+2
floor
Room
228 - Northstar Design/Extreme Audio
In
this room the top Extreme Audio loudspeakers were being
demonstrated, the T815, almost 24000 Euro, six drivers and
a huge external crossover, partnered with the complete Northstar
Design system, a two chasis digital source, a preamp and
a pair of mono amps. The outcome was, as at the Milano High
End (where the system was a bit better suited to the room),
classically High En: hyper-detailed, clean, maybe a bit
surgical. I think these speakers, because of their size
and radiation pattern, need some space around and more distance
from the listener.
Room
234 - Enmatrix
Halcro
comes to Italy, on the wings of an enviable fame, as the
manufacturer of the best amps in the world. Partnering the
dm58/dm10 amplification components were an Accuphase SACD/CD
source, the complete Klimo analogue system and the Wilson
Sophia loudspeakers. The room was, by purpose, sparsely
(and scarcely) treated.
The
sound was one of the best at the show; I have never heard
Wilson speakers sounding so delicate and sweet – I really
love Wilson speakers, but sweetness isn’t one of their main
qualities – without giving up their precision, their detail,
their dynamic abilities. Of course the prices of these amps
aren’t exactly in the affordable range, but the state of
the art bears a pricetag… I think this was the best sound
in a second floor Quark room this year, and maybe the best
I have heard in one of these rooms (which are the smaller
and the most typically hotel-roomish ones). The fact that
Enmatrix obtained this kind of sound with just four DAAD
devices in the front corners as room treatment makes me
wonder. The dm10 is coming soon to these pages…
Room 230 - Montagna/Grandinote
The
partnering of Montagna’s strange speakers and Grandinote’s
peculiar amps was premiered at the Milano High End. The
speakers are much improved; a whole new low frequency system
replaces the previous push-pull hybrid arrangement, plagued
by cancellation problems. The system is really promising,
it will be interesting to hear it when it’s fully optimised;
I gather it will be priced in the high tens of thousands,
though… The amps are MOSfet based design using output transformers;
prices aren’t affordable (9000 Euro for the small one, 18000
for the big one), but these aren’t me-too products.
Room
252 - Eclipse TD
In
the Eclipse TD room, the peculiar systems of this Japanese
manufacturer were featured, composed of small single-driver
speakers driven by one-of-a-kind shaped small integrated
amps. A promising system, mostly in it multichannel configuration.
Eclipse TD sponsored a live vs. recorded multichannel event
at the show, which, I gather, convinced many listeners of
the validity of multichannel for music.
Sala
250 - Mantra Sound
The
Florentine manufacturer and distributor was showing the
already known Dulcet speaker system, which confirmed the
quality our Editor noticed last year. I have heard the Analogue
Productions vinyl version of Sonny Rollins’ I’m An Old Cowhand;
the ability to reproduce the movements of the legendary
sax player was stunning, as stunning was the dynamic ability
of the system. Alternatively, the smaller Naturelle speaker
system was used; this one, while not showing the raw power
of the flagship Dulcet, was refined and well-balanced. An
interesting feature of the system was the fact that, when
the Morsiani turntable was being used, the system was completely
disconnected from mains, as Audio Consulting’s phono preamp
and solid state amp are battery powered, as is the turntable,
and the preamp was the Rock Solid passive transformer volume
control. Maybe the fact that the system was disconnected
from the polluted Quark Hotel mains was one of the secrets
of the good sound of this room; it was surprising that the
Dulcet could sound so well balanced in a room which seemed
to be way too small for their size.
Room
238 - cdsdesign
The
tar of this room was the Armònia speaker system,
a cone midwoofer and tweeter in a painstaikingly built enclosure.
I need to hear these ‘speakers in a more controlled environment
– they seemed to be low in coloration and high in speed,
but the software selection wasn’t exactly to my taste.
Room
248 - Docet distribuzione
In
this room Docet’s source and amp products were partnered
with Golden Voice speakers and Angstrom’s mains filters.
