Let us—or at least those of you who haven’t already nodded off—begin with Crystal Cable’s Infinity power cords (production currently limited to 200 pieces). Nobody who listens with his ears rather than with an ohm meter in one hand and an ABX box in the other would ever accuse Siltech/Crystal’s genius CEO/CTO Edwin Rynveld of dabbling in the black arts. He is a world-renowned engineer, with unrivaled experience in metallurgy—the first audio designer of note to use high-conductance silver wire in cables. 

Indeed, the Infinity power cords also use solid-core silver conductors made from Rynveld’s latest and purest metal—a single “infinite crystal” variety of the element, devoid of internal boundaries and contaminants—surrounded by two braided layers of infinite silver and silver-gold alloy. (The cost of all this treasure helps explain Infinity’s price.) There are nine of these coaxial conductors per power cord—three each for positive, neutral, and ground—woven into “a perfectly symmetrical matrix that maintains absolute geometrical consistency.” Rynveld claims that this complex construction, which combines the benefits of solid and stranded conductors, and the use of his most advanced silver formulation within it “reduce RF distortion and keep magnetic interference out of the system.” Together, they create an “ultra-low-loss superconductor with almost zero resistance and vanishingly low source impedance”—thus, the increased clarity and depth of background quiet.

I first heard Crystal’s Infinity with Vitus Audio’s sensational Signature Series Class A electronics—the SM-103 Mk.II monoblock amplifiers and SL-103 linestage preamplifier—and the sonic difference a trio of these pcs made took me by surprise. It was immediately apparent that the Infinities were not just offering up a more appealing aural “flavor” (as so many wires do). Everything about what was already a standard-settingly rich, powerful, continuous, three-dimensional presentation was improved, without any loss of the tonal density (this was the polar opposite of a thinned-down sound), unaccented durations (no sharpening of transients at the expense of steady-state tone and decay), effortless dynamics, and remarkable holism (the expansive soundstage and the 3-D sonic images that populated it were, if anything, more expansive, dimensional, and continuous-sounding) that made the Vituses reference-quality components. Plus, thanks to the shocking reduction of pixel-like background noise, previously hard-to-parse musical details were suddenly clarified. With the Infinities in play, the densely intertwined lines of Tobias Tautscher’s double bass and Maximillian Djokic’s cajón on Hans Theessink’s great cover of Tom Waits’ “Down in the Hole” from Jedermann Remixed—The Soundtrack [Blue Groove] were suddenly unraveled, as were the individual lines and ensemble harmonies of Szymon Goldberg’s violin, Nikolai Graudan’s cello, and William Primrose’s viola in the Festival Quartet’s rendition of Brahms’ Piano Quartet No. 1 [RCA].

It was hard to believe that this new depth of clarity and silence could be made even deeper. Which is why, coupled to their high cost and my previous experience with passive “tweaks,” I wasn’t all that eager to try Audio Realignment Technologies’ “electro-magnetic treatments.” But, as you can probably gather, I was wrong.

First, although their looks—relatively flattish placemat-like pads with no apparently active parts or connections to anything else in the system—rather scream “Black Magic,” turns out the A.R.T.s were created by “scientists and engineers.” How the A.R.T.s work is, nonetheless, a bit mysterious. Said to be filled with electromagnetically charged layers of a “proprietary compound of rare earth metals” (I know, I know), the A.R.T. mats are “designed to absorb, control, and minimize the negative audible effects of electronically induced noises (EMF, EMI, and RFI) in sound systems.” 

A.R.T.’s electro-magnetic treatments are available in several sizes and configurations. When laid atop (or placed beneath) both solid-state and tube amps and preamps, their proprietary multi-layer magnetic technology is claimed to produce “tighter, faster, deeper, and more impactful bass with lower distortion, increased detail and resolution, greater clarity and dynamic range, much more natural and cohesive midrange and highs, a warmer tonal character with a darker (quieter) background, highly accurate imaging, and a greater overall sense of the three-dimensional space within the soundstage.”

Short of giving them a listen (which I encourage you to do), you’re just gonna have to take my (and my boss Tom Martin’s—see theabsolutesound.com/ articles/2024-capital-audio-fest-tom-martin-reports/) word for it: The inner workings of these passive tweaks may sound a bit like mumbo-jumbo, but sonically the A.R.T.s do precisely what they claim to do. Even with the highly effective Infinity power cords already in the system, the A.R.T.s deepen background silence (the first products I’ve heard, aside from the Infinities, that actually produce what could reasonably be called a “black” backdrop), allowing everything ahead of it to stand out with higher clarity and contrast, richer color, tighter focus, stronger sock, fuller dimensionality, and more continuous imaging and staging. A.R.T.’s claims about improvements in the bottom end, for example, are easily confirmed. Just give a listen to Ray Brown’s double bass (and the lower octaves of the Duke’s piano) on This One’s For Blanton [Pablo/Acoustic Sounds] with and without the A.R.T.s and tell me which setup makes both instruments sound more complete—more near-visibly there. The A.R.T.s reveal every nuance of Brown’s oh-so-accomplished playing, not simply by clarifying starting transients but also by showing how subtle changes in attack affect steady-state tone and decay. And as for the latter, listen once more to Ellington on Duke’s Big Four [Pablo/Acoustic Sounds] and revel in the way the Infinity/A.R.T. combo tracks the long, sweet decay of his piano and the slow sizzle of Louie Bellson’s cymbals right down to inaudibility. 

While silence may be golden in more ways than one when it comes to these two pricey items, it is still something well worth paying for in a high-end audio system, provided that the products lowering the noise actually work. These do. I promise you will be as pleased as I was to hear how Crystal Cable’s Infinity power cords and Audio Realignment Technologies’ electro-magnetic treatments augment what you were meant to hear by greatly reducing what you weren’t. 

Specs & Pricing

CRYSTAL CABLE
Edisonweg 8, 6662 NW
Elst, The Netherlands
crystalcable.com
Price: $34,000/2m

LUXURY AUDIO GROUP (Global Sales Agent)
(725) 772-4589
aldo@luxuryaudiogroup.com

AUDIO REALIGNMENT TECHNOLOGIES
630 Quintana Road
Suite 260
Morro Bay, CA 93442
(805) 400-4096
aldo@luxuryaudiogrooup.com
audiorealignment.com
Price: $800–$12,500 (depending on configuration)

JV’s Reference System

Loudspeakers: MBL 101 X-Treme MKII, Magico S3 2023, Metaxas & Sins Czar, Magnepan LRS+, 1.7i, and 30.7
Subwoofers: JL Audio Gotham (pair), Magico S Sub (pair)
Linestage preamps: Soulution 727, MBL 6010 D, Siltech SAGA System C1, Vitus Audio SL-103, JMF Audio PRS 1.5
Phonostage preamps: Soulution 757, DS Audio Grand Master EQ
Power amplifiers: Vitus Audio SM-103 Mk.II, JMF Audio HQS 7001, Soulution 711, MBL 9008 A, Siltech SAGA System V1/P1, Odyssey Audio Stratos
Analog source: Clearaudio Master Innovation, Acoustic Signature Invictus Neo/T-9000 Neo, TW Acustic Black Knight/TW Raven 10.5
Tape deck: United Home Audio Ultima Apollo, Metaxas & Sins Tourbillon and Papillon, Analog Audio Design TP-1000
Phono cartridges: DS Audio Grand Master EX, DS Audio Grand Master, DS Audio DS-W3, Clearaudio Goldfinger Statement v2.1, Air Tight Opus 1, Ortofon MC Anna, Ortofon MC A90
Digital source: MSB Reference DAC, Soulution 760, Berkeley Alpha DAC 2, Kalista Dream Play XC
Cable and interconnect: Synergistic Research Galileo SRX (2023), Crystal Cable Art Series da Vinci, Crystal Cable Ultimate Dream
Power cords: Crystal Cable Art Series da Vinci, Crystal Cable Ultimate Dream, Synergistic Research Galileo SRX 2023
Power conditioner: AudioQuest Niagara 5000 (two), Synergistic Research Galileo SX
Support systems: Critical Mass Systems MAXXUM and QXK equipment racks and amp stands
Room Treatments: Synergistic Research Vibratron SX, Stein Music H2 Harmonizer system, Synergistic Research UEF Acoustic Panels/Atmosphere XL4/UEF Acoustic Dot system, Shakti Hallographs (6), Zanden Acoustic panels, A/V Room Services Metu acoustic panels and traps, ASC Tube Traps
Accessories: Audio Realignment Technologies (A.R.T.) electro-magnetic treatments, DS Audio ES-001, DS Audio ION-001, SteinMusic Pi Carbon Signature record mat, Symposium Isis and Ultra equipment platforms, Symposium Rollerblocks and Fat Padz, Clearaudio Double Matrix Professional Sonic record cleaner

HARP — Reduces resonance distortion in the current domain, sharpening timing, improving clarity, and deepening sonic realism in ways never thought possible in the power-category.

