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I was delighted to attend this year’s NY Audio Show in my home town of Brooklyn, NY. This was my first time attending the NY Audio show and I was informed that this year’s show was smaller than previous NY Audio shows. This may have contributed to the ease with which I could navigate between the various sections and the ease with which I could spend time in rooms that caught my interest. Most rooms were full but not overcrowded. Everything was neatly arranged on only two floors.I was surprised to find so many Brooklyn based companies. I did not know that the city has such an interesting assortment of "artisanal" manufacturers. Artisanal audio seems to be a major trend at this year’s shows and it’s great to be able to hear products that do not enjoy wide distribution.
I started exploring in the KEF room. Most of the speakers were on static display but the ones that were playing (a new version of the Blade) did not seem to be fully on-song in the room they were in. They sounded disjointed and hi-fi-ish with a bright sheen across the top and over-emphasized transients.
Next I entered a room full of software (vinyl, SACD and downloads) and encountered the friendly people representing Analogue Productions, Marc Sheforgen and Chad Kassem. I praised them for bringing back some Sony SACDs that are now out of print as DSD-downloads and praised them for their ever growing catalogue of beautifully mastered re-issues.
The idea behind the re-issue program seems to be to offer limited editions of these recordings as vinyl and SACD (physical) products before the recordings later appear as DSD-downloads. I took this information as encouragement to go ahead and buy all the Analogue Productions physical recordings that I want (while they are in print) as Chad indicated that licensing is expensive.
Analogue Productions brought a nice sampling of their catalog of recordings to the show and I took advantage of the opportunity to snag a few choice titles. The first one I listened to, a Living Stereo re-issue of Fritz Reiner conducting Prokofiev’s Lt. Kije Suite and Stravinsky’s Song of the Nightingale sounded absolutely superb.
I also noticed a nice selection of Chesky recordings in the software room and was glad to see the company represented.
Around the corner from the software display, I discovered a room in which a live cellist played a duet with a recorded track. I could not quite understand the purpose of this exercise except perhaps to demonstrate that live music sounds so much better than recorded music. Yet perhaps that was the point after all…to underline the purpose of hi-fi…fidelity to live music. Some products get closer than others.
I went upstairs and discovered a room featuring the Kronzilla VA-6801 Integrated, Allnic D/A convertor, MAD Baron Speakers and a very interesting product from CARE Audio of New Jersey called the Maximizer Subwoofer(s). The very friendly CARE representatives, Sunil Lekhi, his wife and son, explained that the Maximizers were designed to turn small speakers into full range ones. This was borne out beautifully by the demonstration and by the presence of a pair of full-range loudspeakers, Focal’s Grand Utopia BE speakers, in the next room.
The Grand Utopia’s driven by VAC amps and pre-amps and Esoteric digital players sounded absolutely superb. I did not hear the drivers or the boxes as separate from the music. The giant speakers effectively disappeared. The VAC equipment lent the (sonic) proceedings an air of poise, calmness and subtlety. I was impressed.
I wandered into the Sony room next. The products on static display looked interesting but the speakers sounded small and hi-fi-ish. I did not stay long.
The Vandersteen Model 7 in another (crowded) room sounded really good, so much so that listeners staid glued to their seats and would not allow newcomers such as myself the opportunity to sit and really enjoy the proceedings. That these speakers were highly thought of was also evidenced by all the pushing and shoving in that room. I came out bruised but enlightened.
Across the hall, I noticed Koby of Hifilogic, the distributor for Zu Audio, Music First and Atma-sphere (amongst others), whom I had met previously at the Capital Audiofest in July. He remembered me and asked me to listen to his budget set-up featuring Zu Audio Soul Supreme speakers, Peachtree Nova Integrated amp and VPI Nomad Turntable. The budget system sounded almost as good as the more expensive one that I heard in July and left me with a big smile on my face. Koby really seems to be a room set-up whiz. He also has great sounding products to work with.
The next room to impress me featured Totem Fire loudspeakers and the Devialet 120 Integrated amp. I was shocked that class-D could rival class-A when it came to tone color, palpability and realism. The speaker’s sounded very subtle and composed as well. This system came closer to live than many others.
