HE2005
Show REPORT – PRETZELS AND SONIC DELIGHTS
 As
good music and food go hand in hand, I must
confess that my first delight at attending the
Home Entertainment 2005 Show (HE2005) in New
York City was to grab a uniquely New York
gastronomique creation – a fresh, hot pretzel
with mustard from an (audiophile?) food vender
outside of the New York Hilton Hotel where
HE2005 was staged. A New York City pretzel
with mustard is a unique combo, a great saucy
concoction that tastes hot, sweet and pungent
all at the same time. It reminds me of a
similar unique combination rendered in music
by the creative genius of the Jacques Loussier
Trio over the years, as they take classical
pieces from Debussy and others and
re-structure and re-work them into new
creative combos of jazz improv and blues
spice. I wonder if Jacques got his first
inspiration for such re-workings from eating a
New York City pretzel with mustard for the
first time?
Speaking of creative recordings, I should
inform you that one of the best things about
HE2005 is the gathering of recording labels
selling their wares in disc and vinyl. One
could spend hours going through the bins. I
was particularly impressed with the wealth of
new discs, including SACDs from labels such as
Chesky, Naim and Telarc. The pronouncement by
many in audio that SACD is dead just hasn’t
fazed Telarc and Chesky, and more power to
them for continuing to produce deeply moving
and provocative SACD recordings. On the CD
front, Ken Christianson of Naim Audio
introduced me to several of Naim’s new True
Stereo discs, including a pristine beauty
entitled “Remember The River” from
pianist Fred Simon and Paul McCandless of
Oregon. [Naim CD 081]. Also inspirational were
the discs from MA Recordings, and the creative
genius of Todd Garfinkle, who was on hand at
HE2005 to plug you into his Stax headphone
system and wallow in the sheer sonic bliss of
Maria Babone’s voice, captured with piano and
Portuguese guitar [MA Recordings 46A].
Listening to Garfinkle’s amazing recordings
only satiated me for a moment, making me
hunger for time in the future when I could
play these recordings on my own rig and
explore their myriad of inner musical
treasures.
Turning the attention to those rigs listened
to by this writer at HE2005, I would say that
even with the overall limitations of hotel
room configurations, a number of systems
provided nuggets of sonic delight.
Given that many systems were displayed in very
small rooms, it was not surprising that
mini-monitors seemed to bring out the best
sound overall. Philip Lam of Sonic Spirits
and Kam Leung of Focus Audio were kind
enough to give us a special listening session
with their 10th anniversary edition
of their 68 SE monitors, partnered with
Blue Circle’s BC202 amp ($5295), BC3
Galatea MkII tubed preamp ($4995) and Dodson
DA-218 DAC/source ($7995). The sound from
these compact speakers was very involving,
from their sweet, detailed highs to their
nicely rounded and tight mid-bass. They shed a
surprisingly deep soundstage for their size.
Look for a future review of these upgraded
classics in these pages.
Another standout room that featured
small-scale loudspeakers to great intimate
effect was the May Audio room,
featuring products from Reimyo and a
new monitor speaker produced in Finland called
the “Bravo” ($4200). The Reimyo CDP-777
transport/player, (utilizing Japan Victor’s
Extended K-2 Processing), was one of the best
this writer heard at HE2005, delivering a
steady stream of silken, delicate and detailed
musical data to the Bravo monitors. The
Bravos, in turn, cast a pinpoint soundstage
and handled all dynamics evenly and with a lot
of emotion. There was no better intimate sonic
portrayal at the show than this system placed
in such a small listening space.
 I
am always a fan of Alan Yun’s Silverline
Audio products, and his room at HES,
anchored with his beautiful floorstanding
Bolero loudspeakers was uncanny in its natural
presentation of female vocals and its sheer
musicality. Bill Wells and I enjoyed a few
minutes with both Odetta and Mary Stallings
crooning deeply and vivaciously in this room,
while others lingered in the doorway to catch
the naturalism of this presentation. Look for
a future review of Silverline’s new SR-11
($1500) monitors soon in these pages to see
how much of this natural, musicality is
achieved in a smaller, more affordable
monitor.
 Another
speaker that exceeded expectations for price
and musicality was in the Almarro Products
room, where the Almarro M2A slim floorstanding
loudspeakers ($2300) were driven by the 5-Watt
per channell A205A amplifier ($800). I was
taken with the spacious sound of this system.
It presented a very open, light and airy sound
with no obvious limitations, especially in the
treble regions. It had proper rhythm and
pacing, and was particularly well suited to
the acoustics of the small-scale jazz
recording that was playing. Almarro is a
company to keep an eye on, especially given
the build quality and value offered in this
price range.
 Another
room that impressed me with its value for a
very musical presentation was the April
Music room. The featured system was
anchored by Stello’s new CDA 320 CD
player ($1995), a wonderful player that
provided great detail and dynamics in
listening to my sample of a Roy Gaines’
jumping blues number from his great disc, “I
Got The T-Bone Walker Blues” [Groovenote
GRV1002-2]. The Stello electronics (P-200
preamp and S200 or M 200 amps) fed the new
NHT Evolution T6 loudspeakers ($4000) with
great energy and finesse. It tended to be a
little bright in this small listening room,
but boy, the natural flow of tight bass and
natural mids from the NHT’s was riveting.
Stello continues to impress this writer and a
review of the CDA player is in the works.
 Finally,
I thought that the Von Schweikert rooms
at HE2005 were each a delight to visit and
listen to. Each room had its own unique
musical character and presentation. I was
convinced before entering that Albert’s
stunning creation, the VR-9SE, with its 1,000
watt sealed subwoofer and twin bass drivers,
would clearly overwhelm the tiny hotel space
that it was placed in. Not so. Driven by
Dartzeel amplifiers, the sound from this
room was absolutely pitch perfect and
accurate, detailed and intimate on acoustic
jazz and with great soundstage and presence on
large orchestral samples. A major achievement
in such a small confined listening space. The
same applied to the merits of the VR4 SR room,
where with the help of an Oracle CD
2000 player and VAC Phi Beta integrated
amplifier, Roy Gaines’ driving blues, along
with his crack brass section, were given a
visceral, driving, and musical presentation.
Bon Appetite Everyone!
Nelson Brill
Back
to Show Page/Next
|