QRBB — Serves as an instantaneous energy reserve, dramatically enhancing the perception of dynamic impact and timing. ~ Patent No. US 10,031,536 ~

Compared to traditional power conditioning, Everest-X reproduces sound with a profound sense of physical timing and extended silence. Sound is more visceral and impactful due to the newfound absence of noise and distortion. Familiar recordings take on added scale as if more powerful amplification was added to the system. Everest-X imbues sound with a profoundly quiet background, bringing forward newfound harmonic detail from instruments and voice. Learn more at: shunyata.com/product/everest-x

Let’s take a step back and look at the typical power conditioner. For the sake of discussion, let’s take regenerators and their kin out of the equation, as they do a very different thing; we’re concentrating on those devices that take the juice from the wall and give it a gentle massage on the way to the audio electronics. The trouble with many power conditioners is that massage isn’t so gentle after all. Often, they use large transformers and filters to smooth out the spikes, ripples and noise that upset the AC apple-cart, but often the cure is as bad as the disease.

It’s not too big a leap to think of all audio with a plug as essentially ‘modulating alternating current’ and in smoothing out the lumps and bumps of that AC you introduce a kind of perceptible ‘lag’ that undermines the system’s timing. The best of the conventional transformer-based conditioners reduce that lag to a minimum, but never fully avoid it. It’s why advocates of ‘PRaT’ (Pace, Rhythm and Timing) routinely avoid power conditioners even in environments where the AC or ‘mains’ is notably poor. The argument being if you are going to prioritise improving your system, you are likely trading compromises, and it’s better to have those compromises somewhere other than the way that system ‘times.’ 

Giant transformer?

Gryphon’s PowerZone 3 isn’t a giant transformer in a box. I know I said I was treating the two PowerZone 3 models in the same breath, but if you think what kind of ‘giant transformer in a box’ would be required to tame 40A products, and you’d end up with something that would take up power amplifier floor space, and not the svelte shelf dweller that is the Gryphon PowerZone 3. 

So, what does the Gryphon PowerZone 3 do? It all comes down to more than a dozen years of research by a chemical engineer, Paul Hafner. According to the description published on Gryphon’s website, “In an electrical circuit, current flow is attended by micro-vibrations on a molecular level; basically, all current flow is, by definition, the transmission of energy through micro-vibrations. Following Paul Hafner’s theory and approach, the vibration of electrons in the conductor creates a series of minute resonances generated by the signal passing through it. Paul’s specific approach differentiates a Dynamic (variable) signal from a Static signal.”

The PowerZone 3 features resin-potted crystalline structures known as HafnerTech Conductor Modules that focus and optimise the vibrational flow of electrons and thereby minimise the spurious resonances and the distortions they create. The adapted crystalline structures within these modules facilitate this vibrational flow in an undisturbed way with no loss of energy through noise or heat. I mentioned the idea of ‘massaging the AC’ before; the HafnerTech modules act as a kind of molecular-level spa treatment for your electrons. It also acts as a curated current flow, which is said to result in fewer artefacts and restrictions to the AC reaching the audio electronics.

This is accomplished without any current limiting, filtering or active signal processing in order to preserve the integrity of the AC signal. Gryphon even claims that room acoustics will have a less deleterious influence on sound quality when the PowerZone 3 is in place, as “rooms tend to disproportionately amplify the negative resonant characteristics of reproduced sound”. 

The PowerZone 3 also benefits from the innovative SmartStack compound, a form of shim that combines liquid and calendered rubber for optimum noise damping. This material, developed by fellow Danes MENETA, is used in high-end automotive settings, and this is its first implementation in the audio world.

PowerZone 3 features star grounding, and all three ‘legs’ of the AC signal—positive, negative and earth—are treated equally. Each benefit from conductive environments specifically adapted to their unique needs. All internal wiring features Teflon-insulated 12 AWG silver-plated, OFC copper. 

Gryphon-like build

It’s hard to describe the build of the PowerZone 3, because Gryphon is one of those ‘without parallel’ brands in the audio industry that take construction seriously. From the thick black anodised chassis to the elegantly restrained graphics, right through to the sheer overall solidity of the build, this is made ‘right.’ In fact, it gets the highest praise… it’s built like a Gryphon Audio product! Funny that. 

While what goes on inside the PowerZone 3 are very different from almost every other conditioner on the market, there’s no denying it does a lot for your system. It’s not a subtle change, but neither is it so radical that it changes what you liked about your system in the first place. Instead, it’s like bringing out what was good about your system that made you buy it. Sounds are better illuminated; not spot-lit or too brightly or brashly brought into focus. It’s as if someone just raised the light levels a few notches. It’s even and well-balanced and… better.

Bass in particular snapped into focus with a clarity and precision that is extremely alluring and did so with all the transient energy and ‘snap’ required. The acid test of any power conditioning system here is ‘Chameleon’ by Trentemøller [The Last Resort, Poker Flat]. Those deep transients that can show up a port’s ability to choke up also highlight any softening or restrictions in power delivery, and there are none here. The sound of those almost square-wave deep bass sounds was more precise and had better leading-edge attack and less trailing-edge decay… as it should. This applied universally, to, whether it was just the one component getting the Gryphon treatment or the entire system. 

Fine detail is also brought to the fore, with Joyce Di Donato’s voice both powerful and incredibly articulate [Stella Di Napoli, Erato]. On ‘Tu sola, o mua Giuletta… Deh! tu, bell’anima’, it resolves down to her voice and a French Horn player. This allows the two to have their separated physical ‘spaces’ in the mix, but never gets in the way of the beautiful music that underpins the track. And that’s the joy of the PowerZone 3 in a nutshell; it brings out both the bits that audiophiles crave and what music lovers want from their sound. All the while not changing the intrinsic performance of the system the listener originally selected.

It behoves a reviewer to find flaw in a device, but in this one that’s hard. It’s self-sealing; the performance is less noticeable in equipment that isn’t that resolving, but you aren’t going to use a power conditioner that costs three times as much as your system, are you? Also, if you have some legitimately dreadful problems with your electrical supply, this isn’t the cure. The PowerZone 3 is more about bringing refinement to a good supply than transforming a bad supply into a good one.

The big theory

In fact, what little criticism the PowerZone 3 faces has nothing to do with its performance; it’s that the claims for why it does what it does will rankle with audio’s Science Club… who don’t need to listen to the Gryphon PowerZone 3 to form an opinion about it!

For the rest of us, the Gryphon PowerZone 3 is a game-changer. It helps bring out what your system is capable of without sacrificing one aspect of its overall performance. Sure, it’s expensive and that puts it in the context of some very lofty audio electronics, but if you want those electronics to have a glow-up, go for Gryphon!

Specs & Pricing

Type: Power optimiser; PowerZone 3:10, 1 bank of 8 Furutech outlets, 20A capacity, 1x HafnerTech module; PowerZone 3:20, 2 banks of 4 Furutech outlets, 40A capacity, 2x HafnerTech module
Dimensions (WxHxD): 48.6×12.5×28.5cm
Weight: (PowerZone 3.10) 10.9kg, (PowerZone 3.20) 11.9kg
Price: PowerZone 3.10: £14,500, $14,000, €15,500; PowerZone 3.20: £17,950, $17,500, €18,950

Manufacturer
Gryphon Audio Designs ApS
www.gryphon-audio.dk 

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In an ideal world only 50/60Hz current would flow into the breaker box. Unfortunately, high-frequency noise currents are also conducted into the box. A common source of power-line noise originating from the utility company is caused by micro-arcing of high-tension power-line hardware. According to the ARRL, the National Association for Amateur Radio, “arcs can occur for several reasons, including loose hardware, a cracked insulator, [surface] tracking, corrosion between two pieces of metal, or a loose tie wire.” Arcing produces broad-band radio frequency interference, which is an issue for amateur radio reception. Some of this RFI is also conducted into the circuit-breaker box, which is the problem we’re concerned with.

According to SA’s measurements, the preferential pathway for power-line noise on the U.S. grid past the circuit-breaker box is in transverse mode (also referred to as normal mode), measured between neutral and hot wires. However, common-mode noise is also present, as measured between ground and neutral, and ground and hot wires. To add insult to injury, there are also sources of electromagnetic interference inside the home, most notably from electric motors turning on and off. Think of refrigerators and HVAC systems. In fact, there are many potential sources of unintentionally conducted and radiated EMI in the home. Devices such as Wi-Fi routers, fluorescent and LED lighting, and wall-wart switching power supplies, may all be culprits if they fail to comply with FCC emission limits.

The purpose of the SFS power-grid interface is to filter out high-frequency noise currents present on the AC power lines. It operates as a low-pass filter shunting both transverse and common-mode high-frequency noise to ground, while allowing clean 60Hz current (or 50Hz as used in much of the world) to reach the load, in this case costly audio gear. In my experience, spanning decades of critical listening, clean AC power has proved to be a critical determinant in achieving definitive sound quality.

