Another Article on Part-Time Audiophile: How Not to Get Women Interested in Audio

Another one of my articles has just appeared on Part-Time Audiophile, and it addresses a hot topic in audio right now--why women don't seem to be interested in all things hi-fi...at least to the average audiophile. I have a unique perspective on this because my significant other is one of the leading women in the audio industry, so I like to think I have a little more insight than the average audiophile on this particular subject. But who knows--I'm just another guy spouting off.

You can read the story here. Hopefully we'll see a companion piece by Kirsten Brodbeck-Kenney in a few days--either she'll agree with me, or she'll completely destroy my arguments. Either way, I'll let you know when it appears.

All ready for CES 2012!

Our room at CES is set up and ready to go! In this pic we have the Unison Research Unico 50 integrated, Unico CDE CD player, Opera Loudspeakers Quinta, Audience adeptResponse power conditioner, Quadraspire rack and cabling by Audience.

Here's another pic of our room with the Unison Research Unico Primo integrated, Unison Research Unico Primo CD player and the Unison Research Simply Italy integrated.

If you're attending CES, please stop by and visit us at room 29-117 at the Venetian. You can also meet Colleen Cardas, my partner at CCI, and Bartolomeo Nasta or Unison and Opera.

Avalon Acoustics' Amazing Sound Room

Being an industry insider certainly has its perks, and while I was attending RMAF as an exhibitor I was lucky to receive an invitation to visit the Avalon Acoustics factory in nearby Boulder, Colorado for an open house party. Avalon has been around for decades, making some of the most gorgeous (and gorgeous-sounding) loudspeakers available. Colleen Cardas, my business partner, owned a pair of Avalon Avatars for years, and it was her long-standing relationship with the company that got me invited to event.

The real reason for the open house was to show off the company's new sound room, which was clearly a state-of-the-art assault on room design. Using the company's new-ish Time loudspeaker, which retails for $50,000, I was treated to some of the most spectacular sound I've ever heard. The room itself was almost the size of a small movie theater, and the dimensions were based on a trapezoidal design that followed the Golden Ratio. No two walls were parallel, which eliminated unwanted reflections and resonances. Numerous DAAD room tuning devices, some of which resembled giant bongs, were placed strategically around the room along with plenty of absorption and reflection panels on the walls and ceilings.

The Times were placed about one-third into the room, which meant there was an enormous space behind the speakers. That sound was immediately filled with music, creating the largest, deepest and most clearly delineated soundstage I've ever experienced. At one point I even walked almost between the speakers in a near-field position and the music still seemed to exist in the rear third of the room. I've never heard a pair of speakers disappear so completely into room, utterly detached from the music.

After a variety of demo tracks that showed off the abilities of this amazing system (which included Rowland Research amplification, Transparent cables and a Spectral digital source), I asked to put on some of my own music. Unfortunately, all I had with me was a CD of the Black Keys' Brothers. If you're not familiar with this recording, it is grungy, grungy, grungy. It almost sounded like I broke the system. While Brothers sounds absolutely killer in my car, it kinda falls apart in a system of this magnitude. At one point Avalon owner/founder Neil Patel turned to Colleen and asked, "Does he always listen to music this weird?" (Colleen, of course, answered yes.) But I did get Neil to admit that despite the sonic shortcomings, the music was super cool.

Back at RMAF, I visited the Avalon room where they had the new Idea speakers playing. The Ideas are much smaller than the Times and cost just $8000 per pair. Even with the smaller speakers, fewer DAADs and the much smaller room, I felt that I was hearing the same sonic signature on a smaller scale. Soundstaging was absolutely incredible--again. I could easily live with Ideas and only occasionally think about the majesty of the Times.

I want to thank Neil Patel, Lucien Pichette and Dmitri Panfilov of Avalon for being extraordinarily gracious hosts, and for allowing me to hear one of the most amazing sound systems I've ever witnessed.

Unison Research, Opera Loudspeakers and Cardas Audio at AXPONA NYC

Unison Research and Opera Loudspeakers, both made by the same Italian family just outside of Venice, have returned to the North American market after a two-year hiatus. AXPONA attendees were very enthusiastic about this announcement since many of them own the gear and love it. I've always enjoyed the hybrid Unico integrated amplifiers and came close to pulling the trigger on buying the original model--the only thing that stopped me was that I couldn't find a dealer nearby.

