Author Archives: Rogier van Bakel

Trigger warning: If sky-high costs for audio gear make you gnarly, this AXPONA report (and lots of others) will not carry your temper. Just the Masterbuilt-brand cabling in supplier Scott Walker Audio’s room carried a heart-stopping six-figure price ticket.

The area, that includes Von Schweikert Ultra 7 audio system ($180,000/pair), wasn’t particularly small or giant. Let’s name it a Goldilocks room. Leif Swanson, Von Schweikert’s chief designer, stated that the model’s merchandise had typically been demoed in huge expo rooms, which sometimes scared off potential patrons who assumed that the audio system wanted a jumbo-sized area to sing. Not so, says the corporate.

The 7, launched simply over a 12 months in the past, has a sepcified sensitivity of 94dB and performs right down to 18Hz. It sports activities no fewer than eight drivers. On the entrance, we discover three 9” ceramic-cone woofers, a 7” ceramic-cone midrange transducer, a beryllium-dome tweeter, and a dual-ribbon super-tweeter that reproduces frequencies as much as 60kHz. In the rear is an “ambient array”: a horn-loaded magnesium-diaphragm high-frequency driver working in tandem with one other super-tweeter. Though the Ultra 7 is totally analog, Von Schweikert has inbuilt a room-correction characteristic of kinds. Four of the drivers might be independently adjusted in 0.5dB increments, utilizing a set of autoformers with particular person sign paths for every stage choice.

When I visited, one thing wasn’t proper with the Sonorus Audio ATR10 MkII reel-to-reel deck ($29,950). A Yello studio recording I’m very accustomed to sounded muffled and closed-in. The gentleman sitting subsequent to me heard it too; we collectively requested a change to the room’s digital entrance finish, consisting of an Aurender W20SE music server ($23,000), an Aurender MC20 Reference grasp clock ($30,000), and a LampizatOr Horizon DAC ($49,000).

And all was all of a sudden properly. Driven by VAC Master 300 iQ monoblocks ($84,000/pair, above) fed through a VAC Master preamp ($30,000), the Ultra 7s made Sarah McLachlan sound further heavenly on “Angel.” Subtlety and ebullience, energy and perspicuity: it was all there, on each recording we heard, from Dire Straits’ “You and Your Friend” to “The Carnival is Over,” a stunning Dead Can Dance track that jogged my memory of the equally proficient Blue Nile (the band). The system reproduced vocalists’ each breath in a method that made you imagine that if a mouse tip-toed throughout the studio ground, you’d hear it.

Masimo will need to have been the most important, most useful firm at AXPONA by far. Its market valuation is barely north of 10 billion {dollars}. The NASDAQ-listed agency had greater than two billion in revenues final 12 months. And but it is a protected guess that the majority expo-goers who noticed the Masimo title on one of many demo rooms thought, “Who?”

Well, see in case you acknowledge these names: Bowers & Wilkins, Marantz, Polk, Definitive Technology, Classé, Denon, HEOS, and Boston Acoustics. Those eight manufacturers are owned and managed by the previously unbiased Sound United. Masimo plunked down a cool one billion {dollars} for that firm a 12 months in the past, explaining that the buyout offers “entry to a longtime distribution channel with main retailers and a possible to cross-sell [our] merchandise.”

That nonetheless left lots of people scratching their heads. Masimo sells medical know-how: its signature merchandise are pulse oximeters and different health-monitoring units. Other than (possibly) audiology tech resembling listening to aids, the place is the synergy with high-end audio? Initially, traders did not see it, sending the corporate’s inventory value plummeting by greater than a 3rd (it has since recovered).

A profitable Masimo sideline, deliberate or not, is patents. Earlier this 12 months, a courtroom sided with Masimo within the firm’s lawsuit towards Apple. The Cupertino colossus needed to pay up after the heartbeat oximeter within the Apple watch was discovered to infringe on two Masimo patents. One market analyst famous that “even a modest royalty of $1–$2 per watch may add $60 million–$120 million to Masimo’s annual income.” The firm has additionally gained patent fits towards giants like Philips and Medtronic.

Both culturally and when it comes to the markets they serve, Masimo and Sound United seem to be a clumsy match—a Venn diagram whose circles contact however overlap nowhere. But I admit I’m no enterprise sage, and since that is Stereophile, not Investor’s Business Daily, let’s lastly check out some candy gear . . . and hearken to nice music.

