Re-imagining "Class A" Amplification

[davidavdavid]

Hello, everyone. I'm preparing for my return from a holiday in Italy following HE2024 and looking ahead to the remainder of the year, including new product announcements and another appearance at Capfest this fall with Lampizator and Von Scheikert Audio.

As final notes from Munich, Angus and I had great meetings with Hear This fellow Westminster distributors from Germany and France. The German WL distributor focuses on Wilson Benesh and the French partners Vivid and Marten, who contribute to the list of leading loudspeaker brands with which our electronics are performing exceptionally well. So what's next.....

The Home Entertainment Show 2024 June 7th-9th in Irvine, CA
Bristol Room 1 with The Audio Association

It is nice to have a show close to home this time! At The Show, we will, for the first time, display our bridged Rei amplifiers. Bridging two Reis amplifiers per side delivers a 4x increase in amplifier power rated at 400@ 8 ohms and 800@ 4 ohms. While the increased power numbers are impressive enough, the real magic is derived from Angus, who originally designed the Reis for optimal performance in bridged-mode operation. The easiest way to describe the increase in performance is, as Angus says, "Once heard, you cannot unhear it."

We will be privileged to show with loudspeakers from Evolution Acoustics for the first time. While I have yet to hear the SYSTEM THREE version of their new modular series, we expect the combination with bridged Rei amplification to be special!

Phono playback will consist of the Wave Kinetic NVS direct drive turntable fitted with the DS Audio Master 3 cartridge and Durand Tosca tonearm. Rumor has it that Ed will also fit a second tonearm to the NVS, adding a mono cartridge to show off what great mono recordings can sound like.

For those wishing to chat with me directly, I will split my time between Bristol 1 and suites 336 and 338. Colin King of Gestalt Audio and I will demonstrate various single-ended and push-pull tube amplifiers from our newest brand, Trafomatic Audio. Speakers will be from Wolf Von Langa, so it is well worth a visit for a look and listen.

I hope to see you there. Ciao from sunny Sicily!

You were away. News to me, but then I sleep under rocks when bridges and highway overpasses are too hard to find.

 

[gleeds]

I heard the bridged REI in my house in my system and Angus is right …..once you hear them you can’t unhear them. I still think they are underpriced for what they do. Truly a system changer. Looking forward to seeing you there Gary

Thank you, Steve. Showing them off with Kevin and Ed's highly capable SYSTEM THREE loudspeakers should be fun!

 

[gleeds]

Steve et al., the Evolution Acoustics System Three speaker is so new that no photos will exist before The Show on June 7. I therefore asked Ed to share whatever he had available so folks would know what's in store. A rendering of the System Three can be seen below.

 

[lscangus]

Steve et al., the Evolution Acoustics System Three speaker is so new that no photos will exist before The Show on June 7. I therefore asked Ed to share whatever he had available so folks would know what's in store. A rendering of the System Three can be seen below.

View attachment 131690

Hi All! I am back to Hong Kong finally! It was wonderful to meet all the friends, Lukas, Florian, Marc, Damon, Gary, Paul, Ivo at the show in Munich. It was fun and we really had a great time.

The System Three does look like a killer speaker and I am excited to hear the feedback from all of you after the show!

 

[LL21]

Steve et al., the Evolution Acoustics System Three speaker is so new that no photos will exist before The Show on June 7. I therefore asked Ed to share whatever he had available so folks would know what's in store. A rendering of the System Three can be seen below.

View attachment 131690

Exciting!

 

[vermaxis]

I just wanted to throw a comment in here that Gary @gleeds is an absolute pleasure to deal with. He was charitable with his time, taking the opportunity to discuss my system at length, what I was looking for and just overall sharing audio stories and advice.

If anyone is even thinking of adding the Westminster Reis to their setup, please take the time to talk with Gary!

 

[SeagoatLeo]

I posted this on another forum with different members than on this forum. I bought a pair of Westminster Labs REI amps which power Von Schweikert VR9 SE Mk2 (upgraded). They are ample power. They replace 50 years of tube amplification (I'm 68). No worries about impedance matching, output tubes wearing out (sometimes taking the voltage regulation), heat, etc. They just sound like the upstream source and ancillary equipment. Neutral. Small. Powerful. Affordable. The first time I've tried and owned a solid state amp (now permanently). As with the speakers, my last purchase in those two categories (sorry manufacturers).

My Poseidon is being broken in at THE SHOW this weekend. Thanks to Gary, I will have a $1+ million sound or close to it for 10th the price. My wife, the only time she ever got emotional over a system, was after hearing the VS Ultra 11s in such a system in 2017. Here I am with such a system to play my 16,100 CDs (less culling) along with my 31,000+ LPs (less culling), etc. I already listen nightly from 12 to 2 am. THE SHOW was the best sounding one since 2017 with a good mix of LPs and actually excellent streamed files together with a few CDs. The music was better; hence, I enjoyed it more.