Quintessence Audio had three rooms, but by far and away this one was my favorite. It drew me into the music and really moved me emotionally. The room featured Sonus Faber Amati Tradition speakers with AMG Giro Turntable and 9″ Turbo Tonearm mounted with the brand new DS Audio E1 optical phono cartridge and phono stage.
The digital source, which was also quite good, was the Simaudio MOON 780 V2 Streaming DAC. Electronics in this room were Simaudio MOON Monoblock Amplifiers and a Simaudio MOON 850P Preamplifier. There was Kubala-Sosna Cabling throughout the system, and everything was sitting on Critical Mass Systems component stands.
What amazed me was that in this room, which to me was one of the top ten sounding rooms at the show, the analog source including the cartridge and the phono stage from DS Audio was priced at only $2,750. I don’t think anyone listening would have dreamed that this low price tag was possible in a room that sounded this good.
As good as the digital source was, this inexpensive analog source was far superior in my opinion. The sound it produced through the Simaudio electronics and the Sonus Faber Amati Tradition Speakers was revealing and detailed with a very natural and organic sound.
This is a system that I could have spent hours listening to. As it turned out, I listened for about 45 minutes on Saturday and for almost an hour on Sunday. The only regret I had was that I didn’t have the room all to myself to listen. What a system!
