Random Photos from Down Under Audio at the Newport Show

Once again I'm trying to keep this blog infused with new content, and life again gets in the way. Down Under Audio at the Newport Show was a success--it was easily the best show ever for Colleen Cardas Imports both business-wise and sound-wise. Now I'm just incredibly busy dealing with the aftermath. Colleen Cardas Imports is now representing three of the Down Under Audio brands--Brigadiers Audio, Les Davis Audio and The Wand. The first two were no surprise to anyone, since I've been promoting the development of these brands over the last year. The third brand was a surprise since Simon Brown, designer of The Wand tonearm, seemed very happy with selling direct in the US. But everyone involved with this show became family, and Colleen Cardas Imports is finally distributing some amazing analog products--and that now includes The Wand.

The photo above was taken by David Robinson, publisher of Positive Feedback Online. I look tired in that photo because I was tired, but also happy I was to pull off this event. Two rooms, seven manufacturers and countless emails later...we did it.

First, the Axis/REDGUM room was a model of simplicity and ease. Ian Robinson and Lindy Gerber of REDGUM had the whole room set up and running in about two hours, and the sound was superb. (John Reilly of Axis had to cancel a week before the show since he was under the weather, but he's feeling much better now.) Room 1011 was an oasis for me--while the room was always full of attendees, Ian and Lindy always keep things organized and running smoothly. They've done a few audio shows before, and it showed.

The photo above was taken by Dave Clark at Positive Feedback Online. A running theme throughout this report will be that I was far too busy to take my own damned photos.



This is also from Dave Clark. It's the best photo I've seen of the entire system in Room 1012: Brigadiers Audio BA2 speakers, PureAudio Control preamplifier, PureAudio Duo 2 power amplifier, PureAudio Vinyl phono pre, MSB digital stack, Audio Union Helix 1 Turntable, two The Wand tonearms with a Hana cartridge on one and my Transfiguration Axia cartridge on the other, Furutech cabling and power management, Quadraspire racks and Rogoz speaker stands.

Close-up of Brad Serhan's Brigadiers Audio BA2 loudspeakers in New Guinea rosewood. Absolutely breathtaking in both sight and sound. I love these speakers. They did so well at the show.

I almost destroyed this beast. Evidently you're not supposed to pick it up once it's been set. I did exactly that because a) they set it on a really flimsy stand that would not hold it up throughout the show and b) I did not read the email that said don't pick it up once it's been set. I dodged a bullet, however, and didn't damage it. And I have to say it's a spectacular turntable that produced some of the most solid and realistic sound I've heard from analog.

Ian Robinson and Lindy Gerber. In Facebook I wrote:

"Thank you so much to Ian Robinson and Lindy Gerber of REDGUM Audio for being so wonderfully self-sufficient and professional throughout the show. They were a true pleasure to work with and constantly amusing me with their quirky and humorous music selections. Just absolutely incredible people and we're proud to represent them."

"Say hello to Simon Brown, the newest member of our family. He makes the modestly priced The Wand tonearm which is so brilliantly designed that it's right at home on a $40,000 turntable. He's the kind of fun, quiet man who makes me want to jump on a plane and fly to New Zealand because it must be an amazing place if he lives there."

"What can I say about Les Davis, a guy from halfway around the world who has so much in common with me musically? He came up with this simple little device that makes music so much more enjoyable and doesn't cost crazy audiophile prices. I'm very glad he burst through Brad's front door with a sheet of his material and a pair of scissors."

"Meeting Gary Morrison in person was a true pleasure, especially after four years of Skyping. Great sense of humor, nice and wry, and utterly approachable even though he is a genius. PureAudio equipment is the stuff of dreams, and it's so gratifying to hang out with the guy with all the talent."

"Brad Serhan, my brother, who is supremely talented and is far too humble to know it, with Morris Swift, the man who believes in him and keeps him focused and also has such an impressive range of knowledge about the industry. Thank you Brigadiers for fighting this battle with me. Also David Allen who's holding down the fort in Sydney."

