Trenner & Friedl Sun Loudspeakers Reviewed in Stereophile!

Trenner & Friedl just received a rave review on their tiny Sun mini-monitors in Stereophile! I'm excited about this since I had a chance to play with the Suns a couple of years ago. (You can read up on my impressions here and here.) The reviewer was Ken Micallef, who gave a thorough and thoughtful review to our Unison Research Unico integrated amplifier last year. He evaluated the little Suns with the equally diminutive Heed Elixir integrated amplifier, which is also one of my favorite hi-fi products in the world. Together they were a satisfying, surprising and extremely musical combination.

Over the last year or so I've received a number of comments on this blog about the Suns. These comments seem to be divided into two camps--one group maintains that a tiny speaker you can pick up easily with one hand can't possibly offer such a big sound (they can), and the other group knows Trenner & Friedl products and want to hear more. The price for the Suns have been set at $3450/pair, which seems crazy when you see them. But alas, this is one of those hi-fi products where you have to shut up, sit down and listen and then decide whether or not they justify the price. The Suns pass that test effortlessly.

Congratulations to Bob Clarke of Profundo, the US distributor for Trenner & Friedl, as well as Dan Muzquiz of Blackbird Audio Gallery (who also got a mention for helping out with the review). Kudos also go to Peter Trenner and Andreas Friedl, who make such incredible products. It's nice to see my audio buddies get some love in Stereophile!

Todd Hunter Trio's Eat, Drink, Play Review at Positive Feedback Onilne

Positive Feedback Online has just published my latest music review on the Todd Hunter Trio's Eat, Drink, Play. Great timing, because I just packed the CD into my suitcase to play at the Newport Show next week!

You can read the review here.

More on the Trenner & Friedl Suns

Remember those tiny Trenner & Friedl Sun speakers that I loved at the Newport Show? They're at my house right now. On the last day of the show I walked up to Bob Clarke of Profundo, the US distributor for Trenner & Friedl, and said, "So, Bob...what you gonna do with them li'l speakers?"

"I don't know yet," he replied.

"Well then send 'em home with me! I want to see just how good they are."

I didn't expect Bob to give in so easily, but later in the day I checked back into the Profundo/Blackbird Audio room and Bob pointed to a small cardboard box and said, basically, there you go. Take 'em. When I returned home from Southern California last week, however, I realized there was a glitch in my evil plan to bogart these amazing little speakers. I didn't have a single amp in the house to use in our reference system. I sold my last one while I was at the show, my personal reference since at least October, and I had to ship it out to the dealer ASAP.

I really wanted to put some incredible amplification on the Suns. At the show, Bob and Dan Muzquiz of Blackbird paired the Suns with the new Elixir integrated amplifier from Heed Audio, which will cost probably about $1200 once it starts shipping from Hungary. Along with a Heed CD player, this system let everyone at the show utterly gobsmacked. At home I thought about pairing the Suns with a nice tube amplifier with some power--while Bob doesn't have the final specs from Trenner & Friedl yet, he suspects that they have a less than average sensitivity--just like my personal Trenner & Friedl ART monitors. I also thought about pairing them with the PureAudio gear, a full $20,000 worth of amplification. After all, the ARTs paired really well with the PureAudio gear over the last couple of years--one of the best speaker/amplifier matches I've performed among our brands.

But I have nothing, nada. No music for at least a couple of weeks, until my next shipment comes from Europe. So I started thinking about the system my parents have. If you've read any of my old Vinyl Anachronist columns for Perfect Sound Forever, you'll know that I've always maintained a modest but well-chosen system for my parents over the years. I started back in the mid-90s with a Rotel integrated, a Music Hall CD player and a pair of those incredible little $200/pair Optimus Pro-4 speakers from Radio Shack, the ones with the Linaeum tweeters, the ones I actually got for 50% off.

Over the years, the ephemeral Music Hall was replaced with a succession of cheap Sony DVD players, the Optimus Pros were switched out for a pair of Epos ELS-3s when the vinyl veneers started peeling off in big sheets. Finally, just a few months ago, the Rotel started acting up in one channel so I helped them choose one of those inexpensive yet fairly competent little T-class integrated amps from Dayton Audio--another fabulous $100 bargain in the world of hi-fi. For the last couple of years Colleen and I have wired this system with some of the more affordable cables from Cardas Audio.

This system has always sounded relatively great, considering the cost of the components, but I've never been able to get what I would call truly satisfying sound in their house. First of all, they don't really have a good room for it--first they placed this system on an old yet beautiful walnut bookcase, the very same one I now use as a two-way mini-monitor display in my living room, in their bedroom. Over the last year they've redecorated their home, and the bookcase went to me and the stereo migrated to their living room and now resides in a new entertainment hutch/rack/TV stand/thingie. Still, the sound is somewhat small and closed in because my parents like to shove the little Epos as close to the rear wall as possible. Whenever I visit, I pull them out a little. Whenever I return, they've been pushed back.

Yesterday, on my father's 84th birthday, I came over and swapped out the Epos for the Suns. Again, the Suns have an internal enclosure about one-third the size of the Epos. Even my Mom had to chuckle at the diminutive little Suns. Once I hooked them up, however, the sound was transformed. This was anything but subtle. For the first time in my life, I have heard genuine high-end sound at my folks' house.

