Back from the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, thinking over what I saw and heard, and overheard. -I'll be carrying a new speaker soon, the Yonna, from new speaker maker Uwe Meyer of Meyer Tonapparate of Germany. Mr. Meyer has made cabinets for the Auditorium speakers for years, and also his own equipment rack, which I'll also be carrying soon, and has now launched his own speaker line. The speaker consists of a 1" tweeter with an aluminum/wood horn, and a 10" backloaded horn, opening to the floor, basically a 2 way with high efficiency of 97db. It was love at first hearing, so look for that to come soon, or in hifi speak, sometime down the road. Other news....the new line of EX from Ayre was on display, quite nice looking per usual of Ayre. There is a new CD player, yes!, CD, and a new preamp, amp, digital hub, and the new EX-8 integrated, which I already have here. Also to come is a new phono preamp. So very good news out of Ayre. Nice to see they've made a recovery from the death of initial designer/owner Charley Hansen, who had everything in place for continued success. New factory digs, new designs by a team that had worked with Charley for years, so rest assured that Ayre is looking for a very positive future. There is also a new digital piece from Aurender which some of you may be interested in, the ACS-10. The ACS-10 is a a streamer/storage/CD ripper!, server, all one does is add their favorite DAC. Aurender has always been most concerned about meta tagging of files, and now can be done with one machine and no computers! Yay! at least from me....things can get quite messy for me even with easy to use dbpoweramp that I use to rip cd's to my servers. I guess I play some unusual music that isn't always in online libraries. So there you go! And another piece from Aurender on the way, basically an A-10, the company's biggest selling streamer/server/storage/dac, now with no storage, for many of you who don't care about files and only use subscription services. Not sure of the price, perhaps in the $3k area as opposed to the A10's $5500. I will be a Tellurium Q cable dealer shortly. As I roundly heard said by other dealers, "like I need another cable line like I need a hole in my head", still, the Tellurium, from what I can tell is another great line, so we'll see....we'll stick our toe in the water with a few and report back. The company has 4 lines, the Blue, Black, Silver, and Platinum. And make all types of cables and cords, so lots to take in. Stay tuned... one thing which made me laugh, the head Tellurium gentleman was at the show to meet we prospective dealers, and I couldn't help but think I'd met him before...here is the vision I saw...I swear the man has two careers going.... and last but not the least by any means....a new VTL phono stage is coming, a new Keith Monks record cleaning machine, a new Dynavector cartridge is coming, and then the one that probably made the most splash at the show, which unfortunately won't be coming to the Haven any time soon, was this.... the new DeVore 0/96 Reference System, a totally redesigned, very upscale system from John, with active subwoofer, the whole nine yards....what started out as an improved 0/96 rumored at $25k turned into a redesigned 0/96 with matching subwoofer and push/pull amp at $55k and then with improvements to that turned into a system that is now going to be at around $90k. I have to tell you honestly, I was hanging in there for the Haven and all of you for the first two rounds, thinking that it was my time to bring in a big speaker system, a reference from one of my favorite designers, not for everyone, mind you, just so that one could come here and at least hear a speaker like this set up properly in a standard room. None of that over the top expensive big show system stuff that is impressive yet musically sterile. I heard one this RMAF, the big 1.2 million dollar Verity system...impressive, yes! The organ recording was like you were there. The rest, normal jazz recordings, no...big no, as big as the system no.
The DeVore Reference system is still a prototype, at least the sub, yet it was wildly musical, and big, and everything you might want from that kind of money. Yet I'll have to pass at this time, I'm sure you can understand. Someone might drive in one day with a green Aston Martin 1964 and hand me the keys, but I'm not in a position to write a check for that either, as much as I crave one. So that's my basic show report....you can read many in depths reports online, all biased and speaking many half truths, yet in my new era of positivity I'll keep my smile firmly intact and bid adieu for now. Come see me, for one the Riviera 10 integrated is finely getting broken in and it's really doing some nice things. And I've got lots of new records that I think you might like. See you.... actually, I've been around, yet off the blog for a bit. Lots of new customers, lots of float trips, yard work out the ying yang to rework the landscaping after all my tree damage from the past two summers. After this weekend's Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, I'll be back with lots to talk about - and all that lawnmower time during the summer gave me thinking time concerning hifi, so watch out.