Unison and opera are now being distributed in Canada by Vince Scalzitti of Tri-Cell and by my good friend Colleen Cardas, who has just started CCI in order to be the US distributor. Here's a pic of Colleen and Bartolomeo Nasta of Unison/Opera in the CCI/Tri-Cell room.

Here's a look at the beautiful system they brought to AXPONA. The top component is the beautiful S6 integrated, which has 30 watts per channel of pure class A and is single-ended (parallel). Below that is the Unico Nuovo integrated, and at the bottom is the CDE CD player (which also has tubes--four of them!). The rack was from HRS and I was told it retails for $15,000, which is more than all the Unison components it shelved.

This gorgeous speaker is the Opera Grand Callas, and it sports four 5" magnesium cone woofers and no less than five tweeters--two on the front and three in the back. This unique arrangement gives a normally lush and warm speaker a lot of extension in the treble, making it sound very balanced overall. In other words, the Grand Callas were warm and romantic without sounding rolled off. I really loved their sound.

These are the original Opera Callas loudspeakers, the same ones that got a rave review from Sam Tellig a few years ago. You'll note that even though they're the bookshelf version of the Grand Callas, they still contain five tweeters each. When compared side by side, the smaller Callas sounded very similar to their larger sibling, with just a little less weight. Bartolomeo Nasta told me that in smaller rooms, he actually prefers the sound of the Callas to the Grand Callas.

This is the innards of the Unico Primo integrated, which is the direct descendant of the original Unico. Even though this is Unison's entry-level product (it will sell for around $2200), the layout and the parts quality is exceptional. It even has a nice thick faceplate.

Best of all, thanks to Colleen and Bartolomeo I'm going to get the whole system in for review. From the time I spent with it yesterday, I know I'm going to enjoy their visit.

Visit from Bob and Stacy Clarke of Profundo

This past Saturday, Colleen Cardas and I met with Bob and Stacy Clarke of Profundo, the US distributors for such wonderful audio lines as VivA, Transfiguration, Heed, Silent Source and of course Trenner & Friedl. Bob was visiting some of his dealers in Dallas, including my friend Terry Combs of Sound Mind Audio up in Dallas, while Stacy had sone business here in Austin. Both were very curious to check out the Austin area, and despite the triple-digit temps they took quite a shine to the place.

Bob is a particularly interesting man--he teaches at Berkeley, for instance--and we've been talking about sitting down and discussing turntables for a few weeks now. We took them to Black's BBQ in Lockhart (because the Clarkes deserve the very best, and Black's is it) and it wasn't long before Bob and I started talking about audio.

Profundo doesn't carry a line of turntables right now, but Bob does distribute the outstanding Transfiguration cartridges. I've been very interested in the Axia, which received a very favorable review from Michael Fremer in a recent issue of Stereophile. While it retails for only $1950, Bob feels the Axia competes with everything under $4-$5K. Bob is very high on Transfiguration and points out that cartridge technology has truly advanced in the last four to five years, and many cartridges brands have been relying upon the success of older designs for years. Transfiguration, along with many of the great Japanese brands, keep pushing cartridge design further and further toward perfection.

I mentioned my fondness for the Rega P9, which seems to be growing over the last year or so as I lament the complexity of today's super-tweaked turntables. Bob had his own recommendation at that price point: the Basis 2001. "Just put a Vector tonearm on it, set it up once and it will last forever," Bob said. "There's just something about the life it brings to the music."

I do have some experience with Basis turntables. They're really the first acrylic-based design which sounded musical and natural to my ears. Plexiglas 'tables can often sound smooth, glossed over and a little analytical to me; I prefer 'tables made of woods and metals. But the Basis seem to circumvent these sonic characteristics thanks to a superb suspension and solid engineering. I heard a Basis turntable not too long ago at Dan Muzquiz' house in San Diego--the sound was big, warm and live.

The Clarkes were gone too quickly...I still wanted to talk about so many things with them. I also enjoyed how attuned Stacy was to the high-end audio business and shared Bob's enthusiasm about their products. Hopefully Austin will have made a great impression on them and they'll become a part of My Evil Texas Audio Empire! You can read more about Profundo product lines at http://www.profundo.us/.