The
guts of an Angstrom mains filter exposed: a labour of love…
Room
240 - Audio Int'l
This
room looked like a museum of past brands reborn (SAE, Sumo);
the main attraction were the GAS speakers (again a brand
of the past reborn). These speaker try to solve the problem
of partnering different drivers in a new way, as their crossover
is optimised in the time, not in the frequency domain. A
different sound from the one we are used to – nothing hits
you, at first, not the bass range, not the high frequencies,
not the stage; after a while, you realize that everything
seems to be there, in a natural and effortless way, and
you appreciate the fact that someone, finally, seems to
have succeeded in partnering the Great Heil tweeter with
conventional midwoofers without slowing the ribbon tweeter.
I need to listen to these speakers in a known system.
Room
225 - Norma/Vyger
A
voyeurish exhibition of naked Norma products was attracting
the gazes of the technically-oriented audiophiles, in a
room adjacent to the one where a full Norma system (including
the still unreleased – will it ever be? – DAC), partnered
with the (again, voyeurish) V.Y.G.E.R. turntable. The speakers
were Avalons. As for the build quality, the first name which
came to my mind was Spectral (that’s meant as a compliment,
I think the build and design quality of Spectral’s products
is outstanding). The sound was excellent, too, no solid
state signature from these coherently solid state products.
Sala
217 - Silco
The
YBA system assembled by Silco, in a completely untreated
and almost casually dressed-up room, was composed by the
Integré CD player and amp and the Minimum speakers.
This is a simple system, but there’s nothing "simplified"
or "cheap" (well, the price isn’t that cheap also)
about its dynamic and balanced sound.
Room
201 - B&B Audio
This
is another purveyor of French "haute fidelité"
to the Italian market. The system was a partnering of Triangle
speakers and Cairn electronic products. Let's start from
Cairn: calling the 4810 an "integrated" amp would
be simplifying the truth, as there's an host of options
which can transform this amp into a multichannel volume
controller, a 24 bit/192 kHz DAC, a tuner, a video switcher,
a Dolby/DTS 7.1 decoder while still performing its integrated
amp duties; of course you can also add a phono board and
a balanced input/output board: you have a whole menu, you
just need to choose. The amp is priced just above 3000 Euro
and Cairn assures the availability of the optional boards
for the next eon…
The speakers were the top models of Triangle's new Stratos
range - which derives its technology from the huge, flagship
Magellan system -, the Volante. There's a front array of
mid-woofers and a tweeter, as usual for Triangle, but now
there are also rear firing drivers, a tweeter and a woofer.
The range is completed by three other floorstanding models,
the Australe, Luna and Naia, and by a standmount model,
the Solis, all of them sharing the rear drivers, and by
two center speakers and a dedicated surround rear speaker.
The
sound was slightly marred by the usual upper-mid forwardness
of the second floor Quark rooms, but confirmed the Traingle
family features: speed, dynamics, transparency, ability
to track the signal.
Room 203 - Rany Hi Fi
In
this room, Rany Hi-Fi were demonstrating AvantGarde Unos
driven by Convergent amplification components and by an
Ayre digital source. The system majored in dynamics, but
the room didn't seem to be suited to the speakers.
Room
213 - Rany Hi Fi
Audiostatic
speakers, driven by ayre CD player and preamp and by a VTL
power amp. The sound was inconsistent, sometime good, sometime
unconvincing - I couldn't understand if this was due to
room interactions or unhappy speakers-amp marriage.
Room
211 - R.A.F./Diapason
The
beautiful Adamantes speakers were driven by R.A.F./CAT products.
The power amp was a huge 845 based SET design, in a military
surplus vertical chassis; the preamp was a Diapason product
designed and built by R.A.F., a six-channel line level,
remote controllable device, equipped with a magic eye as
a volume display.
The
volume control is implemented with a Dallas device, controlling
standard potentiometers - there's no digital component other
than the control logic. A relaxed feeling welcomed you as
you entered the roo,. The sound was captivating - sometime
it didn't seem to transcend the speakers, but these rooms
aren't audio-friendly at all..
The
beautiful new Diapason Ares speakers.
