Koss 76 manual locks and a pair of l a r g e Villa- R e a l e s p e a k

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locks and a pair of l a r g e Villa- R e a l e s p e a k -

ers. It was a lively and won- derfully syncopated version

of the legendary Brubeck composition. We had another treat on LPs with My Funny Valentine from the 70’s direct-to-disc album The Great Jazz Trio

Direct from L.A., with Hank Jones, played on a Brinkmann La Grange turntable and introducing the Brinkmann tone arm.

That was fol- lowed, in the same room, by Rachmani-

nov’s Piano Concerto No. 3 on a completely rebuilt 1956 Thorens 124, with amplifiers by Brink-

mann and Litho Phon speakers with ribbon tweeters. Actually, turntables were almost everywhere this year, and

we enjoyed tremendously the music of De Falla from his Three Cornered Hat ballet played on a Red Point turntable, a VAC Renaissance Signature preamp and a Manley Steelhead tube phono stage, amplified by a VAC Beampower amp linked to a pair of sculptured, large, shiny black Hansen speakers.

Michael was eager to try his CD of Le Pacte des Loups, on the Raysonic vacuum tube CD 128 player and the Raysonic SE-30-A integrated amplifier (shown above left). The opening track of this impressive film score sounded accurately dark and ominous on the new Living Voice IBX (Auditorium Series) speakers, similar to our reference OBX but with a built-in crossover filter.

As we walked toward another room, Jimmy suggested exhibitors should keep their doors shut and post a clear sign inviting people to walk in. The noise carried along the hallways (of male audiophiles talking passionately about…the gear, what else?) was always too invasive, and as a result, many rooms had to raise the sound to absurd levels. Michael nodded and remarked that this year he noticed how loud music was being played in most rooms. And by the way, during the three days of the Festival, that was the most common complaint I heard from a large number of visitors.

So here is a hint to those with have access to the volume control: don’t try to impress audiophiles by flattening them against

26 ULTRA HIGH FIDELITY Magazine

At left: the new CD player and the wall. Strange as it may integrated amplifier from Ray- seem to some, most of us sonic. Below: David Berning with want to be soothed by good, his new preamplifier.

rich, natural sound. When it’s too loud, we can’t hear it.

“And, yet,” Jimmy added, “I can tell that the overall level of sound quality has increased, this year.” We all agreed.

The next room was large and dark and all eyes were focused on the large, widely-spaced Lohengrin speakers by Verity Audio, flanking a pair of single-ended triode WAVAC monoblocs; huge, brightly lit amps delivering 150 watts each (one of them can be seen on the next page)! The source and control came from the trio of dCS Elgar, Purcell and Verdi. Stravinsky’s A Soldier’s Tale filled the room smoothly, effort- lessly, the musicians spread across the wide stage.

In another room soon after, Michael remarked again about the high sound level as single piano notes were struck repeatedly with a furious right hand. “Not to worry, ” I said, “it sounds like the karate style of a Three Blind Mice recording.” And sure enough! The new Mirage OMD-28’s (Omnipolar Reference Speaker System) were doing their best with that recording, fed by a pair of Bryston 7B SST power amps, a Bryston preamp and power supply and an Arcam CD36 player, all filtered through a Torus Power Line conditioner.

Enjoy the rest of this article in our print issue, or in the electronic version, available from MagZee.

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