Most of my audio show experiences have been mixed, with strings of fine-sounding rooms punctuated by others that have sounded mediocre or worse. On the worst of days, the pattern has been reversed, with room after room sounding so dismal that I occasionally began to wonder if I was suffering from a temporary case of sonic indigestion. But on the Renaissance Schaumberg's 4th floor, despite room layouts that seemed to have been designed by the Son of the Set-up Demon himself, room after room delivered fine sound.
This was certainly the case in the Fidelis Music Systems room, where Stenheim Alumine Five loudspeakers ($50,000/pair; see Art Dudley's review in the March 2018 Stereophile) joined with the new VAC Sigma 170i integrated amplifier (approx. $14,000), new Acoustic Signature Double X turntable ($5795) with TA2000 9" tonearm ($2395) and Dynavector XX2 cartridge ($1995), the soon-to-be-replaced MSB Technology Analog DAC ($9950), Aurender N10 music player ($8000), new Tellurium Q Statements cables, and Stein Music's new line of Harmonizers (more on this below). A Red Book file of Rickie Lee Jones singing "Las Vegas" sounded quite fine—the LP version that I also heard sounded far warmer—with a very open and extended top end. Ditto for an RCA Victor LP of Ansermet conducting The Royal Ballet in an excerpt from Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker. Diana Krall sounded especially warm in 24/176.4, and a 32/96 MQA flac file from the Agathe Jazz Quartet was a total winner.
Part of the room's success may have been due to the influence of Holger Stein's new, easier-to-position H1 Harmonizer ($499), larger H2 Harmonizer ($2395/set of two), and Harmonizer Pro ($995). In my experience, these units, when positioned optimally and set to the appropriate level, work with the Blue Suns, Blue Diamonds, and Stars that I saw on the walls of the room to enhance music flow, three-dimensionality, and a whole lot more. Whatever the reason(s), this room sounded really good.
One element that the Renaissance Schaumberg seems to consider essential to the luxury feel of its hotel is a small, motion sensor-activated TV screen that's embedded into the mirrors of its bathrooms. As soon as you turn on the light in the loo, the TV starts playing. I don't know if "You will never be alone in a Schaumburg property" is the intended message, but what comes to mind instead are rather declassé recollections of gas stations that have TV screens atop every pump.
The commercial that appeared when I entered the bathroom in the Fidelis room seems perversely à propos, don't you think?
It's rather amazing that the brand new LSA-20 Signature column loudspeakers (projected at $3490/pair) in the Emerald Physics room sounded as good as they did, given that they were assembled the day before the show began. (They're not even on the room's equipment list.) Fed by a Mac Mini running Audirvana and an Outlaw Audio RR2160 receiver ($799), the system had a really impressive soundstage and bass, as well as a fine midrange.
Unfortunately, so jarring was the propensity to change tracks without notice every 40 seconds or so that I have no idea if the system was actually capable of delivering an emotionally compelling musical experience. I do know that the LSA-10 Statement reference monitors (projected at $3495/pair) that were switched in during the demo—apologies if I've got that wrong, because there are discrepancies between what's on the printed sheet and what I wrote in my notes—sounded significantly less lively than the larger speakers, whose ultimate sound will first be determinable after they begin shipping in late June or July. Hopefully they will be exhibited in a manner that treats music as more than a random string of extended soundbites.
Western Electric Export Corporation—whose famous trademark has graced the world's most coveted vacuum tubes and other audio products—will release in October its 91E integrated amplifier ($7500), a 22Wpc baby that uses 300B tubes. Together with a Western Electric 203C tubed CD player ($8500), 351C PCM/DSD DAC ($12,500), and Gauder Akustic Berliner 7 loudspeakers, the system sounded gorgeous on a track by Natalie Cole. The midrange was to die for—"just magical," I wrote in my notes. In truth, there were several resonant peaks that I prefer to think were caused by room nodes; regardless, this system's warm bouquet was hard to resist.
Brand distributor Mark Sossa of Well Pleased A/V delivered an international smorgasbord in the form of Rethm Bhaava speakers ($4495/pair) from India, Qualiton a50i amplifier ($7500) from Hungary, Innuos Zenith SE music server ($7000) from Portugal, Aqua La Voce S3 DAC ($4750) from Italy—look for my review of the company's top-of-the-line Formula DAC in the June issue of Stereophile—Gigawatt PC-3 SE EVO+ power conditioner ($6500) from Poland, and Anticables cabling from Minnesota. The sound was lovely, warm and free, with fine depth on "Teardrops for Jimmy" by Tony Overwater.
A bit of Ivan Fischer's Channel Classics DSD recording of the Mahler Symphony 3 also sounded quite warm and liquid, albeit devoid of the weight essential to depiction of an oversized Mahlerian orchestra. Although I'm not convinced that Mahler is best served by sweet colorations, on other music, this system was a delightfully non-fatiguing winner.