My father, who probably is an audiophile in some alternative universe--he possesses excellent hearing and often makes the same exact comments about specific pieces of audio gear as I do--instantly heard a profound increase in soundstage depth. For the first time, the wall behind the system dissolved and I heard the original recording venue recreated spatially. I also heard something else equally impressive--solid, tight and well-controlled bass. Both my father and I are sharing a love for Harry Belafonte's music these days, and he played a rather typical '80s live recording, all bright and twinkly and ultra-etched, and yet there was a solid, accurate reproduction of the electric bass on every track. My mom felt compelled to go outside and monitor the volume levels from the front curb--she was worried the neighbors were going to complain.

In nearly every respect, I felt like I was listening to a genuine high-end system comprised of a $100 T-class integrated, a Sony DVD player that probably cost $29 new, and one of the most surprising tiny speakers I've ever heard. Of course the Suns were revealing the weaknesses in the amp and source--there was a dryness throughout the upper midrange during louder passages that's fairly typical of cheap digital and cheap D-class amplification. At the same time, the Sun really took advantage of the Dayton's 100wpc to deliver deep, convincing bass and an unbelievably airy and delicate treble. The imaging and the soundstaging was some of the best I've heard from any speaker of any size.

So I want to keep using these Suns in different applications. We've shown that they can transform a mediocre system into something that approximates totally decent sound. Next, Colleen has a relative who just purchased a super-cute but super-small house in an older neighborhood. The only problem is her living room is about half the size it should be, and my first thought after I crossed her threshold for the first time was "Where would the stereo go?" So I'd like to see if the Suns work in another modest system set in a really small room. (The ARTs are, in my opinion, the best speakers I've used in a small room.)

That would be another good reason to buy these. Finally, let's hook the Suns up to something amazing just to see what they can do. Tiny speakers that sound great have always had a fairly difficult time in the marketplace--think about all the negative comments you heard when the Acoustic Energy AE-1s first appeared, or the Celestion SL-700 SE. The Suns are even smaller, yet they're offering a level of sound quality that I've never experienced with an enclosure this small.

The perfect speakers for tiny apartments? Ivy League dorm rooms? A desktop computer system? Or just something that's small and unobtrusive and still offers high-end sound? I hope I get to find out the answers before I have to send them back.

Tiny Speakers, Great Sound from Trenner & Friedl

It's sort of a cliche in high-end audio to talk about small speakers that sound much bigger than you expect--if you can't say that about your own speakers, you probably shouldn't bring them to market. But the new Sun speakers from Trenner & Friedl take this type of thinking to a whole new level. The Suns are so tiny that you can pick them up easily with one hand. Yet when you listen to them, you'll shake your head in disbelief. Mated with a fantastic new Elixir integrated amp from Heed Audio, which will retail for just around $1200 (including a fabulous-sounding headphone amp), the Suns created a large, convincing soundstage with unbelievably impressive bass response.

The Suns are not going to be as inexpensive as the Elixir, but you have to know a little bit about Trenner & Friedl designs before you can comment on the perceived value of such an amazing little product. The cabinet work is truly astounding, as are the drivers and the innards. No corners have been cut--the precision and sheer audacity of the four dinky ports on the rear of the speaker, for example, hints at the extraordinarily high level of engineering and craftsmanship.

The Suns are ideal for small rooms (my Trenner & Friedl Arts are perhaps the best speakers I've ever used in such an application), or for people who want great sound in their apartments or their offices. (Warning: they can go loud with relative ease!) These might just be the ultimate speakers for a desktop computer system. Here at the Newport Show, attendee after attendee couldn't believe the breathtaking sound coming from the diminutive coaxial drivers.

Don't judge these speakers until you've heard what they can do. I don't want anyone telling me about the laws of physics when it comes to a transducer of this size--these sound full and musical and utterly impressive. Or, as Harry Pearson used to say, "If you haven't heard it, you don't have an opinion." I want to give Andreas Friedl and Peter Trenner a huge hug for accomplishing this feat. Please visit Bob Clarke of Profundo and Dan Muzquiz of Blackbird Audio on the third floor and hear for yourself.

The Greatest Article Ever Written About Me/I Got a New Cartridge

I'm in a pretty good mood today. Minutes after waking up this morning I discovered that Scot Hull, the Part-Time Audiophile, had published an article on our all-analog PureAudio/Opera/Unison Research/Transfiguration/Furutech room at the 2014 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest. You can read it here. Don't let the whole The Audio Traveler thing confuse you--it's a new companion website Scot started just to cover all the US audio trade shows like CES and RMAF and AXPONA and T.H.E. Show and Dagogo and all the rest. The Part-Time Audiophile will just focus on equipment reviews, opinion pieces and whatever else comes along.