AXPONA...before the show

Just got into Atlanta late last night. Had to take a train through the heart of the city to get downtown and to the Sheraton. A few minutes after I had checked into my room, I decided to meet with Colleen Cardas and get something to eat. After snacking on some appetizers at the bar, she wanted to show me the main set-up of the ballroom. When we got into elevator to the next floor, and young man joined us.

Suddenly, he turned to Colleen and said, "Colleen? Aren't you Colleen Cardas?"

"Yes," she replied.

"I'm Jon Catuccio!" he said excitedly.

Colleen looked at me and smiled, and I looked at her. I then smacked Jon on the shoulder and said, "Hi, I'm Marc Phillips. I work for you."

Yes, this is the same Jon Catuccio who runs Stereolist.com, the very same site that has been publishing my HDTrack reviews over the last weeks. Welcome to the world of working at home online!

Anyway, welcome to AXPONA! Here are a few pics I grabbed before the doors opened. Enjoy!

AXPONA Draws Near!

The Audio Expo North America Show, also known as AXPONA, is happening this weekend in Atlanta, Georgia. (The official dates are April 14 through 17.) I'll be there, reporting on what's turning out to be my first audio show since CES in January. I met with both Dean Peer and Colleen Cardas in Austin this morning just before they headed out. Colleen is helping to organize the event, and Dean will be holding a seminar.

I'll be blogging from the event, and hopefully I'll have a scoop or two. If you want to find out more, check out the AXPONA website at www.axpona.com. See you there!

SXSW 2011--random pics

Yes, I did go to SXSW this year, but I was hopelessly disorganized compared to last year. I had only one band, the Materials, on my radar. I was looking forward to seeing old friends such as Jon Ragel of Boy Eats Drum Machine (he didn't go) and DJ DUS (he went, but I couldn't track him down). I even missed seeing Jason Gross and Robin Cook of Perfect Sound Forever; we were scheduled to meet up Saturday evening but I couldn't get a cell phone signal and didn't get any of my messages until 11am Sunday morning.

I had a lot going on with Blue Computer Solutions over the last week, and I just didn't have the time to plan anything. But I did have fun hanging out on 6th Street and SoCo. I did manage to meet up with Colleen Cardas as well as Dean Peer and his wife Deborah for drinks at the Hotel San Jose. I also visited Brian Di Frank at Whetstone Audio...he was sponsoring a gathering of bands that performed in the park behind his store.

I've made a promise to myself that next year I will plan ahead, and I will go to the main event and have much more to talk about. Here are some random pics from yesterday...enjoy!

Margules Group Mexico at CES 2011

Remember this turntable? Well, I was able to meet with the gentleman from Margules Group Mexico, the company that is trying to make these turntables a reality. They stopped by the Cardas room for a while and I was able to speak with them about these amazing designs as well as their strategy for bringing them to the audio marketplace.

Julian Margules, the patriarchal head of Margules, spent a few minutes providing me with updates. He let me in on some amazing information such as:

1. They want to bring these turntables to the international market for less than $1000. This will include the arm, which for now is a Rega OEM arm based on the highly-tweakable RB-250.

2. Oh, wait...there's more! For $1000, Sr. Margules wants to include a built-in phono preamp that's built right into the gorgeous plinths. That means this will truly be a plug and play analog solution.

3. Sr. Margules told me if he can't make this the best-sounding $1000 turntable on the market, he simply won't do it. He realizes that there will be some real challenges in accomplishing this, but he simply won't compromise the sound.

4. These designs were actually produced by design students in Mexico. He was amazed at the style, simplicity and execution from these 18 and 19-year-old individuals.

Colleen Cardas told Sr. Margules that she wants the first one...serial number #001. AND she wants it in pink. He hedged a bit--you can tell he wasn't nuts about the whole "pink" thing. But he will try to deliver.

I told him I wanted the second one off the line. I made it easier by telling him I wanted the one in wood, however. I hope Margules Group Mexico can achieve these goals, as I think this will be an exciting product that will really shake up the affordable turntable market.

These are a few of my favorite peeps...

Here some pics that I stole from both Colleen Cardas and Trenner & Friedl. They're much better photographers than I am.

