Favorites are fun, Bests are boasts.
Temptations are many in the world of hifi reviewing. Perhaps the most alluring, the one that sings the sweetest siren song is the temptation to pretend we know more than we know.
At hifi shows, I find it fun to exchange favorite rooms with friends, attendees, and colleagues. What I don’t find fun, or in any way useful, is when people share their worst rooms with the kind of boastful pride that goes hand in hand with thinking they know better.
Let’s face facts—the people who actually make things are infinitely more important than the people who criticize the things they make. When I hear a boastful brag based on a quick walk through trashing a room, component, or speaker, I’m reminded of the days in the art world when critics thought their words were more important than the art—as if reading their meta-hyper-post pronouncements was somehow more meaningful than experiencing the work.
Let’s imagine a world where there is no art and no hifi and in their stead we’re left with nothing but the words of critics and reviewers. You tell me which world you’d prefer. I’m sticking with things and their lovely thingness, to kinda quote Heidegger.
Which brings me to hotel rooms and room setup. I completely understand the desire to want to believe we know what that phono stage or DAC sounds like after listening to it as part of an unfamiliar system playing unfamiliar music in an unfamiliar room for 4 minutes while talking about it for 2 but it just ain’t the case.
What we’re hearing in rooms at hifi shows—in order of importance—are the room, setup, typically people talking in the room, the recording, the gear. Making it impossible to listen through the first four directly into the sound of a single component or speaker, let alone capacitors, switch mode power supplies, or lions and tigers and bears, oh my!
All that taken into account, here are my favorite rooms from CAF 2024. I should note that I did get to every room.
High Water Sound
Jeff Catalano of High Water Sound always makes my list of favorite rooms for a number of reasons. Jeff distributes a range of gear that appeals to my tastes perfectly, he is very skilled at setup and spends real time getting things right, he also takes care in making his room as comfortable as possible with help from air purifiers (the best room treatment as far as I’m concerned) and plants, and he’s genuinely passionate and knowledgeable about the music he plays and its music you typically won’t hear anywhere else. My favorite kind.
To my mind it’s all of these things plus Jeff’s comments about the music he’s about to play that makes his room a favorite show after show, year after year.
In terms of sound and quality, I had no problem connecting deeply to every piece of music Jeff played each time I visited.
The gear:
Zeiler Audio PR-01 Preamplifier: $38,000
Zeiler Audio PA-01 Amplifier: $38,000
TW-Acustic Raven LS-3 Copper Turntable: $24,000
TW-Acustic Raven 12″ Toneamr: $6500
TW-Acustic Raven 10.5″ Tonearm: $6000
TW-Acustic Raven Phono Stage: $25,000
Cessaro Horn Acoustics Opus 1 SE Loudspeakers: $55,000/pair
Cessaro Horn Acoustics Opus Sub x2: $25,000/each
Fuga MC Cartridge: $10,000
Miyajima Infinity Mono Cartridge: $3475
Dalby Audio Design cables ($varies)
Racks, Isolation, and Tuning from Dalby Audio Design, Codia Acoustic Design, Silent Running Audio, Stein Music
Robyatt Audio
I first met Robin Wyatt of Robyatt Audio in 2005 when I stopped by his then home on one of my Road Tour articles for 6moons. In brief, I would visit people’s home and write about the experience, not just the gear.
Here’s a taste (with my minor edits):
What I ended up hearing was a pair of systems with very different approaches to hifi. Different means, different ends, intimate and grand, a real yin yang of audio under one roof. That’s not to suggest there are only two successful flavors to be had in hifi. Far from it. The possibilities outnumber Baskin Robbins. And from my way of enjoying, there’s no better way to relish your music than getting your hands, heart and head involved in the mix.
The reviewer in me couldn’t help being overwhelmed by just how well those Quads filled this comfortably-sized room and Robin was pushing them hard with all kinds of music including what some people might assume to be Quad-killers with deep bass and crazy dynamics at High volume but this system and those Quads handled it all without a blink while also doing what we all know Quads can do—crazy in-room electric energy. Impressive.
“Robin has great ears” someone said to me when discussing his room and I responded, “I know.”
The gear:
Quad 2912 Electrostatic Loudspeakers: $11,995/pair
Java HiFi Double Shot Integrated Amplifier: $15,995
TZAR DST V1 Stereo Phono Cartridge: $10,000
BIRD OF PREY Tonearm: $15,950
VPI HW-RA Direct Drive Turntable: $17,995
Robyatt Audio SUT R1: $995
Sonore Signature Rendu Music Player: $5350
Alma Music & Audio
Mark Sossa of Qln and Well Pleased AV had gear in one of dealer Alma Music & Audio‘s 5 rooms at CAF 2024. I’ve reviewed the Qln Reference 9 and Prestige Five speakers and both sit very comfortably on my list of Favorite Speakers.
