Room #5 - Quad - OTLQuad ESL loudspeakers ($12,000 refurbished)
Charles King (one-off custom preamp)
Miyajima OTL 2010 amplifiers ($10,000 each)
Cables by Tel Wire
One
of the rarest sights at an audio show is a pair of
QUAD ESL
electrostatic loudspeakers, because they are so room-acoustic and power
dependent. But here Robin Wyatt chose to power them with a pair of
Miyajima OTL 2010 amplifiers (22 wpc) which, despite the tiny room, made
glorious sounds that were eerily

see-through. The combination of great
audio components overcame the limitations of the room (which was not the
case with most other groupings around the show) and reminded me of my
own control room set-ups during my Chesky Records and Epiphany
Recordings sessions: simple and direct sound from the source. For those
who have never heard quads and OTL amps together, the combination is
simply stunning, as they don't sound like speakers and other components.
Peter Walker's time-aligned design (first heard in 1956) has stood the
test of eras and remains one of the all-time great- (not colored)
sounding systems ever. It is a pity that the room was so tiny that only a
single person at a time could be in the sweet spot.
Room #4 - GTT Audio & VideoYG Anat III Professional Signature speakers ($119,000 per pair)
Brinkmann Balance Turntable ($24,000)
Brinkmann 12.1 tonearm ($7,500)
Air Tight PC1 Supreme cartridge ($15,000)
Soulution 750 phono stage ($25,000)
Soulution 720 preamp ($45,000)
Soulution Series 7 - 745 SACD Player
Soulution Series 7 - 721 Pre-Amp
Soulution 501 monoblocks ($55,000 per pair)
Kubala-Sosna Elation cables

The
towering titanium finished YG Anat III Professional Signature speakers
($119,000 per pair) were making an impressive sound when I came across
them in the GTT room. The eight-box speaker system, weighing over 800
pounds, was featured without its metal bike-spoke-like grilles (as seen
elsewhere at the show). The speakers were source-fed by the Brinkmann
Audio turntable, alongside the Soulution Series 7 - 745 SACD player,
both through a Soulution 721 preamp and then Dual Soulution mono
amplifiers, all via Kubala-Sosna cables. The LPs played by Philip
O'Hanlon of jazz piano, trumpets and drums put the band in the room with
us, with dynamic, bright presentations containing subtle layering of
the cymbals. The double-sized room allowed for sufficient spacing
between the listeners and speakers to really let the sound develop
properly. These were the most musical and involving dynamic speakers at
the event from a showmanship point of view. You had to admire their
ballsy design and mighty sonic presence.
Room 3 - MBL Germanymbl 101E Mk.2 "radialstrahler" speakers
mbl 120 Radialstrahler ($21,400 per pair, without stands)
mbl C11 preamplifier ($8,800)
mbl C31 CD player ($9,200)
mbl C21 stereo power amplifier ($9,200)
mbl 9011 monoblock amplifier
A
big crowd pleaser, the MBL Room, as always, was packed to capacity, and
center seating was highly coveted and not easily acquired. As you might
expect,
the MBL 101s were fully engaging, with their 360-degree
radiation pattern, which is a real difficulty when it comes to hotel
rooms, where the geometry of the room is usually not

symmetrical.
Extensive tuning of the room was required in the first 48 hours of the
show in order to reach the level of fidelity exhibited here. For a room
that was very damped by curtains, acoustic treatments, people's bodies
and all the Stereophiles they had brought stuffed into the windowsills
(by Jeremy Bryan), the speakers sounded amazingly clear and transparent,
without being particularly colored. My iPad audio analyzer kit revealed
amazingly detailed waterfall plots, showing how the speaker clearly
resolves musical nuance to a far more accurate degree than any other
design at the show. These details are normally obscured by speaker
cabinet resonances. The MBL speakers, amps, and source components worked
together in synergy to produce one of the most transparent and musical
sounds at the show. Had they used a larger suite, I'm certain this
combination would have been number one by a long shot. But the room was
the limiting factor, in spite of all the fine acoustic tailoring.
Room #2 - Wes Bender Studio - NYCHansen Audio Prince E loudspeakers ($39,000 per pair)
Viola Audio Labs Crescendo preamplifier/DAC ($19,000, including Apple iPod Touch)
Viola's Forte monoblock power amplifiers ($19,000 per pair)
Redpoint Audio Designs MG Special Edition turntable ($65,000)
Tri-Planar Ultimate Mk. VII-UII tonearm ($5000) with Dynavector DRT XV-1s cartridge ($5450)
Graham Phantom II Supreme B-44 tonearm ($5999) with Transfiguration Phoenix cartridge ($4250)
Apple Macbook Pro running Channel D Pure Music software ($129)
Lindemann Audio 825 disc player ($12,500)
speaker cables and interconnects from Jorma Design
power cords by Kaplan Cable
AudioQuest Diamond USB cable
Listening
to a Wes Bender Studio NYC system is like