First, here's a pic of Colleen Cardas and her nephew Luke at CES. I'm probably speaking out of turn here, but Luke is the real mover and shaker behind Cardas Audio.

Here's another pic of the Cardas think tank with musician Dean Peer. Dean cut his hair prior to CES, and almost no one recognized him.

Here's a much better pic of the Dukes. As someone else said, "Holy crap...I'll never listen the same again."

This is Bob Clarke of Profundo pouring me some more wine. I drank more excellent wine at CES than I have in the last ten years.

This is Bob and his wife Stacy. She was a ray of sunshine and offered tremendous support to everyone there.

Here's a pic of Colleen and Andreas Friedl. I want someone to hand feed me Cheetos. I'd pay handsomely.

Here's Peter Trenner. Another ray of sunshine. His love for good music is infectious.

Here's Dan Muzquiz, me and Colleen. Sammich!

Bob and Colleen.

And finally, Dan, Andreas and Dean. Thanks everyone for showing me a good time!

CES 2011...Cardas Audio

Since I was a guest of Cardas Audio for the CES (I even got to put my name badge in one of their cool leather holders), I used their room as sort of a home base. When I say room, I have to specify that it was their MAIN room, as many of the rooms at the Venetian had the words "Cardas Audio Ltd." on the banners over their doorways. That's because many other exhibitors used Cardas cables in their reference systems. Why? Because Cardas was introducing their new top-of-the-line Clear at CES. To paraphrase Van Halen, everybody wants some.

I use Clear Light in my own system, which is the entry-level cable in this premium line. Above that, you have the just-plain Clear and the flagship Clear Beyond. The Beyond, of course, was extremely impressive, and was one of those cables that is as "thick as a garden hose." The Beyond was used in many of the most expensive, state-of-the-art systems including the one with the Trenner & Friedl Dukes. Admittedly, the Beyond is such a high-performing cable that only the very best systems can extract all of its performance. Even a couple of people from the Cardas camp admitted that the Beyond was too much cable for their systems (although I bet it's perfect for George Cardas' amazing home system, which you can find on YouTube). For most people, myself included, Clear and Clear Light are all the cable they'll ever need. But if you're one of those audiophiles with a no-holds-barred rig, you'll want the Beyond to take it to the next level.

The price of Beyond is high, but there are quite a few brands that charge more for their top-of-the-line offerings. In a world full of $30,000 8' pairs of speaker cables, the Beyond is priced fairly and sanely, especially when you see how complex its construction is.

The Cardas room also featured the new LP releases of Ben Harper's Pleasure and Pain, which I've written about extensively. Dean Peer's new 180 gram limited pressing of Airborne was also there, and yes, I now own my very own copy, given to me by Dean himself. (I know, I'm a name-dropper.) In fact, I'm traveling to San Diego next week for the Music Night at Blackbird Audio Gallery featuring Dean Peer, and I hope he'll sign it!

I also had a chance to speak to George Cardas himself about his latest audio interests, which include finding the right solution to the preponderance of DACs in today's audio market. He also gave me a preview of Cardas Audio's upcoming earbuds. This is the second time I've heard them, and I have to say that I want a pair badly.

This surprises me, because I've disliked every pair of earbuds I've ever stuck in my ears. I'm somewhat claustrophobic (which was a bit of a problem in the packed elevators at the Venetian, and which is why I got so much exercise in its stairwells), and I'm always uncomfortable with having something slid into my ear canals. The Cardas earbuds were downright unobtrusive and fit into my ears very comfortably due to the revolutionary shape. In addition, the sound was so spacious and extensive that I felt they were more like wearing tradition cans. Earbuds, in my opinion, often sound aggressive and forward because of the nature of their placement. Not these ones.

George demonstrated this by having me first listen to a pair of Sennheiser HD800s, one of the best headphones currently on the market, through a headphone system consisting of products from Ayre and Musical Fideilty. The sound was pretty amazing, smooth and full and believable. I then switched to the new Cardas earbuds and the soundstage was larger, the bass was fuller and the overall sound was less fatiguing. I don't have any pictures of these yet because they still haven't been formally announced, but they are great-looking little devices, made from metal instead of the ubiquitous plastic of most earbuds. George said that the materials used helped to contribute to the more solid and engaging sound. I'll speak more about these in the future, especially if I get a chance to test-drive them.

