SSI 2009 Show Report

How was the Show for you? Posted Mon Apr 6, 2009, 2:50 PM ET
By Robert Deutsch

It did not require great perspicacity to predict that SSI2009 would not be as well attended as last year's show. Things are tough all over. In any case, as I write this, on Saturday evening on a train en route to Toronto—yes, I manage to catch the train this time!—the show still has another day to go, and, as Michel Plante, with Sarah Tremblay the SSI's organizers, admitted, what often makes or breaks a show like this is the Sunday attendance.

But let me give you my impressions. On Friday things were decidedly on the slow side, but on Saturday the show felt like a big success, with lots of excited people in the halls and in the exhibit rooms—like the ones in the popular Totem room pictured in this photo. I would guess that the attendance on Saturday was in the same range as at last year's show. The Stereophile “Ask the Editors” session (see below) was extremely well-attended—even better than last year's, I think—and the questions showed a high level of interest and sophistication, dealing with a wide range of issues, including the relation (or lack thereof) between the love of music and preoccupation with equipment, how to encourage people to care about quality in the reproduction of music, and the perennial one of why this tends to be a hobby dominated by males. John Atkinson, Art Dudley, Stephen Mejias and I may not have been able to solve all the problems of the industry in the time available, but I think I can speak for all of us in saying that we had a great time, and were most appreciative of the issues raised by readers. And, in the spirit of Barack Obama, I venture to say that audio industry, and audiophiles, will emerge from the current economic situation stronger than ever.

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Wilsons to the MAXX Posted Mon Apr 6, 2009, 2:20 PM ET
By John Atkinson

Okay, so the system in the big room from Montreal dealer Coup de Foudre was very expensive, and the room's acoustics I knew from the 2008 Show were excellent, but the sound was both my best at show and the best I heard in that room. Not only did Peter McGrath's high-resolution recordings, played back from his Sound Devices recorder feeding the very promising Playback Designs' D/A processor, reproduce with extraordinary dynamics and a superbly transparent window into the soundstage, my own recordings sounded the best I have experienced, with the audiophile attributes supporting/reinforcing rather than getting in the way of the music. And that was from CD!

Speakers were the Wilson Audio Specialties MAXX Series 3 (currently under review by Michael Fremer), reinforced below 32Hz with the humongous Wilson Thor subwoofer and driven by the Pathos Adrenaline monoblocks and a prototype tube preamplifier from Pathos, the Synapse. Cables were all Transparent Audio. Such was the musical communication ability of this system that Peter McGrath and I were doing some listening before dinner Friday night, with one recording leading to another, until it was too late to go out to eat!

Other news from SSI was that Audio Plus Services, the North American importer of Focal, YBA, and Cambridge Audio, has taken over US distribution of Pathos, as well as distribution of the revitalized Micromega brand from France.

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The Coup de Foudre Crew Posted Mon Apr 6, 2009, 2:16 PM ET
By Stephen Mejias

Wilson Audio Specialties' Peter McGrath (second from left) is embraced by the crew of Coup de Foudre (l–r): Jennifer ("Just Jennifer. No surname. You may have heard of me."), Graeme Humfrey, and Erik Fortier.

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Crystal Clear Posted Mon Apr 6, 2009, 2:02 PM ET
By John Atkinson

I first heard the prototypes of the almost-all-glass Arabesque from Dutch wire manufacturer Crystal Cable at the 2009 CES, where they produced sound in the Audio Basics room that belied my negative expectations. Demmed at SSI with Simaudio 5.3 series CD player and amplification, the Arabesques, now in full production, again produced a promising sound. With my my recording of "The Mooche," from Editor's Choice, the Arabesques put me squarely in the church acoustic of Chad Kassem's Blue Heaven Studio in Kansas, where the recording was made.

The ribbon tweeter is married to three Scan Speak Illuminator woofers and the crossover is contained within the machined-from-aluminum base. The glass panels are joined with UV-cured adhesive and make up a truncated spiral or elongated comma (as viewed from above), with the reflex port at the end of the spiral. 20 pairs have already been sold workwide, Crystal's Gabi van der Kley told me. Crystal (and sister company Siltech) are distributed in Canada by Audio Basics, though Crystal doesn't yet have US distribution for the speaker.