I say that last part because it's clear that Scot Hull is a rising star among audio journalists. He's expanding, hiring really good writers like Malachi Kenney and Kirsten Brodbeck-Kenney (yes, they're married, but they each have very unique writing styles and perspectives). For me, that's what it comes down to--the quality of the writing on the part of Scot Hull and his staff and how they really seem to be the future of audio journalism. The first time I read one of Scot's articles, I said to myself, "Uh oh, this guy's doing what I'm doing, only a hundred times better." I almost deleted this blog that day. When I told that to Scot during the epic 2014 Denver Whiskey and Cigar Fest he describes in his current article, he told me "No dude, you're the one who inspired me to do the Part-Time Audiophile," or something like that. My eyes were spinning pinwheels by then, and cartoon hearts floated above my scalp. "No, my writing sucks compared to yours!" "You're crazy--you're so much better than me!" This went on all night, and then Colleen grounded me for a month for being out too late.

Anyway, Scot is far too kind in this article, and Colleen and I, as well as all the manufacturers involved, appreciate what he wrote. Like I said on Facebook this morning, I smell a Pulitzer. While looking at Scot's photos of the my analog rig, however, I realized I haven't announced that that wonderful, exquisite Transfiguration Axia cartridge is now mine, all mine. I couldn't bear to send it back to Dan Muzquiz--it's just such a wonderful match with the Unison Research Giro 'table and arm, as well as the stupendous PureAudio Vinyl phono preamplifier, and I told Colleen during the show, "I don't want to send this back." Bob Clarke, who distributes Transfiguration in the USA through his company Profundo (which also represents some of my personal faves such as Trenner & Friedl, Heed and VivA) got involved. We're all good friends and have a lot of respect for each others' brands, and we do a lot of business together--especially during trade shows like RMAF where we often share rooms. In other words, no shenanigans were involved--by now everyone should know I love a lot of brands I don't represent, and I'm more than happy to tell the world about it. Suffice it to say that I'm deliriously happy with this cartridge on my turntable, and I owe a debt of gratitude to Bob, Dan and Colleen.

One reason why I got a great deal was because this isn't the latest Axia--apparently some improvements were made to the design last year. This was Dan's low-mileage demo Axia for Blackbird Audio Gallery, one that I'd heard previously on a Funk Firm table/arm combo. I remember how fantastic this cartridge sounded then, and I've known ever since that I wanted one. I had the great pleasure of breaking in Transfiguration's middle model, the $4200 Phoenix, for RMAF two years ago. That was two months of heaven, and I really wanted to keep that one, too. I'm intrigued with the idea that the new Axia is somehow better than this one, but at the same time I'm totally in love with the way this cartridge allows the music to flow much more freely into my head. I used to pride myself on being a "Koetsu Man," but Transfigurations have all that lush beauty with more detail, presence and energy.

I guess I'm a "Transfiguration Man" now. And that sounds super cool.

A New Headphone System and a New Rule

The 2014 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest was a couple of weeks ago, and Colleen and I wound up doing two rooms almost all by ourselves. I say almost because we did enlist the help of Cora, our friend and first CCI employee, as well as Brad Serhan, the designer of the Axis VoiceBox S speaker that we just started to distribute in the US. Unfortunately, we didn't have our usual RMAF partners--Dan Muzquiz of Blackbird Audio and Bob Clarke of Profundo. Bob had a family emergency (all is well), and Dan's son Nathan decided to get married on the same weekend. You can tell Dan's audiophilia hasn't rubbed off on his sons--when Nate's fiancee first suggested October, he should have immediately said "No way, baby...my pop's got RMAF in October." (Just kidding. Congrats to Nate.)

Anyway, I'm bringing this up because a) I haven't had time to blog in the last few weeks and b) since the show I've had a lot of changes to the system--or, more accurately, systems. All the wonderful PureAudio gear is gone to the reviewers, and I'm currently breaking in part of the system we'll be using at CES in January which consists of the Unison Triode 25 integrated amplifier/DAC and the new Opera Callas monitors. My other system, which has magically started to form to the left of my desk in my office, is headphone-based. Now I've had some headphone systems in play over the last year or so, but this one is a bit different--more ambitious, more versatile and hopefully more permanent.

This new system consists of a working prototype of the upcoming Unison Research SH headphone amplifier with DAC (the same DAC as in the Triode 25 in my listening room), a pair of the new ADL H128 headphones (backed up by pairs of earbuds from Cardas Audio and ADL), my trusty $66 Samsung Blu-ray player and--get this--my laptop. I'm going to finally get serious about jumping into the 21st century and all this computer audio stuff. I've just hooked up my laptop to the Unison DAC via a Cardas Audio Clear USB cable (all interconnects and power cords are also Cardas Clear) and I can finally listen to all those hi-rez files I downloaded the last time I tried to get into computer audio. Which, by the way, was not the first time.

Why is this time going to be any different? Well, it's sort of my job now since one of my manufacturers decided to start putting a DAC in all their upcoming products--a serious DAC for 2014, with all the bells and whistles--and now I have to answer questions about sampling rates and DSD and even double DSD, whatever that is. Secondly, the sound kicks major butt. I like it a lot. This is a very impressive system, and it makes me want to re-explore the headphone landscape like I did a few years ago when I owned an amazing pair of Grado GS-1000s with the Stefan Audio Arts cable upgrade and a Woo Audio headphone amp.

That said, I have made myself a promise for this blog--that I really need to refocus on vinyl. Over the last few years I've been getting enthusiastic about other formats. Lately, however, I've been noticing a trend: when I blog about vinyl, more people read it. There's another underlying reason for this new commitment to my favorite music format, and it's a bit of a long story. I'll keep it as brief as possible.