I also wrote the following for John Reilly: "Thanks also to John Reilly of Axis VoiceBox, who was under the weather and could not travel to Newport. But in many ways he had the best show because dealers took all our pairs away! See you soon, mate...get well so we can eat more Malaysian food!"

And for my friends at Furutech: "Finally, much love to everyone at Furutech. Cables and power management often get lost behind the scenes, but Furutech has supported our hi-fi shows for years and we owe a big chunk of our success to their extraordinary products. Thanks to Graeme and Frank in Japan and Scot Markwell herein the US."

Les Davis Audio, now open for business!

Brad, Morris, Gary and I in the hallway outside the room, catching our breath.

Doing my part with the social marketing.

Colleen and I stayed up late one night and designed this. It turned out better than we expected!

Once the show was over, I took everyone on a tour of my homeland. Simon, Les, Gary and Brad hanging out with me on the Huntington Beach pier.

We were all coffee-deprived during the show. GOOD coffee, that is. That's Gary, Brad, Lindy and Ian enjoying some nice gourmet coffee made from a French press in some hoity-toity south county strip mall.

Brad and I after dumping off the show gear at Blackbird Audio. That's why I'm all sweaty.

Dan Muzquiz and Brad. Dan was a huge part of our success at Down Under Audio. He's the guy who stored and organized all the gear for us. That was vital to our plan since we moved to New York and I could no longer just stick everything in a truck and head on down.

This is how we left Dan's showroom. Sorry, Dan! We love ya buddy!

After the show, we took everyone to Riverside to visit Leif Swanson and Damon Von Schweikert of Von Schweikert/Endeavor Audio. Leif and Damon have actually been important allies for us in the high-end audio industry--we've shared a room with Leif in the past and he loves the sound of PureAudio amplification with Endeavor Audio loudspeakers. I'll return the favor by saying that the Von Schweikert/Constellation room at the Newport Show was absolutely incredible. Mind-blowing sound. Killer realism. Sound so good I may have wet my pants a little.

Damon (at far left) and Leif (behind the lens) were generous hosts and took us for a tour of their factory and then out to lunch. Having everyone get together like this underlines one thing--many of us in the industry actually support each other even though we may be competitors. We know we're all in this together, and that's how we make this industry grow.

Anyway, I may post some more photos in the coming weeks. Even after two weeks I'm still a bit exhausted. But Down Under Audio was definitely worth a year of my life. In fact, we're already talking about doing it again next year!

Down Under Audio Is All Set for the Newport Show!

We are all set and ready to go for Down Under Audio and the Newport Show! As I've mentioned repeatedly, we will be in Room 1011 and 1012 at the Hotel Irvine from June 3-5. In Room 1011 we will be featuring Axis and REDGUM Audio, and in Room 1012 we will have PureAudio, Brigadiers Audio, Furutech, The Wand and Les Davis Audio.

First up, we will feature PureAudio amplification from New Zealand. Gary Morrison will be there to introduce the the new version of the Duo stereo power amplifier. Gary has changed the design slightly so that this huge pure Class A amplifier runs cooler, and as a result of these mods he feels that the overall sound of the amp is sweeter than ever before. We will also have the Control preamplifier and the Vinyl phono preamplifier in the system.

The system will be fully wired with Furutech, including the Lineflux interconnects, Speakerflux speaker cables, Alpha power cords and the Furutech power conditioner.

Speakers, which I've mentioned, are the finalized versions of the Brigadiers Audio BA2 monitors. I had the honor of sitting with Brad Serhan, David Allen and Morris Swift of Brigadiers to finalize the design in Sydney, so I'm very proud of the result. Both Brad and Morris will be at the show to answer your questions.

Ian Robinson and Lindy Gerber of REDGUM Audio will be manning Room 1011 with the entire Black Series Line of integrated amplifiers including the RGi35ENR (65wpc), RGi60ENR (125wpc) and the RGi120ENR (175wpc). REDGUM manufacturers wonderful high-current amplifiers for hard-to-drive loudspeakers, but they will also be bringing one of their highly regarded CD players, the RGCD5ENR. Best of all, they will be giving away an RGi35ENR to a lucky attendee!