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Air-Motion Adams Posted Mon Apr 6, 2009, 1:50 PM ET
By John Atkinson

"Air Motion" because the Adams—familiar to me from the German company's strong showing at pro-audio shows—feature modern versions of the Oskar Heil-designed "Air Motion Transformer" higher-frequency drive-units that a brief period of popularity in the 1970s. This uses a corrugated aluminum-foil diaphragm that moves somewhat like an accordian bellows, alternately squeezing and stretching the air between the folds. Adam, who is entering the North American high-end audio market, was proudly showing its top-model Tensor series at SSI, but I was also impressed by the active A5 shown in the photo, which crosses the AMT tweeter over to a moving-coil woofer at 2.2kHz and costs just $900/pair. With the $600 Sub 7 active woofer also shown in the photo, a pair of Adam A5s would make the basis for an affordable high-quality system.

The rest of the show system comprised a Resolution Audio digital front end and DNM amplification and cables.

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MartinLogan meets Bryston Posted Mon Apr 6, 2009, 1:41 PM ET
By Robert Deutsch

Asked to name the top three drawbacks of electrostatic loudspeakers, the knowledgeable audiophile will list—not necessarily in this order—restricted listening area, inability to play loud, and limited bass extension. Although the last criticism can still be applied to the new MartinLogan CLX (its claimed bass –3dB point is 56Hz), the speaker's design has gone a major way toward addressing the other two criticisms.

Introduced as the successor to the famed CLS (or CLZ), the CLX strikes me more like an altogether different speaker. It's quite a bit wider than the old CLS, but it's not as big as I thought it would be based on pictures I've seen. It follows the curvilinear driver design of the original CLS, the consequent wider dispersion creating a wider sweet spot.

The CLX certainly delivers on the promise of being more than a one-listener-in-the-sweet-spot speaker, but what but what really blew me away were the dynamics. Aided and abetted by a pair of Descent 1 subwoofers ($3000 each), the rest of the system made up of Bryston components (BCD-1 CD player, BD-A1 DAC, BP26 preamp, 28B SST2 power amps), this system kicked ass in a way that was difficult to credit to electrostatics. I suspect the Bryston amps (1000W!) were a major contributor here. I understand that, in typical electrostatic fashion, the impedance of the CLX goes very low in the treble, a characteristics that many amps have trouble dealing with—but not the Brystons. The sound was loud and clear, with a tremendous "punch."

Criticisms? Well, I would expect a speaker that costs CN$22,000/pair (about to be increased to $25,000) to be full-range, or, if not full-range, the price should be lower to allow budgeting for a pair of subwoofers.

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Fidelio in Hi-Rez Posted Mon Apr 6, 2009, 1:25 PM ET
By John Atkinson

René Laflamme's recordings on the Fidelio label have always been favorites of mine, though his choice of repertoire—like the new "It's a Small World" project—sometimes cause my eyebrows to raise. SSI was my first chance to hear high-resolution versions of some Fidelio recordings, played back from René's laptop feeding data via asynchronous USB to the dCS Scarlatti upsampler set to do nothing other than translate the USB datastream to AES/EBU at 96kHz to drive the dCS Elgar Plus D/A. As this has a volume control it was connected direcrtly to a pair of Nagra VPA tube monoblocks which in turn drove the Verity Sarastro 2 speakers that Fred Kaplan reviewed for Stereophile in April. Cabling was all-Shunyata. René uses all-tube microphones and records directly to a Pyramix digital audio workstation. The sound of a transcription for brass and organ of "Mars" from Holst's The Planets was to die for on this system, one of my "best of shows."

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Son-Or Filtronique Posted Mon Apr 6, 2009, 1:09 PM ET
By John Atkinson

SSI seems to feature a higher proportion than usual of rooms sponsored by high-end dealers, and one of the best sounds I experienced was in the room from Montreal dealer Son-Or Filtronique. The top-line, multi-box dCS Scarlatti SACD front-end (soon to be reviewed for Stereophile by Mikey Fremer) drove Audio Research electronics (Reference 3 preamp and Reference 110 amplifier) with speakers the impressive Kliimt from Vienna Acoustics. Cabling was all Shunyata. Corinne Bailey Rae's perfomance of Joni Mitchell's "River," from the Herbie Hancock CD of the same name, was reproduced with midrange to die for, though the low frequencies were a touch over-ripe, I thought.

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Lafleur Posted Mon Apr 6, 2009, 1:01 PM ET
By John Atkinson

Lafleur's X-1 bookshelf ($14,000/pair) was one of the hits of last year's Montreal Show despite the poor acoustics of the room they were being shown in, so I was looking forward to taking a further listen this year in a better room. Driven by an all-Simaudio Evolution series rig—Andromeda CD player and i-7 integrated amplifier—the X1s did indeed produce a superby detailed, natural-sounding midrange and treble, but the low frequencies seemed a little shelved down in absolute terms, I thought.