A few months ago I was contacted by a relatively new record label that was reissuing a lot of remastered classics--as well as some new "audiophile-quality" albums from contemporary artists--and they asked me if I would like to review some of their titles. I looked at their catalog and said sure--these were relatively fun and exciting releases. I didn't exactly specify that I preferred vinyl or CDs, but they kept referring to the releases as "albums," which to me means something you can hold in your hand. Over the next few months the label contacted me periodically and asked me if I wanted this title or that title, and the answer was always yes.

Then I noticed something--after several months, none of these releases had been delivered to me even though I was still receiving almost weekly e-mails asking if I want to review this one or that one, this one or that one. I finally asked if there was an ETA on any of these titles, and my record label contact said, "Oh, it's just taking a little more time to get the physical formats together--most reviewers just need downloads." I replied that I preferred physical formats because I also review based on sound, and that my computer audio system was nowhere near my big system in terms of ultimate sound quality. A few weeks later, the contact told me that she couldn't secure the licenses to get me these releases on a physical format. I told her that she was in luck, since my new 21st century computer audio system would make it easier for me to review downloads. I gave her one caveat: only hi-rez, no MP3.

"We only have MP3 downloads to send you," she replied.

Ugh. Sorry, folks, but I blog for fun. I don't get paid. So if you're sending me something to review, I want something for it...like permission to keep the LP or CD I've just reviewed! Hopefully my review will be worth the $20 to you. I know, that makes me sound a little whorish, but I really look at it this way--getting a CD or an LP in my mailbox from a record label or a publicist or even the actual artist and then reviewing it, well, that's a lot of fun. It's fun enough, in fact, to do it for free. But if you set up an account for me on your website so I can listen to files and write reviews from that--well, that's not as fun to me. I might change my mind once I get this computer audio system rolling, but for right now I only review LPs, CDs and other physical formats. (No LaserDisc though. Or Betamax.)

Anyway, I will be blogging about yet another personal journey into the world of computer audio...maybe this time it will stick. I'm crossing my fingers.

Music Night at Blackbird Audio Gallery with PureAudio and Light Harmonic

It's taken me a whole week to post photos of last weekend's Music Night Event at Blackbird Audio Gallery. First of all, I was exhausted by a series of connecting flights from Western Colorado to San Diego that included everything from massive turbulence over the Rockies to sitting on the tarmac for a couple of hours while the pilot and the tower argued about the best flight path. I love to fly, but this trip aged me. I needed a few days to decompress.

Add a busy work week, a laptop virus and snowy weather, and that's why it's taken me so long to post photos. The first photo above was taken a couple of days before the event, just after Dan Muzquiz of Blackbird Audio had everything set up and running. He decided to match the PureAudio Reference monoblock amplifiers (65-70wpc, pure Class A) with the Trenner & Friedl Pharaoh loudspeakers, with Cardas Audio Clear cabling all around. Dan has many excellent speakers in his showroom, but he felt the amazing Pharaohs were the best overall match. Once I arrived in San Diego, I totally agreed.

Here's a close-up of our beautiful PureAudio References. All of PureAudio's current line of amplifiers are pure Class A with true dual-mono construction, non-magnetic and non-resonant chasses as well as a fascinating mix of simple circuits and sophisticated features. For instance, you might think that a pair of 70wpc Class A monoblock amplifiers might run very hot, but two large and completely silent fans just beneath the faceplate keeps these amplifiers relatively cool, with only those slanted heat sinks in front getting warm.

Along with the amps and speakers, Dan chose a system that included a Bel Canto CD transport and DAC, a Basis Signature turntable with matching tonearm and the new flagship cartridge from Transfiguration, the Proteus. We used a Basis/Transfiguration Proteus combo at Rocky Mountain last month, so I'm very familiar with this analog rig's high level of performance. On the right you can see the PureAudio Control preamplifier and Vinyl preamplifer.

The Control and the Vinyl also feature that mix of simplicity and sophistication. You'll notice that the Control has only one knob on the front--for volume. The four line level inputs are selected automatically according to the presence of a signal. If you have two sources running simultaneously, the Control prioritizes them according to number (input 1, input 2, etc.). I've spoken about the Vinyl a number of times, but one feature I love is the gain setting, or lack thereof. The Vinyl offers 62 dB of gain with plenty of headroom, so the amount of gain seems perfect for almost every cartridge. In fact, I've switched between a high-output moving magnet with an output of 3.5mV to a low-output moving coil with an output of 0.4mV and didn't have to change any of the settings, even the loading (both cartridges, amazing enough, loved to be run wide open at 47K ohms). There are plenty of loading options on the Vinyl, however--47 ohms to 47K.

One more feature is the series of 12V triggers that can be used between the Control and the Reference monoblocks. This allows for home theater bypass as well as a synch-ing up the three amps so that you can power everything on with one power button.

Here's a close-up of the Basis and the Transfiguration. The Vinyl is absolutely one of my favorite phono preamps of all time--that's why we decided to carry the PureAudio line. (I know, I've said that before, but I really believe in this gear!) The Basis/Configuration/PureAudio combo is an exquisite match. as I discovered last year when I put a Transfiguration Phoenix on my Unison Research Giro turntable back home.