John Reilly of Axis VoiceBox won't be able to make the show, but his incredible little monitors will. They are the perfect sonic match for REDGUM and this will be the first time US audiophiles can hear the combination in all its glory--although Dan Muzquiz of Blackbird Audio Gallery has had both REDGUM and Axis available for demo for a few weeks.

Les Davis Audio's 3D² constrained layer dampers are now in production! We will be performing demonstration so that everyone can hear the sonic differences these affordable devices can make in almost any system! Les Davis himself will be there to show you how they work.

Simon Brown and his The Wand tonearm will make the trip from New Zealand as well. I can't wait to hear this tonearm--despite its modest price it features some truly amazing engineering and can be used with even the most impressive analog rigs!

Speaking of impressive analog rigs, we will be featuring the Audio Union Helix Turntable Designed By Mark Doehmann. I first auditioned this Aussie-designed 'table back in October at RMAF and I'm still haunted by the realistic sound and the incredible design. The Audio Union people demonstrated it for me--they shook the plinth while the record was playing and it didn't skip a beat!

Dan Muzquiz of Blackbird Audio Gallery will also be jumping back and forth between his room with Bob Clarke (Profundo) and these two rooms, and he'll answer any questions you have about auditioning these wonderful components here in the US.

So please stop by! We'll all be available to chat with you, and to listen to great tunes with some of the finest gear in the world.

Brigadiers Audio Debut at the Newport Show!

"All right Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up."

If you've been following this blog you'll know I went to Sydney last summer and worked with my mates Brad Serhan and David Allen to perfect an already freakishly good two-way monitor called, at the time, the Compact. I had them playing at my house for the first six months of 2015, and then I packed them up and spent 20 hours at 35,000 feet in order to return them and offer my opinions. I spent the next three weeks with Brad, David and their partner Morris Swift and sat in a big comfy chair while they played around with resistor values, speaker positioning and other strange design rituals. By the time I returned to the US, the newly-christened Brigadiers BA2 monitors were performing at an incredibly high level of fidelity.

I started off this Down Under Audio project of mine right here in this blog with the somewhat lofty and delusional title "In Search of the Perfect Two-Way." I'm not going to be all sappy and say this speaker is it--as Judy Spotheim of SpJ Turntables told me, there is no such animal as a perfect two-way--but I did give the brigadiers my blessing with the declaration that I could buy the BA2s and be happy for the rest of my life with them.

Since I left Australia last September, Brad and David and Morris have continued to work hard to make the BA2 and its bigger brother, the BA1 floorstanding loudspeaker, a commercial product. They've tweaked it even further to get as close to sonic perfection as they could, and then started demonstrating these two models to dealers all over Australia. Within weeks they nabbed several dealers, who in turn found homes for all the existing stock. I didn't hear from Brad and David for many weeks--they were too busy building speakers and filling orders.

Now that the Newport Show is quickly approaching, the BA2 is ready for its debut in the US. Colleen and I will be pairing the BA2 with our favorite amplifiers from PureAudio of New Zealand. We'll be using a high-quality analog rig (TBA) as well as cables and power management from Furutech, as part of our Down Under Audio presentation. You'll be able to hear the Brigadiers Audio/PureAudio/Furutech combo in Room 1012 at the show, right next door to the Axis VoiceBox S and REDGUM Audio room we'll also be hosting.

Again, the whole idea of Down Under Audio is this: Australia and New Zealand have always had a lively and active audio industry that has offered some great brands over the years. We're talking Plinius, Duntech, Whatmough, Orpheus, Perraux, Continuum, Halcro and more. But aside from one or two of those brands, Down Under Audio has kept a very low profile over the last decade or so. While in Sydney I heard great system after great system in dealers such as Len Wallis Audio and Knox Audio. In the last couple of years, I've heard plenty of stellar products from Australia and New Zealand such as the Axis VoiceBox S loudspeaker, the REDGUM Audio RGi35ENR integrated amplifier, the Audio Union Helix turntable, The Wand tonearm, the Antipodes music server and, of course, the amazing amplifier line from Gary Morrison and Ross Stevens of PureAudio.