For the past 20 years or so, SA power-grid interfaces have held court in my audio system. The fact that these devices feature zero current limiting made them ideal for power amplifier use. And being designed specifically to address micro-arcing-generated power-line noise, they worked very well to purify the AC mains. Since 2021, I have been living quite happily with Jim Weil’s older version of the TT-7 grid interface. That is until he contacted me during 2024 with a major announcement, the release of the new 120/240-volt SFS TT-7 power-grid interface. According to Jim, all recent variations are referred to as “TT-7: Teflon—titanium—7N wire, since we began using heat-treated medical-grade Teflon caps, G5 titanium hardware, and 7N 10AWG power wire.”

But the SFS design is crucially different. “We are addressing the one fundamental problem with power-line conditioner design, excessive reactance, whether capacitive or inductive, leads to poor sound quality.  For many decades our designs have been created with the premise that any capacitance over 0.5µF is detrimental to sound. Even 0.5µF is way too much.” He changed his entire approach to now use a “complex derivative of an LC network” to further reduce reactance at 60Hz. The new universal SFS design has a 3GHz-bandwidth transverse-mode filter and a 1.1GHz common-mode filter. Because the power grid is engaged at such high frequencies, reactive impedance is essentially non-existent at 60Hz. For example, inductance is barely out of the nano-Henry range. The interface is therefore invisible at 60Hz: Audio gear sees nothing but pure AC mains. 

Externally, an obvious improvement is the 5-kilogram CNC-machined solid-brass base, referred to as the PowerBase. It mass-loads the chassis to control low-frequency vibrational issues and is threaded for ¼” x 20 spikes. The filter networks are located inside a single-shell aluminum chassis, which is tunable to control the vibrational spectrum of the enclosure. The final tuning is performed after the PowerBase has been attached. The ability to tune the enclosure is said to be critical to obtaining truly superior performance. At the heart of the filter networks are custom REL Cap TFT Teflon tin-foil capacitors, designed for SA by none other than Bas Lim, the founder of REL Cap (REL Cap is now owned by Wilson Audio).  In addition, the networks also use RF inductors with GHz bandwidth. Connections in the AC-current pathway are cold-welded and wired point-to-point.

The physical layout consists of a 20-amp IEC input receptacle, matched with a 20-amp Carling high-speed magnetic circuit breaker. An input power cable is not provided, as choice of length and make is best left to the individual user. The circuit breaker is followed by three 20-amp duplex U.S.-style outlets that accommodate up to six power cords. SA states that the performance of the TT-7 is optimized when audio gear is inserted as follows. Outlet #1, nearest the circuit breaker, is for digital gear. The center outlet is for sensitive equipment such as preamps and phonostages. Outlet #3 is for all high-current devices such as a power amp. A vital feature of the TT-7 design is that a greater current draw actually improves overall performance. That means that it absolutely does not interfere with the music’s macro-dynamics.

While an audio amplifier (or preamplifier) isn’t supposed to respond to RF signals, broadband power-line noise is rectified by the power supply into the audio bandwidth. This noise makes it past the power supply’s filter network and contaminates the audio signal. To be sure, there are skeptics out there who question the sonic impact of “dirty” AC mains. These individuals might argue that AC line-noise effects pale in comparison with the audio gear’s inherent and possibly dominant distortion products. That, however, wasn’t the case in my experience, at least in the context of high-end audio. Having auditioned many audio systems with and without decent power-line filtration, it had become apparent that the effects of power-line noise are not only audible but are superimposed over an amplifier’s inherent sonic character. Granted, the effects may be subtle at times, but they are generally disruptive to the enjoyment of music as they exacerbate intrinsic distortion products. 

It has been said that “AC related distortion hides in background, resulting in haze, grain, or glare”—a sonic trifecta from hell. These distortions are not pretty or euphonic. They are, metaphorically speaking, snakes in the grass capable of biting you in the proverbial derrière when you least expect it. You may end up pointing a finger at and blaming a particular component for what is actually AC mains distortion products. And that can become a frustrating and expensive exercise as you replace or upgrade system components in an attempt to eliminate the problem.

For me, the most annoying AC-related distortion aspects have been upper midrange glare and grainy harmonic textures, especially noticeable on violin overtones. The degree of annoyance has been recording dependent and would become nearly fatal on poor recordings. I was surprised at how much better the TT-7 SFS performed in these regards versus the older version. It was hard to quantify other than to say that the SFS offered stunning improvement in these areas. In fact, on album after album it became clear that it was a case of problem solved. Issues to do with textural granularity and glare simply evaporated. The level of textural purity was now an absolute joy to behold.

There were other benefits, as well. First, let me rave about the fabulous background silence. The noise floor dropped to the point of being able to resolve substantially more low-level detail. For example, while listening to a recording of Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor, Pierre Bardon performing on the historic French organ at Saint Maximin-en-Provence (Pierre Verany PV 10811), I marveled at the clarity of the cathedral’s wet acoustic, boasting a lovely reverberation of about six seconds. In general, transient decay became easier to discern, which served to close the gap between live and reproduced music.

Spatial resolution also gained solidity. In particular, soundstage depth perspective and width dimension improved yielding a more convincing and stable 3D impression. Massed voices exhibited exquisite separation of individual voices. My old faithful standard in this regard is the choir on Laudate! (Proprius 7800). The album was recorded using a purist miking technique that allowed the voices to mix naturally. With the SFS in the system, it was gloriously easy to pinpoint individual singers.

In total, the new Sound Application TT-7 SFS power-grid interface resolved power-line noise issues in massively superior fashion to all other line filters and power conditioners I’ve auditioned. Projected lifespan for the unit is 50 years: “Your equipment can be plugged into an SA, and you can forget about it for the next half-century.” The SFS represents Jim Weil’s crowning achievement and is without a doubt an amplifier’s best friend. Once heard, it is nearly impossible to do without. Its impact has become addictive. To be honest, I can’t live without it. I’m well aware of the cost, and I wish it were lower. But if you’re looking for the best there is, it’s the only path to follow.

Specs & Pricing

Power input receptacle: 20 amp IEC
Outlets: Three 20-amp high-conductivity duplex U.S. outlets
Circuit breaker: 20-amp Carling high-speed magnetic breaker
Transverse mode filter: 3GHz bandwidth
Common mode filter: 1.1GHz bandwidth
Dimensions: 6.3″ x 3.3″ x 16″
Weight: 17 lbs.
Price: $25,000

SOUND APPLICATION, LLC
2036 Nevada City Hwy. #163
Grass Valley, CA 95945
soundapplication.com

Associated Equipment
Phono front end: Kuzma Reference turntable; Kuzma Stogi Reference 313 VTA tonearm; Clearaudio da Vinci V2 MC phono cartridge
Phonostage: PrimaLuna EVO 400
Line preamplifier: PrimaLuna EVO 400, Joule Electra LA-150 MKII
Digital front end: Denafrips Terminator DAC
Digital source: Qobuz streaming via Audirvana Studio software, Ideon Audio 3R  Renaissance mk2 Black Star USB regenerator/reclocker
Loudspeaker: Fyne Audio F703SP, Analysis Audio Omega planar-magnetic
Power amplifier: PrimaLuna EVO 400 monoblocks, Audio Research VS115, SMc Audio DNA-1/GT-21 Ultra upgrade
Cables: Kimber Select KS1016 and KCAG interconnects; 8N OCC speaker cable

Until the arrival of the QBase Reference, I had been using Nordost’s QB8 as well as reviewing a passel of other products that aimed to improve the electricity emanating from the wall, ranging from grounding devices to regenerators. With the insertion of the new QBase Reference, I heard an audible and immediate improvement in clarity, scale, bass extension, and detail. It does not filter the sound; rather, the QBase Reference lets it emerge intact. No device has come as close to performing invisibly in my system as the QBase Reference.

One stern test that I posed to the QBase Reference was a recent recording by the superb Icelandic pianist Vikingur Olaffson. On From Afar, he performs his entire program on both a grand piano and an upright from his childhood. The result is a spooky exploration of the sonorities produced by the pianos. The QBase Reference may not have stripped an entire veil away, but it seems to offer a more direct connection to the performance. Nordost’s device rendered it easier to follow the musical lines as well as Olaffson’s manipulations of the piano pedal, particularly on his old upright which made creaking and grunting noises on some of the pieces that he played. I’m not the kind of audiophile who goes nuts about those kinds of noises—not to mention the breathing of an instrumentalist—but there was no doubting that the QBase Reference made them more discernible. The QBase Reference, in other words, increased the overall resolution of the sound.

