I’m not sure which is the bigger dream for me, the opportunity to hear these seven dream systems at AXPONA, or the opportunity to review them. If you are a long time audiophile like me, just getting to hear the quality of some systems is a thrill in itself. Let me humbly try to tell you just how good these seven systems sounded.
TriangleArt
I’m starting with the TriangleArt room, which sounded great. I just wish the bass hadn’t been so extended. I’m kind of joking as Becky and I experienced this system up close and personal since we were in room 612, and they were next door in room 614. The truth is the bass sounded great in their room. TriangleArt was using their Maestro Reference turntable at $39,900 with their Osiris MkII tonearm at $6,800 mounted with their Apollo Onyx Stonebody cartridge that sells for $8,000. The electronics were the TriangleArt TA-260S amplifier for $20,000, their Reference Linestage for $18,000, and their Reference Phono Stage for $13,000. The speakers were the Egglestonworks Viginti for $39,900 per pair.
The TA-260S is something new from TriangleArts. It is a 2-channel stereo power amplifier that uses 24 matched, powerful MOSFET transistors (6 pairs per channel, 12 pairs total). The rated output power is 250 watts per channel at 8 ohms and doubling to 500 watts per channel at 4 ohms. The TA-260S is capable of driving any loudspeakers with low efficiency and low impedance. While they use of MOSFETs instead of vacuum tubes, the sound was still very full-bodied. This sound of this system was worthy of dream status.
High Water Sound
Jeffrey Catalano’s High Water Sound room is always one of the highlights of any show for me. This year at AXPONA, he brought some less expensive equipment starting with the North American debut of the Horning Aristotle Ellipse loudspeakers for $16,000 per pair. As usual, Jeffery was using a TW-Acustic turntable. This time it was AC/3 at $21,000 with a TW-Acustic 10.5 tonearm for $5,500. The phono cartridge was the Miyajima Madake stereo cartridge for $5,900. He was using electronics that were new to me; the Arte Forma Audio Jadeite linestage at $3,500 and two of their Due Volte 805 SE amps for $7,500. He was also using the Vibex Granada/Alhambra power filter that costs $5,000. The cables were from Teo Audio.
Becky and I went by this room on Thursday afternoon and had a great visit with Jeffery. We also enjoyed some LPs I had not heard before. He was still working out things with the system, but I could hear real potential from it. The show was so big that getting back to rooms was tough, and this room was very crowded. The only time I was able to get a second listen was on Saturday afternoon, and I was nowhere near the sweet spot, but the sound had great timbre and harmonics. This may be the least expensive of the seven dream systems, but it truly is a dream system for listening to music.
Audio Federation
At the last few shows, I have been very impressed by the Audio Federation room’s combination of the Acapella Audio Arts High Cellini speakers with a front end from Audio Note. This was true again at this show, and even though the speakers aren’t at the top of the Acapella line, this was still a dream system. The Acapella Audio Arts High Cellini loudspeakers cost $60,000 for a pair, and their LaMusika integrated amplifier is another $109,600. The source was Audio Note’s CDT Five transport for $52,000 and their brand new Fifth Element DAC for $147,850. Everything was sitting on HRS SXR equipment stand with M3x Isolation Bases as seen here. The stand is $18,330.
Becky recently reviewed a couple of albums produced by Cookie Marenco of Blue Coast Music, and as you may know, Blue Coast specializes in DSD and other high resolutions. We played a song from one of these albums on this exquisite digital system, and the quality of the recording really shined as well as the overall quality of the system. Yes, it’s really expensive at almost half a million, but it actually would fit in my house, so I can dream about this one.
EINSTEIN Audio Components
For two shows in a row, RMAF 2017 and now at AXPONA 2018, the total EINSTEIN Audio Components system has mightily impressed me. If you are not familiar with EINSTEIN, it is a very high-end German company that is celebrating their 30th anniversary this year.
