I was delighted to end the final day of RMAF 2007 in the Soundsmith room. I’ve spent quite a while in Peter Ledermann's rooms at previous shows, and loved every minute. This year was no exception.

I wouldn't be surprised if Peter’s SF-810 Strain Gauge phono cartridge achieves legendary status. Paired with the VPI HRX turntable, Schroeder Reference tonearm, and Silver Circle Power conditioner and cables, the Silversmith line-up—top-of-the-line Soundsmith Strain Gauge, Soundsmith SG-180 full-function, remote-control, 5-input preamp, HE 2006 300Wpc MOSFET power amp, and Soundsmith Monarch Bookshelf speaker—delivered some of the fullest, roundest, most colorful sound I encountered at the show.

I found the sense of all-enveloping warmth heard from Peter's LP of vocalist Radka Toneff irresistible. Not only was her voice seductive, but the glistening sound of the piano accompaniment on high notes was a thing of wonder. It reminded me of the scent of spring flowers as they first open in the sun. Lord knows, the sound drew me into the music like a bee in heat. [Ulp—Ed.] Wilma Cosa Fine's Mercury Living Presence reissue of Antal Dorati conducting Stravinsky's Firebird raised the temperature a major notch, delivering the full colors and impact of the orchestra in a most thrilling manner. How Peter gets so much full-range sound (56Hz–22kHz) out of 14"-high speakers undoubtedly reflects his years as chief engineer of the Bozak Corporation.

These are must-audition components, folks. Thanks, Peter, for closing the show for me on such a high note.

Nordost has entered the realm of stratospherically-priced cabling with the introduction of Odin interconnects and speaker cable. With Odin interconnects draped around Lars of Nordost's neck, and the speaker cable seen running between Raidho Ayra C3 speakers and Burmester 001 CD, BAT preamp, and Gamut D-200 amplifier (a last-minute replacement for an ailing Burmester amp), the combination of Odin interconnects and speaker cable and Nordost Valhalla power cables—Odin power cables are yet to come —delivered one of the most breathtakingly realistic depictions of a huge, three-dimensional soundstage I've ever experienced. It's you-are-there transparency was pretty damn amazing. I greatly look forward to reacquainting myself with this cabling at CES 2008, and promise to report on it in my show blog if five other Stereophile colleagues don't get to the Nordost room before me. But oh, the price, which is in the "don't ask" category, adds JA.

After hosting three hour-long seminars on Sunday (following five on Friday and Saturday), I spent the final hours of the 2007 RMAF racing around rooms I really wanted to hear before the Show closed at 4pm. At 4:30pm, I stopped by what would be my last room, the one featuring a new name to me, Salagar Speakers. This Illinois company is aiming high: its first product is a beautifully finished, physically large two-way active design, the Symphony S210, that combines a 1" soft-dome tweeter with a 10" woofer in an unusual curved enclosure. Power is provided by internal ICEpower class-D modules, and the integral X-ACT crossover operates in the digital domain and includes the facility to adjust the speaker's balance to cope with room acoustics problems. The Symphony S-210 costs $7,999/pair complete with crossover, and showed promise, even in the less-than-optimal hotel room.

After several years of collaboration with Lew Johnson and Bill Conrad with McCormack Audio, Steve McCormack went it alone a year or so back with SMc Audio. He was demming SMc's first product at RMAF, the $6800 VRE-1 line preamplifier ("VRE" stands for "Virtual Reality Engine"). The solid-state design uses Lundahl and Jensen coupling transformers and uses J-FETs in a zero-feedback circuit. Unusually, it dispenses with the otherwise ubiquitous solid-state voltage regulators in its power supply. Instead, it uses a choke-smoothed voltage rails, which Steve feels eliminates any trace of "transistor" sound. Next to come will be a matching phono stage.

