Star Sound Technologies.
They reintroduced their speaker design, the Caravelle ($8’000/pr). The amplifier was a prototype solid-state amp called the Luminence (estimated at $8’000). A Wadia CD player served as source and High Fidelity supplied the cables. Of course everything in the system was supported/suspended by the Star Sound Technologies isolation devices including the cables. Eva Cassidy was playing and the system rendered her voice as smoothly as I have heard it. At the same time, there was also good drive and pace. This was a promising debut.


Beauty of Sound/Whammerdyne. Bill Demars of Beauty of Sound set up the large Bastanis Mandala open baffles ($12’50/pr) in one of the regular-sized rooms. It was a tight fit but he was using the speakers in a non-factory recommended implementation with additional wings to cut down on rear wave cancellations. I am currently reviewing the same speaker without the wings and have reviewed the next model down, the Bastanis Prometheus speakers, back in 2006. Robert Bastanis lives in Germany, Bill imports the drivers and makes and assembles the baffles here in the U.S. The 12" widebanders are the secret sauce for this speaker. They start out as Eminence drivers but Robert Bastanis gives them a proprietary treatment that involves repeated coating and baking in violin lacquer/oil. This stiffens the drivers and allows them to extend their upper response to the electrical crossover point of 11kHz to the Gemini open-backed compression tweeter. The turntable here was the gorgeous Italian-made Tourbillon ($19’500). It was fitted with the equally eye-pleasing Ikeda IT-407 12" tonearm with a relatively humble Denon 103R cartridge (lower impedance 14Ω version, $379). I have had experience with the Tube Guru electronics that Bill represents in my own system and can attest to their excellence and value. The Tube Guru Reference all-tube phono stage ($7’500) was feeding a Bent Audio Tap-X remote-controlled autoformer preamp. Amplifiers alternated between the Whammerdyne Heavy Industries The Truth 2A3 SET stereo amp ($15’000, made in Portland/Oregon) and Emia Permalloy 50 SET monos ($15’000/pr). The overriding quality of this system was one of ease and realistic instrumental timbre. The Whammerdyne amp had a more modern, bold and clean sound, the Emia 50 amps were more refined with inviting warmth. While I found this system to be very natural and among the better rooms at the show, I know that the speakers are capable of greater dynamics and surely would have shown that with a more ambitious cartridge and a larger room.


Care Audio/Peacenik Audio. Sunil Lekhi of Care Audio and Mark Loewen of Peacenik Audio shared this room and set up a system combining their products. Mark is the Bastanis importer/dealer in Canada and he brought down a pair of Bastanis Mandala Solo open baffles ($12’900/pr). These are the same as the Bastanis Mandala but with only one 12" widebander per side. The open baffles were being driven on top with the KR Audio VA680i Kronzilla hybrid SET (Mosfet input stage, T-1610 output tubes, $27’500). The 18" open baffle woofers were driven with two bridged Crown XL2500 amps. The source components were all digital: Melco N1A Server ($1’999) and Allnic D-5000 DAC ($11’900). Mark was still researching the best amps to properly power the new Ultimate open baffle woofers and the Crown amps (as I have experienced myself) have proven to be sub optimal. As an owner of Bastanis speakers, I know that they are terrific and Mark will have this sorted for the next show. Sunil got a lot of mileage showing the wireless Devialet Phantom speakers ($2’390/pr) which appear to be top contenders in the lifestyle-oriented market. Everyone seemed quite shocked at the amount of sound these desktop-sized speakers can deliver, including some very weighty bass. Party time!


Triode Wire Labs/Vinnie Rossi Audio/Volti Audio. I’ve gotten to know the Volti Audio Vittora speakers quite well, having heard them over several years at RMAF paired with Border Patrol electronics. I have always been very favourably impressed. At this show, the Volti were partnered with Vinnie Rossi’s LIO modular system. Configured here as tube preamplifier, DAC and phono stage for $6’775, the LIO fed Vinnie’s new VR120 ultracapacitor-powered amp ($4’995 stereo amp, $9’595 for a pair of monos). I must say that the system exhibited the same wonderful rich tone it did with the Border Patrol tube amps. The Vittora speakers were demoed as I heard them before, with the separate ELF extended low frequency cabinet ($25’000 for the five-piece set) and Marchand Electronics MB42 crossover/power amp ($1’900). Triode Wire Labs provided the cabling, showing that this excellent sound could be attained with very affordable cables. Kudos. I had a lot of fun here especially listening to the wonderful selection of premium/audiophile vinyl on the Palmer turntable, Vinnie’s personal unit. This may have been my most enjoyable room at the show. Vocals were just sublime as demonstrated on record after record. The Staple Singers [Stax APP 4116-45] were a particularly memorable experience.


Charney Audio. Another speaker designed to get full-range performance from a Lowther (8-inch DX4) was on demo in this room. Designer Brian Charney has done an admirable job of constructing these 7-foot tall folded-horn Charney Audio Concerto speakers ($22’00/pr). I did not get information on the tube electronics used. I’ve listened to many similar speakers over the years and they have their idiosyncrasies. On certain source material, they can be magical. A Joe Bonamassa CD sounded good and was definitely the most full-range that I have ever heard a Lowther perform. However, I played the live cut "I’ll Play the Blues for You" from my Albert King CD The Tomato Years and the familiar shouty quality was there. This cut was downright unlistenable and I apologized to the folks in the room for playing it. Sorry but I left the Lowther camp long ago.


GamuT/Audio Skies/Wes Bender Studio NYC. It was hard to believe the high-quality of sound in this room was coming from a stand-mounted two-way. Of course when you realize that the GamuT Audio RS3 cost $20’000 the pair, you adjust your expectations. The electronics that enabled such fine sound included the GamuT Audio Di150 Limited Edition integrated ($11’990), GamuT Audio CD3 player ($7’990), Pear Audio Kid Howard turntable with Cornet 2 tonearm ($4’995), Transfiguration Proteus MC cartridge ($6’000) and EAR MC4 step-up transformer ($2’995). The system also included the Pear Audio Blue-Reference with separate power supply ($4’995). Cabling was GamuT Audio Reference and isolation was by Stillpoint ESS34s. Like the Volti room, Wes Bender and Michael Vamos were playing audiophile vinyl. They played Vanessa Fernandez "Use Me" as well as "Autumn Leaves" from the classic Somethin’ Else by Cannonball Adderley. I checked out this room for a second time on Sunday and they were playing "Autumn Leaves" again. I would have liked to hear this system as well as the Volti,with some non-audiophile vinyl  to get an idea of their performance with regular quality source material. Still, this room was up there with the best.