Got back from the CAS this afternoon.
Sorry I missed the Acapella speaker, just didn't wander into the right spot I guess, I did wish there were more horn loaded and planar speakers there.
I enjoyed the show a lot, much more than I thought I would. It was just the right size for a nice 5 hours of hearing most of the rooms of interest. After 5 hours, my listeners were shot and I went home, don't think I could properly listen to stuff after that.
Also, my stars were blessed at my timing, I seemed to get into each room and got my own records and single vinyl CD played wherever I wanted to. I didn't think I would be able to actually play my own discs/ records except by fluke, but the combination of lower crowds when I was in the rooms worked to my advantage.
Agree with much of Steve's observations.
Best Sound: Easily Wilson MaxIII(?) and Spectral amplifiers playing vinyl with Aesthetix pre-amplification chain. Speakers at least 24 feet apart with lots of room to breath, which made them sound very monitor-like in the best sense of the word. BIG and CLEAR, very impressive. Constantine Soo is a master of sources, especially digital, and I think it was Clement Perry wandering around there, too, but I am not sure.
Honorable mention: all the other biggies on the first floor. MBL (Big White) system, not that utterly impressed for some reason, especially considering the size, cost and weight, but majestic nontheless.
Heard three Magico systems with the Q3, Q5 and mini. The larger Magicos seem to have something funky going on in the lower midrange transition, an observation I had with the big M series wooden speaker when hearing it some months ago, but the Magicos present a system I could live with nicely if I were to transition to all-in-one box speakers. The greatest criticism of Magicos is a bit of visceral lack, possibly to enhance the imaging prowess.
The Magico systems all sounded great, though as Steve observed, the Q3 seemed somewhat fraught in its very large (30x40ft) room.
A system that amazed although it was not that utterly high cost were the Dartzeel/Mini Evolution. This small system was fabulous for a system of ANY size and cost. Small ceramic woofers and square foil tweeter. Of course, cost is relative, this is not a college dorm system. I also agree with Steve that these sounded better than the mighty Magico Mini.
Another fine to great sounding system was the MSB (??)/Vivid. The Vivid two way was an astoundingly good speaker with the MSB digital/solid state electronics. It made me want to listen to the big, curly cue, soft swirl Vivid speaker, and the MSB(?) electronics sounded great.
I liked the Sony flagship speaker a lot, it required a couple of moments to sink into the sound, but it had what I would call a deep, regal sound reminiscent of the classic speakers of yore, like a vastly upgraded Advent (that's a compliment, not a suggestion of limitations).
Another speaker of note was a fine speaker in the Voodoo cable room, also a ceramic woofer/foil tweeter large speaker sounding very smooth and lovely indeed with tubes and Joni Mitchell. I guess it is a prototype.
I am going to have to bite my tongue and eat my words for teasing Dan D'Agostino about the appearance of his Momentum amplifier. Why does this thing not photograph well? Dan needs to get Alon Wolf to photograph his amp.
The Momentum was easily the most elegant and beautiful device at the show. I guess D'Agostino is an Italian name, and Dan must have the Italian flair for world class design, although it must be some kind of anomaly that it isn't photogenic.
How did it sound? Well, it was partnered with the dreaded Wilson Sasha, a Sophia variant (?) and a speaker I have never liked and probably never will. I heard four variations of the Sasha/Sophia at this show, with tubes, vinyl, solid state, digital, and didn't like any of them at all. I wince when I see it in the demo rooms. I don't know why, the sound just rubs me the wrong way. I guess if you go Wilson, go big or don't go at all.
I would like to hear the D'Agostino Momentum amp someday with a different speaker.
Biggest surprise: Not a single system of whatever cost had what I would call an adequate foundation to the sound. Audiophiles seem to persist in an "imaging uber alles" perspective with a lot of the usual close-miked female vocal and solo instrument stuff that appeals to the viagra crowd. I scattered a few gomers in one room by playing the somewhat dysphonic Weather Report cut "Mr. Gone."
There is a whole world of music missing in the lower octaves and lower/midrange transition in a lot of audiophile systems. I am grateful to this board for stirring me a bit from my bass lethargy to vastly improve my own bass system. The only system at the show to have something approaching real foundation was the "Big White" MBL system, but it had a wooly hump in the lower midrange somewhere.
The big MBL system got the bass guitar somewhere in the right neighborhood, whereas bass guitars on any of the other systems were shadows of varying substance.
Did the solid state stuff make want to give up my tubes? Not a chance, but the MSB/Dartzeel/Spectral stuff could give me tube amnesia.
Anything to stimulate Audiophilia Nervosa with my own system? Nope, I love my system. However, my system is based on my own solipsistic perversity, so that is OK, because is geared to my taste! Maybe I am a crippled bass-head now or something, but i absolutely crave that lower foundation and a gorgeous lower midrange.