putting yourself in the hands
of a master. This year's NYC debut of the Hansen Audio Prince E
loudspeakers was yet another triumph for him, as the sound produced in
the small hotel room was amazing. As an audiophile, it is really easy to
tell when a system design is right, and this combination proved to be
detailed, controlled, well-balanced, and vivid, with no sign of stress
even during the most monumentally loud moments from the great vinyl
set-up. It's not often that one sees such a strong positive reaction to
the visual design of the speakers, much less the turntables, which are
resplendent works of art on all counts. These speakers kept drawing
cooing sounds from all the women in the room. They simply loved it,
petting and admiring the smooth silver surfaces. While not inexpensive,
the speakers far outshone the competition at the show in terms of sonic
nuance and dynamic grace, never offering anything more or less than the
source was producing. Even my wife remarked about how nice they would
look in the living room. "And how much is it going to cost us, this
time?" said I.
Room #1 - SimpliFi Suite Gradient Revolution Helsinki 1.5 speakers
Harbeth PSES3 bookshelf monitor
Gradient Amplification
Bladelius DAC
Apple 17: MacBook Pro running Pure Music Audio Player
DNM Cables
The
biggest surprise came from a combination of Gradient/Harbeth speakers,
commanding everyone's attention the moment it was within earshot:
prodigious wall-to-wall bass presentation and layers of depth. These
included Alan Shaw's sub-compact Harbeth Loudspeakers' hand-matched
monitors made in England. On audition was the Harbeth PSES3 bookshelf
monitor atop the Gradient Radient Subwoofer (a dual twelve-inch design),
alternating with the Revolution speaker, and the Helsinki 1.5
(available in white oak - seen here -

black oak or walnut). These were
powered by Gradient Amplification and sourced from a new Bladelius DAC,
which decodes digital audio files fed from an Apple 17-inch MacBook Pro
running the Pure Music Audio Player (controlling iTunes) through a USB
interface. The sound was totally mind-boggling, regardless of which
combination of Gradient speakers and subs were playing (including the
Harbeth). Of particular note was the size of the soundstage, which fully
extended beyond the room's boundaries in all directions. From the
fairly small bookshelf Harbeth monitors, there also came this enormous,
highly layered, dynamic and extended soundstage, with really deep bass
that reached down to 16 Hz, thanks to proper mating of the Finnish
Gradient subwoofers. Several amazing pieces of organ music, live club
jazz and female vocals proved to be intoxicating. The sonic imaging
placed me in the room where each of the recordings was made, and each
projected a different-sized space. Holographic would be the best word to
describe this system. Whether sitting in front or standing in back of
the speakers, the sound was so extremely visceral and huge that you
could easily lose yourself in the illusion of being at a live music
event. This was the most realistic and musical sound at the 2012 New
York Audio Show.
ConclusionHigh-end audio (and video) shows
are all about bringing you closer to the original performance through
carefully assembled and tuned systems. There are manufacturers who come
from all over the world to demonstrate their wares, always improving
upon their previous efforts - such as
Wireworld Cable, which was also showing their best products at the show. Whether large or small as a company,
esoteric or familiar, the NY Audio Show 2012 brought many of them
together and established a tone for listening and sharing music through
technology, the likes of which have not been seen or heard in Gotham
City for years. Amongst the resplendent and opulent offerings towering
and gleaming in the light of the flashbulbs were many great-sounding
offerings, as well as several inexpensive alternatives. In attending
this show, I was able to directly compare far more audiophile offerings,
under fairly good-sounding conditions, than under nearly any other
circumstances, the kind most of us can never afford, but really want to
appreciate all the same. Do yourself a favor and plan to attend the next
show, regardless of where it is held. Bring your favorite albums (in
any format) and prepare to be amazed at how great they can actually
sound, given a finely assembled group of components from audio
professionals sharing their joy of music.
Jeremy R. Kipnis is a senior staff writer at
HomeTheaterReview.com
AudiophileReview.com
HomeTheaterEquipment.com
Kipnis
is a multi-award winner in the fields of music, film, and technology,
and he records and produces single-stereo microphone audiophile
recordings for many labels. Additionally, he designs
multi-million-dollar ultimate media presentation rooms and home theaters
for select clients throughout the world.
( All photos by Jeremy R. Kipnis / Copyright Kipnis Studios 2012 /
www.Kipnis-Studios.com )
(Empire State Building photo by Carolina Kipnis / Copyright Kipnis Studios 2012)
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• Explore our show coverage of
the 2012 CES Show.