do I need to do to make it up to you"?
He eyed Linda and said with mock smirk, "How about something in a bikini?"
"A BIKINI??", I returned.
"And feathers...", he continued.
Linda was laughing and decided to play along; "Oh George, I LIKE feathers!"
"How about leather, Linda?"
"Ooooo...leathers and feathers...."
Well George, a promise is a promise.
Here ya go, pal...feathers and a leather bikini.
By the way George, the above amp probably would have been in the running for "Amp of the YEAR", but we gotta REVIEW IT for that to happen....
Still more to come from the 2007 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest. Even more amps plus "The Turntables".
Please check back.