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More CES

Posted by Stephæn on January 15, 2002 at 10:23:43

It was about 9PM on Thursday night.
We were hanging out at Crumpmeister's
room eating pizza, playing with yo-yos
(aka: AA Tuning Devices ®) and egging
Curl on to see how loud the set of four
new BBQ amps could drive the Wisdoms
that were leashed to them.

Fellow inmates Jeff Day and Santos Ortega
showed up late into the proceedings with
their arms flailing and a wink their eyes.
They said there was a must-see by a company
called Amphion in one of the rooms. Jeff's
got a good ear (not to mention, some damn
fine guitars!) so I was game. He even brought
a couple of the Finns (imagine two tall and
skinny dudes dressed like the agents from
Men In Black) who promote Amphion with him.
Since Annsi and Peterri looked like they
hadn't eaten in days, we waited while they
snarfed down some 'za and then headed up
to their room.

The room had received zero treatment
(unusual, especially at the Alexis
Park). The speakers, this model the
Xenon, were hooked up to all Brinkman
electronics, save for the (Roksan?) cd
player. The Brinkman stuff was new to me;
damn nice SS mono-blocks and believe-it-
or-don't, their own TT and cart! Since
Oakroot had declined to join us, I felt
okay about using my test cd (Eric Bibb,
EmmyLou Harris, Oystein Sevag, Daniel
Lanois and more), yet again :-P

Long story short: these speakers cost
about $3500, and while they lack the
absolute refinement you'll find from
the AudioPhysiks (at $11,500--no, that
doesn't include the sub--shown further
below), they come pretty damn close in
most other respects. I consider them a
clear contender in the bang-for-the-buck
competition.

A bonus to their excellent performance is
that you are not forced into the sweet spot.
About the only place in the room that wasn't
excellent in terms of imaging and tone was
behind the speakers, where the bass got heavy
(duh). These speakers can live happily close
to the rear and side walls; the port in the
back of each can be tuned for optimal placement.

Another strong competitor in the bang-for-
the-buck award is the $600/pair Swans M400F
(($750 with available woofer). As you can
see on the right in the photo above, they
are sleek and very spousal-unit friendly ...
for the money, they are, more importantly,
amazingly good sounding. I detected a hint
of nasality in the upper mids, but it was
far from egregious. I would recommend
spending the extra $150 for the woofer
module.

The AudioPhysik's (above) were powered by Herron
preamps and ??? amps. We listened to a couple
of cuts from the very popular (at this show)
Manger Sampler cd courtesy of a spendy Burmester.
The sound was nothing short of excellent ...
effortless ... natural .... Clearly (literally)
one of the top five for the show.

Above (and below) are Brian's newest Galantes
being powered by the Art Audio PX-25 (which
offers a mammoth 6 wpc of drive).

While the baby Rhapsody's sounded good in
Brian's room at the Tuscany, they really
came alive when paired with the latest Art
Audio VV52-based amp and some VBT woofers
(Marchand powered) in David Blair's (of
Custom Power Cord Company) room at the Alexis.

Bruce Featherling and the rest of the folks
from Acoustic Dreams are to be complimented
on having what I think was the most comprehensive
set of offerings. From budget to cost-no-object,
I counted six VAIC-based systems at the Tuscany
(where, if my sources are accurate, exhibitors
can get three--significantly larger--rooms for
the price of a single room at the Alexis). I
had the 302 B integrated (below) in my system
for some time earlier this year and can say
that the sound they were getting at the show
was excellent. I love that tube, but there is
much to be said for the circuit, as well ... the
tube is direct drop-in for my VV32 based amp,
but it sounds much better in the VAIC.



Tied to a set of VAIC speakers and a modded AMC
cdp, the system sounded toe-tappingly sweet,
detailed and open. I had to smack Oakroot several
times with an AA Tuning Device® to get him out
of the chair and on to the next display.

Interestingly, Acoustic Dreams was using the
same $250 AMC cdp in all of their systems
(budget or not). I understand that each of
them had about $200 worth of mods (mostly
damping), but using the same source allowed
for some interesting comparisons across amp/
speaker pricepoints. Below are pics of the
integrated VAIC 52 B and 845-based amps, too.

Finally, for this installment, if you're
into mini-monitors, don't miss out on trying
the stuff from Legend. Yea, it's not a
excellent pic and consequently, I can't be
certain which of the Legend amps was in use
at the moment; if I recall correctly, they
were the Nirvana Triode (100wpc/6550-based)
monoblocks which come in at around $6500).
Anyway, what we have here are some little
guys that will do 38-20k; at 89 dB, 4 Ohms
they need at least 35 wpc of juice, but oh,
did they sound great. These tiny (14"h x
11.5"w x 15"d) things, in the tiny Alexis
bedroom created a huge and tonally proper
soundscape. Easily on my top ten for best
sound at show list.

æ

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