In the Masimo room I visited, I encountered a spiffy-looking, $6999/pair of Bowers & Wilkins 702 S3 audio system. The linked parts have been a Marantz Model 30 built-in amp ($2999); an SACD30n Marantz disc participant ($2999); and a Marantz TT-15S1 belt-driven turntable ($1799). An apart: it is disappointing that at virtually 15,000 simoleons (no small quantity!), this was one of many extra inexpensive setups I noticed and heard at AXPONA.

To be trustworthy, I used to be a bit apprehensive concerning the B&Ws. Before I joined Stereophile, I as soon as determined to not evaluation a pair of B&W 603 audio system as a result of I discovered them harsh and dry—in my room, to my ears. Better save my efforts for worthier candidates, I assumed.

Did the 702 S3 loudspeakers additionally fall quick? I’d feared they might, however am pleased to say that I discovered them charming. (Was it the higher-quality mannequin that made the distinction, or the room, or the related tools? No thought.)

Also, the 702s are timbrally gifted. On “When Love Was King” by Gregory Porter, his caramel-colored voice was scrumptious, the sound of the brushed snare impressively actual. Then we performed Beyoncé’s “Daddy Lessons,” with handclaps and New Orleans-style horns that sounded excitingly alive. The system put in a persistently commanding efficiency.

Room 352 at AXPONA, the place cable constructors Shunyata Research and speaker builders Clarisys had joined forces, was one thing of a feast for the senses. The Clarisys Minuet audio system ($38,800/pair) seem like high-tech heaters in a Forties movie noir, and I imply that in the very best manner—I like how they appear concurrently retro and totally trendy. They sounded great too.

The Swiss firm has been round since 2011, initially constructing substitute components for the legendary Apogee audio system. (Apogee went out of enterprise in 2000 after a memorable 19-year run.) The Clarisys crew ultimately determined to design and market its personal loudspeaker merchandise.

The Minuet, launched in 2021, is a ribboned two-way with a double-sided bass panel in an aluminum subframe-exoskeleton—related in some methods to the implausible French Diptyque audio system that I wrote about right here. What’s beautiful on the Minuet’s outdoors is mirrored on the within, the place there are carbonite resistors (constructed in-house), in addition to Jantzen capacitors and custom-made inductors and copper-foil circuitry. New in 2023 is a neodymium-magnet model of the speaker, however having by no means heard the earlier era, I am unable to inform you what modified sonically. I can report that the brand new Minuets’ sound is superbly balanced: easy-going however not laid-back, revealing however not etched.

The Minuets proved their skills with a brash, punchy rendition of “Hit the Ground Running” by Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band, a recording by a big jazz ensemble whose taking part in is as tight as Speedos on Pavarotti. I used to be quietly snapping my fingers the entire manner by means of. On “Stolen Car” by Lauren Jenkins, the Minuets confirmed their velvety aspect, however the presentation by no means acquired sleepy. Transients have been snappy and exact, meshing properly with a lush, easy midrange that was about pretty much as good because it will get.

Driving the speaker have been a Constellation Inspiration amp ($17,995) and preamp ($12,995), fed by an Aurender N20 server/streamer ($12,500) and a dCS Rossini CD participant and clock ($39,998 for the combo). Shunyata Research supplied the loom, together with cables from its Typhon and Omega strains. A Shunyata Everest 8000 conditioner ($9900) contributed clear energy.

Room 352 at AXPONA, the place cable constructors Shunyata Research and speaker builders Clarisys had joined forces, was one thing of a feast for the senses. The Clarisys Minuet audio system ($38,800/pair) appear to be high-tech heaters in a Nineteen Forties movie noir, and I imply that in the very best manner—I like how they appear concurrently retro and totally trendy. They sounded great too.

The Swiss firm has been round since 2011, initially constructing alternative elements for the legendary Apogee audio system. (Apogee went out of enterprise in 2000 after a memorable 19-year run.) The Clarisys crew ultimately determined to design and market its personal loudspeaker merchandise.

The Minuet, launched in 2021, is a ribboned two-way with a double-sided bass panel in an aluminum subframe-exoskeleton—comparable in some methods to the improbable French Diptyque audio system that I wrote about right here. What’s beautiful on the Minuet’s exterior is mirrored on the within, the place there are carbonite resistors (constructed in-house), in addition to Jantzen capacitors and custom-made inductors and copper-foil circuitry. New in 2023 is a neodymium-magnet model of the speaker, however having by no means heard the earlier technology, I can not let you know what modified sonically. I can report that the brand new Minuets’ sound is fantastically balanced: easy-going however not laid-back, revealing however not etched.

