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All in Star Component Award
There was a time that I could not get enough of monitor speakers. I lived with ProAc’s very best for a few years, the Response One SC and the Tablette Signature. I truly loved both speakers and had a flirtation with Canada’s very good answer to them, the Totem Model 1s. About 15 years ago, as Audiophilia morphed into something new on the new internet, I had to make a 180 degree shift and, at the time, was none too happy about it.
I first discovered the Bergmann Audio turntables during an event at a local dealer. Before I heard a note, I fell in love with the look of these Danish Bauhaus beauties. All straight lines, simple design and an air bearing, tangential tracking arm that looked as elegant as the turntable to which it was attached. Since many air bearing arms and tangential trackers have been a nuisance to setup and maintain, having two difficult technologies in one arm and looking awfully easy to use, I was doubly intrigued.
PS Audio recently released (March 2014) a new DAC to replace their already top-notch, high-end PerfectWave DAC (PWD), which I reviewed about a year ago, with a follow up review using it with the PerfectWave Bridge which enables using an ethernet cable to stream the digital files from computer to DAC instead of USB. The PWD, using ethernet, has become my reference DAC ever since. So, when I heard about this new one, I licked my chops at a chance to try it out on my system and review it.
Good things are supposed to come in threes, but sometimes, one or two of the three decide not to play nicely. This is especially true with unruly members of a ‘family’ of loudspeakers. Most speaker manufacturers, if well funded and have a good designer, will attempt to produce a line or family of speakers. The most vested among them will produce several families, at various price points. This makes good financial sense but is far more difficult than you would imagine, especially the ‘baby step’ from monitor to floor stander.
DACs have made a huge comeback. With the advent of music servers and computer file delivery, a good quality DAC with USB support is now the most invited piece of kit to the cool audiophile party. In truth, DACs have never gone away.
Chario was a company hitherto unknown to me. I happened upon their speakers during the 2012 Toronto Audio Show (TAVES). They looked amazing in beautifully finished wood and artisinal cabinetry and even under show conditions, sounded quite wonderful. A review pair was requested.
Conrad Mas, the guru of turntable design and creative force behind Avid HiFi emailed me about a year and a half ago to tell me about his new, “amazing” phono-preamplifier, the Pulsare. Normally, when manufacturers contact me about their new, best in the world gizmo, I’m very skeptical.
Focal asks on its website whether the Grande Utopias are the best speakers in the world. It’s an almost impossible question to answer given audiophiles’ tastes, style, etc, but in other ways, it’s almost a simple question. I figured out my answer quite quickly, so resplendent are these extremely expensive monoliths from France.
I don’t believe in trickle down economics. Ronald Reagan and the 80s saw to that. Robert Suchy of German company Clearaudio obviously does. And his form of the free market works. I have been listening intently to Clearaudio products for many years. I reviewed a few for Audiophilia. They have always made outstanding analogue products, from fairly inexpensive to technological, pricey marvels.
Dieter Burmester has been a force in the high-end audio business since 1977, but North America has experienced his particular brand of brilliance for only the past few years. I first heard about Herr Burmester and his glittering equipment through the pages of The Absolute Sound – hp raved about digital and power gear alike. The look of the equipment was intriguing and certainly espoused an expensive aura; if the look was commensurate with sound, then winners had arrived from the Federal Republic of Germany.
I’ve been listening to JM Lab products for many years, primarily at shows and at a few Canadian dealers. They always seem to be on show. They look magnificent, feature top quality components and are in the upper echelon of high end pricing. Interestingly, they have never been among my favorites. Sure, all the models, from stand mounted monitors to the aptly titled Grande Utopia sound grand, indeed, but to my ears they miss some of the clinical nature of other similarly priced loudspeakers.
Canada’s Clearaudio distributor, has been very generous with me in the loan of high end cartridges. They import great analogue equipment of all types, and when I review any of their turntables I usually get (ask/beg) for a superstar cartridge. One such example was the second in line to the Clearaudio cartridge throne, the magnificent Titanium.
