Well organized and rather compact compared to sprawling shows in other cities, I really enjoyed auditioning the systems and meeting my friends in the industry. The Los Angeles and Orange County Audio Society was present in the Society room and nibbled on the treats provided by the hotel. I visited there for a while then struck out to hear system after system. Under show conditions with limited set-up time, great sound is a tough challenge, but some rooms got close and hit a home run.
My ears were treated to a surprise and musical delight from Audience and John McDonald. He premiered a pair of very beautiful speakers, the Audience Bellare, that left me awestruck. Using a solid state amp and preamp I did not recognize and wired in top Audience cables, the presentation reminded me of my number one reference system. The speakers disappeared! in the room with the image of the jazz group or orchestra spread out behind the speakers in a realistic and very lifelike way. With extraordinary definition and luscious instrumental textures, I heard depth and width with no phase distortion or undue colorations from the gorgeous wood cabinets. The soundstage extended beyond the outer edges of the speakers, the only speakers at the show I heard that did this, with ease and beauty regardless of LP or Digital source. I was stunned.
The speakers consisted of two 3 inch drivers lined up like buttons on a shirt run full range followed by a medium sized mid-woofer unit mirrored by two more 3 inch full range drivers on the back side, in-phase, making it a bi-pole. The small drivers have no crossover and run full range. The largest woofer was in the cabinet below firing inward toward the opposite channel. The mid-woofer and woofer section is powered by 300 watts and features a DSP device that automatically adjusts them to the room and includes a remote control. The drivers blended invisibly to the ear and achieved a kind of perfection I rarely hear. With 88dB sensitivity and minus 3 dB 18-22 kHZ, it filled the large room with ease and grace.
To provide the icing on the cake, the Audience Speakers are beautiful to look at as well. John and his team have worked a long time to perfect these speakers and they have absolutely succeeded. At a retail price of $36,000 the pair, they were the best deal of the show overall as well. Congratulations Audience and John McDonald for a great speaker design achievement!
Sunny's Audio Video room was very good and always filled. The exceptional Rockport Technology Lynx Speakers were quite musical and very, very attractive. The room was always filled, though I enjoyed their full range beauty no matter where I sat. I thought over all the presentation was a very strong entry. The Aurender N50 Music Server performed gracefully and outstanding CH Precision Electronics did the rest. The room was wired in Shunyata Research Power and Signal Cables. Stop by Sunny's store in Covina to hear these superb speakers.
The Zesto Audio room with very large YG Speakers was stuffed with listeners to hear the LA debut of the Zesto Audio Athena Tube DAC. I bought one, by the way, as my number one reference. This DAC is both lively and analog sounding to the max. The YG Speakers seemed a bit big for the standard room and that skewed my opinion. The complete suite of all tube Zesto Audio equipment sounded natural and mellifluous. The gear was wired in the best Cardas cables, one of my references. Audition Zesto Audio products at Upscale Audio.
Prana Fidelity debuted a speaker in prototype, the Satmata, with a solid state amp, the purna/ma, of their own design. The fantastic passive Townshend Allegri Reference line stage coupled with the E.A.R. Acute Classic Tube CD Player made up the system I heard. They benefited from set-up by the uber-skilled Dan Meinwald, of EAR-USA fame, who shared the room. Consequently, the music was realistic and well defined with lovely center fill and image height. The system was wired in the latest Furutech V1 cables throughout supplied by Scott Markwell. It worked. I liked the full range presentation from this highly defined highly detailed three-way speaker. Wonderful center fill and very musical listening experience, I heard no flaws or peaks to their performance. They need to produce these speakers, in my opinion, as they will excite the market. I love a solid three way design.