Once again I'd like to thank the Cardas Audio crew for their incredible hospitality to this humble blogger. I was able to meet most of the gang including George, Colleen Cardas, Darcy Cardas (George's wife), Mary Cardas (the oldest daughter), Angela Cardas Meredith (the youngest daughter), Josh Meredith (Angela's husband and the principal sales and marketing executive for Cardas) and Brian Von Bork. I even got to meet Luke Cardas, the nine-month-old son of Angela and Josh. Children aren't allowed at CES, but Luke had a Cardas name badge, so nobody dared to question his importance at the convention!

Music Night at Blackbird Audio with special guest Dean Peer!

Right on the heels of the Comsumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas, Dan Muzquiz of Blackbird Audio Gallery in San Diego will be hosting a very special event. Dean Peer, the extraordinary bassist who just released the amazing Airborne CD, will be on hand to sign the limited edition LP copy I announced just a few weeks ago. Limited edition? How about just 500 copies? This will definitely be a collector's item and I will be lining up to get my copy with everyone else.

The event will be held at Blackbird Audio gallery in Santee, California, just outside of San Diego. I will be there along with Colleen Cardas of Cardas Audio, and possibly even her father George Cardas, the guy who designs all those amazing cables. Bob Clarke of Profundo will also be there. This event is quickly filling up and availability is limited, so you will have to contact Dan (at Dan@blackbirdaudio.com) if you want a place.

For more information, check out http://www.blackbirdaudio.com/Blackbird_Audio_Gallery/News_and_notes/Entries/2011/1/14_Music_Night_January_2011%2C_with_featured_guest_Dean_Peer.html.

Weekend in Portland!

I just got back from an amazing couple of days in Portland, Oregon, one of my very favorite cities in the entire world. I lived just across the river from Portland in Vancouver, Washington from July 2007 to September of last year, and when I moved to Texas I've never felt as homesick for a place as I did for the Pacific Northwest. When I arrived on Friday morning (the pic above is my view from my hotel room in downtown PDX), it was rainy and 43 degrees. Perfect!

While I was in Portland on business, I had two important objectives. The first, as you can see above, was to hit Voodoo Doughnuts. I guess every time I go to Portland I will have to get off the plane and drive straight to Voodoo, just like every time I go to Los Angeles I have to run from the airport and grab a burger from Tommy's. For those keeping score, I had a McMinnville Creme (a Bavarian doughnut with maple frosting instead of chocolate) and a Dirt Doughnut (which is covered with crushed Oreos).

I actually went to Voodoo Too, the second branch of Voodoo which is on "the other side of the river" from downtown Portland on 15th and Sandy. I learned this trick when I lived here--the original Voodoo on Second Avenue is in one of the scariest neighborhoods in Portland and there's absolutely no parking. In Voodoo Too, there's an actual parking lot and the surrounding area is quiet and clean. And the doughnuts are exactly the same. Exactly. But if you need to get married or learn Swahili, you'll have to get those services at the first location.

My second objective, immediately carried out after the first, was to have the greatest cup of coffee in the world at Stumptown on 34th and Belmont. The entire time I lived in Vancouver I would drive to Portland and get a pound of my favorite coffee from Guatemala or Panama or Costa Rica and then sit down for one of these unbelievable lattes. I'm a cream and sugar kind of guy, but I drink these straight because the flavor is so strong, smooth and pure. I once read a ranking of the greatest coffee places in the US in some foo-foo culinary magazine and Stumptown was second behind some joint in New York City that FedEx'd the beans from the coffee fields the day before and charged a fortune for a cup of coffee. With places like Stumptown in Portland, almost nobody I knew drank Starbucks. We enjoyed the best, and Stumptown, in my humble opinion, is it.

I miss both Voodoo and Stumptown, and it was such a pleasure to indulge myself yesterday. Unfortunately, I bought a pound of coffee to take home and left it in the car of the lovely lady you see below. If you recognize her, you'll understand the business side of my trip to Portland. Like I said before, I have a bit of a musical scoop to tell you, and as soon as I can gather my notes and write them down, I'll spill the beans (pun intended).