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Gemme Audio Soprano Posted Mon Apr 6, 2009, 12:35 PM ET
By Stephen Mejias

Robert Gaboury stands with his little Gemme Audio Soprano.

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Gemme Audio Phenix Posted Mon Apr 6, 2009, 12:32 PM ET
By Stephen Mejias

The Sashas of Obad Imports suggested that I check out the Gemme Audio room, where a Neodio amplifier had been replaced by a prototype KingRex 50W Tripath amplifier. Gemme Audio's Robert Gaboury had his special Phenix Green Gem system ($37,000 CAN) on display, along with a Neodio CD player, and Blueberry Hill Audio cables.

The Phenix Green Gem combines Soprano mini-monitors with a vintage-style Breathe bass cabinet. The small Sopranos (7" by 10" by 7") use a 6" custom midrange driver with a 1" horn super-tweeter, while the large Breathe cabinet (62" by 26" by 22") uses two modified 15" JBL 2226 drivers. Each system is handmade and built to order. Gaboury explained that almost any request can be met—from cabinet finishes to loudspeaker voicing.

We listened to PJ Harvey's "Down By the Water," from her excellent To Bring You My Love, and I noted fine texture to the fuzzed-out bass and an exciting speed to the maracas. PJ's voice, meanwhile, hinted at the special blend of sexiness and creepiness I'd heard just a few nights earlier during her performance at Manhattan's Irving Plaza.

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The Stereophile Debate... Posted Mon Apr 6, 2009, 12:10 PM ET
By John Atkinson

...was how SSI organizer Michel Plante had billed our "Ask the Editors" session, and (from left to right), Stephen Mejias, Robert Deutsch, and Art Dudley joined me in an animated discussion. Topics covered included the vinyl revivial, whether there is still a role for paper magazines in an Internet world, how does someone become a reviewer, and will Blu-ray be a viable medium for high-quality music.

The event was caught on video by the Canadian Public Access TV channel and all 11 parts can be found, courtesy of YouTube, starting at http://thecanadianpublic.com/?p=49 .

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Editors in Action Posted Mon Apr 6, 2009, 12:05 PM ET
By John Atkinson

Stereophile's star blogger Stephen Mejias hold forth at the debate on why he is in love with vinyl, while Robert Deutsch (center) and Art Dudley (right) wait to chime in with their opinions.

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The Real Thing Posted Mon Apr 6, 2009, 11:54 AM ET
By John Atkinson

An Audio Show wouldn't be an Audio Show without live music, to allow Showgoers to recalibrate their ears. The 2009 SSI featured two concerts, one by jazz pianist and singer Anne Bisson, the other by the Michel Donato Trio, seen here, with Donato on double bass, Jon Gearey on guitar, and Marin Nasturica on accordion. Both acts have audiophile sound-quality CDs available from Montreal's Fidelio Audio, and other news from SSI was that these recordings are now available as 24-bit, 96kHz files.

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Monitor Audio Platinum 200 Posted Mon Apr 6, 2009, 11:39 AM ET
By Robert Deutsch

Stereophile readers often wonder about how products are chosen for review, and, as I said at the SSI "Ask the Editors" panel discussion, the Monitor Audio Platinum 200 provides a case in point.

I had heard the Monitor Audio Platinum 300 at last year's show, and was sufficiently impressed that I talked to Monitor Audio rep Sheldon Ginn about reviewing one of the speakers in the Platinum series. The Platinum 300 was an obvious potential candidate, but it had been around for a while, and the new speaker, just introduced at that time, was the Platinum 100, a smaller, stand-mounted model. I was interested, but I wasn't sure if it was the right choice for me, given that I didn't have that much experience reviewing speakers in its category. I vacillated between choosing the 300 and the 100, and it never came to requesting review samples of either speaker.

Fast forward to April, 2009, and the Monitor Audio display at SSI2009. The Platinum 200 was on demo: this is the latest speaker from Monitor Audio, not yet in production, and is a smaller version of the 300, sharing what appears to be the same tweeter. (Sheldon wasn't sure—it might be even further developed.) In any case, the system with the Platinum 200's had a lovely sound; I thought wouldn't mind spending some time with these speakers. And so, with JA's approval, the review was on. I don't know exactly how I'll find the speaker's performance in my own room and system, but the speaker passed my the first criterion for selecting a product for review: it intrigued me enough for me to want to spend some time with it, and made me think that Stereophile readers would be interested in hearing about how it performed. (And, for the record, I have no idea, and don't care, whether Monitor Audio is or was an advertiser, or ever will be in the future.)