Something similar occurred on a Columbia recording of Leonard Bernstein conducting Gershwin’s jaunty symphonic poem An American In Paris, which premiered at Carnegie Hall in 1928. This early Bernstein outing possesses all the exuberance and effervescence that the recent drama film Maestro, starring Bradley Cooper complete with a big schnoz, highlighted. The QBase Reference helped efface a vestigial scrim of distortion, allowing the expansive percussion section—snare drum, two tom-toms, woodblock, high hat, bells, crash and suspended cymbals—to emerge with more snap and alacrity. The brass section also had a greater sense of weight and authority, while trumpet solos had a heightened sense of swagger and sinuousness. When added up, the small details allowed to blossom by the QBase Reference offer a greater overall sense of musical realism that almost makes you expect it to declare, “I got rhythm.”

Trumpet and tympani are also at the center of Bernstein’s friend and mentor Aaron Copland’s majestic “Fanfare for the Common Man,” a tribute to the American soldiers and sailors fighting in World War II. It sounded uncommonly good on Eiji Oue’s performance of it with the Minnesota Orchestra on Reference Recordings, the fabled label of Professor Keith Johnson. The principal improvement came in the sheer weight of the instruments—the bass drum was more resonant, and the trumpets possessed a glorious timbral sheen. Overall, there was a heightened sense of drama and urgency to the fanfare when the QBase Reference was added to the sonic proceedings. Even from my upstairs kitchen, I could feel the additional heft that it provided to the tympani and bass drum in the form of increased air movement.

That sense of authority also came through on very small ensembles. Take a nifty recording featuring the German trumpeter Matthias Höfs succinctly titled Hommage! on the Es-Dur label. On a sonata in C major by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, the piping quality of piccolo trumpet was beautifully conveyed, while the bassoon honking played perfectly in tandem with nary a trace of blur or smear. For fear of exciting the wrath of my colleague Jonathan Valin, who regards the term as hopelessly imprecise, I have until now forborne in this review from employing the phrase “black backgrounds,” but the QBase Reference helped situate the trumpet so precisely in the soundstage that I can no longer restrain myself from employing it.

Throughout, I had the feeling that having the QBase Reference in my system was equivalent to turning up the volume knob—the sound seemed to suffuse my room, never more so than on a new album on Blue Engine records called To Whom I Love by the 22-year-old Summer Camargo, a Julliard graduate who has joined the Saturday Night Live band as lead trumpeter. I first saw her play two years ago, together with three other trumpeters from Julliard, all of whom performed with Wynton Marsalis’ Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra. As she soloed, her trumpet blasts resounding to the rear of the hall, Marsalis looked on incredulously, shaking his head in disbelief. The most memorable track on her maiden album is “80 Years of Joy,” featuring a fantastic solo by her as well as some nimble work on the Hammond B3 by Joey DeFrancesco who passed away in 2022—it sounded like my system had been hot-rodded when I played it with the QBase. Even on an old jazz recording from 1926, like Jelly Roll Morton’s Red Hot Peppers playing “Sidewalk Blues,” I was surprised by how much further my stereo reached into the soundstage thanks to the QBase.

A plethora of devices exist to cleanse, scrub, and purify the electricity coming from your wall. More than a few of them prompt audiophiles to swear by or at them. When it comes to the superb QBase Reference, I fall firmly into the former camp.   

Specs & Pricing

Input socket: IEC C-20
Output sockets: US, EDU, or AUS
Electrical output: Equivalent to input
Dimensions: 19″ x 8″ x 5.5″
Weight: 25.9 lbs.
Price: $1799

NORDOST CORPORATION
93 Bartzak Drive
Holliston, MA. 01746
nordost.com

Six KGEAR GH4 high-performance point source satellite speakers deliver exceptional sound quality and coverage to the dining area with additional Thunder subwoofers installed in custom cut recesses within the banquettes. The upstairs dining room features six more KGEAR GH4 speakers and a KGEAR GU210 subwoofer.

The private chef’s table on the second floor is home to two Vyper-KV25 speakers and a Truffle-KTR26 subwoofer also built into banquets. In the upstairs private dining area a turntable keeps the music flowing with four Tornado-KT2 point source speakers and one Rumble-KU26 creating an intimate listening experience. Kommander amplifiers round out the system setup.

“Creating the right atmosphere was paramount,” Flannery explains. “We wanted an audio system that could truly bring our vinyl collection to life, particularly the timeless voices of Italian and Italian-American artists. Choosing K-array, an Italian system, felt like a natural fit. Their exceptional clarity and ability to distribute sound evenly throughout the restaurant, combined with their commitment to quality craftsmanship that mirrors our own, made them the perfect partner. We are proud to share our Italian roots.”

Vinile’s menu features prime chophouse dishes with Italian influences, such as oysters with caviar and dry aged porterhouse. With private dining rooms and a chef’s table experience, Vinile is a destination where Italian craftsmanship in both food and audio are prioritized. Just look at the menu and you’ll find K-array prominently featured, highlighting the importance of this shared Italian heritage.

So here’s 45 minutes of show video, more to come.

Enter the Stromtank S-2500 Quantum MKII. Having tried a passel of conditioners and regenerators in the past, I was eager to give the Stromtank a whirl to see if what it had to offer differed from its rivals. In fact, I asked the factory for no fewer than two units, one for the digital front-end and the other for my analog rig. Their performance proved to be as enticing as their looks.

Getting the Stromtank up and running proved to be easy. First you insert a key that is supplied with the unit to ignite it, so to speak. Then you flip two separate power switches in succession to turn on the unit. The factory supplies inexpensive Belden cables with the Stromtank, noting that the quality of the power cable makes no difference. Once the unit is fully charged up, you can expect at least a full day’s performance before it automatically goes into recharging mode. It will continue playing even while in charging mode. I never triggered the charge mode, as I always put it into standby when I was listening via a button on the front panel that you depress and that signals the change by altering the light on the front screen from green to blue. There are a total of 16 lithium batteries in the S-2500 MKII, as well as an inverter.

What effect did all this electronic wizardry have upon my stereo system? A number of positive ones. With analog playback, I was surprised to discover that the Stromtank appeared to improve the speed stability of the Air Force Zero turntable. In reviewing the direct-drive Oswalds Mill Audio K3 turntable, I was struck by its accuracy, particularly when it came to reproducing transient information. Whether it was classical or jazz music, the K3 had a metronomic precision that was extremely impressive.

My sense was that in this regard the Stromtank had what can only be termed a salubrious effect upon the performance of the Zero. On a Cheech and Chong LP called Los Cochinos, I listened closely to the boisterous number “Sargent Stadanko,” which centers on a police officer who visits the classroom of Sister Mary Elephant to warn her young charges that “Only dopes use dope.” The Stromtank improved the enunciation of both Cheech and Chong, increased dynamics, and rendered the background guffaws of the high schoolers far more intelligible. Overall, the presentation was also a lot more dynamic. Something similar occurred on a Concord LP called The Artful Dodger that features the pianist Victor Feldman. On numbers such as “Limehouse Blues” and “Agitation,” I was smitten by the increased resolution provided by the Stromtank. The result was that instruments such as the drums and piano sounded crisper and less smeared than when I heard them before without the benefit of the Stromtank. Another nice perk was that the Stromtank seemed to help clean up the fracturing that could take place on some LPs when the piano keys were vigorously struck in the treble region.

A case in point was a marvelous Decca recording from 1976 of the Romanian pianist Radu Lupu playing Schubert’s Sonata in G major. I always cringed at certain points where the piano notes would splinter as Lupu walloped the keys, but with the Stromtank in operation the Air Force Zero sailed through the previously offending passages with ease. Overall, the Stromtank had what might be called a disaggregating effect upon some of the nasties that can plague older vinyl recordings. Put otherwise, it had the effect of cleaning up the sound. On a Riverside pressing, Last Chorus, the alto sax, drums, trombone, and trumpet were comfortably in their own spaces without any of the fuzziness that can sometimes surface on older jazz recordings.

When it came to digital recordings, I was also intrigued by what the addition of the Stromtank to the sonic mix would produce. As it happens, unlike a certain reviewer who resides in New Jersey and regards digital recordings with frostiness if not hostility, I’m a fan of the genre. The Stromtank amplified, as it were, some of the inherent strengths of digital recordings. One aspect of digital I very much enjoy is its silky rendering of violin and brass passages in the treble area. The Stromtank added another level of finesse to the proceedings. Perhaps this was because of its ability to remove hash and grunge or simply because of the constant sinewave that it produces, or a combination of the two. On a Chandos recording of the violin virtuoso Francesca Dego, for example, of the Busoni Violin Concerto in D major, I relished listening to her rendition of the second andante movement, which achieved a kind of aching purity. Then there were the supple and precise 16^th note passages in the final allegro impetuoso movement. All in all, it was a breathtaking experience.

Another aspect of the Stromtank that was palpably evident on digital recordings was its tonal fidelity. I have a soft spot for classical trumpet and listened extensively to the Hungarian virtuoso, Gabor Boldoczki, playing Handel and Telemann concertos. The Stromtank intensified the tonal density of his playing on the piccolo trumpet and brought out with a new degree of clarity his shadings of notes. I heard the same phenomenon on a BIS recording of Andrea Haefliger playing Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 16 in G major. Not only was there an added degree of richness in the bass, but the trills that begin the sonata’s second movement were also articulated more clearly than I had previously experienced them. In a word, they sounded more pearl-like.

