Meet the new Dynavector XX-2A.   It's still the same XX2 body, but what they've done to the body will make you sit up and listen.  The body itself has gone thru a new metal treatment (more to come) and right out of the box the music had a more preciseness to it, a more easy to hear every instrument, that feeling of less between you and the musicians. As reviewers from the past used to write, more veils dropped by Salome to give even more enjoyment.   It is back from Axpona and on demo here at the Haven after a triumphant debut, and is now in stock as well.  Please come have a listen to this if you are in the cartridge market.  

Edit- as of today the regular version of the XX2 is no more.  The new XX-2A has a finalized price of $2250.   I have one on demo, as per the show, and they are in stock now.  
So ORDER UP!   

​

my demo's finally made it here, more like waiting for a baby elephant than a baby ape.
Yet I can officially state the wait was worth it.  Many of you know that for me the O/93 is my favored speaker from DeVore, the one that musically I find the most appealing.  So now here is this smaller upstart that probably would remind one of the O/96 more than the O/93, yet different than both. And it has really caught my ear right out of the box.  At $6695, it's very close to my favorite at that price range, the Reynaud Cantabile $6000, and not far from the $8800 of the O/93. 
It'll be ready later in the week to put it thru the "trial of amplifiers" to see what works and doesn't. With a 90db efficiency rating, it should go quite well with many amps here.  Time will tell. Right now it's being gently smacked around by a Lejonklou Boazu integrated with a Lejonklou Kalla streamer.  Have you heard the Kalla yet?  It took me a bit, sorry Fredrik, to have all the proper items -switch and ethernet cables-  that Fredrik Lejonklou prescribes ( I was stubborn and wanted to use what I already had, and I failed, even Stereophile writer Alex Halberstadt was likewise guilty).  It is extremely satisfying, musically, like all of Fredrik's designs. No storage, yet most of you are no longer doing that, and you cannot use your own dac. And yes, it is another plain black box,  like all Lejonklou products. Yet it is about the music.  And it's wonderful!  
I'll be back soon to report on the BabyO's and other things...like those Fezz amps.  
Summer is indeed heating up. 

here's the little wren houses I've been talking about....well, flip them with the tweeter on top in a diamond shape and you'll see.  I've been breaking my demo pair in, they are really quite good. They liked my new Fezz Libra 300B, and now liking the Lejonklou Boazu integrated. I haven't had them on proper stands yet, although on these cocktail tables and on the window seat they shine, so I'm sure a computer desk or bookcase/shelf will suit them equally well.  The flecks you may see on the sides is not my normal dust, but rather wood shavings/bits added into the finish. These micrO's are a lot of fun. 

the Reynaud speaker line is so good, I get giddy every time I get to hook one up for someone.  The big sellers so far have been the Cantabile, @$5000, and the Orfeo Jubilee, @$12,500, though the other models have all gotten their due at the cash register.  The Abscisse above are at $7500, and fall between the two. Sonically, they're like the Orfeo yet slightly smaller, and slightly bigger sounding than the Cantabile.   

After a bit of a delay, well, let's say a long, long time, the finalized version of the Well Tempered Lab Amadeus 254 turntable/arm has arrived.  It's actually here, in Haven, in situ, in Studio A (my front room).  I can only say for now it's what I've been waiting for. Team Haven had used a prototype 254 in 2019 at Axpona, in wonderful Room 630, but then it got a bit of a redesign after that, and with all the production issues and such that have plagued most companies, I wasn't sure if I'd ever see it again. There were rumors, there were hushed promises, yet now all that is behind us, and it is ALIVE!  It's been spinning and running in since Thurs last, already deemed worthy of a better cartridge than what was on there to run it in, and today I couldn't work outside it was so good and had to stay in. Lol....hifi is indeed a rough business. So I know some of you have been asking the when, so it is a finished product, there is stock, and I'm ready when you are.  
Here's a few quick photos, nothing flashy... you know me, iPhone 11 and a few quick snaps. 

