Magnepan. King Sound. Concert Fidelity

Curtain act? I didn’t stay to see what else was behind the curtain here, but I’m told it was a new version of $600.00 Magnepan model MMGs. Nevertheless, they’ve always impressed and to hear them without knowing or seeing, only impressed me that much more. Of course, I asked if there were subs being used due to the nice sense of low scale energy felt. And yes, they admitted to having a Magnepan sub somewhere. Thanks for the honesty.

King Sound electrostatic loudspeakers love tubes. One of my favorite times hearing these capable ‘stats were with VAC electronics at one of these shows a year or two back. This time, the sound coming from the Jadis system was no slouch either. I preferred it over what I felt with a short listen via MBL electronics. 

Alfred and Partner’s Estelon XA Diamond loudspeaker ($64k) sounded nice but rather cool and too laid back with the Concert Fidelity electronics here at T.H.E. Show. I so wanted to like this setup. Using the same electronics in a much smaller space at the Venetian (but a different digital front-end and cabling), the XA’s sounded more natural and possessed better bass as well. Go figure. One thing’s certain: this newest version loudspeaker that includes a new midrange and diamond tweeter has some serious sonic attributes in the areas of focus, separation and detail. 

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Sonic synergy is never guaranteed in this hobby, but unmistakable whenever heard. These Model T3.4 Classic Audio loudspeakers ($28k), strapped to pair of pedestrian-priced Atma-Sphere M-60 amplifiers ($7k) and MP-1 preamp always seem to have the right amount of synergy and soul.

Listened briefly to the Classic Audio T5, which is the smallest in the lineup. Although small, it sounded open and dynamic as one could expect from a 94 dB efficient horn. Impressive especially for its asking price of $17k.

Stuart Chapman Jones designer of Chapman Audio Systems loudspeakers has a really good sounding product. I first met and heard these loudspeakers at RMAF back in Oct ’11. Here, his model T8 Mk II, used with a slew of Cary electronics, was again impressive with their natural sound and wide soundstage capability. Cary was in a lot of rooms this year I noticed. Unfortunately, I never asked about the price. My bad. Funny – all the cabling was the super expensive MIT Oracle series which I think was more expensive than everything else!