After listening to the Stromtank for a few months, I also plugged the DarT-ZeeL NHB-468 monoblock amps into it. The Stromtank was easily able to handle the amplifiers’ power draw. The noise floor was further reduced and the sense of hall space increased. But plugging in the amps also led to a somewhat more subdued performance. It wasn’t that dynamics were suppressed, or transients blunted. Adding the amps to the Stromtank simply produced a plusher ride, one that some listeners will gravitate toward, and others find too much of a good thing.

The Stromtank amply delivers on its promise to elevate the performance of a stereo. More often than not, power products have as many pluses as minuses. Not here. There was no blunting of dynamics, no softening of transients, no smudging of harmonics. On the contrary, the S-2500 MKII lowered the noise floor, enlarged the soundstage, increased the sense of black backgrounds, retrieved additional detail, and fortified dynamic swells. Throughout, it brought me one step closer to the musical truth. Let me put it bluntly: I’m not sure I can live without this marvelous device.    

Specs & Pricing

Input voltage range: 50 to 140VAC/150 to 265VAC
Input frequency: 45Hz to 65Hz (autosensing)
Output voltage: 100–130Vac/200–245VAC (pure sinewave ±2%)
Output frequency: 50Hz/60Hz ± 0.05% (crystal controlled)
Harmonic distortion: <2%
Continues power @ 25°C: 600VA
Power 30 min. @ 25°C: 1000VA
Dimensions: 48 x 45 x 30cm/19″ x 17″ x 12″
Weight 61 kg/134 lbs.
Price: $27,250

Even if the crowds were down a bit (numerically and temperamentally), exhibitors were without exception pleased with CAF. That’s because, in the words of one audio exec, “the show was highly productive.” Translation: a lot of business was transacted. Companies took orders in high numbers, and that’s about the most welcome outcome they could ask for.

Because rooms at CAF are gradually transitioning from dealers to distributors and manufacturers, we’ve split up coverage a bit differently this time. To do justice to all the product introductions, Andrew and Alan focused exclusively on those intros, dividing them as usual between Inspirational (relatively affordable) and Aspirational (not so much). That freed Jacob to report on the best systems he heard at the show—and there were plenty of good-sounding ones.

So, without further ado, here’s what we found and heard at this year’s Capital Audio Fest.

My TAS colleagues, Alan Taffel and Andrew Quint, tasked me with writing about the rooms at Capital Audio Fest 2024 that I found most intriguing. Needless to say, I welcomed the challenge, but should confess that I did feel rather outfoxed, if not discombobulated, after I headed to the Command Performance AV room, the very first one that I visited. There disco music was blaring loudly enough to send you into sensory overload. Adding to the sense of confusion was the fact that Command Performance’s employees had donned fluorescent period wigs, rendering them almost unrecognizable. Good golly! For a moment, I was convinced that I really had gone back to the future.

Upon regaining my bearings, I was encouraged to discover that I had no trouble identifying one Michael Fremer, a longtime reviewer for TAS and full-time cognoscente of rock and pop music, who was, of course, well-suited to perform the eleemosynary role of DJ for several hours. He employed a beautiful J. Sikora Standard Max Supreme turntable ($38,500) paired with a Doshi Audio Phono Stage ($20,995). This union of Polish craftsmanship with American electronic wizardry produced some excellent audio alchemy. The Audiovector Trapeze Reimaged speakers, which retail for $19,950 a pair, displayed impressive punch and slam. Ultimately, I left the room shaken as much by the garb of Command Performance’s employees as by the dynamics.

A more soothing experience was provided by Jeff Catalano of the estimable High Water Sound located in New York. His Teutonic system—Cessaro Horn Acoustics Opus 1 SE loudspeakers ($55,000 per pair) coupled with two Opus Subs ($24,000 each)—sounded ravishingly sweet and inviting. Perhaps sweeter than the real thing, but who’s complaining? After playing an LP with tintinnabulatory effects, Catalano whipped out what I think was a Decca LP of Elgar that was more than a little enticing. His rig was not only a sonic treat but also an aesthetic one. He showcased the gorgeous TW-Acustic Raven LS-3 Copper turntable, which retails for $24,000, coupled with the Raven 12** tonearm ($6500) running into a. Raven phonostage ($25,000). It almost goes without saying that I was quite smitten by the sound.

At the other end of the spectrum was the Potomac Room featuring the Acora Acoustics VRC-1 at a not insubstantial $218,000 per pair, not to mention a passel of VAC Statement gear. The VAC Statement phonostage, which produces sublime sound, comes in at $82,000 as does the linestage. Add in the SAT XD1 turntable for $238,600 and a SAT CF1-09 tonearm at $71,100 (both the brainchildren of designer Marc Gomez) mated with a Lyra Atlas Lambda phono cartridge at $13,195, and you truly are talking about a statement system. And the overall sonic effect, as the music swelled and ebbed, was as prodigious as the nearby Potomac River.

Then there was United Home Audio’s demonstration of an MBL system. As always, I was taken by the ability of these omnidirectional loudspeakers to throw a marvelously stable, effortless and filigreed soundstage. The MBL 101 E Mk.II loudspeaker ($91,000 per pair) was coupled to MBL 9011 mono amplifiers ($64,1000 each). A new MBL C41 network player ($11,100) and the United Home Audio Apollo (currently in Jonathan Valin’s domicile, I was told by United Home Audio’s Greg Beron) analog tape deck supplied the musical goodies.

I only had a brief moment to pop into the superb gear that Elliot Goldman of Bending Wave and Jonathan Halpern of Tone Audio brought to the Jackson Room, but it was mouthwatering stuff, ranging from the Gobel Divi Comtesse loudspeakers ($60,000 per pair) and the highly touted Riviera APL-01SE preamplifier and AFM-100 SE monoblock amplifiers, respectively $51,995 and $82,000. Would I like to audition these remarkable electronics? You betcha. The hot new thing—the Wadax Studio Player ($38,800)—was also in situ.

Nothing seemed more ubiquitous than Stenheim loudspeakers, which I encountered in at least three separate rooms. The first was in the VPI room, the second at Alma Audio’s room, and the third at the House of Stereo’s room. I heard a few strains of the Janacek Quartet playing a Dvorak string quartet in F major on a Decca LP, but it was hard for me to make out what was occurring in the VPI room, at least musically, because there was some scuffling among reviewers far more important than yours truly about who was top dog. I made a hasty exit. In the Alma room, the Stenheim Alumine Five SE ($76,500 per pair) was on display along with Vinnie Rossi Brama Gen 2 monoblock amplifiers ($59,950) per pair) and a preamplifier from the same company at $38,995. It’s always hard to know exactly what you’re listening to in a show environment, but the Stenheims seemed to deliver alacrity and clarity. A knuckle rap indicated immunity to resonance above and beyond the call of duty. The Stenheims were also on display in the Lincoln Room where the House of Stereo paired them with a passel of Viva equipment, which has always appealed to me. Here it was with a Viva Audio Solista stereo amplifier ($30,000) and a Viva Audio Line preamplifier ($32,500). To my ear, Viva has always punched above its price class. But then again, I’m a sucker for the venerable 845 tube that the company likes to employ.

I don’t want to sound like I’m shirking the stern mandate that my colleagues gave me, but I can’t help concluding that the Capital Audio Fest isn’t really about deciding what’s “best at show,” or about drawing what the lawyers like to call invidious distinctions. If I had to pick a new product that intrigued me the most it would probably be the new Wadax Studio player, partly because of its cool looks and partly because it’s not priced in the stratosphere, at least by high-end standards. The room that, in many ways, I liked best is a simple one—the central atrium where various vendors were busily selling LPs, both ancient and modern. To me, it, more than anything else at the show, represents the essence of the hobby.

Even if the crowds were down a bit (numerically and temperamentally), exhibitors were without exception pleased with CAF. That’s because, in the words of one audio exec, “the show was highly productive.” Translation: a lot of business was transacted. Companies took orders in high numbers, and that’s about the most welcome outcome they could ask for.

Because rooms at CAF are gradually transitioning from dealers to distributors and manufacturers, we’ve split up coverage a bit differently this time. To do justice to all the product introductions, Andrew and Alan focused exclusively on those intros, dividing them as usual between Inspirational (relatively affordable) and Aspirational (not so much). That freed Jacob to report on the best systems he heard at the show—and there were plenty of good-sounding ones.

So, without further ado, here’s what we found and heard at this year’s Capital Audio Fest.

There were a surprisingly large number of new low-to-moderately priced items to investigate at CAF 2024. To allow for a somewhat more expansive description of what I came across, I’ve included just two dozen of them, omitting those that seemed less newsworthy—as well as those that weren’t actually new, despite insistence to the contrary from a manufacturer, dealer, or marketing person.

