Koss 76 manual Touring The Old/New Show, by Albert Simon, play Un Aeroplano a Vela, a song

TOURING THE OLD/NEW SHOW

“L
o o k at t he beaut if u l	by Albert Simon		more than once during the next days,
tubes,”said			with different visitors, and their
a visitor as			reaction was always the same:
he walked			they remained speechless. That
into the room, calling his			such quality (and quantity!)
friend over to a table display,			could issue from such diminutive
completely oblivious to the			speakers was amazing.
music being played. There			We were no less impressed
it is. I think I’ve cracked the			by the Simaudio room, where
mystery of why there are			we listened to an excerpt from
so few female audiophiles.			Holst’s The Planets, played on
While men and women may			the Andromeda CD player and
equally love listening to			power supply, the P-8 controller
music, men have that unique			and preamplifier, the W-8 power
tendency to also want to			amplifier and the large Dynaudio
read about, to talk about and			Confidence C-4 speakers. Before
to argue about…the gear.		leaving the large room, Michael and Jimmy wanted to have
This article is about them and the gear, and most impor-		their picture taken in front of the huge Simaudio monobloc
tantly about the sound and the music they listened to and		power amp on display.
their reactions to it. Warning: you will read about personal		(Can you ever, ever imagine a female audiophile asking for
opinions. If you don’t like personal opinions and prefer a		a souvenir shot such as this?)
detailed account of what was played and displayed, you might		In the small Fidelio room, everything was quiet and refined.
consider putting this magazine down and delving into the		The first track of Nemesis, their latest album of percussion, was
complete list of exhibitors and components available in the		playing on an Esoteric deck through a Nagra PL-P preamp and
official brochure.		a pair of pyramid-shaped Nagra PMA power amps, into Verity
You may find praise in the next paragraphs, and occasion-		Audio’s shiny black Parsifal speak-
ally harsh comments. However, this is not a listening test, by		ers. “I feel good,” said Michael, as
any means, and we won’t blame anything unless we mean it		we were going out into the hallway
specifically for the purpose of improvement.		“Just a few minutes in that room
“You must listen to these speakers,” said Michael and		and I feel so relaxed.”
Jimmy, as soon as we met in the lobby. “They’re shaped like		Soon after, Jimmy really wanted
huge horns, and the sound is so natural and smooth,” they		us to listen to the Revelation speak-
added, pointing to the name of the Edgar-		ers, and as we walked in we noticed
horn Titan II speakers on the		the energetic sound of the K&D
brochure. Off we went.		Sessions handled with authority
Along the way we stopped		by the Revelation Mistral S-6
by the Totem Acoustics home		speakers (at right), helped by a pair
theatre demonstration. Neatly		of Odyssey Stratos power amps, a
placed on the walls, front		DSC VAC Auricle preamp, and a
and back, the new, discreetly		Naim CDX player. A request to
styled, 3.5" deep Tribe 1 and		play Un Aeroplano a Vela, a song
2 speakers gave an absolutely		by Gianmaria Testa from his CD
spectacular performance of		Montgolfières, demonstrated con-
Hero, with the dramatic contri-		vincingly the imaging capabilities
bution of the Storm subwoofer.		of that system.
Played on the Arcam DV 78		Just as fascinating was the sound
player with Arcam’s AVR, the		of a ClearAudio turntable, playing
sound was riveting and carried		Take Five, linked to a Korato Anni-
tons of impact	At top: Albert at work in the Blue-		versary Series
while outlining			R e f e r e n c e
	note room. At left: the Opera SP
the finest details.			Valve preamp,
	speakers. At right: the two-part
I did return			t wo Korato
	Revelation speaker.
to that room			tube monob-

ULTRA HIGH FIDELITY Magazine 25

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