Excellent, well-controlled bass was one of many strong suits in a room headlined by Vinnie Rossi BRAMA monoblock power amplifiers (gen2 - $59,995/pair) and BRAMA preamplifier (gen2 - $38,995) paired with YG Acoustics Hailey 3 loudspeakers ($63,400/pair).
Jorge Sadurni, whose impressive horn speakers I first encountered at AXPONA during its pre-Schaumberg years, introduced his Spherical Dual loudspeakers ($4600/pair with integrated stands—see driver in the photo.) Each Spherical Dual contains two high-damped cast-metal modules with 5" cone dynamic drivers.
Damon Von Schweikert, CEO of speaker manufacturer Von Schweikert Audio, did something interesting in the room (1621) he shared with Gary Leeds of WestminsterLab. Faced with a challenging room whose opening to a second inner chamber of similar size all but guaranteed that bass would be a mess, set up two Von Schweikert V-12XS MkII Shockwave subwoofers ($33,000 for two), facing each other.
Another big system with a midrange to love, with speakers well-matched to the space. I wasn't converted to the style of singer Vanessa Fernandez, whose cut from her new platter seemed more derivative than inspired, but the midrange sounded excellent, and there was also lots of bass to attract attention.
Does this star-studded brand lineup from Quintessence Audio Ltd. of Chicago sound familiar? It should, not only because it’s frequently encountered at audio shows and dealers, but also because it consistently earns plaudits as one of my Best Sounding Rooms.
After achieving Serenity and acquiring Knowledge, do we end up in the land of Perfection? The room I visited after Perfection was Connection, which was occupied by Quintessence Audio. So perhaps we can say that Serenity + Knowledge + Perfection produces a Connection to something higher than ourselves, which in this case would be Nirvana. (There's also a Nirvana room.)
There are times when a music critic gets so upended by a recording of well-loved music that their previous plaudits for a different recorded version demands reassessment.
Just as they did last year, Gryphon devoted the large Schaumburg E space to static displays, including the debut of the Gryphon PowerZone PZ3.10 power purifier ($14,000) which has eight Furutech AC sockets and 20A current capacity and is said to utilize Quantum Resonance Technology.
Last year in the large Schaumburg F air-walled room in the Convention Center, Stenheim, VTL, and Nordost put together one of the finest sounding rooms I’ve heard at any show. This year, the sound was again among the best I encountered in the over 40 rooms I auditioned.
Oh, how I love the look of Zesto Audio equipment. Here it found its ideal visual complement in Tidal Piano speakers ($57,000/pair) from Philly-area dealer The Voice That Is and a catchily titled (not) Stillpoints ESS42-26-4 rack with acrylic shelves ($13,788).