Gary Leonard Koh's Genesis 7.1 loudspeaker ($7999/pair) has never sounded as good, clear, and invitingly transparent as it does right now in Marc Silver's Soundscape Audio & Video Room (Santa Rosa, CA). I was mesmerized by an LP of Les Brown and His Band of Renown, and again in love with the FIM/Puget Sound Studios remastering of Oscar Peterson's
We Get Requests.
Part of the reason was the cabling: a full complement of Nordost Valhalla cabling, augmented by the Thor power distribution system and two extra special Nordost Odin power cables. Other contributors were Parasound's Halo JC-1 monoblock amplifiers ($9000/pair), Halo JC-2 preamp ($4000), JC-3 prototype phono preamp (projected retail $2000), and D-200 universal player ($1500 when last available). For vinyl, let's not forget the ClearAudio Champion with a Grado Blue cartridge and something else in Marc's hard-to-decipher scrawl ($2820 total). Genesis balanced interconnects and speaker cables were also in the mix, as was an unheard until recalibrated pair of Velodyne DD-12 subs ($2500 each). Oh, and don't forget the Analog Export Ultimate Record Cleaning Solution ($2495).
