Some other THE Show comments:
- I still am not into Magico speakers, but the best Magico pairing was on Philip's Gryphon (S5mk2) which was about as good as I've heard them sound. I thought the M2 on Burmester and Vac was underwhelming - the sound was completely dead in the first, and not enough current in the second despite better tonality. I truly believe Magico owners should hear YG Acoustics latest Hailey 2 and Sonja 2 for a more coherent and dynamic loudspeaker.
- B&W 800d on McIntosh - for the first five minutes I was interested as they aren't bright like all B&W speakers I've previously heard. However, something odd in the midrange I kept hearing after that. I'm not sure if it was because they are recessed or the material of the driver was bothering me. My friend and I agreed "hifi" sounding.
- YG Hailey - as I've commented before I am a believer in the brand, but I felt the room swallowed up these guys a bit too much - apparently the big subwoofer was supposed to come but got stuck in Europe or I think this room could have been amazing. MSB into ARC/Luxman seemed like a very good combo. The tonality and flow was there.
- Wilson Sasha DAW - this drove the big room better than the YG Haileys two rooms down which makes sense as Wilson's upper bass bump is useful in big rooms. My girlfriend loved this sound the best as it filled the huge room. I still prefer YG by a sizable amount, but I enjoyed this room on a Dagostino integrated.
- Stenheim - they added a CH phono stage the final day (so 2 CH phonos for dual mono) and I really thought it sounded good. It was smooth up top (even compared to Wilsons soft dome), but great drive and very pure tonality. Bass wasn't Wilson style, but more in the Rockport style of ported bass- articulate and tuneful. Jean Pascal, the designer, was extremely nice to talk to. I actually got booted by a reviewer which was disappointing, but oh well.
- Martin Logan ESL 13 - I still hear the woofer discontinuity. Explaining electrostats vs cones to my interested girlfriend was fun. Better options than Hegel for panels imo - sound was a bit flat and timbre not complete
- Evolution Acoustics/Dartzeel - something was a bit odd on the first day (heard analog only), but Joel Durand had not flown in yet to setup the TT. The last two days, the sound is as I have come to expect from Jonathan Tinn's rooms. Warm, punchy sound out of those small drivers in the Maestoso - which we were told would ship at the end of the year.
- Thrax - this was easily the best of show for me. Cavern of a room, but the sound stage was ginormous and the speaker had dynamic drive on the push-pull 300b amps with good tonality on my LP cuts. My only quip on this room is there was a lot of talking often in it vs others which was frustrating as a listener. The Thrax speakers are pretty brutalist in person.
- Horning - pleasantly surprised by this small floorstander. Had good presense and dynamics. Not much bass, but appropriate for the smaller room. Jeff C is still the most fun music guy to hang out with in the business. I love the look of the new TW Acoustics TT and as I've commented before to him, the Tron 300b integrated is lust-worthy.
- Gryphon- definitely a warm, inviting sound and the room treatment helped. The speakers were toed-in front of the listener which was unusual but it worked. I really like their amplification a lot - even on the Magicos it was clearly excellent.