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Went there yesterday. Was pretty pressed for time. Nothing very different from previous years. Good sound on a very cursory listen:Best sound: Kharma small floor standers with Tenor amps, no idea what the source was but obviously well chosen and expensive.
Coup de Foudre's room, a local dealer, with Wilsons and VTL amps, have no idea what the source was, although the big Eidolons and larger VTLs from last year sounded better.
Another local dealer's room, Filtronique, had very nice sound with Verity Sarastros and Nagra amps and quite good sound with Sonus Fabers and ARC CD7, Ref 3 and Ayre power amps, I believe.
The large Reference 3A speakers, Grand Veena I think they are called, sounded good with EMM source (not sure) and Antique Sound Labs amps. However, I simply don't understand how you get from a two way with no x-over to these multi-way speakers and retain what made the smaller ones famous.
Another local dealer, Audioville, with the always friendly Steve, was there with large KEF speakers driven by, and I am probably wrong, Conrad Johnson amps. It sounded quite good in a big sort of way and not in the spooky kind of way 'philes are looking for these days, but boy are those KEF speakers fugly!
Naim sounded good with those "along the wall" speakers going agaisnt current wisdom of having the speakers way out in the room.
Spoke to a very nice gentlemen in the room with the new "Merrill" turntable and they had interesting single driver speakers (I think that's what they were) with tube amps,the Merrill tt with Triplanar arm and Ortofon Jubilee that sounded quite nice, but still not as dynamic as large multi-driver speakers driven with gobs of power. Different strokes, I guess...
The Dynaudio Evidence Temptations sounded good in the Moon (Sim Audio) room, but, for some reason, I think they had in the past the C4 or such that sounded nicer, probably because I preferred the music played then more than what I listened to yesterday. The level of fit and finish of the Moon stuff is impressive, even more so if you remember the stuff Sim Audio produced when first new.
Very nice sound, but so unfair since they played something I immediately recognized: "Stimella" by Hugh Masakela, the Usher speakers driven by NuForce amps. Newer technology, impressive amps, can't wait to hear the ARC VT 220...
Jadis and ginormous Pierre Etienne Leon speakers (I think that's what they are called) sounded good and nimnble for such huge boxes.
Aside from the Kharma/Tenor combo, no wow factor like I had with the Peak Consults the previous time.
Disappointment: the large Verity speakers in a large room with Nagra source and tube amps that I can't remember the name of but that I have never heard before replacing the Nagra of last year. Good sound but for the money are they nuts?
Worst sound: the two all Linn rooms, but why couldn't they have well chosen material to play there? I'm sure that the equipment could have done way better.
The one thing I am still amazed with:
how smaller, less expensive systems, can sound absolutely delightful and how much satisfaction can be gotten with let's say Arcam, Rega or Cambridge to name a few.
Follow Ups:
I missed it this year but here are a few more links to other show coverage(Stereophile, Enjoy The Music, Soundstage and UHF).
Interesting to see a couple of guy`s not liking the Verity/Artemis room.
Walked in during a familiar Dire Straits tune, had a hard time leaving! And listened in a few locations within that room.
I loved it.
Biggest dissapointment had to be MBL, just plain bad.
Mike
I was also at the show and I have to agree with all the comments here, spot on. As an owner of Altec A7s, the Avantgardes were very disappointing, sound was rather muddy and indistinct as compared to the A7s. Yes, what is all the fuss?
To many of the rooms were really cranking the volume, why?
Plenty of lumpy bass.
Agree with Terry's comment about the KR Audio demo, very nice, also forgot the name of the speaker, very impressive without jackass price tag.
Gershman were excellent.
Did anybody who went to the show get to hear the North Creek Designs
Hi,Just came back from the Montreal show.
To confirm, I thought the Kharma/Tenor room from GTT audio was the best at the show.
The Fidelio room with Nagra VPA 845 amps and Nagra front end with the mid size Verity speakers was very good too.
Short listen at the local dealer's room with Wilson audio & VTL and it was very good.
The Nagra front end with the big Verity's and Artemis labs amps was a phasy dissapointment.
The Quad 2905's were indeed suffering a big mid bass hump...the smaller 2805 next door with Oracle was far better.
There was no way the Reference 3A large new speakers sounded any good with the Antique Sound lab Push Pull 845 amps. Those amps could not control the bass at all on those speaker too "buzzy" and huge bloat.
I too couldn't figure out the fuss with the Avantgardes...I wanted to like them....
I thought Art Audio sounded far better last year...with the same stuff
All in all a good show as we rarely get to see so much in one place..
It looks that some of us concur on the sound of many of the rooms!..