If I accomplish anything in the audio industry, I want it to be this. All of this gear is phenomenal. I know I represent much of it and it's my job to promote it and market it and sell it. But here's the thing. I've got a birthday coming up, number 54, and as David Allen said to me back in Sydney, "Let's face it, we're not getting any younger." The context of this comment was that most of us have been in the audio industry for a very long time, and it's time to do something special. We're not talking about making a bunch of money and retiring to our own tropical paradises, because we should have picked a different market segment to do that in. No, we just want to do something of value, something truly good and worthwhile. Quite frankly, I'm all in.

So come to room 1012 at the Newport Show and listen to these wonderful speakers. A lot of good people are putting their hearts and souls into these products. Sure, that can be said for most of the rooms at any hi-fi show. We all believe in the magic of putting beautiful music into people's lives. But I've been into audio since 1975, when I used money from a paper route to buy a Kenwood receiver, AR loudspeakers, a Dual turntable and a Shure V-15 Type III cartridge and I was deliriously happy. And turning people on to sound production of this caliber also makes me deliriously happy as well.

See you at the show!

Down Under Audio

I know what you're thinking. All this talk about Australia has to lead to something. Well, it does.

For the better part of the last year I've been planning to do an audio show in the US where I feature a lot of the high-end audio products I've been discussing here and in other places. While I worked with Brad Serhan, David Allen and Morris Swift on the final design of the Brigadiers Audio speakers, I spent the entire time bugging everyone to finalize production by June 2016. That, of course, is when the Newport Show takes place in Southern California.

As soon as we returned from the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas in early January, Colleen and I have been working overtime to bring together a consortium of manufacturers from both Australia and New Zealand to feature their gear at the show. And that was the beginning of "Down Under Audio," the theme of the two rooms we will promote at the show, which will be held on June 3-5.

The first choices were obviously PureAudio, Axis and REDGUM Audio--the three "Down Under" brands that we already represent at Colleen Cardas Imports. John Reilly (Axis) and Ian Robinson (REDGUM) quickly came on board--they manufacture from the same factory and their products obviously mate well together. From the swiftness of their actions, it became quite obvious to me that they've done this all before. So Room 1011 at the Newport Show will be an all Axis/REDGUM room. Of course we will be featuring the Axis VoiceBox S loudspeakers, but everything else will be REDGUM since this Australian company known for its high-current amplifiers also makes digital sources, cables and even equipment racks. John and Ian are all ready to go.

Of course Colleen and I wanted to spotlight PureAudio from New Zealand in the other room. We've represented the line since 2012; this brand has always been close to my heart and I really want people to know about it. The most exciting thing for me about including PureAudio is that I finally get to meet Gary Morrison in person. We've been Skyping for years, but I've never been able to shake his hand. I've met everyone else in person--John Reilly, Ian Robinson, Brad Serhan, David Allen, Morris Swift--but not Gary.

That, of course, brings up all the other brands we're featuring. But here's the deal--I'm going to have to hold up my promotion of those products for different reasons. One manufacturer is busy getting his legal doo-dads in order for trademarking and patenting and whatever else he needs to do, so mum's the word for a few more weeks. We're still working with another manufacturer on all the fine details, so I don't want to jeopardize this involvement because it will be awesome if it happens as planned.

One more manufacturer is involved, and I want to wait just a little bit to announce it because this is a really cool product that's been in production for a while. I've just recently been introduced to it, and it's the kind of product I love--great performance, solid engineering, amazingly low price. I want to give this company its own separate place in the sun.

But I'm not worried about announcing the US debut of the Brigadiers Audio BA2 bookshelf speakers. These are obviously the two-way monitor speakers that prompted me to go to Sydney and work with Brad, David and Morris. You know how I kept talking about the perfect 2-way speaker? In its final production form, I believe it's as close to perfect as it gets. This two-way stand-mounted monitor has evolved into something unusually impressive and satisfying for its size, and I left Sydney last September thinking it was absolutely amazing in every way.