As is the case with every system I’ve heard with Qln speakers out front, this system offered a refined ease so when I played a current favorite, “Highway 72” from Jolie Holland’s Haunted Mountain, I immediately relaxed back into its many charms. Nice.
The gear:
QLN v7 Stand Mount Speakers: $12,000/pair
Audio Hungary Qualiton 300B Integrated Amplifier: $11,000
Merason Reuss DAC: $6000
Innuos Pulsar Streamer: $8000
GigaWatt PC-4 EVO Power Conditioner: $14,500
Kubala-Sosna Cables ($varies)
AB-Tech Klar USB Cable: $1350
AB-Tech Ren Ethernet Cable: $1250
Finite Elemente Pagode Signature Rack: $4750
NEMESIS Acoustic Panels: $799/each
Semrad Audio
I ran into Dave Slagle of EM/IA and Intact Audio in the hall where he was talking to someone who looked familiar but in my overactive show-going brain escaped memory. “Hey Michael, Milo.” “Milo!” Before Twittering Machines was what it is today it was something else many yesterday’s ago and Milo contributed a lovely piece on Lee Perry titled “Lee Perry’s Ark”.
From Milo:
Perry built the Black Ark in the back yard of the family home. A four-track tape deck, with, as I recall, 1/4 inch tape. Dirt floors. He’d made enough money working with Trojan Records, putting out Upsetters albums and others, to put together his own space in 1973-74. Those Trojan releases are plenty fun but for me they can’t touch what Perry did at Black Ark where he moved far beyond the Rocksteady instrumentals and insult songs and sexy boastings of the earlier years.
Seeing Milo reminded me of a very happy place I inhabited some 14-years ago.
Dave Slagle is one of those people you want to know better, hang out with more, and learn from—his knowledge runs deep down into earth and iron. If only time and space aligned. As you might expect, this system in the Semrad Audio room offered the kind of intimate, tactile, rich, and real life feel that I could move into and live happily ever after within.
The gear:
Semrad Audio Large Format Horns: $54,000/pair
EM/IA MC SUT: $6,000 ($3,375 Cu)
EM/IA MC Trio SUT: $16,475 (three step up devices + input switching $8,800 Cu)
EM/IA LR Phono Corrector: $33,750 ($18,750 Cu)
EM/IA Remote Autoformer Volume Control: $7,525 ($4,875 Cu)
EM/IA Elmaformer: $6,400 ($3,750 Cu)
EM/IA DHT Linestage: $33,750 ($18,750 Cu)
EM/IA Permalloy 50 / 300B SET Amplifiers: $40,625 ($21,875 Cu)
Garrard 301 I didn’t get any details about
Harmonia Distribution
Small systems that offer big sound have their own appeal. In the best case that appeal goes beyond the initial “Wow” of small system big sound into the music at hand.
Did you spot the Grimm MU2 (review)? That’s cheating. Going from room to room, even within this short list of rooms, can feel like traveling to different planets and this relatively modest system from Harmonia Distribution sounded largely captivating.
The gear:
Harbeth P3ESR XD Bookshelf Loudspeaker: $2990 in Cherry
Harbeth Nelson Bass Extender + Stand Solution: $3190/pair
PrimaLuna EVO 300 Hybrid Power Amplifier: $14,390/Monoblock pair
PrimaLuna EVO 400 Tube Preamplifier: $4995
Grimm Audio MU2 Media Player: $17,500
Voxativ
Berlin’s Voxativ is another regular on my list of favorite rooms, show after show, as they always deliver sound that elicits an emotional and physical response which is not as easy as you might think in a hotel room with no bed. We’re looking at a Tower of Berlin Power! that includes 3 Voxativ Hagen2 monitors with the new Voxativ AF-19 and AF-2B drivers on top of the Voxativ Alberich active bass module per side.
This simple system convincingly erased the confines of this rather tiny room extending into the heavens.
The gear:
Voxativ Alberich Array: $30,900/pair
Voxativ T211 Integrated Amp: $23,900
Weiss Helios DAC: $21,995
House of Stereo/High End by Oz
I ran into my pal Ken Micallef of Stereophile and his excellent Jazz Vinyl Audiophile YouTube channel fame in the House of Stereo / High End by Oz room and Ken was deep in this system’s groove. “It sounds great!”