Next, I met the representative of (Brooklyn-based) Bache Audio. The room featured Bache Audio 001 speakers being driven by Aluxus Audio tube monoblocks, line and phono-stages. This room sounded very realistic and zesty and I was impressed that Brooklyn-based audio could compete with the best the world over.
I was mightily impressed by the OMA Mini two-way loudspeakers that married a horn tweeter to a full range driver in a bamboo enclosure. These were being driven by Woo Audio WA 234 (integrated) Monoblocks. This system sounded exceptionally realistic, subtle and refined and was an immediate candidate for best of show recognition.
Wandering around a little more I discovered Audes loudspeakers being driven by a mountain of beautiful looking tube electronics. It sounded like Ella Fitzgerald was singing live in this room and she brought a (broad) smile to my face.
Ella performed the remarkable trick of performing live in two different rooms at once as she was also featured in the room next door. This room demonstrated the Volti Vittora loudspeakers with Raven Spirit 300-B Reference amps, Meitner transport and DAC. The proprietor of Volti Audio said that his goal with the Vittora speaker system was full range musicality (without anything sounding the least bit hifi). Goal achieved.
The final room to really knock my socks off featured the Lampizator Big Seven DAC, Lampizator tubed pre-amp and mono-blocks and some unusual floorstanding speakers with cabinets made of stone. I sat down with mouth agape. I have never heard digital re-play this present and realistic before. It was not analog-like but rather close to live music. That’s something that digital playback has long struggled with.
My joint Best of Show: the OMA mini horn speakers , which I found exceptionally refined and realistic sounding and the Lampizator DAC , Pre-amp, and Mono-block system, which I found exceptionally vivid, present and close to live music. The products represent artisanal audio at its very best.
If I could combine the Lampizator Electronics with the OMA mini horn speakers, I think I would have a very, very satisfying, realistic, subtle and startling sounding system.
I was really impressed with the quality of audio at this show and would like to thank all the organizers and exhibitors for an enlightening and enjoyable experience.
Edits: 10/06/14Follow Ups:
Thanks for the detailed post! My 2 cents - a bit late - :
This was my first audio show as well, and I live in Brooklyn. I am a professional musician (saxophone). Overall, it was very fun. A few observations:
The megabucks systems don’t always fare that well: sure, they were spectacular, but they didn’t always sound that musical or involving. To me, the best of the bunch was the room with Muraudio speakers and EMM Labs electronics. Huge soundstage that didn’t require to be in the sweet spot to enjoy it. It was like watching a movie on a huge screen. Good tonal balance. It sounded really good overall, as it should, since the price of the whole system was something like 150K!
Next door in the Kef room, I enjoyed the $1500 LS50 bookshelf speakers more than the $15000 (or more) Blade floorstander speakers, which sounded somewhat cold and bright. Admittedly, I was in the back, my back to the wall, probably in a really bad spot acoustically to make any good judgement, but still I thought the difference was startling, playing through the same electronics. I have Rogers JR149 speakers at home, derived from the LS3/5a and the LS50, although a thoroughly modern speaker, does seem like it belongs in that lineage. If I was in the market for something at that price point, I would definitely consider it. It sounded very right, for lack of a better term.
Many of the rooms are handicapped by bad acoustics, and inadequate sizes, which I guess can’t really be helped but, even more so, they are handicaped by the choice of atrocious music, which makes assessing the systems nearly impossible to me. Thankfully, most rooms happily took requests. The rooms that played better music automatically were more interesting. I also think that the music played speaks to the sensibilities of the gear displayed. Unfortunately, rooms with large megabucks systems tended to play spectacular, and often trite, music.
As a relatively new audiophile, on a budget, and a musician, pretty much everything seemed overpriced to me, and not always worth it. I definitely think the bargains in audio are in the used market, even though I am grateful for the designers trying to push the envelope and the people who put this great show together.
I am surely informed by my own biases and tastes, but, to me, in pretty much every room, as soon as vinyl was played, it sounded better, and as soon as there were tubes in the signal path, things also sounded better.