We talked about bringing the BA1 floorstanders instead, but I think the excellence of the BA2s will act as sort of a lead-in for those speakers. I'll bring a pair of those into the US sometime this year, and I'll probably drag them around the country for a while and have people listen to them. Or maybe I'll keep them to myself. Mine! Mine! Mine!

So that's the scoop for now. Room 1011 will feature Axis and REDGUM Audio, and next door in Room 1012 we'll have PureAudio, Brigadiers Audio, Furutech and a few surprises to be announced. I'll keep everyone updated, and I hope to see everyone at the show!

The Chronicles of Sydnia, Part 7: Len Wallis Audio

As high-end audio importers and distributors, Colleen and I currently service 23 dealers in the US. As far as business models go, CCI has an even mix of brick-and-mortar stores and dealers working out of their homes. We even have one or two dealers who rely primarily on internet sales, even though we are an old-fashioned distributor and strenuously protect our dealers' territories. The latter group, of course, is reserved for customers who do not have a local dealer nearby. All of these dealer types have their pros and cons--home-based dealers, for instance, don't have to deal with the high overhead of a store and are able to offer demonstrations that closely approximate the customer's home environment, and more and more of these dealers are popping up all over the world.

This flexible model, which usually operates on an appointment-only basis, is certainly the way I shopped for years with Gene Rubin Audio--I really appreciated the one-on-one attention I received from Gene and I felt I made better buying decisions in such an environment. But I miss the old hi-fi stores, and the ability to stroll into a showroom and see all the equipment I've heard about in person. I still love to walk up to equipment and see it up close and perhaps even touch it--especially if no one is watching.

That's one of the reasons why Len Wallis Audio in Sydney was such a genuine treat, a well-needed respite toward the end of my Australian trip.

Walking in the front door, I felt chills as I saw the sales floor filled with tons of high-end audio equipment spread out everywhere, with listening rooms carefully positioned along the perimeter of the store for more careful auditioning. Suddenly I was transported back to the late '70s and early '80s, during my audiophile apprenticeship, where I could wandering among the set-ups and experience all these lovely machines in all their glory.

Brad Serhan wanted me to meet Len Wallis, who has been part of the Australian hi-fi scene for decades. In fact, I even knew who Len Wallis was before Brad even mentioned his name. So on the second-to-last day of my Sydney excursion, Brad and I headed out, unannounced, to Len Wallis Audio.

When was the last time you went to a hi-fi store in the US and saw dozens of beautiful turntables in a static display right when you walked in? And I'm not just talking about budget turntables. For instance, Len Wallis had the entire Rega turntable line sitting front and center, even the new RP10. Brad was amused as I darted all over the showroom saying, "Oh, they have this!" and "Wow, I've never seen one of these in person before!"

The first listening room I entered, just off to the right as we entered the store, featured a system that used the Axis VoiceBox S speaker. I mentioned that our trip was unannounced because Brad was so happy that one of his designs was featured so prominently in the store. "Len had no idea we were coming today," Brad explained. "So he didn't put these here just to make me happy!"

As it turns out, Len Wallis is the Australian distributor for Axis, and he told us that the speaker was really starting to take off in Sydney as THE 2-way monitor for his customers. We even spoke to one of Len's salesmen, who told us that he and the rest of the sales staff were discussing the most interesting new products in audio over the last few years and four out of the five salesmen said, "The Axis VoiceBox." That's comforting to Colleen and me since we've been working hard over the last year to spread the word.

Len, of course, was the exact opposite of the snobby high-end dealer so many audiophiles despise. Warm, friendly and full of enthusiasm, Len loved talking about audio as much as I do. He'd even been reading about my adventures in Oz and was hoping he'd get to meet me while I was there. We chatted for a while even though Brad and I had arrived unannounced and he was in the middle of a very busy day.