The event wasn't just about PureAudio and me. Gavin Fish and Steve Holt of Light Harmonic brought their little Geek to the event. The Geek is an interface between your headphones and your laptop (they're also ready to introduce a larger desktop version of the Geek)--it's basically an amp and a DAC in a very small package. Here's Gavin demonstrating the Geek for Dave Clark of Positive Feedback Online.

Here's a photo to give you an idea of how small the Geek is. Listening through a pair of the Cardas Audio EM5813 ear speakers, I found that the Geek provided a huge, powerful sound with plenty of bass and an amazing level of clarity. I also listen to a pair of Ultrasone headphones and found the combination comfortable, relaxing and incredibly open.

Here's host Dan Muzquiz cueing up the Basis. He was incredibly pleased that we had a full house for most of the evening, but there was still plenty of room to sit, relax and listen to this outstanding hi-fi system. The food, by the way, was excellent.

The PureAudio products, with their distinct styling, beg to be touched and fondled. Here's San Diego audiophile Erik Tracy getting a closer look at the Reference monoblocks. I invited members of the Steve Hoffman Forum to stop by, and Erik was the only one who came up and introduced himself. I was far too busy to really spend time with Erik, but he seemed to enjoy the food, the music and the gear.

Finally, I was amazed at how many of my good friends in the industry showed up and supported our event. That's me seated, probably smoking one of the three cigars I had that evening, surrounded by audio reviewer Andre Marc, Dave Clark, cigar buddy/audiophile David Aitken, Audio Strata's David Neilson and audio reviewer Steve Lefkowicz. I look forward to doing many more dealer events in the coming year--they're easily the best part of my job!

Music Night at Blackbird Audio Gallery...with PureAudio!

Next Saturday night, November 16th, I will be visiting with Dan Muzquiz of Blackbird Audio Gallery in Santee, California, to demonstrate the entire line of PureAudio amplifiers from New Zealand. This is another one of Dan's fantastic Music Night events--the last time we did this I was just a blogger from Texas and not the US distributor of six different brands of hi-fi equipment. (That event, held back in 2011, was to debut Dean Peer's album Airborne). We will have the Vinyl phono preamplifier, Control preamplifier and Reference monoblocks that see you in the picture above. Dan will also have additional guests there...TBA.

Dan was our first PureAudio dealer in the US, and we're proud to have him as a partner for this event. This is the first time we've had all of the PureAudio products in one room since the New York show last June, so I'm looking forward to hearing these extraordinary products before we have to send send them back to John Atkinson--he needs to finish his Stereophile review!

If you live in the San Diego area--or anywhere in Southern California and beyond--and you want to attend Music Night, contact Dan at 619-449-2787 to RSVP, or email him at dan@blackbirdaudio.com. You can also check the Blackbird Audio Gallery website for more updates on the event over the next few days.

CCI at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2013

I'm back from the 2013 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest in Denver. This year's meet--the tenth annual, by the way--seemed a little quiet compared to past years, but perhaps that's because we were on the second floor of the tower, which seemed like an orphan since it was so isolated from the action on the seventh through the eleventh floors. Still, CCI had a productive show...we added a dealer or two as well as a new product line. I'll elaborate on that in a couple of days on the CCI website.

Once again we shared our room with Dan Muzquiz of Blackbird Audio Gallery and Bob Clarke of Profundo, so we set up two systems side by side and switched them every hour on the hour. It never failed that as soon as we switched over, someone would come into the room and request a tune or two on the other system. In addition, I was without Colleen's help for the first two days of the show--it's getting busy at CCI these days--so I had to rely on Dan and Bob's help more than usual.

With every trade show that we do--and this was our sixth of 2013--there's always one particular component that emerges as the star. This year it was the Opera Callas loudspeaker, which seemed to defy physics in terms of low bass output. Last year we used the floorstanding Opera Grand Mezza loudspeakers and were vexed by the lack of deep bass in the room--it was almost as if someone disconnected the woofers. It took plenty of tweaking late into the night before the show to coax the lowest frequencies from those five-inch woofers. With the Callas speakers, however, the bass was deep and impressive as soon as they were plugged in. Since we were once again sharing with Blackbird Audio Gallery and Profundo, we had to place the Operas in front of the big floorstanding Trenner & Friedl Pharaohs--and everyone was convinced that they were subwoofers. No, all that bass (the Callas is rated down to 32 Hz, amazingly enough) was coming from the little Operas.

Quite a few show attendees were curious and initially critical of the five--count 'em, five--tweeters on the small but beautifully finished Callas. Most visitors were very aware of the Callas review a couple of months ago in Stereophile, and John Atkinson's follow-up in this month's issue as well. JA was very skeptical of the use of two tweeters above and below the SEAS woofer, and of the "triplet" array of tweeters on the back panel--I think his exact words were "It shouldn't work!"--but his measurements supported reviewer John marks' enthusiastic review. As a result, almost every "serious" visitor to the room walked behind the Callas to see those extra drivers.

Here's the crazy thing--the Callas has been around since the '90s. It was reviewed in Stereophile by Sam Tellig many years ago. It hasn't changed that much since then...perhaps new drivers and a few improvements here and there, but it's been the same basic design for close to two decades. Yet everyone thinks the Callas (and its big brother, the Grand Callas) is sporting some revolutionary new design.

