PS AUDIO

      
PS Audio new iPhone application really works. If only iPhone could find a way to send me to Vegas next year without having to go through the ordeal of a 20 hour flight and airport security. We can do almost anything with iPhone nowadays, can't we?

MERIDIAN

      

I know animated movies always impress more than real people on the screen. But the image quality in the Meridian room was superb.     TIDAL/BALABO

 

I swear I liked the Tidal Sunrays. But at 180 000 a pair I'd like a little more sunshine in my musical life. The Sunrays were driven by BALabo 500W stereo amps sourced from a BD-1 DAC. Sound was a little splashy when I visited. 

OCTAVE/DYNAUDIO

     
Mamoth Octave monoblock amplifiers driving Reference Dynaudio speakers with an inverted array of drivers. The music was sounding 'non-inverted' though. Maybe a little closed in for my taste...
 
PLINIUS

 

   
I was blown away by the big band  - in a good sense that is - at the Plinius room. Fast and clean transients are always a good sign when it comes to music.
 
CONTINUUM

 

Continuum: you fall in love with this Australian merry-go-round just by looking at it running . The sound of silence for a change...    

BOULDER

   

Boulder is probably one the best audio brands around the globe. But somehow they left me cold. It seems there is always something not working properly when I visit their room.

Sound was fair through Focal's Mezzo and they have a new iPhone application, like the one in PSAudio. At this kind of price it should be head and shoulders above all else.

PERFECT 8

 

 

Music sculptures of glass and gold (hence the price?...). Perfect 8 look indeed perfect. But is The Force with them?...
 
CRYSTAL

 

 

 

   

Crystal's Arabesque glass speakers sound much better than the above Perfect 8. When I visited they were being driven by Pathos amps and a new prototype Siltech battery powered tube preamplifier!!... They now use two pieces of foam to control tweeter dispersion, which is simple and very effective, indeed.
 
ISOMIKE

   
The sound in Kimber/Isomike room was appallingly harsh. Sources by EMM and amplification by Pass are not to be faulted. It only remains the usual suspects: the Sony speakers. Guilty as charged?...
 
CHAPTER

     

 

 
A good chapter in my book if there is one. The Sonnet S CD player (with USB streaming input) was driving the Qube 400S digital amplifier directly.

PRIMALUNA

   

   
PrimaLuna was bragging about TAS Tube Amplifier of the Year Award. And with a good reason: the awarded Dialogue 7s were driving Amati Anniversarios with grace and aplomb. A fresh and lively sound    

MARTEN /VITUS

 

 

This short video allows you to witness the world premiere of the Marten Momento loudspeaker driven by Vitus amplification. The next best thing to being actually there...    

ORACLE

 

 

If you have ever doubted Oracle came from Qebec, Canada, just listen to the people talking in the background. The new Oracle Mk VI has now three hydraulical pillars that free the chassis from room vibrations    

CARY

 

 

Cary was demonstrating the same system as last year's: CAD 211 Founders Edition with  Marten Coltrane: warm and shiny as the sun coming through the window pane

NORDOST

Nordost was promoting  the new System SetUp&Tuning CD, which sounded very much like an old Chesky Test Disc edited ten years ago...    

BLUE ROOM

 

 

A nice way to finish this long series of video publishing: the AMS/Blue Room/Ocean Way is another place of cult at the Venetian. People just sit there for long periods to experience the impact of the powerful transients delivered by the horn loaded loudspeakers. Quite an experience, I must admit...
 
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GO TO PART TWO