RMAF 2018 Beatnik Bongo Awards for Debut Products

RMAF 2018 had more product debuts than we usually see at a single show. Many of these debuts were what can rightly be called statement products for their designers. This post recognizes the best of these debuts with Beatnik Bongos awards for product debuts.

In order not to overlook exceptional overall quality and include exhibitors who didn’t have a product debuting at this show, I will also be announcing our standard Beatnik Bongo Awards in a post later this week. Overall the quality and number of exhibitors at RMAF this year was a delight.

Best Debut Product: VAC Statement 450i iQ Integrated Amp

Kevin Hayes, owner and chief designer at Valve Amplification Company (VAC) had every reason to be proud. The VAC Statement 450i iQ Integrated Amplifier was, in my opinion, the very best of the products debuted at this show.

Kevin has been working on this product for many years, and with its fruition, it is the most well thought out audio product I have ever seen.

I have always loved integrated amps and I have owned several. Still, none were conceived or designed as a statement product.  Kevin says one of the secrets of this amps performance is the vertical layout that allows its form to follow its function. This was done with optimal placement of circuit elements for the purest, most direct routing of signals.

I wish we had made a video of Kevin demonstrating how things were arranged in the amp from the bottom to the top to keep the components that create noise as far away as possible from those that amplify the noise.

Kevin gave his explanation to Becky in the hall outside of the exhibit room and without the amp being there. He has a great sense of humor, so while the explanation was very informative, it was also very comical. We missed an opportunity to get a very entertaining and informative video. This amp looked and sounded incredible and I hope some of it’s design can trickle down into more affordable integrated amps in the future.

Best Debut System: Verity Audio

High Fidelity Services’ Verity Audio room was huge. The speakers were huge, and the subwoofers were beyond huge, but the system moved me deeply. It was emotionally involving and could play a huge symphonic piece or a single acoustic guitar with the same beauty, tone and emotions.

The system featured the world premier of the Verity Audio Monsalvat speaker system, which includes a Pro-6 six-channel crossover for $675,000. You can see the four subs towering in each corner behind the speakers for a total of eight 18-inch drivers. This means each woofer only has to work a little. The system was driven by three of Verity Audio’s Monsalvat Amp-60 stereo amplifiers that go for $58,000 each.

Best Speaker Debut Over $50,000: Devore Fidelity’s Orangutan Reference Speaker System

DeVore Fidelity’s Reference Orangutan Speaker System is a very different kind of statement system The speakers are still pre-production with a projected price between $80,000 and $90,000. When I say they are a different kind of statement system, I mean that the speakers are very easy to drive and do not require multiple amps or high-powered amps. So, while they cost nearly a hundred grand, you could drive them with several amps that are under ten grand.

The reference apes use four cabinets instead of two. At first glance, they look like four of the Orangutan O/96 speakers that I reviewed several years ago and loved. But in no way are they simply an improved O/96 with a sub. Neither box is available separately. The sound of this system was simply pure music. I hope some of these innovations work their way into a somewhat more affordable speaker in the future.

Best Speaker Debut Under $50,000: QLN Prestige Three

The Qln Prestige Three speakers made their debut in the Well Pleased AV room, which was crowded most of the weekend. These speakers incorporate over four decades of speaker research, development, design and construction. Based on the classic Qln Signature 3, they are time-aligned with a leaning cabinet and a truncated pyramid cabinet top that minimizes the baffle area around the divers.

The crossover has been designed with major parts that have also been improved based on years of experience and many hours of listening tests. It’s now hardwired with non-inductive capacitors for the tweeter and high-end and oil-filled capacitors for the woofer with flat foil inductors used at the most critical places. All components are fastened with damping glue, and the remaining coils are baked to avoid any internal component and filter resonances.

At the show, I was really impressed with the pure musicality of the sound from the Prestige Three speakers and with the holistic three-dimensionality of the soundstage. I did not hear this combination of musicality and a multi-dimensional soundstage from many speakers that cost three or four times as much. I think most people came to this room to hear the Innuos Statement Music Server demonstration, but I hope they left with the love I have had over the years for Qln speakers.

Best Electronics Debut: Riviera Audio Labs

Two old friends, Matt Rotunda of Pitch Perfect Audio and Jonathan Halpern of Tone Imports along with a brand new friend, Silvio Define (pictured above) of Riviera Audio Labs, introduced several new products in their room. I’ve known Matt and Jonathan for years, and the sound of the system they put together for the show was just what I have come to look forward to hearing from them; emotionally involving with beautiful tone and a musical richness.

The Riviera Audio Labs electronics in this magical system were making their North America debut. The amps were a pair of AFM-50 Aural Optimized Hybrid Design (Triode/Mosfet) monoblocks for $40,000. The amps output 50-watts of pure class A with zero feedback. The tube linestage was their APL-01 that costs $35,000. Like the amp, the linestage uses zero feedback. It is a pure class A all tube circuit with a double PI-filter, solid state, stabilized power supply using a non-conventional circuit. It has two balanced inputs, five unbalanced inputs, a tape loop (IN/OUT), two line outputs and a remote control.

Not only did I love the sound from these electronics, I also loved their simplistic beauty.  Riviera Audio Labs is a line of electronics that i am glad Tone Imports is making available in North America.

Best Analog Debut: Holbo Air-Bearing Turntable System

Jeffrey Catalanon of High Water Sound introduced the Holbo air-bearing turntable system to the US at this show with the amazingly reasonable price of $7,500. Not only is the turntable an air-bearing design, it also has an integral linear-tracking air-bearing tonearm. You can adjust VTA while playing the record. It is easy to precisely adjust tracking force, SRA and azimuth. The Miyajima Labs Saboten MC cartridge tracked and sounded beautiful

The sound through a system with Cessaro Horn Acoustic Wagner speakers and Tron-Electric electronics was alive sounding with beautiful tone and detail. The soundstage was holographic with proper spacing.  If you look in the picture above, the air pump is sitting just to the left of the rack, and I couldn’t hear it no matter how hard I tried. I don’t know how they can give us this much turntable and sound for the price.

Best Digital Debut: Innuos Statement Music Server

As I have already mentioned, a lot of people wanted to hear the new Innuos Statement Music Server that sells for $13,750. The Statement is the result of everything the people at Innuos have learned about making a computer into a real source for digital music. Its massive power supply has eight independent power rails. Thus, it can offer extremely clean power to the USB board and the clock. The clock, which handles Ethernet and USB inputs, is a 3ppb OCXO and should, in theory, do away with jitter and “phase noise”. The custom motherboard design is intended to sequester and eliminate EMI.

The Innuos music servers have made a believer out of me that the transport, music server or computer that is connected to 5h3 DAC is as important, if not more so, than the DAC.

Best Budget Debut: Vanatooo Transparent One Encore

The Under $1,000 room featured the Vanatoo Transparent One Encore powered speakers. These are incredibly versatile, streaming-ready new speakers that take the ability to have an under $1,000 system to a new level. If you need something for a small space, these are going to be hard to beat.