Sonoma Acoustic's all-in-one Sonoma Model One Electrostatic headphone amp/headphone system ($4915), which is said to have won no fewer than seven awards, sounded extremely quiet, lovely, and smooth in a 2xHD hi-resolution transfer of Holly Cole's "Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues." Ditto for baritone Håkan Hagegård and pianist Anders Öhrwall's 2xHD hi-rez issue of Schubert's "Ave Maria." A bit warmer than neutral, perhaps, but absolutely engaging.
Master recording engineer and Wilson Audio brand spokesperson Peter McGrath told me over lunch on Saturday that he had recently staged, in Hong Kong, a stunning demo of the mammoth Wilson WAMM speakers that used multiple multi-box components from CH Precision in Switzerland. Peter loved the sound they produced. I, too, have heard far less exotic but nonetheless high-priced CH Precision equipment, including the components used in their AXPONA demo, sound superb at some audio shows. Thus my puzzlement at a system that, while captivatingly transparent on Rodrigo y Gabriella's "Hanuman" and Allan Taylor's "Running on Dreams," lacked mellowness in the midrange and weight in the bass.
The system consisted of the CH Precision D1 SACD/CD drive ($38,000) with Sync I/O clock synchronization board ($1500) and Reference II universal integrated amplifier ($38,000) with five different digital, USB, Ethernet, Phono, and Sync options ($16,500 total). Speakers were YG Acoustics Carmel 2, cabling Nordost Valhalla 2 on power and CH Speaker Link on speakers, and power treatment a combination of Nordost QX-4 and QB-8. I am quite familiar with the sound and effects of the Nordost products, and know they were not the cause.
One element that the Renaissance Schaumberg seems to consider essential to the luxury feel of its hotel is a small, motion sensor-activated TV screen that's embedded into the mirrors of its bathrooms. As soon as you turn on the light in the loo, the TV starts playing. I don't know if "You will never be alone in a Schaumburg property" is the intended message, but what comes to mind instead are rather declassé recollections of gas stations that have TV screens atop every pump.
The commercial that appeared when I entered the bathroom in the Fidelis room seems perversely à propos, don't you think?
It's rather amazing that the brand new LSA-20 Signature column loudspeakers (projected at $3490/pair) in the Emerald Physics room sounded as good as they did, given that they were assembled the day before the show began. (They're not even on the room's equipment list.) Fed by a Mac Mini running Audirvana and an Outlaw Audio RR2160 receiver ($799), the system had a really impressive soundstage and bass, as well as a fine midrange.
Western Electric Export Corporation—whose famous trademark has graced the world's most coveted vacuum tubes and other audio products—will release in October its 91E integrated amplifier ($7500), a 22Wpc baby that uses 300B tubes. Together with a Western Electric 203C tubed CD player ($8500), 351C PCM/DSD DAC ($12,500), and Gauder Akustic Berliner 7 loudspeakers, the system sounded gorgeous on a track by Natalie Cole. The midrange was to die for—"just magical," I wrote in my notes. In truth, there were several resonant peaks that I prefer to think were caused by room nodes; regardless, this system's warm bouquet was hard to resist.
Brand distributor Mark Sossa of Well Pleased A/V delivered an international smorgasbord in the form of Rethm Bhaava speakers ($4495/pair) from India, Qualiton a50i amplifier ($7500) from Hungary, Innuos Zenith SE music server ($7000) from Portugal, Aqua La Voce S3 DAC ($4750) from Italy—look for my review of the company's top-of-the-line Formula DAC in the June issue of Stereophile—Gigawatt PC-3 SE EVO+ power conditioner ($6500) from Poland, and Anticables cabling from Minnesota. The sound was lovely, warm and free, with fine depth on "Teardrops for Jimmy" by Tony Overwater.
Sonoma Acoustic's all-in-one Sonoma Model One Electrostatic headphone amp/headphone system ($4915), which is said to have won no fewer than seven awards, sounded extremely quiet, lovely, and smooth in a 2xHD hi-resolution transfer of Holly Cole's "Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues." Ditto for baritone Håkan Hagegård and pianist Anders Öhrwall's 2xHD hi-rez issue of Schubert's "Ave Maria." A bit warmer than neutral, perhaps, but absolutely engaging.
Master recording engineer and Wilson Audio brand spokesperson Peter McGrath told me over lunch on Saturday that he had recently staged, in Hong Kong, a stunning demo of the mammoth Wilson WAMM speakers that used multiple multi-box components from CH Precision in Switzerland. Peter loved the sound they produced. I, too, have heard far less exotic but nonetheless high-priced CH Precision equipment, including the components used in their AXPONA demo, sound superb at some audio shows. Thus my puzzlement at a system that, while captivatingly transparent on Rodrigo y Gabriella's "Hanuman" and Allan Taylor's "Running on Dreams," lacked mellowness in the midrange and weight in the bass.