Finding an amp for the Callas proved to be the real challenge. We planned on debuting the new Unison Research Triode 25 integrated amplifier at RMAF, but it didn't quite make it to CCI headquarters on time. We plan on showing it at CES in January, complete with its optional USB DAC feature. So we decided to bring in the gorgeous push-pull P40 integrated amplifier instead. This is the first one we've brought into the US, although it's been selling well in Europe for several years. It features a stunning Murano glass faceplate that really captures and reflects the light when placed properly in the room. Since the glass is hand-blown, each faceplate is slightly different from the next one. Unfortunately, a bad EL34 tube flared up and we didn't have a replacement tube until our Denver dealer, Blu Note Audio, helped out. By the time we got the new tube in, the P40's replacement was already impressing the crowds--so we left everything as is and showed the P40 in a static display right at the entrance of the room.

The P40's replacement was a seemingly modest Unison Research Unico Nuovo, part of the hybrid amplifier line. I brought it as a back-up amp, yet it shined in the RMAF spotlight. The Nuovo was just reviewed by Marvin Bolden of StereoMojo (review to appear very soon); he was so impressed he bought the unit. Here you see the Nuovo paired with my trusty Unico CDE CD player--the same one I've been using in my system for over two years, and the same one we've used at probably a dozen shows. I know CDs are fading away, but this is still one of my favorite players out there.

One of the highlights of the show occured when Dean Peer popped into our room, plugged in his bass and started playing for the attendees. Too bad he was only there for about twenty minutes.

The other system in the room was also very impressive. Bob Clarke brought in his usual battery of pint-sized Heed Audio components from Hungary--preamp, power supplies, phono stage, monoblock amps, DAC and transport, all small enough to take up a single shelf. But if you know Heed, you know that it's small but mighty. The turntable is the awesome Basis 2500 Signature, mated with the Basis unipivot arm and the new flagship Transfiguration Proteus cartridge. The speakers, like last year, are the Trenner & Friedl Pharaohs, but this time they're in a striking pure white finish.

Before we left Denver, Colleen and I headed over to Blu Note Audio for a visit with Brandon Howell, the owner. Blu Note is our Unison Research dealer in Denver, and they've spent the last year building a state-of-the-art home entertainment and automation store that's truly impressive. I immediately saw two of our Unison amps--the S6 and the Simply Italy--sitting in a place of honor along the main wall of the showroom. I've never seen the Simply Italy with the cherry faceplate before...this was the first one we brought into the US. The S6, also in cherry, looked great right next to it. I told Brandon about the new Triode 25, and he's getting one of the first units. I told him to place it right between the two other amps.

The nicest thing about RMAF 2013 is that we only had to drive five hours back to Western Colorado, as opposed to 20 hours back to Texas. It snowed while we headed over Vail Pass, but it wasn't dangerous--just breathtakingly beautiful. Now that we're back home, Colleen and I are already planning CES as well as a PureAudio dealer event next month at Blackbird Audio Gallery. In addition, we have a new product line to promote. But I do want to thank Dan and Bob for making this year's RMAF run so smoothly, and I can't wait until next year!

A Great Desk System for Listening to Blu-ray Audio

I've just assembled this impromptu system next to my computer consisting of the Carot One Ernestolone DAC/headphone amp/integrated amp, the Cardas Audio EM5813 ear phones and my trusty Samsung Blu-ray player. So far this is my favorite application for the Carot One--the sound quality is warm, open and impressive. I've obviously dedicated this system to my collection of 2L Recordings' Blu-ray audio discs. It sounds so good that I'm going to take it with me to the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest this weekend.

I'll probably leave the Cardas earphones behind--I really don't want them to see the insides of hundreds of strange ear canals. Think of all the Purell I'd have to bring! Instead, Dan Muzquiz of Blackbird Audio Gallery is going to bring the latest headphones from Ultrasone.

I was able to use a pair of earphones from another company for a few days, but they were a prototype so I can't quite talk about them yet. They were relatively inexpensive and offered fantastic sound quality as well. (I'm not going to compare them to the EM5813, which are more than twice as expensive.) I will be getting a final production model after CES, so stay tuned. I'm only bringing them up because I'm hearing some fantastic in-the-ear phones of late, and it's amazing what kind of sound quality you can get for a relatively modest price. I think the Cardas EM5813s are so good for their price ($425) that it's really shaking up the headphone market.

Getting Ready for the 2013 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest

It's almost time for the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest! This year will be slightly different because we already live in Colorado, albeit 250 miles away from Denver. But a five hour drive is far preferable to a twenty-hour drive, and we plan on this show running far more smoothly than last year.

That's why we're keeping it simple this year: we'll be showing a system comprised of the Opera Callas monitors, fresh from their review in Stereophile, the Unison Research CDE CD player and the Unison Research P40 integrated amplifier, with all cabling and power management by Furutech. This is the first P40 we've had in the US, and as you can see from the photo it's strikingly beautiful and different. The faceplate is made from genuine hand-blown Murano glass, which contains all sorts of amazing variations that pick up the light in unusual ways. In other words, each P40--as well as its big brother, the P70--looks a little different from every other one.