I experienced a fascinating comparison in one of the RMAF rooms featuring systems from Colorado dealer ListenUp. With Sonus Faber Cremona Elipsa speakers (review forthcoming) driven by a combination of Musical Fidelity X-T100 integrated amplifier "supercharged" with MF's 550K monoblocks, and Shunyata AC conditioning and power cables, CDs played back on MF's new top-loading CD player were being compared with lossless-encoded files of the same recordings played back over WiFi via a Sonos ZP80 that fed its S/PDIF digital output to the MF player's DAC section. The data were the same, so other than the WiFi connection, there was no reason for the sound to be different. And I did indeed find it very difficult to hear any consistent difference between the two presentations. Perhaps the low frequencies were a little better-defined and extended via CD, but I don't think I could have identified that without knowing which was which. Interesting.

The NSR Sonic Research D3 Concerto Sonata loudspeaker ($4495/pair) was reportedly making a lot of waves at its world premiere. Displayed in not completely broken-in prototype form, with tweaking of crossover and capacitors still to come, the speaker is claimed to have 93.7dB sensitivity. The bottom of the enclosure features an exclusive "Acoustic Projection Lens." The lens, developed over the course of 30 years by its guitarist/luthier/locomotive engineer designer, is claimed to act as a sonic prism that overcomes randomly generated frequencies. The company also offers the much larger D1 Concerto Reference ($32,000/pair). Both speakers have back panels that intentionally resonate like an instrument, a feature that JA points out was first seen in the controversial Bösendorfer loudspeakers.

Lots of folks were wowed by the D3 at RMAF. I look forward to making further acquaintance with the finished product.

After my final hi-rez seminar on Sunday, and triggered by my very positive experience with the inexpensive Avalon NP2 speakers, I went across the hallway to the room Denver dealer HD Home Cinema & AV Design was using to debut Avalon Acoustics' new $9300/pair Ascendant loudspeaker. This combines the composite-dome tweeter from the NP2 with a pair of Kevlar-composite woofers in the angled, faceted enclosure that has become a de facto trademark of the Colorado company's high-end speakers. With Ayre MX-R monoblocks, Ayre C-5xe universal player, K-5xe preamp, and P-5xe power-line conditioner, and wired with Cardas cable, the Avalon system proved one of the best-sounding of the Show.

When I entered the room assembled by Matrix Systems of Pennsylvania, Joe of Critical Mass (maker of excellent, hand-crafted supports for amplifiers and other components) was playing a recording of jazz vocalist Mary Stallings (Maxx Jazz). I was immediately captivated, both by the sound, and by Stallings' artistry. When Joe recognized me and asked me if I wanted to play some of my own music, "No way!" I exclaimed. "Let the music continue."

As I continued to listen to Stallings, then finally some of my own music, I remained transfixed by the system's fabulous, deep, recessed soundstage and its ability to communicate the heart of musical expression. No wonder. The system consisted of ESP Bodhran SE speakers ($16,000/pair) that feature 91dB sensitivity, 8 ohm impedance, and all new drivers, internal wiring, and crossover parts; Lamm Industries M1.2 Reference 110W class-A hybrid monoblocks ($21,690/pair) and LL2 Deluxe tube preamp ($4990); Argento Audio interconnects (distributed by Daniel Barnham of Half Note Audio); Abbingdon Music Research AMR CD-77 CD player ($8500); and Critical Mass Systems Grand Master Series Isolation Systems (price varies). Quite a system, and quite an experience.

I have commented in previous blogs on the easy, unforced and natural sound of Moscode hybrid electronics. Here, the Moscode 402 200Wpc hybrid amplifier was paired with Quad 988 electrostatic speakers that were bolted to custom bases, Esoteric DV-50 universal player, and Cardas Golden Reference cables. Since neither George Kaye nor Gage Rommel was in the room at the time, I was unable to determine what tubes were being used in the amp. But the ability to easily roll tubes in this unit makes it a dream for people like myself who love to tailor the system's sound to their specific preferences.