The Minuets proved their talents with a brash, punchy rendition of “Hit the Ground Running” by Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band, a recording by a big jazz ensemble whose enjoying is as tight as Speedos on Pavarotti. I used to be quietly snapping my fingers the entire manner via. On “Stolen Car” by Lauren Jenkins, the Minuets confirmed their velvety aspect, however the presentation by no means received sleepy. Transients had been snappy and exact, meshing effectively with a lush, easy midrange that was about nearly as good because it will get.

Driving the speaker had been a Constellation Inspiration amp ($17,995) and preamp ($12,995), fed by an Aurender N20 server/streamer ($12,500) and a dCS Rossini CD participant and clock ($39,998 for the combo). Shunyata Research offered the loom, together with cables from its Typhon and Omega strains. A Shunyata Everest 8000 conditioner ($9900) contributed clear energy.

One uncommon factor within the massive Legacy house at AXPONA was the location of two pairs of beautiful-looking audio system: Legacy’s V system and the Aeris. They stood in a straight line angled about 30° away from one of many lengthy partitions, albeit parallel to a curtain that the Legacy staff had positioned there. The grouping of kit was additionally fairly far over to the left of the room, as a substitute of close to the middle of the wall.

Did it sound unbalanced and disjointed? Not in your life. President and founder Bill Dudleston, a pioneer in room correction, knew the setup would work due to his Legacy Wavelet, an digital slayer of mirrored sound, nasty time delays, and different room-induced colorations. But the Wavelet is extra than that. Let us rely the methods: it homes the already-mentioned room correction module, a preamplifier, a four-way crossover with time alignment, and a high-quality DAC. (The preamp and DAC are bypassable should you want to provide your individual.) Also on board: 1500 Watts of ICEpower amplification for the LFE drivers. The system retails for $62,000.

Not included are energy amps to drive the midrange transducers and the ribbon tweeters. Team Dudleston had introduced the four-channel Legacy i.V4 Ultra amplifier ($8700), able to monstrous energy: 610Wpc into 8 ohms, 1000Wpc into 4.

I spent most of my time within the Legacy room listening to the 6′-tall V audio system. Via these four-way dipoles with passive bass radiators, transients emerged quick and effortlessly, and bass notes (all the way down to a subterranean 16Hz!) had actual heft and a ton of punch.

On system, Yosi Horikawa’s “Bubbles,” an audiophile chestnut I by no means tire of, makes the bouncing marbles and pebbles on the recording skitter everywhere in the room. The Legacy Vs rendered the impact with excessive precision. Unintended comedy occurred due to a model of Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Boxer” sung by the King’s Singers, a niminy-piminy English choral group. The incongruousness of those prim British gents requesting coitus from “the whores on Seventh Avenue” tickled my humorous bone; there is a cool Mr. Bean sketch in there someplace.

But did the monitor sound glorious? Hell yeah, and nobody of their proper thoughts may deny it.

One uncommon factor within the giant Legacy area at AXPONA was the position of two pairs of beautiful-looking audio system: Legacy’s V system and the Aeris. They stood in a straight line angled about 30° away from one of many lengthy partitions, albeit parallel to a curtain that the Legacy staff had positioned there. The grouping of apparatus was additionally fairly far over to the left of the room, as a substitute of close to the middle of the wall.

Did it sound unbalanced and disjointed? Not in your life. President and founder Bill Dudleston, a pioneer in room correction, knew the setup would work due to his Legacy Wavelet, an digital slayer of mirrored sound, nasty time delays, and different room-induced colorations. But the Wavelet is extra than that. Let us depend the methods: it homes the already-mentioned room correction module, a preamplifier, a four-way crossover with time alignment, and a high-quality DAC. (The preamp and DAC are bypassable for those who want to provide your individual.) Also on board: 1500 Watts of ICEpower amplification for the LFE drivers. The system retails for $62,000.

Not included are energy amps to drive the midrange transducers and the ribbon tweeters. Team Dudleston had introduced the four-channel Legacy i.V4 Ultra amplifier ($8700), able to monstrous energy: 610Wpc into 8 ohms, 1000Wpc into 4.