Some rooms that stood out to me:
The room with a Backert Labs preamp (12AU7 tube, $7500, made in Pennsylvania) and Gershman Acoustics "Grande Avant Garde" speakers ($12500). I spoke with the owner of the company, who said they tried to focus on the best possible rhythm and dynamics. I am not sure exactly how that translates in technical terms but it sounded very good and, to my ears, very right, if a bit on the warm (but still detailed) side. The whole system had an organic quality to it that made it stand out to me. It also helped that they let me play “Ray Charles and Betty Carter”, a recording that I know very well. CD player was Naim CD 5si. We also listened to Steely Dan on vinyl (VPI Classic 2 with 3D tonearm and Dynavector XX-2 mkII cartridge).
Audio Note: I don’t have the particulars but the whole system sounded really good, and they played great music. It was my first time hearing a NOS CD player and that also sounded very good and right. The amp used EL84, which my Fisher X-100-3 also uses, and there was something about that system that reminded me of what I like in my own system. I’ve heard people talk about the synergy of Audio Note systems. It was my first time hearing one, but I think there is truth to that.
The Soundsmith room with the strain gauge system sounded great, if almost too detailed.
The VPI room was nice and, actually, every room that had a VPI in it seemed to sound good. The Zu speakers room with the new VPI Nomad was very musical at a reasonable price point (at least in the context of the show).
The Vandersteen room was great: balanced, did everything well and musically, had scale and heft. One of the more satisfying expensive systems I heard.
A lot of people seemed to really like the Martin Logan room (with EMM labs CD player, I think the amps were Krell) but I had mixed feelings. The imaging was great, the clarity also, but after, 25 minutes, I thought it was too bright. Could have been the room, which was small and seemed overly reflective.
The other rooms blend a bit together at this point. For the most part, I didn’t take notes and I didn’t take photos. I wasn’t planning on posting about this but I thought I would chime in. Perhaps next time, I will try to do this in a more organized fashion.
Anyway, it all was fun!
It was fun.
Beyond the joy of getting to hear gear that I would never be able to hear otherwise, I really appreciate the way the shows bring the designers/manufacturers together with their (buying) public.
Many audio designers have the reputation of being crackpots (when written about in the press) but meeting them in person, I find them to be the opposite, really earnest, brutally honest, even humble...if still iconoclasts.
They are perfectionists. They have the courage to challenge the status quo. They still care about the quality of audio reproduction. I think that the shows shine a flattering light on designers and their products.
"...pretty much everything seemed overpriced to me, and not always worth it."
I couldn't attend the show, but I'm with you. I'm not one of those who fly into a rage about super-expensive gear, since it's a matter of personal choice to buy or not. But I do think there's too much emphasis on the pricy stuff at the expense-no pun intended-of the many pieces of excellent equipment that can be had for truly modest prices.
For example, in the current issue of The Absolute Sound a couple of writers in glowing terms mentioned a COMPLETE system available from the manufacturer Napa Acoustic for a total of $1,000. Of course, in the same issue they review a number of speakers, the least expensive priced at a mere $5,000 and referred to as a bargain. And then you have the Executive Editor critiquing his new $220,000 reference speakers, "reference" meaning, I suppose, those to which all others are to be compared. (And all of this is written with little trace of irony.)
Obviously, the more mundanely priced stuff doesn't generate the buzz that the really expensive items does, therefore doesn't get the ink.
The used market can be, as you suggest, an excellent resource but it does have its share of risk.
Frankly, I don't understand how anyone can come away from these shows and those cardboard listening booths with a credible idea of how good or bad any of the gear might sound in a real life situation. As if it wasn't hard enough to evaluate speaker gear in a real brick n' mortar store with it's own dedicated listening room...
Headphone systems might be evaluated honestly in an audio show setting, but I wouldn't buy or recommend anything else based upon an audition at one of these circus shows. I would feel as good about buying gear sight unseen (sound unheard?) as I would buying gear based upon an audio show audition. For all we know, the gear that sounded the worst at an audio show might sound the best if listened to back at home.
Edits: 10/12/14
Remember when the magazines used to say that equipment couldn't be evaluated based upon what could be heard in a show setting? Now the writers all choose a "best of show" and do what can only be described as mini-reviews of virtually everything they see and hear.
Another one for the archives of "Strange but True".
Great job, thanks.
..
Astute observations and beautiful pictures.
Thanks for sharing.
........I was a vegetarian for 15 minutes... until the main course.