Like last year, we'll be sharing a room with our good friends Dan Muzquiz of Blackbird Audio Gallery and Bob Clarke of Profundo. Bob plans on showing Viva from Italy, Trenner & Friedl from Austria, Heed Audio from Hungary and Transfiguration of Japan. The turntable will be from Basis, right here in the USA. Also representing the US is Cardas Audio cabling. We'll basically have two separate systems like we did last year, and we'll switch off every hour.

We'll have a few extra surprises which I'll announce over the next few days as well. We may have more goodies from companies such as Ultrasone, Carot One and Furutech, so check back!

Todd Hunter's Dig It & Have a Nice Trip on CD

This is more of a preview than a review; I don't make a habit of reviewing CDs that originally came out in 1997 and 2003 unless they're remasters or special editions. In fact, this is actually another musical recommendation from my good friend Dan Muzquiz of Blackbird Audio, an introduction of sorts to his friend Todd Hunter. Dan has yet to steer me wrong when it comes to music--he's the one who turned me onto singer Halie Loren, who has quickly become my go-to girl whenever I need a great female voice recording that isn't one of the usual (i.e. predictable) suspects. Dan wanted me to familiarize myself with Todd's previous releases because he's getting ready to release a new recording later in the year. That's not something to be taken lightly, since it's been a decade since the last one. But it's not like Todd Hunter hasn't been busy. He has.

So who is Todd Hunter? He's a jazz pianist, of course, and a quite gifted one. His style reminds me a little of Bill Evans--fluid, lyrical and dense--although Hunter has a fondness for salsa and samba beats that can make this particular comparison tough to secure. (But the similarities are there, at least for me.) Todd has also been around, as they say in jazz, which means he's played with such folks as Nancy Wilson, Kenny Burrell, Les McCann, Billy Higgins, Buddy Collette, Ndugu Chancler, Ronny Laws and Diane Reeves. He's also spent quite a lot of time touring with pop and R&B superstars such as Dionne Warwick, Whitney Houston, Natalie Cole, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Gladys Night, Gloria Estefan and the Brian Setzer Orchestra. Oh, and Todd's father is Bill Hunter, another accomplished jazz pianist. Along with Todd's son William, who plays trumpet, there's a lot of jamming at the Casa Hunter. No wonder Todd's only releasing his third solo album in 16 years--like I said, he's been busy.

That's kind of a shame in a way, because 1997's Dig It and 2003's Have a Nice Trip are really, really good. Better than good. Amazing. Earlier in the year I talked to jazz saxophonist Daniel Louis White about the contemporary jazz scene, and if it still contains the kind of trailblazing talent that existed fifty or sixty years ago. Daniel wasn't sure...he's just staying true to himself and what's inside him. These two Todd Hunter CDs emerge as Exhibit B to Daniel's Exhibit A, that modern jazz is still full of musicians who straddle the razor's edge between keeping history alive and feeding the genre as if it's a living, breathing thing (which it is). Both Daniel and Todd have helped me to realize that I've spending too much time listening to jazz from the '50s and '60s. I've been like one of those Boomers who haunt the music forums and declare that modern jazz died when Miles released Bitches Brew. I need to play catch-up; there's so much good jazz still being played every day.

While these two CDs sound a bit different from one another--Dig It has a more intimate feel, and the brass sounds a bit softer and mellower, while Have a Nice Trip is a wilder, more rambunctious younger brother--Hunter firmly puts his signature sound and style up front in both recordings. First of all, he must love percussion. He employs quite a few drummers and percussionists on both CDs including Aaron Serfaty, Mike Gutierrez, Raymond Pounds (great name for a drummer!) and Cassio Duarte, and he always gives them plenty of space to run and create lots of excitement on stage. Second, he's a truly balanced pianist when it comes to sharing the stage. He never recedes into the background, plunking the odd key just to remind everyone he's still there. While he's extremely generous with his fellow musicians, his piano is also the beacon, and there's no doubt that the leader of this band is the guy sitting on the skinny wooden stool.

Finally, all but two songs on these two CDs are originals, written by Todd Hunter. This might be one way in which contemporary jazz differs from past generations, the need for original compositions and the reluctance to put a new twist on an old standard (although Hunter does cover "Autumn Leaves" and "Comin' Home, Baby" on Have a Nice Trip). My theory is that we've seen at least three or four generations of singer-songwriters in rock, folk and pop, and it may have bled into the world of jazz. It's a matter of integrity, I suppose, the dividing line between hitmakers who just need to look good on stage and those talents who are trying to make their mark. I can go on and on about this, but suffice it to say that after all these decades it takes tremendous skill and inspiration to write original jazz compositions that sound as rich and melodic and memorable as those beloved standards.

If I had to choose one CD over the other, surprisingly I'd go with the older Dig It. (As a side note, I knew I had another album in my collection with the same title--it turned out to be from Klaus Schulze. These two albums sound just a little bit different from each other.) This has nothing to do with the strength of the compositions or the quality of the performances. I just felt that the overall sound quality of Dig It was simpler, smoother and more hypnotic. On Have a Nice Trip, the horns have a bite to them that will keep you on the edge of your seat. I'm reminded of J. Gordon Holt's comments about audiophiles who complain about harsh, bright horns on recordings, and how horns in real life are harsh and bright. There's nothing wrong about the horns on the second album, but they are more forward. This, of course, is nitpicking, so ignore me. These two albums are fantastic, and I can't wait to hear the new album later this year.