This, of course, underlined something I already knew: Australians as a group are friendly and outgoing and so nice to deal with. I'm certainly not saying you don't get that level of attention from US dealers, or that you won't have as much fun with a dealer who works from home. But between Len Wallis and Jeff Knox, I knew that if I ever moved to Australia my high-end audio needs would be met. (And trust me, that subject came up several times!)

If anything, visiting Len Wallis and Jeff Knox was the realization of a subject I've been writing about all year in my articles for Perfect Sound Forever and Part-Time Audiophile--that a good hi-fi dealer is an audiophile's best friend, even 8000 miles away in a foreign country. Not equipment reviewers. Not other audiophiles on internet discussion forums. A high-end audio dealer, the type that isn't just making a sale but is trying to get you as a customer for life by steering you right.

In Len Wallis Audio, I was able to see some of my favorite gear just sitting around. I even saw a Continuum turntable just sitting on a table near the back of the store! I made Brad snap this photo of me with a Linn Sondek LP12 for a couple of nebulous reasons. First of all, I've always wanted to own a Linn ever since I first heard one back when I was in college and they still retailed for $795. These days Linns just aren't as prevalent in the US as they are in the rest of the world. That's too bad because I still find them to be exceptional turntables that offer a unique sound that may not be the last word in accuracy, but it's compelling and musical nonetheless. It reminded me of one of my favorite dealers in the US, Dan Muzquiz of Blackbird Audio, who is one of the last few of the US dealers who can still set-up and extract optimum performance from one of these classics.

While there, Brad had another treat--Len Wallis still sells loudspeakers from Orpheus Audio, one of Brad's earlier designs. As I glanced around the store and talked to some of the staff, I wondered how often hi-fi stores are visited by the actual manufacturers and designers who make the gear being sold. I'm not talking about planned dealer events, just an impromptu visit to hang out and perhaps talk a little about audio.

Again, I'm not trying to make a general point about the paucity of brick-and-mortar high-end audio stores in the US because I do visit plenty of them. Many of them are just as impressive as Len Wallis Audio. I'm just saying that I long for a return for this type of store in the US. Maybe that's not realistic in 2015, but I still get goosebumps when I see an old-fashioned hi-fi store still thriving in the Age of the Internet.

In Search of the Perfect Two-Way, Part 2

Have I ever told you how much I love two-way monitor speakers? I know I have, at least a few times. In fact, I've found two of my old equipment reviews where I started off by saying how much I love little two-ways. I've also found three old reviews where I start off by saying how much I love integrated amplifiers. So I guess when all is said and done and I retire from this audio thing, I'll probably choose an integrated amp and a pair of two-way bookshelf speakers and fade away into musical bliss.

For the record, I can probably find dozens of reviews from other writers that start off with a sentence declaring unconditional love for either integrateds or two-ways. Maybe they copied it from me, maybe I copied it from them...but if I had to lay money on it, I'd say I probably stole it from Art Dudley back in his days with Listener.

Anyway, when I say I love two-way monitors, I can back that shit up. I have little monitors all over the friggin' place. As you can see in the photo above, I gathered them all together for a group photo. I did this for a few reasons--one, I thought it would be goofy and fun to do so, and second, I'm preparing myself for my upcoming trip to Australia to consult with the fine folks at Brigadiers Audio Group on the final version of their new speaker line. We'll be tweaking and listening to two models--one is a larger 2.5-way floorstander, and the other is the two-way monitor I've had in my system since January.

This is the speaker I'm talking about, the BAG Compact, the biggest, heaviest and potentially most expensive speaker of the lot. As I've mentioned before, this is a very ambitious design that features the highest quality parts and drivers, and an intricate cabinet made from birch ply. That's why they weigh about 45 to 50 pounds each--they're like solid blocks of wood. Heavy wood.