I allowed listeners to compare the 24-bit, 88.2kHz-sampled master files for some of my Stereophile recordings with Red Book (CD) versions and MP3s encoded at either 128kbps or 64kbps. Despite what you might have thought from having read in the New York Times and other mainstream media, where MP3s are proclaimed as being of "CD quality," no-one had a problem hearing differences between the different versions of my recordings. And I was well pleased with the sound the system produced from my high-rez masters, even in the bare-walled room.

I photographed Roy with one of the Avalon Evolution NP2 speakers we were using, me for my digital dems and Roy for his analog set-up dems. At $1995/pair, the two-way Avalons were the least-expensive ingredient in the system, yet coped admirably with the wide dynamic range of my 24-bit, 88.2kHz master files.

Wouldn't you know it: for the only time in three years, my right-channel interconnect decided to make only half a connection, throwing off the timbral balance and pushing everything over to the left. Because I was sitting way to the left to begin with, I didn't fully grasp the problem until more than half the visitors had left my house wondering why I thought my system was anything special.

Well, a similar disaster happened to the Scaena room shortly before I entered the room. Given the positive critical response to the assembled components, I expected great things from George Bischoff's Scaena Model 3 loudspeaker system ($44,000 complete with woofers, electronic crossover, and subwoofer amp), ASR Emitter One 150Wpc integrated amplifier, Nova Physics Memory Player with tube-DAC output, Audience Adept Response Power Conditioner, and Silversmith Palladium cables. After having to wait several minutes for my Harmonia Mundi CD of Schubert's "Arpeggione Sonata" to rip to the Memory Player’s hard drive—pause for new pet peeve: exhibitors who only make a hard drive option available for playback limit visitors’ ability to play their own music—and doing my best to ignore the intrusive bass from the adjacent mbl room, I heard a very clear, focused presentation. While I noted fine overtones on the piano, there was nothing about the sound itself that put it in a class above "excellent hi-fi."

It was only later, when I encountered Jeff of Silversmith in the hallway, that I learned that the cause of my dissatisfaction was a cable that had been plugged into the wrong receptacle. I was only able to return to the Scaena room for a few minutes, but what I heard sounded dramatically more natural and less "hi-fi" than on my previous visit. I wish I could have stayed longer, because there were indications of greatness in that room.

Scaena's line-source speakers are based on a ribbon tweeter and a ceramic-cone midrange module that can be stacked 12, 15, or 18 high. This module was acoustically inert when subject to John Atkinson's standard knuckle-rap test.

Garth Leerer sure knows how to make a vocal lover happy. As soon as he spotted me entering the Musical Surroundings room, the Oakland-based distributor chose to demonstrate the supreme musicality of the Musical Surroundings’ "Audio Unlimited" system by playing an LP of mezzo-soprano Janet Baker. Recorded in her prime, and sensitively accompanied on piano by the great Gerald Moore, Baker began singing a grief-stricken Schubert song. To say I was blown away by the intensity of her expression, the beauty of her voice, her daring to sing with such naked emotion, and the system's ability to capture and integrate all the different colors and shadings of her instrument only begins to tell the tale. I was transfixed.

I have this same LP at home. While I haven't played it for many years, I recalled that Baker's performance of Richard Strauss' "Wiegenlied" was the most sacred, intimate rendition of that song I have ever experienced. For this lullaby sung by a pregnant woman to her as-yet-unborn child, Baker chooses the slowest and softest tones imaginable.

I have played many vocal recordings on many systems over the years. I've also attended a host of live recitals—recitals that have allowed me to sit in the first row for Susan Graham and Frederica von Stade, and the second row for Olga Borodina and the Takacs String Quartet. I have heard close up what great artists can do. But until now I have never—never, ever—heard a recording by one of the great vocal artists of our time reproduced on a system that allowed me to get so close. It was almost as if I was the microphone, and Baker was singing directly into me. I sat in near disbelief, enraptured by her ability to sing extremely softly with such depth of feeling and clarity of focus. I was equally enraptured by the system's ability to reveal so much detail without in any way sounding forced or etched.