https://audiobacon.net/2018/05/07/axpona-2018-the-awards/3/
and still the accolades keep a coming....this one from an online publication I didn't know existed. We even got the Certified Sizzle award! Thank you, AudioBacon, for this esteemed honor. Stop in again next year, Room 630, and see if we can take home the bacon once more. Now, as much as we here love bacon, I'm hoping that the Illinois Pork Growers Association pays us some notice from now on. Surely being a Certified Sizzler should garner us something...a free slab of bacon, a couple of chops. Speaking of slabs, I had an extremely nice customer bring me a slab of ribs from Slab of Kansas City as a way of saying thank you after a transaction...plus sauce. Never forget the sauce! Thanks again, Mani, they were delicious. On a side note, I'm always up for pizza as well....just sayin. Via Italia! From sunny Italy comes a new integrated, the Riviera AIC-10. With a world class headphone amp, and tube pre/hybrid amp of 10 watts, it's one of the most gorgeous I've heard. Like the first time many of us watched Sophia Loren on the big screen, this Italian will seduce and intoxicate. At first I was a bit skeptical of the wattage rating, yet it can drive most anything I've tried...makes the big DeVore X's and Vandersteen Treos sing. And stellar with the DeVore Orangutan series, and even my beloved lil Falcons. Like the turntables/cartridges the Haven is now demoing, the integrateds now here are all at the top of the heap, and the Riviera is certainly a contender. Schedule an appointment for a listen. But be warned, this AIC-10 is addictive. For the birdwatcher, I've had all sorts of woodpeckers this year at the feeders. You name it, they've been here. My bird books and binoculars have been getting a beating this season.
So now, we have a woodpecker even in house (no, not in barn...I actually do have a barn, you can't miss it as you pull up, unlike some who merely have a tool shed masquerading as barn...sorry, bad inside joke ). All right, all Sunday morning coffee snark aside, I'd like to introduce THE Woodpecker, the Dr. Feickert Analog Woodpecker Flyover, you say? Well, it looks like we've become more than that around these parts....it's like Dorothy always says, it was right here in our own back yards all along....
http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/2018-axpona-show-report-analog-sources/ Best of Show: Best Sound (cost no object) Audionet (Stern, Heisenberg, PAM G2 Phono w/EPX power supply), Air Tight Opus-1, Kronos, YG Sonja XV Jr., Kubala Sosna Realization and XPander played excellent music in a space one could have in a home environment. Best Sound (for the money) While I didn’t get to explore this category as much as I’d have preferred, Stereo Haven’s room 630 withWell Tempered Labs ’table/cartridge, Line Magnetic, Box Furniture, Isotek, Auditorium, and Falcon Acoustics produced good sound. and as always, it was beginning to sound best on Day 3..by Sunday afternoon it was glorious, even more flesh on the bone, and then the snows came and that was that....get the heck out of Dodge. I'd like to thank Team Haven, who helped make all this possible: Mike Pranka, of Well Tempered Lab and Dynavector USA, Jonathan Halpern, of Tone Imports, my friends Tony Fafoglia, local guitar legend and gunslinger, and the brothers from another Swiss father, Daryl and David, of Centralia, IL, and mostly all those who came by and relished the "modest" system. I was most pleased also with so many industry people coming in Sunday and smiling and tapping their toes. High praise, indeed. And I would like to thank Mark Freed, the Axpona coordinator, and the gals of Axpona, Jordan and Kim, who were very kind to this dealer newbie. Please come and see me, as many are doing from far above Chicago, to the west past Kansas City, from the east beyond Memphis and Nashville and Indy, and from the south. The Haven is very easy to get to, there are hotel accommodations close by. I will foot the bill for anyone who overnights and makes a purchase. I will deliver and setup for most of you, within reason. I wasn't going to mention this, yet it keeps coming to mind, so here goes. I'd also like to thank all the women who came into the room, and there were quite a few, and not just with their mates. And no surprise, one individual knew the whole story of the Falcon LS3/5A and the exacting standards Falcon insisted on when making this 70's BBC exact replica, way more so than her seasoned yet uninformed counterparts. It was also refreshing to see so many younger attendees, who definitely got what we were doing. So, more women and youngsters over here, if you please. And as always, keep your stylus clean and your records cleaner. Thanks to all ! Charlie Much fun was had at the show, something always good comes from going to a hifi show- new acquaintances, hearing or seeing a new piece of gear for the first time, a funny insider gaff or joke.
So for this show one of my favorite moments was when Michael Fremer visited the room with his video camera. I was told he might come to check out the new vinyl gear that was showing, in this case the newest version of the Well Tempered Lab Simplex, the Mk2, with the Well Tempered Lab Kauri MC cartridge, or the Line Magnetic LP33 mm/mc phono stage. I turned the table on Michael just a bit, and surprised him with asking for his signature on his comedy record. The look on his face was priceless, yet he graciously agreed to the signature, not without some kvetching, which made it all the more memorable. Thank you, Michael! |
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