Most Significant

VPI Forever Series Model One turntable ($5250)

Many of the demonstration spaces on the lower floors of the Hilton—the largest rooms at CAF—were dark places with men in suits, wordlessly standing on the periphery and operating iPads to summon up a stream of impressive-sounding, if forgettable, music. Not in the VPI suite. The lights were full-up and Mat Weisfeld, dressed in shorts, was in constant motion, high-fiving his young daughters, playing LPs from all eras and genres, and exclaiming his optimistic vision for his company, the industry, the hobby. It was the show’s most joyous epicenter. As his father, Harry—the company’s founder—watched with pride and purpose, Mat introduced the first product in the new “Forever” line, the VPI Model One, to be followed by two subsequent turntable introductions, at Munich 2025 and next year’s CAF. The Model One sports a 20-pound aluminum platter and a subchassis with a great deal of flexibility—it can accommodate a linear-tracking arm, for instance. The $5250 price includes a VPI S-Tonearm and a hinged dustcover; there’s a 10-year warranty. The new product is definitely reminiscent of the venerable HW-19, and the vibe in VPI’s rooms evoked an earlier era in perfectionist audio when anything seemed possible, and spirits soared. Mat Weisfeld’s still do.

Acora Acoustics MRB-1 loudspeakers ($7990)

Valerio Cora launched his new MRC line of five loudspeakers, priced from $5490 to $15,990, considerably less than previous Acora products. These have marble enclosures, that material being easier to get out of the ground and machine than the granite, quartz, and quartzite utilized for other models. Creating quite a buzz in Rockville was the MRB-1 stand-mount—the “B” is for “bookshelf”—a small 2-way with a front-firing port, so it really can be placed on a shelf. For demonstration purposes, Cora had the MRB-1s on stands, positioned adjacent to the manufacturer’s 420-pound, $218,000/pair VRC-1, and many entering the room, me included, were astounded to learn we were hearing the modestly sized stand-mounts and not the big guys. With VAC electronics in service, Shostakovich, Gordon Goodwin, and the most exuberant sort of rock, blew most observers far, far away.

Theoretica Applied Physics BACCH-ORC room-correction software ($1000/$3000)

As usual, Dr. Edgar Choueiri’s room was a popular destination for audiophiles who enter curious or skeptical and leave incredulous after a demonstration of Choueiri’s crosstalk cancellation (XTC) technology. At CAF 2024, however, Theoretica was also introducing BACCH-ORC, a room-correction methodology different than any other currently on the market. Instead of having a listener place a microphone at several locations in a space and averaging the in-room frequency response, BACCH-ORC employs the same tiny in-ear microphones used to make an XTC filter to create binaural correction for an individual listener—it’s listener-based rather than room-based. Head tracking is performed by an optical or infrared camera system (the latter works in the dark) to prevent degrading of the room correction by a listener’s head movements. Especially with crosstalk cancellation also running, the sonic image with ORC was exceptionally convincing and stable. The $1000 price is the cost for adding BACCH-ORC to the BACCH4Mac product; $3000 is for adding it to BACCH-SP processors.

Qln One (v7) loudspeaker ($12,000)

Some things in audio really do get better over the time and the Qln One is a good example. The Swedish manufacturer presented the original version at CES in 1981, the world’s first “truncated pyramid” design. (Yes, five years before the WATT.) The v7 update has a proprietary 5.5** mid/woofer and a 25mm textile-dome tweeter with a large roll surround that’s said to result in exceptional off-axis dispersion. Powered by another notable new product, the Audio Hungary Qualiton 300B integrated ($11,000), orchestral sonorities were appealing and well-recorded rock/pop material had gratifying weight and punch. It was hard to keep one’s eyes off the gorgeous walnut burl finish of the pair at the show; stands add $850 to the asking price.

Volti Audio Lucera loudspeaker ($11,750)

Volti Audio introduced a new product to their line of horn-based loudspeakers, between the Razz and Rival models. The Lucera has a 15** dynamic woofer complementing two horns (the midrange sports a 2** compression driver mounted concentrically)—the speaker is specified as having a frequency response of 32 to 18kHz. At CAF, power was provider by a Cary Audio SLI-80 integrated, rated at 40Wpc in triode mode, though Volti feels that 8Wpc will do the job. If your belief is that large, wooden, super-sensitive horn speakers must sound colored and roughly diffuse, hearing the Luceras should cure you of that. With varied musical content, there were nuanced dynamics at both ends of the loudness continuum and quite natural instrumental sonorities. Though the company maintains a small inventory of completed loudspeakers, Volti has only two employees, other than owner/designer/builder Greg Roberts and his wife. You can get a custom finish but be advised that a wait time of three to six months may be required and there could be an associated upcharge. Such is the nature of bespoke audio.

Auspicious Debuts

Chesky Audio LC1 loudspeaker ($996/pair)

Lucca Chesky—son of composer/pianist/producer/HDtracks founder David; twin brother of rising jazz vocalist Paloma—has, at age 17, launched a new loudspeaker company, its only current product the LC1 Bookshelf Monitor. Lucca, a musician himself, spent time with audio scientist Edgar Choueiri at Princeton University. He built eight prototypes of his bookshelf/standmount before settling on a final design that utilizes a proprietary HD polymer for the cabinet material and a driver complement that includes a wide-dispersion 1** dome tweeter, a 6.5** bass/midrange, and two side-firing 8** fluid-coupled woofers. Chesky asked: “How good could I get it for under $1000?” and the answer seems to be “pretty good.” With familiar Reference Recordings material, the spatial presentation bordered on immersive when listening in the nearfield. The speaker will be sold directly by the manufacturer.

Eastern Bay Sound Southwind loudspeaker ($1459/pair)

Eastern Bay is a new Maryland company, located on the Chesapeake Bay that manufactures what they call “farm-to-table loudspeakers”. The cabinet is exquisite, utilizing locally sourced hardwoods: a pair on display in the hotel lobby attracted considerable attention. The Southwind is a small—8.5**(W) x 17**(H) x 12**(D) transmission-line design with a single Mark Audio CHR1P-90 full-range driver. Sensitivity is given as 89dB and frequency response is 45-20kHz (±3dB). There’s a matching subwoofer, the Skeg, available at $600 each, $950 for two. EBS expects to begin shipping product in the Spring.

PrimaLuna EVO 300 hybrid power amplifier ($7195)

Generating 100Wpc into an 8-ohm load (at CAF 2024, a pair of Harbeth M40.3 XD bookshelf speakers), the EVO 300 employs six 12AU7 input tubes in a circuit said to be quite responsive to experimentation. The power stage features factory-matched MOSFETs and hand-wound transformers, potted and otherwise thoroughly protected from mechanical sources of distortion. With orchestral music, tonal nuance and subtle dynamic gradations were preserved with playback of the best recordings.

Orchard Audio Starkrimson Mono Ultra Premium amplifier ($4999.90/pair)

Utilizing gallium nitride (GaN) power transistors, the Starkrimson Ultra Premium monoblock is an exceptionally refined sounding switching amplifier, delivering 250 watts into 8 ohms and 500W into 4. The amp’s linear power supply features a 1000VA toroidal transformer with 133,600uF of capacitance that the manufacturer says is responsible for its superior bass and transient performance. At CAF, the amps were driving various Philharmonic Audio speakers with excellent results up and down the loudspeaker line. Production will be limited to 33 pairs.

Wireworld Cable Technology Series 10 audio cables (price varies)

After five years of product development, Wireworld has replaced its Series 8 cables with a new range of Series 10 products—nine levels of analog interconnects (including five tonearm cable models), six levels of digital cables, twelve speaker cables, and several power cords. Series 10 wires feature additional strand groups, without necessarily an increase in the amount of metal, which Wireworld says reduces signal loss due to eddy currents. The company also reports utilizing an improved insulation material to lower triboelectric noise. If judgement of the audible merits of electronics—and even loudspeakers—is difficult at an audio show, it’s pretty much impossible with cables. Fortunately, Wireworld founder and product designer David Salz offered to replace the one Wireworld cable I use every day, the company’s previous top-of-the-line AES/EBU digital interconnect, with the Series 10 version so I can, in a familiar context, hear for myself any sonic advantages to using it between server and DAC.

Infigo Audio Inc. Streamer Model IS-1 ($5000/$7000)

The Canadian manufacturer Infigo Audio introduced a new streamer—two new streamers, actually, as the Model IS-1 is available in Signature ($5k) and Cryogen ($7k) versions. Both are designed for use with USB DACs, utilizing the interface that permits the highest sampling rates. The IS-1 has a built-in linear power supply to assure a very low noise floor and is supplied with an “armored” gigabyte fiber-optic cable connection that isolates the audio chain from network noise and jitter. Infigo’s streamers are quite versatile, with the capacity to operate as a UPnP endpoint, Audirvana server, Roon endpoint (or, in the case of the Cryogen version, a Roon core), and as an HQPlayer Network Audio Adapter. That pretty much covers the waterfront when it comes to commercially available music players. Infigo’s streamers are readily controlled with a network-installed browser.