Sorry I missed the Acapella speaker, just didn't wander into the right spot I guess, I did wish there were more horn loaded and planar speakers there.
I enjoyed the show a lot, much more than I thought I would. It was just the right size for a nice 5 hours of hearing most of the rooms of interest. After 5 hours, my listeners were shot and I went home, don't think I could properly listen to stuff after that.
Also, my stars were blessed at my timing, I seemed to get into each room and got my own records and single vinyl CD played wherever I wanted to. I didn't think I would be able to actually play my own discs/ records except by fluke, but the combination of lower crowds when I was in the rooms worked to my advantage.
Agree with much of Steve's observations.
Best Sound: Easily Wilson MaxIII(?) and Spectral amplifiers playing vinyl with Aesthetix pre-amplification chain. Speakers at least 24 feet apart with lots of room to breath, which made them sound very monitor-like in the best sense of the word. BIG and CLEAR, very impressive. Constantine Soo is a master of sources, especially digital, and I think it was Clement Perry wandering around there, too, but I am not sure.
Honorable mention: all the other biggies on the first floor. MBL (Big White) system, not that utterly impressed for some reason, especially considering the size, cost and weight, but majestic nontheless.
Heard three Magico systems with the Q3, Q5 and mini. The larger Magicos seem to have something funky going on in the lower midrange transition, an observation I had with the big M series wooden speaker when hearing it some months ago, but the Magicos present a system I could live with nicely if I were to transition to all-in-one box speakers. The greatest criticism of Magicos is a bit of visceral lack, possibly to enhance the imaging prowess.
The Magico systems all sounded great, though as Steve observed, the Q3 seemed somewhat fraught in its very large (30x40ft) room.
A system that amazed although it was not that utterly high cost were the Dartzeel/Mini Evolution. This small system was fabulous for a system of ANY size and cost. Small ceramic woofers and square foil tweeter. Of course, cost is relative, this is not a college dorm system. I also agree with Steve that these sounded better than the mighty Magico Mini.
Another fine to great sounding system was the MSB (??)/Vivid. The Vivid two way was an astoundingly good speaker with the MSB digital/solid state electronics. It made me want to listen to the big, curly cue, soft swirl Vivid speaker, and the MSB(?) electronics sounded great.
I liked the Sony flagship speaker a lot, it required a couple of moments to sink into the sound, but it had what I would call a deep, regal sound reminiscent of the classic speakers of yore, like a vastly upgraded Advent (that's a compliment, not a suggestion of limitations).
Another speaker of note was a fine speaker in the Voodoo cable room, also a ceramic woofer/foil tweeter large speaker sounding very smooth and lovely indeed with tubes and Joni Mitchell. I guess it is a prototype.
I am going to have to bite my tongue and eat my words for teasing Dan D'Agostino about the appearance of his Momentum amplifier. Why does this thing not photograph well? Dan needs to get Alon Wolf to photograph his amp.
The Momentum was easily the most elegant and beautiful device at the show. I guess D'Agostino is an Italian name, and Dan must have the Italian flair for world class design, although it must be some kind of anomaly that it isn't photogenic.
How did it sound? Well, it was partnered with the dreaded Wilson Sasha, a Sophia variant (?) and a speaker I have never liked and probably never will. I heard four variations of the Sasha/Sophia at this show, with tubes, vinyl, solid state, digital, and didn't like any of them at all. I wince when I see it in the demo rooms. I don't know why, the sound just rubs me the wrong way. I guess if you go Wilson, go big or don't go at all.
I would like to hear the D'Agostino Momentum amp someday with a different speaker.
Biggest surprise: Not a single system of whatever cost had what I would call an adequate foundation to the sound. Audiophiles seem to persist in an "imaging uber alles" perspective with a lot of the usual close-miked female vocal and solo instrument stuff that appeals to the viagra crowd. I scattered a few gomers in one room by playing the somewhat dysphonic Weather Report cut "Mr. Gone."
There is a whole world of music missing in the lower octaves and lower/midrange transition in a lot of audiophile systems. I am grateful to this board for stirring me a bit from my bass lethargy to vastly improve my own bass system. The only system at the show to have something approaching real foundation was the "Big White" MBL system, but it had a wooly hump in the lower midrange somewhere.
The big MBL system got the bass guitar somewhere in the right neighborhood, whereas bass guitars on any of the other systems were shadows of varying substance.
Did the solid state stuff make want to give up my tubes? Not a chance, but the MSB/Dartzeel/Spectral stuff could give me tube amnesia.
Anything to stimulate Audiophilia Nervosa with my own system? Nope, I love my system. However, my system is based on my own solipsistic perversity, so that is OK, because is geared to my taste! Maybe I am a crippled bass-head now or something, but i absolutely crave that lower foundation and a gorgeous lower midrange.
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