stereophile.com n August2019 21
sterophilr.ecpm- Stepping back a bit in
price: These Vienna Acoustics
Mozart loudspeakers (€1800/
pair) were paired with Vincent
electronics including the new
DAC-7, which has a tubed output
stage; the SA-T7 preamp (€2499);
two hybrid SP-T700 mono hybrid
amplifiers (€3998/pair); a CD-S7
hybrid CD player (€2199); and the
PHO-701 phono stage (€649). Cables
were from Vincent and Pangea. “This
little system’s ability to throw a large,
ear-catching ambient soundstage was
its strong point,” Jason wrote. - Raidho Acoustics’ loudspeakers
almost always sound good to me, with
no unpleasant edge and expansive,
rock-solid imaging. In Munich, Raidho
was showing its new TD1.2 speaker
($24,000/pair), an update of the 1.1.
Almost everything has changed except
the shape of the cabinet. After hearing
them play a track from the Ray Brown
Trio’s Soular Energy, Jason wrote, “Pretty
amazing how well these small speakers
create such a big soundstage.” Also in
the system were the Chord Ultima 2
monoblocks ($30,000/pair), Sym-
phonic phono stage ($4500), CPA 5000
preamp ($17,900), Blu MkII CD player
($10,800), and Dave DAC ($11,500).
The vinyl front end was a Pear Audio
Blue Odar turntable with two arm-
boards, platform, and power supply
($15,000). The cartridge was the expen-
sive Top Wing Red Dragon ($16,000).
Cabling was Gamut Reference.
18 & 19. People shouldn’t mess with
classics like Kind of Blue. Also: Get off
my lawn.
Jason Victor Serinus accompanied
Michael Fremer to a private listen-
ing session in the PMC room where
they listened to two “revivified” tracks
from that iconic Miles Davis album,reconfigured for Dolby Atmos
surround.
Going in, Jason thought
of Dolby Atmos as a thing
for movie theaters, including
theaters at home—a view shared
by this editor. “But after hearing
the astounding transformation
wrought to this album and
listening multiple times to the
Dolby Atmos processing on
one of Stereophile’s forthcoming
Records of the Month, I realize
that Dolby Atmos is about far
more than increasing the big-
boom factor of violent action
flicks,” Jason wrote.
“‘So What’ sounded pretty straight
ahead in front of us,” Jason wrote—
with more depth, presence, and sense
of space than the original. “‘Flamenco
Sketches’ had far more height and
three-dimensionality and was, for me,isolators in-house. Photos courtesy of
IsoAcoustics.
- It’s a wacky world: In the Stein
Music room, an expensive pair
of funky-looking speakers called
Bob—extra-large Bob—was playing
Shelby Lynne’s “Just a Little Lovin’ ”
to a largely German audience.
“Stein Music’s Bob XL speakers and
subwoofers ($290,000 total) were
doing the job with warmth, solidity,
and gratifying musicality,” Jason wrote.
Company founder/designer Holger
Stein drew attention—not to the Bob
XLs, but to the new Stein Music
Matrix cables. Also in the system: Stein
Music’s HighLine Amp 2 ($14,800),
HighLine Music Player ($14,800),
Aventurin 6 cartridge ($6500), and
MusicPower bars 6 and 10 and H2 Plus
Signature Stand ($3158). The source
was a ToneTool Trapezium turntable. - Just released and seen in passive
display: the Pass Int-25 ($7250), which
combines an XA25 amp with a simpli-
fied Int-60 front end. - Zellaton was showing its Refer-
ence MkII Loudspeakers (€147,950/
pair), which add to the MkIs Duelund
CAST capacitors and inductors with
a paper-based dielectric and Duelund
wiring. The Zellatons were showing
with YS Sound’s YSS-782 preamplifier
($312,500) and YSS-722 monoblocks
($437,500/pair). Add cables and a front
end—Muse 3C turntable (€15,850) with
Reed 5T tonearm (€14,900) and Top
Wing Suzaku Red Sparrow cartridge
($16,000) and Nem Phono Kit 4 and
you’re looking at a ca-$1 million system.
13141516171819