It seemed like there was an unusually large number of product debuts at RMAF this year, but a well-attended show is a great place to introduce a new product. The two rooms in this post contained multiple product debuts that caught my attention.
Meyer Tonapparat’s YONNA Speakers and 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 of Riviera Audio Labs, introduced several new products in their room. I’ve known Matt and Jonathan for years, and the sound for 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. If you’re looking for audio artifacts like imaging, detail, soundstage and such, their products probably aren’t for you. However, if you can forget all that audiophile stuff and listen like you listen to live music, you might just fall in love with systems like the ones they put together and appreciate what these systems can bring.
This system’s speakers were the YONNAs from Meyer Tonapparat, the German company that makes speaker cabinets for Auditorium 23 and their own line of audio furniture. Their literature says their design goal is to create a speaker that plays all varieties of music with musical energy and emotion with ease and relaxation . . . be it analog or digital. They also state that they want the speaker to fit into one’s living environment.
The YONNAs have a 10-inch wide range driver with a backloaded horn that opens to the floor. The resonating back panel is made of spruce. The cabinet is made of five different materials to evenly distribute the resonance and decay. It also has a one-inch tweeter in a wood/aluminum horn. The speaker is 97dB efficient with a very simple impedance curve that makes it very easy to drive with low-powered amps.
Also in this room and making their North American debut were the amplifiers driving this magical system, the Riviera Audio Labs’ AFM-50 Aural Optimized Hybrid Design (Triode/Mosfet) monoblocks for $40,000. The amps output 50-watts of pure class A with zero feedback.
Not only did I love the sound from these amps, I also loved their simplistic beauty. The front panel has one small meter and a nice industrial art design. You can get them in metallic sand or mat charcoal grey. They also aren’t as big as most class A 50-watt tube amps, but they aren’t too small either. Like Goldilocks said in the old nursery tale, “They were just right.”
The tube linestage was their APL-01 that costs $35,000. Like the amp, the linestage and 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.
The linestage has a classic and functional look that really appealed to me. Not only did its looks and sound appeal but also its functionality. It actually has a balance control, which is so important to me and many others. I loved the big knobs, the buttons and the cross between a retro and industrial art appearance. The linestage is available in the same color choices as the amp. None of this would really matter, however, if it wasn’t for how great this system sounded. If you see these product names at future shows, don’t hesitate to take some time to listen.
Wyred 4 Sound
This year at RMAF, Wyred 4 Sound debuted four new products including the AURA Preamplifier at $2,999 and the AURA 1200Mn full-size monoblock amplifier that is capable of 1200-watts into 4ohms at $3,998 per pair. To me, the biggest news was that Wyred 4 Sound is now making their own loudspeaker, the Tempest, for $8,999. They also debuted the ST-750LE for $1,749, but I did not get to hear it. The system sounded very musical and was quite satisfying.