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The Battery-Powered Veloces Posted Mon Apr 6, 2009, 11:25 AM ET
By John Atkinson

i saw a familiar face when I went into the Veloce room, as Mark Conti, who designed the unusual Impact speakers from a few years back, is now involved in this line of battery-powered amplification. My eyes were attracted by the Veloce Platino LFT-1 linestage in the photo ($12,500), which will run for 70 hours before needing recharging, but driving the Marten speakers in the room via Purist cables was a pair of battery-power monoblocks ($12,000/pair). Battery power? Yes, the input stage, based on a 6922 tube, is transformer-coupled to a high-efficiency class-D output stage based on the Hypex module designed by famed Dutch engineer Bruno Putzys. A charge will last 40–80 hours depending on the speaker's load impedance, Mark told me.

The sound of Jackie Ryan's You and the Night and the Music CD, played on an Upgrade Company-modified Esoteric X-01 player, lived up the Hypex module's reputation as being one of the few class-D designs that lets the music breathe.

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Sennheiser 800 Posted Mon Apr 6, 2009, 11:24 AM ET
By Robert Deutsch

Like many Stereophile readers, I read with great interest, and a certain amount of incredulity, Jason Victor Serinus's rather gushing CES report on the Sennheiser HD800 headphones. Now, I have a lot of respect for JVS's opinions—we share an appreciation of opera and other vocal music, and we're both great fans of Fritz Wunderlich—but, reading his report, part of me was intrigued and another part was thinking "Come on, Jason, these are just headphones, what's the big deal?"

SSI 2009 provided the first opportunity for me to listen to the HD800's, and now I can appreciate more clearly where Jason was coming from. These are superb headphones, very possibly the best ones out there. The source at SSI2009 was less than impeccable: a low-end Onkyo CD player and Onkyo receiver, and for some reason they used a nondescript CD of Latin music as the demo material, but listening for just a few minutes convinced me that HD800s are something quite special. I have Stax electrostatic headphones, with a dedicated tube headphone preamplifier, and I'd be reluctant to put them up against these Sennheisers. If only I could find a good excuse for buying them...

Note: keen-eyed readers will notice that the HD800 on the dummy head has the channels reversed, the headphone on the shown left side being labeled "R." Let me assure you that when the I listened to the HD800s the channels were oriented correctly.

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That's the Champion Wood Posted Mon Apr 6, 2009, 11:17 AM ET
By John Atkinson

Stephen Mejias reported a couple of days ago on the excellent sound being made in the room featuring DeVore Fidelity's Gibbon Nine speakers, driven by a Leben integrated amplifier. I was equally impressed when I auditioned a Curtis Mayfield live album in this all-analog room, played on the Clearaudio Champion Wood turntable fitted with a Clearaudio Unify arm with a carbon-fiber armtube and an EMT JSD5 MC phono vcartidge.

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The First Spike Posted Mon Apr 6, 2009, 11:15 AM ET
By Robert Deutsch

Component supports take a variety of forms: squishy, rubbery things; hard, pointed things; ball bearings (loose or constrained); air or liquid bladders, etc. The Spike component supports, imported by Divergent Technologies, were a new one for me: they use magnetic levitation. Now, I'm familiar with platforms using this principle, but these are individual component feet, each with opposed magnetic components. A box of these "Spikes" contains four such feet, and the price for the total is CN$200. I was surprised that magnets could be made strong enough in this small size to be able to support equipment of substantial weight—hich they apparently can.

Incidentally, there is nothing remotely sharp or spike-like about these component supports. I have no idea how they came up with this name.

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Box Furniture Co. Posted Sun Apr 5, 2009, 8:21 AM ET
By Stephen Mejias

Box Furniture Co.'s Anthony Abbate started as an apprentice to furniture maker Robert Martin. A love for music, sound, and hi-fi would soon get Anthony building equipment racks for his personal system. Later, a chance meeting at Max Fish, the colorful little bar on Ludlow Street in the Lower East Side, with speaker designer John DeVore, would lead to a partnership with DeVore Fidelity, building John's handsome speaker cabinets. (Oddly, but perfectly, Anthony would later later discover that John had sold him some of his old hi-fi equipment. Their relationship was obviously a product of fate. And you can't mess with that.) Anthony's equipment racks and isolation platforms, like the speaker cabinets, are nothing exotic or gaudy. Instead, they are simply elegant. But not elegant in the precious sort of way. Elegant in that nothing is wasted. Elegant in that form matches function. Anthony's work simply is what it is; pure and honest lines, mortise and tenon construction, catalyzed finishes, handmade in Brooklyn, New York.

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