Thanks to the Musical Surroundings "Audio Unlimited" system, I experienced two miraculous performances at once. The equipment that made my visit to Audio Nirvana possible consisted of two brand new units and one prototype: the Pathos Endorphin CD player ($8500—not auditioned this time around but definitely on my wish list), Clearaudio Performance turntable/Satisfy Carbon Fiber tonearm ($2500), and Benz "Super Glider" prototype cartridge (estimated $3000). Equally important were the Focal Alto Utopia speakers ($20,000/pair), the extremely attractive Pathos Inpol2 integrated amp ($10,000), Aesthetix Io phono stage ($6,500), and Tara Lab cabling. A Running Springs Audio Jaco Conditioner may have also been used.

Thank you, Garth.

One of my fondest experiences at previous Home Entertainment shows involved listening to a recording of violinist Hilary Hahn play Brahms on Tenor Electronics. The way those electronics captured the sweetness of her tone was unforgettable. So I'm happy to report that Francois' and Robert's Montréal-based company is back, this time with Ontario's Jim Fairhead as President.

I auditioned the Tenor Audio 350M Ultimate Reference monoblocks ($75,000/pair). These amps take two weeks to build, and feature all pre-burned in parts that are hand-matched. Paired with a North American premiere pair of Kharma Mini-Grand Ceramique speakers ($33,500/pair), which boast 92dB sensitivity and a 4 ohms impedance, and are specifically designed for small to medium-sized rooms, this admirably neutral-sounding system exhibited a magical sense of space. When I played a recording of one of Brahms' early piano trios, the sound of the piano and cello was to die for. The system lent especial body to the middle of the tone, which was special indeed.

Lest I forget, the rest of the components were none too shabby. How about the mbl 6010-D reference stereo preamp ($19,680) and high-level Kubala-Sosna Emotion cabling? (I wish I could tell you what CD player was in use, but it was not included on the room’s crib sheet). Alas, I didn't have the opportunity to hear the Lamm LP-2 Deluxe phono stage and V.Y.G.E.R. Baltice M turntable/SME 312 tonearm and Air-Tight PC1 Cartridge, but I’m sure Michael Fremer has more than a thing or two to say about those babies.

"The 350M looks the same as the old 300s because we couldn’t find a design we liked better," Fairhead explained, "but they are totally different inside." Though I would hardly complain about the old amps, I can't wait for my next opportunity to experience the new Tenors paired with the Kharma Mini-Grand Ceramique and the other components in the chain.

Veteran speaker designer Albert Von Schweikert (left) has every reason to smile. To celebrate two anniversaries—the 50th year since he built his first kit, and 30 years in the business of high-end audio—he is releasing the VR-4A Anniversary Model. Shown in prototype form, with the final product expected at the 2008 CES in January, this completely redone, much improved VR-4jr replaces that speaker's Mk.II version. Although it plays well in large rooms, the Anniversary Model was specifically created for folks who have smaller rooms. Featuring denser cabinets and the highest-quality parts, the speaker will be available in a standard version with Hovland caps ($6000/pair) and Signature Edition ($7500/pair) with special finish and Mundorf caps.

This is a very different baby than what we've heard previously. All drivers have been changed, and are sourced from Europe rather than China. Most important, they have all been manufactured to perform at the same 89dB sensitivity (up from the original speaker's 87), which allows Albert to use a simplified crossover, with fewer parts in the signal path.

Dusty Vawter of Channel Islands Audio (CIAudio, right) was displaying a lot of exciting, economically priced gear, some of which was already packed up on the last day of the Show to allow Dusty to fly home for his wedding anniversary. Thus I missed hearing the new VDC.SG upgrade power supply for the Slim Devices Squeezebox ($259), which is said to eliminate noise caused by the standard switching supply. When connected to the VDA-S/VAC.1 external DAC, CIAudio claims that you can create a wireless digital audio source that "competes with some of the world's most expensive CD players."