We must have the same standard for audio sound, i.e. as close to live sounding as possible with electronics. I have the same favorite rooms you considered as your favorites, with the exception of the Totem/Devialet room. My favorite room was the Bache/Aluxus system. I went back to that room five times in three days, and heard about a dozen selections with one piano recording that sounded like a real piano playing in the room. There was no hint of electronics, just hammers hitting against the various resonating strings and the resulting sounds bouncing inside the body, with the pianist working the foot pedals perfectly. The OMA/Woo room was my second favorite and probably would have tied for first, except for restricted dynamics. Close behind were the Lampizator, Aude, Volti/Raven, etc. rooms you liked. I have attended many audio shows in the past decade, and this show had an unusually large number of rooms that sounded very good. I'm not sure of the reason(s), considering the exhibitors had the same short time period for setup as other shows, but I was pleasantly surprised.
A little more info concerning Aluxus electronics co-showing with Bache. Alex is a superb electronics technician, who for years repaired components for most of the NYC high-end audio stores. Now he's designing and building quality tube gear that as you said, "could compete with the best the world over." I'm hoping to review some of his components in the future.
Audes system.
Edits: 10/06/14
excellent, amps are out of this world.
I'm wondering what model those floorstanders are with the Ribbon tweeter it looks like, going to check out their site now.
Oma and Woo.
Looks like something my Oma (ger.: granny) might have listened to.
Reminds me of the old Columbia Records symbol.
nt
n/t
Aluxus equipment.
Bache loudspeakers and Aluxus equipment.
Edits: 10/06/14
N/T
"Once this was all Black Plasma and Imagination" - Michael McClure
Totem and Devialet system
From the midbass on up, the Totem Element Fire simply mirrors what we feed it. Everything matters. OTOH, because the Fire is so transparent and free of distortion, we can (a) throw it pretty much anywhere, (b) give it a mid-fi A/V receiver, (c) use patchcords, and it won't sound half-bad.
The Audiophiles' DJ,
-Lummy The Loch Monster
Lampizator pre-amp
Volti Vittora speakers
Maximizer subwoofer
Layman-
did you observe any cd/sacd player(s) worth noting?
"Did you observe any cd/sacd player(s) worth noting?"
Yes. The VAC/Focal room used Esoteric SACD players and the Volti room used Meitner players. These all sounded great. Also the Woo CD player sounded good.
Can you tell me more about Woo cd player?
"Can you tell me more about Woo cd player?"
It sounded faithful...realistic...tonally correct...3-dimensional...not at all like your average digital.
Beautiful pics! Is the Woo made in china?
"Is the Woo made in china?"
Don't know.
I was very seriously considering the Woo transport. A couple of things I noted: 1) The coax out is BNC. Some older photos show RCA. I confirmed with John Woo that the more recent ones are BNC. 2) There is no direct track access; you have to scroll thru the FF.
Admittedly, these are not major things.
Many of these products are custom built. Their makers can configure them any way that you want them. Were I buying the transport, I would ask Mr. Wu to include exactly the kinds of connections that I needed for my system.
That's what I am talking About! Thanks for the excellent photos.
Lampizator System
Balanced, active (based on subminiature tubes, 1 per channel) - transparency and dynamics are exceptional. Literally killed pretty good Sonic Euphoria autoformer-based pre I had before.
I guess, some prudishness still survives in me ;-)
It must of sounded good, although, I am not the romantic type.
...displayed proudly.
Anyway, which tube and HOW MANY watts does that consume at idle?
My only experience with SET'S was ACTUALLY pretty sexy experience if one goove's on sound as an audiophile does ;-)
I like the square transformer bricks on that. It shows off very well. But the connector on the top plate: I don't think so.
OMA Mini
I heard one of the panel members on a video report here on AA state that he thought these speakers sounded good, horny, but good. How horny did they sound on a scale of 1 (not at all) to 10 (they so horny I'd rather not listen to them)?
Cost for these?
You must mean horn coloration...honk...or cupped hands effect...I did not hear that at all, with either the OMA speakers or the Volti Vittora speakers.
,
Not sure of the price.
.
25K as per the AVS showroom video clip of this room.
.
Zu System
Focal and VAC
layman:
These speakers blew me away. Heard a classical orchestral piece and my wife and I were both in tears almost immediately. WOW!
Mike
Live vs. Recording
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