Altec Lansing Iconic Series: I-1 loudspeaker ($13,000/pair) and Iconic 300B monoblock amplifier (initial price $3500/pair; subsequently $5000/pair)

Altec Lansing, in business with that name since 1941 and better known for its pro-audio products, has a new line of components for the home high-end market, but the segment of that market where the sky is not the limit, pricewise. For AL, the prototypical customer will be a household where “the wife is a schoolteacher, and the husband is a BMW technician.” (I wish that I could have been at the sales meeting when they came up with that.) The ported 3-way I-1 floorstander has a ribbon tweeter and a 12** woofer, with a 2** dome between them. It’s specified as having a frequency response of 29 to 40kHz and a sensitivity of 97dB—which makes it a good match for the Altec Lansing 300B amplifier that has a power rating in the 8–10W range.

In Other News

Yes, $6k is an expensive price point for headphones and the Audeze CRBN 2 headphones ($5995) could be considered an Aspirational product. But Alan didn’t get to hear them, and I did—and was very impressed. Since I was a teenager living with my parents who craved quiet, I’ve never been much of a headphone listener. But the experience of listening to familiar music of several genres through the new Audeze electrostatic CRBN 2s was pretty extraordinary. With these substantial but comfortable phones, orchestral weight and detail was as involving as a good speaker-in-front-of-you experience. When the time comes that my living situation necessitates some “personal audio,” Audeze will be a consideration.

Making its North American debut was the Vienna Acoustics Mozart SE Signature loudspeaker ($7495/pair). This two-and-a-half-way floorstander is the latest iteration of a design developed nearly 35 years ago. The current version employs three bespoke drivers—a hand-coated silk-dome tweeter, a midrange fabricated with the manufacturer’s proprietary XPP cone material, and a 6** version of VA’s “spidercone” bass driver. Driven by the Class D JAVA Hi-Fi Carbon Double Shot integrated amplifier ($12,995)—first heard in Munich this past May—the Mozart SE Signature’s tonal accuracy and soundstage presentation were excellent, even off-axis.

Philharmonic Audio, based in Maryland, showed two recently introduced loudspeaker models, the ridiculously inexpensive True Mini ($380/pair) and the Ceramic Mini ($850/pair), a 2-way ported design with a 1** ceramic-dome tweeter and a 5** ceramic woofer. Bass was nicely articulated, and there was plenty of “sock” to snare drum. On a favorite Bonnie Raitt cut (“Storm Warning”), I heard excellent separation of the lead vocal from the rest of the arrangement.

Triode Wire Labs introduced a new AC power cord, the Digital American II ($549).

It’s designed to lower the noise floor on any kind of digital electronics—DACs, disc players, servers, music computers. TWL reports an approximately 20% increase in the amount of conductor in the Digital American II, which helps ameliorate the usual culprit—electronic interference that can translate into audible hash accompanying the musical output from an audio system.

Belleson Audio Products is currently located in South Carolina and has, for some time, been manufacturing components, specifically regulators, for electronic devices; the company only built its first full-fledged piece of audio gear, the Brilliance phonostage, in 2023. The new Radiance Phono Stage ($3250) has both balanced and single-ended inputs, and with the Wi-Fi remote control, one can select cartridge type (mc or mm), resistive/capacitive loading, and gain, all from the listening chair. With a Rega cartridge, turntable, and arm, LTD electronics, Volti loudspeakers, and Anticable wires, vinyl playback had exceptional life and timbral accuracy.

MC Audiotech co-owner and sales/marketing manager Mark Conti, with a stern but affectionate glance in the direction of his engineer partner Paul Paddock, the inventor of the wide band line source (WBLS) driver common to all the company’s loudspeakers and a tinkerer bent on achieving perfection, told me that the TL-8 loudspeaker ($15,000 to $17,000/pair, depending on finish) could now be considered a “finished” product. Some fine-tuning of the crossover occurred, among other changes, and I can confirm that the current iteration of the transmission-line design is the best-sounding one yet—and it sounded pretty damn good to begin with. The manufacturer continues to build a dealer network and if one isn’t convenient, MC Audiotech will reimburse you for travel expenses to get to the Philadelphia suburb where the company is based, if you purchase one of its speakers. Details are on the website.

Gestalt Audio of Nashville, the importer and distributor of Wolf von Langa loudspeakers, known for their field-coil designs, was demonstrating the manufacturer’s newest product, the Serendipity loudspeaker ($9995)—their least expensive model, with Trafomatic Pandora monoblocks. Anne-Sophie Mutter’s violin sonority was exceptionally believable, and the joining of the attack of a piano note to the main body of the sound was as seamless as in life. Also imported by Gestalt are products from Cinnamon, a Portuguese high-end company. It manufactures a wide range of components, including speakers, a phonostage, a network transport, and two models of DACs—all technologically advanced and stunning examples of industrial design. The Galle DAC ($14,995) utilizes a “quasi non-oversampling scheme” that features a dual-mono 27-bit differential ladder with more than 430 precision-matched resistors. The signal path is short because an analog output stage is made unnecessary by the substantial voltages generated by the DAC engine itself.

SVS started life as a subwoofer specialist, but after Gary Yacoubian acquired the company in 2011, the manufacturer has expanded the range of products considerably. Still, truthful rendering of the bottom octaves is in SVS’s blood, and the SVS 17 Ultra R/Evolution subwoofer ($2499 sealed, $2999 ported), with a dual voice-coil configuration, four internal amplifiers, and plenty of DSP adjustability, provides meaningful output down to 10Hz territory.

Remarkably, one of the most innovative new products encountered at CAF 2024 was quite approachable in cost. The Ayre PX-8 phono preamplifier ($6500) will accommodate two cartridges with either balanced or unbalanced connections and allows for independent gain and load settings, controlled via the PX-8’s front panel. Two options that will increase the price of the unit are offered. One is to add a third input for a DS Audio optical cartridge, the other is an analog-to-digital conversion circuit that makes it a straightforward process to digitize and archive an LP collection.

Best of Show

Best Sound of the Show

What a difference the room can make at an audio show! I’ve admired Gershman Acoustics loudspeakers for years, but they were overshadowed by other large speakers deployed in the ballrooms and conference rooms. For CAF 2024, Elie and Ofra Gershman had a 1440 square-foot space to demonstrate their Black Swan 30^th Anniversary Edition ($95,000), and sound was commanding, detailed, colorful, involving…in short, it was music.

Best Sound for the Money

The word heard frequently in the big Acora room was disruptive. What else can you say about the Acora MRB-1 at $7990? To point out that these diminutive bookshelf/stand-mount loudspeakers “play big” is the audio understatement of the year.

Most Significant New Product

The VPI Model 1 turntable ($5250) isn’t just a well-built, good-sounding piece of gear; given the company’s history, that’s expected. It’s the spirit associated with the product—a respect for the past but also a positive vision for the future of the high end that all stakeholders, consumers included, should find uplifting.

Best Demo

Showgoers can always count on terrific sound when they visit Doug White’s room, demonstrating brands that he carries at his boutique dealership in Pennsylvania, The Voice That Is. But White went several steps further at CAF 2024 to offer an experience beyond simply playing top-notch, meticulously set-up audio equipment. In attendance were the principals from several of his brands: Mark Dohmann (Dohmann Audio), Jörn Janczak (Tidal), Joe Salvato (Equitech) and Nathan Vander Stoep (Turnbull Audio) were around to answer questions. Even more impressive was that Doug White sponsored a performance by a jazz trio led by pianist Joe Block in the Hilton’s Washington Theater after show hours. Talk about putting your money where your mouth is!

Most Disappointing Demo

The Listening Room, a dealer in Chestertown, MD, set up an all-Magnepan Atmos 5.1.4 speaker array in a small room on the Hilton’s seventh floor and, though there was a video screen operating, mostly played music and not movies. Unfortunately, they seemed to have little concern that they were streaming the highly compressed version of Atmos, Dolby Digital Plus, rather than the high-resolution Dolby TrueHD format. With an audiophile audience, skeptical and dismissive of immersive audio to begin with, this was a missed opportunity.

Most Notable Trend.

A growing impatience with/intolerance for classical music. Even requesting a Beethoven or Chopin “greatest hit” will clear a room within minutes, and some manufacturers will actually decline to play even a brief selection. C’mon guys: I listen to “Keith Don’t Go” and “Just a Little Lovin'” without grousing. Would it kill you to sit through a movement of a Brahms sonata once in a while?

