The finest soup I ever tasted was served in Kamakura City, Japan, in 1992. After climbing a mountain to a shrine that held a lock of Buddha's hair, I descended to Kamakura and walked to its Great Bronze Buddha. By the time I had taken my fill of the image's 730-year-old wonders and the countless picture-taking tourists at its basea mild precursor to "the world is a backdrop for my ego" snappers of the smartphone ageI noticed that my stomach was growling.
Exhausted, I walked back into town and descended stairs into a conveniently located corner restaurant. I had to eat fast because my train back was departing soon. Looking for something quick, I ordered miso soup and eel over rice. Imagine my surprise when I found myself gazing into the most wondrous bowl of soup I'd ever seen. Floating on top of its clear, brown broth were various vegetables and herbs, each perfectly positioned in relationship to the other, as in a handcrafted textile. I felt as though I'd been granted private access to a great work of art.
What does this have to do with the Electrocompaniet AW 800 M Reference power amplifier ($22,500/each) that is the subject of this review? You'll have to read on to find out.
Note: This is a developing story. Updates will be posted as they unfold.
Lenbrook Corp, the privately owned Canadian enterprise whose holdings include NAD electronics, PSB speakers, and Bluesound (the maker of the BluOS music operating software system) has acquired the assets of MQA, Ltd, including MQA technology and the SCL6. The press release announcing the acquisition, which went public September 19 at 8am EDT, notes that the deal "further solidifies Lenbrook's commitment to excellence and innovation in the evolving landscape of audio technology."
I should have trusted my ears. When I first encountered Infigo (pronounced In-FEE'-go) electronics, paired with Alta Audio's Adam loudspeaker, at T.H.E. Show 2022 in Long Beach, California, I wrote, "Timbres were beautiful on bass and high-pitched percussion. The chimes and vibes sounded special and clean, colors were plentiful, and deep bass was all of one piece." Nor was I exaggerating. In that system, Infigo's Method 3 monoblocks ($55,000/pair) pleased my ears as much as their blue-illumined interiors delighted my eyes.
Rather quickly, Editor Jim Austin suggested I review the Method 3. Perhaps he'd already been tipped off by Ken Micallef's praise when he first encountered Infigo in November 2021 at the Capital Audio Fest, and by the ensuing buzz.
No show coverage would be complete without a preview of Børresen's major M6 loudspeaker ($550,000/pair) world premiere. Joining forces with products from the three other companies that comprise Audio Group Denmark, Børresen's M6 dominated an exceedingly large room in the extremely attractive exhibit mounted by US Distributor/Dealer Next Level HiFi.
Spatial Audio Lab may have considered its main suite on the 13th floor of the hotel's tower, but its second exhibit in room 2210 offered plenty to love. I was taken in by the wonderful clarity, excellent depth, and openness delivered by Spatial's Q6 prototype open-baffle loudspeakers ($4995/pair and expected in August). Infected Mushroom's "Avratz" was a knockout.
The relationship between Linear Tube Audio (LTA) and Daedalus Audio loudspeakers is so close that the special pair of LTA 20Wpc Ultralinear+ power amplifier monoblocks ($6800/each) on display in room 2106 at PAFthe second of these companies' two joint roomsboasted a custom faceplate designed specifically for their owner, Daedalus founder Lou Hinkley.
Entering Klaus Bunge's intentionally low-lit Odyssey room was like entering another dimension. Showgoers may have had no idea what the purpose of the room waseven I couldn't discern it from the displaybut they could not possibly have been less than fascinated.
"It's the gateway drug to the High End," Vanatoo's Rick Kernan quipped of the larger of Vanatoo's two diminutive active loudspeakers. He was speaking of the successor to the Vanatoo Transparent One Encore that I reviewed in 2019, the Transparent One Encore Plus (T1E+) active loudspeaker ($650/pair, up from $599/pair four years ago).