I'm very, very excited about this speaker because it's one of those two-way speaker designs that I could retire with. It's all I need from a speaker--it throws up a giant soundstage, goes satisfying low in the bass and has oodles of air and space in the treble. The only drawback of this speaker is that it has a relatively low sensitivity, and I haven't had a big powerful amp to drive them with. I was able to briefly pair them with the PureAudio Reference monoblocks, which provide 65 watts per channel of beautiful Class A power--and the combo was magnificant. But outside of those ten days or so, the most I've been able to throw on the BAG Compacts is 45 watts per channel. I'm jonesin' for a nice 100-150 wpc amp right now, and then I may discover the true potential of these speakers.

That's why I'm bringing them back to Australia with me--so I can hear them mated to the amplification used in their design.

These little two-ways need no introduction. Okay, they're the Trenner & Friedl ART Monitors from Austria. These are my personal reference speakers and have been for the last four and a half years. These go into my main system whenever I don't have another pair of speakers that I'm evaluating or breaking in--unless, of course, I have a big giant speaker on hand and I want to listen to the bottom octave. Even so, these little speakers with a front baffle around the size of a classic LS3/5a go surprisingly deep--down to about 44 Hz with proper set up.

As a distributor, I make plenty of switches to my system on an almost weekly basis. With all those changes, it's easy to lose that sound with which you're comfortable--prompting a sudden and drastic tearing down and rebuilding of your system, trying to recover that magic. In most cases I can simply insert the ARTs into my system and instantly return to the sound I crave.

These, of course, are the little brother to the ART, the new SUN. As of right now, I believe that this is the only pair in the US. They made a huge splash at the Newport/Irvine/Santa Ana/wherever Show last month, and I'm listening to them now. I love them with all my heart. So small yet so musical. Just astonishing.

In my original blog entry about the SUN, some guy made an absurd comment about the SUN--how they couldn't be that small and that satisfying at the same time. He dragged out a bunch of hoary old tropes about the limitations of little two-ways and came up with a bunch of strange comments that didn't really apply. The biggest mistake he made was assuming these were single-driver speakers--they're not. These are two-ways, since the tweeter is where the dust cap is, mounted concentrically. As a result, the little SUN comes as close to a single-point source as any transducer I've heard.

These, of course, are the Axis VoiceBox S. I import and distribute these in the United States, so I won't go on and on about how good they are. But I am happy that this is my very own pair to have and to hold for as long as I want. Of all the speakers I own, the Axis are perhaps the best at delving deep into a recording and extracting as much musical information as possible, except for the bottom octave, of course, all without sounding analytical or harsh like many other pro recording monitors.

There's a good story behind the middle VoiceBox, the one with the wood veneer. This was a prototype of the current model that sat in the garage of TAS' Neil Gader for a couple of years. After he reviewed the finished version of the speaker for TAS a couple of months ago, he sent this lone speaker back with the review pair. Apparently one speaker had to be sent back to Australia for one reason or another, and, well, who knows. Stuff happens. So I'm thinking about marketing this lone speaker as a Signature Mono Edition of the VoiceBox. Catchy, huh?

Finally, I have these old Rega RS1s sitting around. We originally purchased them for a song from one of our dealers--we wanted to place a modest system in our old cigar lounge back in Texas. This pair had been damaged during shipping, but the dealer was able to get a new replacement set of drivers. The cabinets are scuffed up with a bashed corner or two, but they sound wonderful. These speakers retailed for $795/pair or so when they were new, and to tell you the truth they sound absolutely great for the money. The first time I heard Rega's smallest speaker was back in the '90s during a visit to my old dealer Gene Rubin. They retailed for $495/pair back then, and they became my stock recommendation at that price point for many years.

I've listened to these on a number of occasions, and despite the beat-up cabinets and the seemingly cheap drivers--at least compared to the other monitors I have in the house--I've always been surprised at how musical they are. But at this point, I'm not sure if I really need to have them, especially with all the speaker choices I have in the house. If you're interested, I'd probably sell them for cheap. Just let me know.

My trip to Australia is being planned for August 16-29, or roughly thereabouts. I'll try to keep everyone informed about my work with BAG, and my experiences as an "professional speaker consultant."