True Source Audio Distributors debuted the massive G.I.P. Laboratory 4165 field coil horn-loaded loudspeakers at CAF, featuring the Japanese company’s replicas of the original Western Electric 4165 driver. The 70lb G.I.P. 4165 Radiata pine cabinets filled nearly half of the small Hilton room. G.I.P.’s TW 38 tweeter sat atop the large cabinets.
Source gear included: AMG Giro 2 Wood Turntable/9WT tonearm ($17,500), with a Benz Micro SLR Gullwing MC Cartridge ($3500), a ViV Lab Rigid Float Ha-9 tonearm ($4500), a Benz Micro ACE SL Mono Cartridge ($1000), and an AMG Viella Forte Turntable ($32,000) with a Benz Micro LP-S MC Cartridge ($5000). This vinyl goodness fed a tubed G.I.P. Preamp 1 ($39,995) into a 65Wpc Mactone MH120 Amplfier ($13,500), driving the G.I.P. 4165 loudspeakers.
The G.I.P. 4165 system—a 12” full-range driver running at 8 ohms, 105dB sensitivity—included a tubed G.I.P. Preamp I ($39,995) and 30Wpc G.I.P. 6L6 Mono Amplifiers ($48,000). A Mactone XX440 Preamplifier ($12,500) was on static display. A Box Furniture Co. Isolation Platform ($5995) was also in use.
The sound in this room delivered everything the product list promised: an incredibly fast, enveloping, and immersive experience marked by glistening transients and a warm character. Images were large and refined, bass notes plump and extended.
I loved hearing every pluck of the guitars and the massive plate echo on Johnny Cash’s vocals in Orange Blossom Special. John Patton’s Let ‘Em Roll played with superb jump and scale. Bass texture and impact were off the chain, as were scale, openness, and drive. A special experience. One of my top five rooms at CAF 2024.
The G.I.P. 4165 system—a 12” full-range driver running at 8 ohms, 105dB sensitivity—included a tubed G.I.P. Preamp I ($39,995) and 30Wpc G.I.P. 6L6 Mono Amplifiers ($48,000). A Mactone XX440 Preamplifier ($12,500) was on static display. A Box Furniture Co. Isolation Platform ($5995) was also in use. 