They had two new products in this system at AXPONA, a turntable and tonearm called, what else, The Record Player for around $12,00 and The Tonearm for around $9,000. The Tonearm was hooked up to The Pick Up, a step-up transformer for $5,000 and The Phonoamp for $15,000. All of this was feeding The Preamp that sells for $22,000, which was connected to The Silver Bullet OTL amplifier at $50,000. The speakers are called The Pure, and they sell for $55,000 a pair. They weigh in at 230 pounds each.
This system had a very wonderful blend of rich harmonics and great tone. It did seem to sound its best on classical music and jazz. Vocals had a very special quality in that they were very lifelike and seemed to be connected to a real person. The air and the space of the system were superb. Now that they have a turntable, it’s a system that I can dream about.
GTT Audio and Video
GTT Audio and Video, a New Jersey dealer and distributor, had the privilege of introducing the YG Acoustics Sonja XV Junior speakers for a cool $189,600/pair. I know that sounds exorbitant, but last year Becky and I visited the YG factory a couple of days before RMAF. I promise you, I now better understand the prices of their speakers.
The Junior has a smaller subwoofer tower than the top-of-the-line XV, with two 10″ drivers instead of three, and it doesn’t have the 10″ woofer in the high and midrange tower. There are no other differences from the bigger Sonja XV speakers, and you save $75,000.
The rest of this system consisted of an Audionet Planck CD Player ($18,800) fitted with the Ampere Power Supply ($11,200), an Audionet DNC Streaming DAC ($10,100) with EPS G2 Power Supply ($4,050), a huge Audionet Stern line preamplifier ($45,000) and the Audionet Heisenberg monoblocks ($105,000/pair), all hooked up with Kubala-Sosna Realization cables. The source was a Kronos Pro turntable at $38,000 and mounted on the tonearm was an Air Tight Opus 1 cartridge at $15,000.
I think this system was the best I’ve ever heard any version of the Sonja speakers sound. I attribute this to three things; first the analog source, second I’ve never heard a system using Audionet electronics that didn’t sound great, and third, these are simply great speakers.
Gershman Acoustics
I was not surprised that the Gershman Acoustics room sounded good, but I was surprised by just how incredible it was at AXPONA. They were playing their new POSH Statement loudspeakers at $129,000/pair driven by the VAC Statement 450S Amplifier for $46,000 and the VAC Master Preamp with Phono for $40,000. The source was a VPI Titan turntable at $40,000, and the cables were from Nordost.
The sound was rich with wonderful harmonics, a huge soundstage, and a deep and powerful bass. The midrange was transparent, very detailed and not at all etched, and the top end was absolutely beautiful. To summarize, this is another system I can only dream about, but it sure was nice to get to listen to for a little while anyway.
The Audio Company
The Marietta, GA dealership, The Audio Company, put together a system that started with the ULTRA 11 loudspeakers and V12XS Shockwave subwoofers from Von Schweikert Audio and amplification from VAC in the form of the Statement 450iQ mono power amplifiers (x4), the Statement Phono Stage, and the Statement Line Stage.
The digital source came from Esoteric USA with their Gandioso PI transport, Grandioso D1 mono block DACs, Grandiso G1 master clock and the N-01 network audio player. The Kronos Audio analog source was the Pro turntable with SCPS-1 power supply, a Black Beauty tonearm and the Airtight Opus cartridge. J-Corder Custom Reel to Reels supplied the Technics 1520 tape deck.
The interconnects, power cords and speaker cables were the Ultra Line and Signature Line from Masterbuilt Audio. Critical Mass Systems supplied the Maxxum equipment racks and amp stands.
Becky promoted this system in our Spring newsletter, and we were lucky enough to get to listen to it for a couple of hours on Friday evening with LPs that I know well. Billed as #theultimateinsound, it certainly is, for this year anyway. You can see from The Audio Company’s Facebook page that they have won all sorts of recognition from other publications, and it’s well deserved.
I’m going to do a full follow up on this system because, believe me, it deserves more mention than just this post. For the moment, let me just say, if you have the funds and a room to put this system in, then I’m impressed, and you should go for it. For the rest of us, we will have to dream. And, if you missed this system at AXPONA, you missed hearing something very special.