​

  If you don't know what I'm talking about just by the title above, do a quick google and you'll see it everywhere.  Good ol John DeVore gave a pretty accurate account of it on his Youtube channel. 
It's definitely a huge PR nightmare for Mobile Fidelity, not sure how they'll handle or recover from this. I do have some of their titles in question, I've enjoyed them, not going to flip them. They generally cover music that I no longer play much, or care to hear.  I prefer to plunk my money on Analogue Productions, Speakers Corner, Tone Poets, ERC, etc.   Get on the forums and have some fun. There have been a few pretty funny quipsters on there.
My 2cents....it is fraud, and like John DeVore said, it's funny how in the end, it shows that anything digital when transferred to vinyl sounds better.  SO LONG LIVE VINYL!  and  GO PLAY RECORDS! 

  The rivers are rising around here due to all the epic rain, and so are the hifi prices! Wish I could build a dam around the Haven and keep them from coming in, but price hikes seem inevitable from most everyone, and not just a here or there as before.  
Latest as of today, VTL announced another 20% increase across the board. 
Leben has had another, though they're not the easiest thing to get anyway - the 600X is now $8995, the CS 300F and CS 300XS are both now $4795. The RS 30 phono stage is $3195.
A slight jump in the Dynavector cartridge line, the 10X5 now $800, 20 is $1250, XX2 $2150, Te Kaitora Run $3650...Vandersteen are now $1887 for the 1's, 2's are $3607, 3's are $6351 (can you believe that one, it's not bad it's just when I started they were around $3k) Treos are now $9995,  Quatro is $17, 947,  the Kento is $41,700, and the big big boys $84,000.   

Shipping has become a nightmare, both with damages and with price increases.  I will no longer offer free shipping, it used to be one of my perks, but the shipping companies are jerks. Plain and simple. One has to insure a package for an enormous amount to cover your butt these days.  So that ends as of today. 

​

Look, Ma, I'm also a Kirmuss dealer now....so far only the speaker cables.  Great value, the hot spot length is 12', terminated pair is $890.  And in stock!  How's that.....

Well, I'm going to admit, I had no idea I would be carrying something from Mexico, not because I have anything at all against Mexico, I simply had no idea there was a hifi market there, or rather a great manufacturer producing audio products- high end audio products at that.  The Margules family has been busy for years, and with a few forays into the US market earlier by direct sales, have now found a new US distributor, AV Luxury Group, and a new rep, and lo and behold, yours truly, your local dealer. 
So what does it sound like? Oh, sorry, we're specifically talking about their all tube I 240 integrated, that's an i, not a 1, for integrated.  The i 240 sports 4 El34's and 4 12AU7's, 3 inputs- no griping here, 3 is enough- and full function remote. In short, looks like  your typical EL34 amp.  It does, however, have some rather unique tricks up its sleeve, patent pending on some, all that.  That's for later.  What I want to talk about, yell about, and jump around about is the music making of this box.  Glorious!  In recent days I've had two of my all time favs going, the Sugden IA4 and Jadis DA50S, driving the Reynaud Abscisses speakers. The IA4, a delightful solid state champ, all around solid performer, the DA50, treated correctly mind you, a darling of the tube camp around here. Enter this south of the border contender.  The eye 240, sorry, the I thing is starting to annoy, comes smack dab in the middle of the two. It has loads of drive for its mere 25 watts, like the Sugdens, it's quick, very tactile, then gives you this richness like the DA50 that carries one off like the best tube amps.  Other than that, it's very hard to explain. If I could only copy Willa Cather and describe the colors of the clarinet, the feel of the orchestra how the 240 captures it, then I could go on for pages. Nope, you have lil me.   More veils are lifted between you and the music, more bass extension than you thought possible, more palpability to the voicing area that has to be there to suck me into the performance.  In short, there's more!  
So, we'll see what happens as time goes on.  This to me could be that golden nugget that's been laying about in plain sight, or slightly hidden, however you see fit to call it. I'm calling it delightful!
You can read up for yourself about designer Julian Margules's technical achievements. You know how all that technical jargon and writing bores....all I need to know is how it works in systems or that system. Or if it works at all.  I've been hearing a lot of less inspired goods these days out there, yet it sells. Bleh. I say above how something works in a system. That's really the biggest thing out there these days.  Something could be great, yet not work together with another great piece.  Most of you are not getting that and get a big fail.  Dealers don't always get it right, myself included, at least at first.  This I 240 will get a thorough test, see which speakers it likes to drive and doesn't.  Julian thinks it will drive most, through an internal adjustable output impedance. We'll see.  
As for now, let's just say it's a doozy!  And I simply can't believe it's here.   All for six grand.  Stay cool.
​