As I noted in that review, the improvements did not come at the expense of changing two fundamental constants of the design: one, Yee’s commitment to a wide variety of loading options for moving-coil pickups, capacitance options for moving magnets, and gain options for either; two, a sonic profile that places a high priority upon tonal neutrality. I characterized the sonic personality of earlier Phonomenas as “Apollonian, all classical grace, poise, and restraint,” while granting that the sound was “too neutral” for some listeners, including some reviewers, who crave more in the way of kick, slam, liveliness, or various sorts of ‘pleasing’ tonal balances.” The wonderful thing about the Nova III was that without sacrificing neutrality, it conveyed a significantly better “impression of body, solidity, and dimensionality that I didn’t hear to the same degree in the II, as if the reproduction was a bit more grounded yet without the loss of any sense of quickness, agility, timing, and detail. There was also a subtle impression of increased projection or presence—I do not mean this in the tonal-balance sense—or perhaps extraversion is a better word. And finally, there was a real increase in dynamic punch, kick, drive—choose your own metaphor—that was not there before.

This version might have remained unaltered for quite some time except that the pandemic came along and disrupted the availability of several key parts, including some of those used in the important front end of the circuit. In response, Yee managed to source better parts than those used in any prior Phonomena and equal to or better than what was being used in the Nova III. The result? This new Phonomena III, which replaces the now discontinued Nova III and is priced $300 less yet is superior in every way (see sidebar for details).

The new parts brought improvements to both the linearity and the noise floor of the circuit, which allowed Yee to increase the maximum gain to 66dB. While all Novas and Phonomenas were and are supplied with wall warts to allow audiophiles entry at a lower price point for the phono preamp alone, for several years now various external power supplies for improved performance have been offered as optional accessories. Retailing now at $1000, the Linear Power Supply costs $350 more than it did with the Nova III, reflecting cost increases following the pandemic and offsetting the price reduction in the Phonomena III. But I can’t imagine most consumers complaining, since the net $50 increase for phono preamp and LPS together results in improvements in dynamic range, noise, transparency, detail, and resolution. Now, inasmuch as the Nova III and even the Nova II were already at quite high levels of excellence in all these areas, most of these improvements are decidedly incremental. To put it another way, if you’re already invested in a Nova III and happy with it, the Phonomena III won’t transform your vinyl playback, but the improvements it does bring are observable under critical listening and will therefore matter to audiophiles for whom such differences are of the essence. The two areas where the improvements are most noticeable to me are dynamic range and lower noise.

Readers interested in following this history at a more detailed level are referred to my TAS reviews past iterations (Google “Seydor Nova or Phonomena TAS”). With each succeeding model, I was careful to use the same source material as before while also adding new recordings. Of the three new LPs in especially active rotation, Thelonious Monk’s Brilliant Corners, in Craft Recordings’ new one-step release, is a riot of instrumental colors, textures, and shapes. Through the Phonomena III/LPS, there’s a new richness, depth, and density to the presentation that I don’t recall being there to this extent in previous versions.

I am writing this within a few weeks of the passing of the great Italian pianist Maurizio Pollini, so I pulled out his celebrated late seventies set of the last five Beethoven sonatas on Deutsche Grammophon. DG was never known as a label that catered to audiophiles, and the piano sound of many of its recordings can be on the thin, even emaciated side. Pollini himself is regarded in several quarters as a cool, even cold player, long on thoughtfulness and intellect, short on passion and feeling. No matter, something special happened when these recordings were made. While no one would mistake this sound for that of, say, an Arrau or a Uchida, the reproduction is nevertheless full enough, with a solid lower register to offset the typically airier, brighter top-end bias of DG recordings. Mind you, it’s still the Pollini sound: a model of clarity, even to some degree analytical, but also very beautiful in a Yin-like way, and despite some brightness, astonishingly delicate of touch when required, alternatively forcible when that is required (e.g., the Hammerklavier in the same set), with a welcome dovetailing of detail and space.

I’m in the middle of Jan Swafford’s biography of Mozart, so I dug out Bernstein’s mid-sixties recording of the Linz symphony and the B-flat-major piano concerto (no. 15, K.450) with the Vienna Philharmonic on Decca. A Columbia exclusive at the time, Bernstein made only two recordings for Decca (the other a sublime Das Lied von der Erde) in exchange for the use of Decca’s facilities to record his celebrated Falstaff with the Vienna State Opera. These Deccas resulted in some of the very finest reproduction Bernstein ever received. Miked, I assume, with the famous “Decca tree,” the tonal balance of the orchestra could scarcely be bettered, strings both rich and brilliant, imaging and soundstaging, both laterally and front to back, as if from the best seat in a hall with wonderfully warm acoustics, orchestral textures luminous, ideally mediating blend and contrapuntal clarity. The vitality, commitment, and beauty of the playing leave no doubt that this recording dates from the beginning of what would be a quarter-century love affair between this orchestra and this conductor that ended only with his untimely passing in 1990.

Before wrapping up, I want to return to the matter of loading moving coils. With 256 different options for load and gain, there isn’t an mc or mm past or present on the planet that the Phonomena III can’t ideally accommodate for the most neutral frequency response of which the pickup by design is capable. This last point should not be misunderstood. Owing to the high-frequency resonances endemic to the technology, fairly few moving-coil pickups regardless of design or expense are capable of truly flat frequency response. But as I said of the Nova III, the Phonomena III can’t flatten them more than any particular design allows, but it will flatten them at least that much. Yee’s phono preamps always make me feel as if I’m hearing the pickups I review as they really sound in the tonal sense.

This flexibility brings with it a hidden benefit that should gladden the heart of all tweakers or those who wish to tailor the sound to their own liking. TAS founder Harry Pearson was adamant in his preference for not loading mc’s because he liked the more apparent dynamic range and airiness that resulted from not damping the high-frequency resonances. I have no problem with anyone in search of a tonal balance he or she likes, however much it deviates from neutrality. The Phonomena III allows experimentation along these lines with greater control. Let me recall an example I’ve cited before. One of my reference pickups is the original Ortofon Windfeld, which I like for its extraordinary speed, transparency, resolution, and neutrality, best realized when the pickup is loaded at 40 ohms. Load it at 30 and the sound is subtly less dynamic and lively and the top end fractionally less extended; load it at 60 (or even 50) and the sound becomes slightly brighter and livelier. Only at 40 does it sound just right—at least to me. Mind you, with neither of the other two loadings is the sound bad—on the contrary, either is perfectly acceptable, perfectly musical, even preferable depending on everything from the tonal profiles of your room, associated equipment, the music you prefer, of just because you like it that way. Vive la difference!  This is just one reason why the Phonomena III, like the Nova before it, remains for me an indispensable reviewing tool.

Yee has worked so many variations on this design that I wonder if it might be time to offer a version or two that address features and convenience rather than incremental improvements in measurements and sound. The vinyl renaissance has led to a renewed interest in monophonic recordings, the first consequence being the appearance of dedicated monophonic pickups. Since, as I pointed out in my forthcoming review of the Hana SL Mono pickup, most mono records sound better played back in mono, using a mono pickup and a preamplifier that allows for stereo to be switched to mono, it would be really useful if a future Phonomena were to incorporate such a switch, a particular necessity in our time when so many minimalist control units eliminate this function entirely.

Another variation Yee and Musical Surroundings might want to consider is a Phonomena that contains two complete phonostages in one chassis. The number of turntables that offer the capability of mounting two (or more) tonearms has increased noticeably these past 10 years or so, as has the number of vinyl enthusiasts who routinely have more than one complete record-playing setup. One reason is to have both a mono and a stereo setup immediately available. Another is for those who, like me, appreciate the relative, though sometimes differing advantages of moving coils and moving magnets. Two phonostages in one chassis, presumably needing only one Linear Power Supply, would also make, I imagine, for a substantial price reduction from two Phonomena IIIs.

Finally, it would be really nice if Yee could figure out some way of relocating the DIP switches for load, capacitance, and level on the front or the top of the chassis. (Yes, I know they’re on the back for sonic reasons—shortest possible path between the switches and the rest of the circuitry—still . . . .) Otherwise, a hearty welcome to this latest scion in the Phonomena/Nova line. The market is full of outboard phono preamps that are tens of thousands of dollars more expensive, but you won’t find another at any price that offers this degree of flexibility to match any pickup out there with a commensurate level of technical and sonic performance. It remains my reference.   

Specs & Pricing

Gain (dB): 40, 46, 49.5, 50, 52, 54, 55.5, 56, 57, 58, 60.5, 61.5, 63, 64, 66
Capacitance loading: 100pF, 200pF
Input loading (ohms): 30,40, 50, 59, 80, 100, 121, 150, 243, 280, 380, 475, 660, 1000, 2000, 47k, 100k
Dimensions: 8.5″ x 2″ x 6″
Weight: 3 lbs.
Price: $1200

Linear Power Supply
Dimensions: 8.5″ x 2″ x 6″
Weight: 3 lbs.
Price: $1000

MUSICAL SURROUNDINGS
musicalsurroundings.com