“It does!” I responded trying to match Ken’s enthusiasm as we listened to Lou Reed’s “Vanishing Act” that moved me to watery eyes with its sorrowful simple song—”It must be nice to disappear/ To have a vanishing act”.
I reviewed the Viva Solista integrated amp back in January and still remember its “living breathing fully fleshed out” sound that was on display in spades in this Stenheim-fronted system. I’ve heard Stenheim speakers in a lot of rooms at shows including a few here at CAF 24, and they always take on the character of the associated gear. A good thing, imo, but tricky in that hearing one pair in one room may lead some people to incorrectly assume they know the ‘Stenheim sound’.
The gear:
Stenheim Alumine 5 Se Speakers: $76,500/pair
Viva Audio Solista Power Amplifier :$30,000
Viva Audio Linea Pre Amplifier with the Outboard Power Supply: $32,500
Viva Audio Numerica DAC: $26,000
Wolf Audio Music Server Alpha SX: $10,500
Albedo Silver Metamorphosis MK II and Signature Silver Cables: $10,000 – $32,500
S.I.N Audio PSD 10 Unlimited Power Distributor: $23,500
S.I.N Audio PC Ten Ghost Power Cord: $ 10,500
Albeo Silver Power Cords Gravity II and Gravity I: $9,250 -$13,000
YG Acoustics & Vinnie Rossi
YG Acoustics seemed to be everywhere at CAF 2024, which is more than all right by me as it allows attendees to hear how associated gear influences the sound of their speakers. My favorite sound from YG, although I did not get to every YG-endowed room, was Room 802 which saw (and heard) their Hailey 3 speakers powered by the Vinnie Rossi Brama Integrated Amplifier.
From my recent review of the Brama:
Chief among the Brama’s strengths are its graceful way with any music you send its way coupled with just-right richness, full range reach, and a kind of effortless purity that invites the listener in, as deeply as one’s time and attention allows.
These qualities allowed the Hailey 3 to shine with a rich warm comforting glow that made music feel good enough to eat.
The gear:
YG Acoustics Hailey 3 Loudspeakers: $63,900/pair
Vinnie Rossi Brama Integrated Amplifier: $47,995
Weiss Helios DAC: $21,995
Innuos STATEMENT Next-Ge Music Server & Streamer: $25,000 w/1TB of storage
Innuos PhoenixNET Audiophile-Grade Network Switch: $4349
AudioQuest Niagara 3000 Power Conditioner: $3900
AudioQuest ThunderBird speaker cables, FireBird XLR interconnects, Dragon power cables, and Vodka and Cinnamon RJ/E Ethernet cables
Alma Music & Audio
I find it nearly impossible to make appointments at hifi shows as they can interrupt the flow.
But I arrived on time (whew!) Saturday morning for a presentation by Jean-Pascal Panchard, Stenheim’s Founder and CEO, and…
…Vinnie Rossi who each gave a prefect presentation offering concise yet deep information which kept things interesting throughout. One takeaway from Jean-Pascal’s talk is Stenheim’s reliance on listening to music as the final arbiter of speaker performance even though they rely on measurements throughout the design process. Vinnie touched on, among other things, his decision to use 300Bs in the Brama preamplifier, and in the preamp stage of the Brama integrated, as they offer very linear response in the audio band while providing unique sonic qualities including depth of the sound image and tonal richness/complexity.
After the presentation proper during an informal Q&A, Vinnie also shared that he uses a music signal when performing some measurements during the design process which provides more useful results when it comes to determining aspects of performance like how quickly a power supply can react to the kind of swings found in Stravinsky’s Firebird, for example, as opposed to the predicable, relatively benign, and repetitive rise and fall of a sine wave.
Which is kinda funny as I, and I assume we, rely on music too and this system passed the test with reproduction that focused my attention on music not gear. Here here!
The gear:
Stenheim Alumine Five SE Speakers: $76,500/pair
Vinnie Rossi Brama Gen 2 Monoblock Amplifiers: $59,950/pair
Vinnie Rossi Brama Gen 2 Preamplifier: $38,995
MSB Cascade DAC: $95,000
Innuos ZENith Next-Gen Music Server: $19,350
Cables from Kubala-Sosna
MENESIS Acoustic 2′ x 4′ Panels: $799/each
GigaWatt PC-4 EVO+ power Conditioner: $14,500