I also missed the D-500 500W class-D monoblocks ($4500/pair), but greatly enjoyed the D-200 class-D monoblocks ($2299/pair), new PLC-1 Passive Line Controller full-function remote controlled preamp ($899), VDA-2 24/192 DAC ($599), and VAC.1 Upgrade Power Supply ($179). Paired with the Von Schweikerts and an Oracle CD player, this hardly burned-in system exhibited fine depth, good snap, a very solid midrange, and a large soundstage in which some sounds moved forward in a most captivating way. Few systems equipped with such relatively inexpensive components can reproduce piano overtones as well as this one. I look forward to hearing everything in completely finished, broken-in form.

Aerospace engineer James M. Harrell, Jr. debuted his Jumping Cactus Loudspeakers at RMAF 2007. Only available from jumpingcactusloudspeakers.com, these tri-amped, 120lb loudspeakers are housed in sealed aluminum cabinets that feature a Bubinga wood front panel. The speakers are said to have a high measured sensitivity of 94dB. With a frequency range of 65Hz–20kHz., a subwoofer is recommended. The speakers also come with an active XM44 4-way crossover by Marchand Electronics.

For better or worse, Harrell powered the tweeter with a Cary SE1-Signature SET kit from Audio Electronics, the midrange with a Sound Creative SET that he bought on an eBay fire sale, and the woofer with an Audio Source 50Wpc solid-state amp. A Dynaco PAS3 preamp with upgraded power supply, Denon 2910 player modified by Underwood HiFi, PS Audio P300 Power Plant sent to MultiWave P4, and homemade 18-gauge silver-over-copper cabling completed the circuit. Talk about a grab-bag approach to sonics. The resultant presentation was sedate, polite, and relaxed, and exhibited significant midrange presence. How these speakers would sound with other electronics is yet to be revealed.

Kara Chaffee has every reason to smile even wider than she's smiling here. Her DeHavilland GM-70 50W SET monoblocks ($11,000/pair) and Ultraverve remote preamp ($2995) were creating one of the most wondrous, air-filled soundstages I have heard. "We aim at the heart of the music," she told me after I had spent a while listening to some of my favorite CDs.

The DeHavilland Electronics were paired with the Wilson Benesch Trinity integrated, stand-mounted, two-way monitor ($10,450/pair) mated with the W-B Torus infrasonic generator ($5950) and Torus Amp ($4350), Gamut CD player ($4000), and Kubala-Sosna Eagles speaker wire and interconnects. With the darker presentation common to most SETs, DeHavilland has achieved something very, very special.

Art loudspeakers, made in Scotland, paired up German-manufactured audio components from AcousticPlan and a line transformer from Japan to make their joint US debut at the 2007 RMAF. In two adjacent rooms, I heard two different Art models. As depicted in the photo with Art's Derek Dunlap, I first auditioned the art Stiletto 6 loudspeaker ($5000/pair), mated with AcousticPlan's Sitar hybrid-design integrated amp ($7500, complete with external power supply), Audio Technic line transformer from Japan (also debuting), and Cary Audio CD player. The Stiletto, a vented two-way made from birch plywood without use of MDF, measures 88.5dB sensitivity and has a fairly linear frequency response that starts at the mid '30s. It features a SEAS 6" coated-paper driver and a 1" soft-dome tweeter equipped with a proprietary horn to create a delightfully open soundstage. I was quite impressed with this system, which produced very warm, rich sounds that belied the speaker's diminutive size.

In the second room, the larger Art Emotion Signature ($20,000/pair) was connected to AcousticPlan's Sarod tube preamp ($9300) and 50Wpc class-A hybrid tube amp, which features a triode input and MOSFET output ($9300). This system produced a fuller, warmer, extremely quiet, most inviting sound, with significantly more overtones and microtonal shadings, but there was also a hint of driver integration issues.