1) A speaker by the unusual name of "The Lord of Tone" was debuted by Herald International Holdings. This is a Chinese made, B&W 801 clone, that, for only $5,500 US, quite impressed us. One of the surprises this year.2) Gershman "Black Swan" speakers with Moon amplification. Several of our group thought this was the stand-out sound of the show and returned to this room on several occassions. Anthony Cordeman's review of this speaker (a natural sound with nothing overstated) would appear to have been spot on.
3) The KR Audio room was demonstrating the Kronzilla mono-block amps through a speaker we had not seen (or heard) before. Unfortunately, I can't recall the name of the speaker but the sound in this room was very enjoyable.
4) We were hoping to hear MBL's big speakers at this show but they were only showing off their small monitor speaker (sorry, can't remember the name again). Nice imaging, of course, but they had the volume turned up to ear piercing levels (a problem in many rooms) and no accurate evaluation could be made.
5) Kharma - we were really divided on this room. Some felt the sound was very natural and realistic while others were bothered by the lack of dynamics and bass. Just goes to show how individual taste can influence a perception of quality.
6) Avantegard Duos - same as the Kharma room. Several really liked this room while others, myself included, were quite underwhelmed. I have yet to understand what the excitement is all about.
7) Wilson Watt/Puppy 8 - the best I have heard Wilsons sound.
A number of rooms were very disappointing. In particular:
1) The Quad 2905s had a significant bass hump and a major suck-out in the midrange. We assumed that this was entirely due to room acoustics. The smaller (active?) Quads in the adjoining room were much better.
2) The Dynaudio Evidence were extremely bright and, although we sat well back from the speakers, the drivers did not sound integrated. I have heard much better from this manufacturer.
"2) Gershman "Black Swan" speakers with Moon amplification. Several of our group thought this was the stand-out sound of the show and returned to this room on several occassions. Anthony Cordeman's review of this speaker (a natural sound with nothing overstated) would appear to have been spot on."As good as the Gershman "Black Swan" was, the Weiss player was there feeding the rest of the system with music!
That system should been in a much larger room in order to appreciate its full potential.
One of my best in the major league with Aurum Acoustics.
Odyno
Quoted:
"6) Avantegard Duos - same as the Kharma room. Several really liked this room while others, myself included, were quite underwhelmed. I have yet to understand what the excitement is all about.7) Wilson Watt/Puppy 8 - the best I have heard Wilsons sound."
My exact same thoughts on these 2 brands at other hifi events that I have attended. Cheers!
and yes ...most hi priced manufacturers are indeed nuts.
Having run a Tenor/Kharma system, I can attest to the synergy between those two brands. The Tenor 300s ran my Midi Exquisites pretty well, though I ultimately sold both for a presentation more to my liking. I'm glad to see Tenor apparently back in business. They made nice stuff--the 300s were absolutely gorgeous.
It's just that now they are $75,000.00 a pair!!!! For less than the cost of the amps you could buy the entire Aurum system and retire from the audiophile game and live happily ever after.Oh, and the Aurum system was THE best sound in the show.
John Crossett____________________________
It sounds like English, but I can't understand a word you're saying.
According to a post on Audiogon add another 15k.
$90,000.00
OUCH!!!
Don't know where the Audiogon'er gets his info from - unless he's trying to jack up the price of the ones he's selling???
John Crossett____________________________
It sounds like English, but I can't understand a word you're saying.
At this price level what's 15k? Give or take .... lol
Although I found the Tenor- Kharma system the most natural life-like sound I've ever heard, its rather obscene price is a turn off and the Aurum SYSTEM is incredible and does not seem overpriced given it's standard of performance.
Holy crap! Didn't realize they had jumped up THAT much. It's a shame that many manufacturers feel that, to be taken seriously, they have to charge the moon. (Von Schweikert is starting to do the same thing.) The Aurum isn't exactly inexpensive either, but you get pretty much an entire system.
Of course I ain't loaded with $$, nor are any of my friends. But even if I won the lottery I can't imagine myself (or anyone I know) taking $75,000 amps seriously. In fact, there's a helluva lot of hifi pricing that doesn't deserve to be taken seriously IMO.
Believe me, there are potential consumers out there--and I've met more than a few--who don't know (or want to know) the phrase "good value," no matter how great the component. They equate that moniker with "compromise." These people I refer to are more swayed by the pricetag than anything else. And they DO exist. In fact, there are more of them than you'd expect.
Yup, lots of them, new millionaires/billionaires in Asia. And you'd be surprised how quickly they change equipment (their show-off toys) without batting an eyelid. They are not concerned about "value", they can afford it. Many times, perfectly good products that I can only dream off get traded-in because Mr So and So upgraded to something "better" (read more expensive).And all I can only hope for is to get some breadcrumbs when they change equipment. ;p
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