I spent most of my time within the Legacy room listening to the 6′-tall V audio system. Via these four-way dipoles with passive bass radiators, transients emerged quick and effortlessly, and bass notes (all the way down to a subterranean 16Hz!) had actual heft and a ton of punch.

On system, Yosi Horikawa’s “Bubbles,” an audiophile chestnut I by no means tire of, makes the bouncing marbles and pebbles on the recording skitter all around the room. The Legacy Vs rendered the impact with excessive precision. Unintended comedy occurred due to a model of Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Boxer” sung by the King’s Singers, a niminy-piminy English choral group. The incongruousness of those prim British gents requesting coitus from “the whores on Seventh Avenue” tickled my humorous bone; there is a cool Mr. Bean sketch in there someplace.

But did the monitor sound glorious? Hell yeah, and nobody of their proper thoughts might deny it.

I in all probability spent a lot of my time at AXPONA with a extreme case of resting bitch face, as I’m often concentrating laborious. There’s quite a bit to cowl, and a thousand details to get straight. But throughout system auditions, I sometimes smiled too, generally unintentionally making eye contact with exhibitors who had been excited to see that I was excited.

That’s what occurred within the Linkwitz room, the place CEO Frank Brenner and famous Linkwitz evangelist Charles Port had been demoing the corporate’s LX521.4 open-baffle audio system.

Is it a brand new product? Yes and no. The model 4 is barely completely different from earlier 521 iterations in that there is no longer a passive crossover within the high baffle, theoretically leading to larger decision and purity.

By the best way, it is time to cease pondering of Germany-based Linkwitz as an organization that simply sells builder plans and numerous components to prospects who want to assemble the audio system as a DIY mission. These days, the Linkwitz crew affords a completely assembled and properly completed “turnkey” system; all you must do is unbox it and plug it in.

The firm’s flagships, designed a couple of dozen years in the past by trade luminary Siegfried Linkwitz (1935–2018), are four-way, full-range dipoles that produce a figure-of-eight radiation sample, claimed to excite fewer room modes than different transducer configurations. The two bass enclosures, every containing a pair of back-to-back woofers mounted at an angle, have 4 sides as a substitute of six, as they’re utterly open in the back and front (you may disguise them behind material grilles for those who like). Up high, the baffles rotate individually from the woofer buildings that assist them, permitting customers to kind of dial within the width of the specified soundstage. The solely precise packing containers within the system are the 2 elements that home the Hypex nCore amplifiers and the crossovers, all included within the $26,700 system worth.

A great chunk of that cash goes to pay for Panzerholz (“armored wooden”). It’s a dear, actually bulletproof form of über-plywood that is so heavy it sinks in water. Panzerholz’s damping properties make it a superb alternative for audio system, Brenner stated.

In the usual Renaissance resort room on the fifteenth ground—possibly 12′ large and 18′ lengthy, plus a small hallway—Port and Brenner invited me to take a seat very near the Linkwitz audio system: lower than 5′ away, on the tip of a flat imaginary triangle. The sound of an unknown-to-me, all-percussion Chesky recording was admittedly wonderful there, however once I tried different listening positions, I used to be struck by the truth that the soundstage did not collapse or turn into unbalanced. There wasn’t a candy spot, there was a major candy swath.

We performed “The Real Blues” by the Ray Brown Trio, adopted by Carmen Gomes Inc.’s model of “Come On In My Kitchen” and Pink Floyd’s “Time.” The system’s treble and mid drivers put in a seamless, light-footed presentation with a spatial openness that assorted from superb to astounding, relying on the recording. Likewise, the bass, rated to 20Hz, sounded nimble however authoritative, and emphatically pure.

In three days I heard possibly 10% of all AXPONA rooms, so it might be foolish to offer a Best in Show award. But to my ears, the German audio system had been among the many tip of the highest: erstklassig (first-class) and completely wunderbar.

Other elements within the system had been a Jeff Rowland Design Capri S2-SC preamp ($6100); a Kuzma Stabi R turntable ($9595) with a Kuzma Stogi Ref 313 VTA tonearm ($6600) and a NOS Ortofon Rohmann MC phono cartridge ($1300); plus a Linn Akurate streamer ($18,500 together with in depth mods). Cabling was a mixture of Mogami and “generic” OFC and OCC cables that Port stated value lower than a thousand {dollars} complete.