Until then, you can get Dig It and Have a Nice Trip directly from Todd Hunter's website at www.toddsounds.com.

Blackbird Audio Gallery and Profundo at the Newport Beach T.H.E. Show

As I said in part one of this report, CCI partnered with Dan Muzquiz of Blackbird Audio Gallery for the Newport Beach show last week. Dan also partnered with our good friend Bob Clarke of Profundo--US distributor of VivA, Trenner & Friedl, Transfiguration and Heed--in two additional rooms next door at the Atrium. Colleen and I didn't get a chance to see many other rooms during the show, but we did get to spend a lot of time on set-up day with Dan, Bob, Alpar Huszti of Heed Audio, Alan Fong of Syncopation (a dealer in Stockton, California) and Edwin, one of Alan's favorite clients. In other words, I did get to hear some great sound at the show--other than mine, of course, heh heh--courtesy of these guys.



You might remember that CCI, Blackbird and Profundo partnered up at last year's Rocky Mountain Audio Fest. We had two separate systems in that room and offered kind of a "dueling distributors" theme--we played our system for an hour, and then Bob would play his system. Dan acted as sort of the mediator and kept the music flowing. Well, we all had such a great time doing that room that we may repeat the set-up at this year's RMAF in October. In fact, it felt sort of odd to be at the same show with Dan and Bob this time--but separated by a parking lot.



Of course it helps that Dan and Bob are both vinyl lovers, which is why we all get along so well. Dan is a Basis Audio dealer, and Bob is a huge Basis fan--and owner. I'm pretty sure he'd be the US distributor if they weren't already made here in the US. In one of their two rooms at the Atrium, Bob and Dan included this Basis 2200 Signature turntable, with a Basis arm and the new flagship Proteus cartridge from Transfiguration--my current favorite manufacturer when it comes to cartridges. I'm also a big fan of the Basis turntabes--ordinarily I'm not in love with acrylic plinths, but Basis TTs always extract the light from the music in a masterful, confident way.



The big news at Profundo, however, is the introduction of the latest speaker from Trenner & Friedl, the Isis. The Isis is cut from the same cloth as the Pharaoh and the RA Box--wide, shallow cabinets and efficient designs--but the Isis is a 3-way design with a 15-inch woofer. It offered a sonic presentation that seemed without boundaries, effortless and thoroughly engaging. It reminded me of Trenner & Friedl's flagship, the Duke, which I heard at the 2011 CES. That's saying a lot, because the Isis costs less than one-fourth the amount of the $175,000 Duke. More than one person in the room commented that the Isis gives you a big hunk of the Duke's sound in a much smaller footprint. But as you can see from the photos, the Isis is still an imposing loudspeaker.



Amplification in the room was by VivA, another stellar brand imported by Bob. The VivA amplfiers offer some of the most beautiful designs available among tube amps, with rich, sexy curves, big tubes and gleaming surfaces. Of course they do--they're made in Italy! Cables were from Cardas Audio--enough said. This was an absolutely amazing room.



In the second room was an all Heed Audio system. As great as the first room was, this room really caught my attention because it made such a compelling sound from relatively affordable equipment. Those unique-looking Heed Enigma speakers are only $3800 per pair, but they offered full, impressive bass response and a huge soundstage--the kind of sound that you usually expect from speakers over $10K. You know how I feel about Heed electronics--the Obelisk integrated amplifier with X2 power supply is my first choice for solid state amplification for less than $5K. Here, Bob and Alpar brought their top-of-the-line monoblocks, preamp, phono preamp and digital transport and DAC. Dan also included his excellent Funk Firm turntable and arm with another Transfiguration cartridge. This was a system I could easily live with for the rest of my life.



These new equipment racks from Audio Strata were gorgeous as well. Dave Neilson, formerly of Splintr Design, made these racks specifically for the show. He was going to make one for us, but we all ran out of time. We should have one for Rocky Mountain and CES, so come on by and see these lovely pieces of furniture in person. (That's an in-joke--Colleen thinks racks should always be called racks, while Dave prefers audio furniture.)



I've said it before and I'll say it again--Bob Clarke has exquisite taste when it comes to representing product lines in the US. Although I don't have any seat time with VivA, I do own a pair of Trenner & Friedl speakers, I've reviewed Heed Audio and I've used Transfiguration at other trade shows. All four of his lines are just musical beyond belief, and that's coming from a "competitor" in an industry where "if I don't carry it, it must be crap" is almost a motto. And this speaks doubly well for Dan Muzquiz, who carries Bob's lines as well as ours--lines that I'm very proud of, too.



I recently had someone call me on this at a recent trade show--he was listening in as I told a retail customer that I carried the lines I did because I loved them. I'm not a salesman by trade, and I don't think I could sell something I didn't like. "That's a great sales line," that person said, and we laughed. But it's absolutely true. I think Bob is the same way--he loves his brands, and his system at home (which I've heard a few times) is made up of these brands and it sounds great.

As I've said more than once, I have the best job in the world. And I get to hang out with the best people.