Oyaide Tunami GPX power cords

For the Heed review, I used the Oyaide Tunami GPX power cords on both the Obelisk SI and the X2. Dan Muzquiz of Blackbird Audio Gallery urged me to give them a try since he found them to be a synergistic match, something that propelled the Heeds to the next level. The Oyaides are not inexpensive at $540 each (that's for the 1.8 meter lengths with the 046 paladium over gold connectors), and if you're one of those audio guys who scoff at expensive power cords, you may not find them a viable option for a $1650 integrated amplifier and a $1200 power supply. The Heeds, however, are so illuminating in their ability to surpass your expectations that it makes sense to try different things and see just how far you can take their performance.

Admittedly I'm reluctant to review premium-priced power cords since that path is so rife with skepticism. In addition, I've done it once before I was hard-pressed to come up with 1200 words describing what they did for my system. But before I address what the Oyaides did, I have to point out a few things to the naysayers:

First, you have to have a highly resolving system before you hear differences in power cords. Throw a $540 power cord into a $1000 system and you'll hear no differences, which is precisely what a lot of these skeptics have done on their way to complain on the Internet discussion forums. High-priced cables and power cords are what you consider after all your other components are assembled and you're fairly satisfied with the results. Cables and power cords can fine-tune your system, but they will not transform it.

Second, premium power cords offer, at the very minimum, a robust way to hook up your components. Combined with hospital-grade outlets, a well-made power cord will seat firmly into the wall socket and probably never come out on its own. If you've ever friend a pair of speakers due to a loose connection behind your rack (and I have), this is a valuable feature (but admittedly not worth $540).

I compared the Oyaides with both stock power cords and a pair of Golden Reference power cords from Cardas Audio. There was no doubt about it--both the Cardas and Oyaide power cords offered definite sonic advantages over the cheap guys. Usually the sonic benefits of premium power cords are related to the lowering of the noise floor--with richer silences you'll always hear more of the music coming through. I also felt that the regular power cords shrunk the size of the soundstage a couple a feet in every direction, and bass was somewhat more limited (again, more of a function of a lowered noise-floor than any sonic "transformation" that might have occurred).

Comparisons between the Cardas and the Oyaide were a bit tougher. Honestly, I heard very little, if any, differences between the two power cords. Both did an outstanding job of making my system as quiet as it's ever been. Both cords made the little Heeds sound big and powerful and dynamic. I'd really like to say I heard some difference between the two, but I didn't. Both elevated the level of performance of the Heeds in a very tangible way, however, and they made it impossible to go back to the Heeds with the regular power cords.

The only issue left to resolve is your willingness to attach a pair of $540 power cords to $3000 worth of amplification. I look at it this way: the Heed Obelisk SI and X2 external power supply are a screaming deal at their MSRP. Is it worth $4000 to get a more quiet and refined and dynamic performance from them? I think so, and I stand by my opinion that the Heed/Oyaide combination is still my first choice for solid-state amplification at this price point.

Heed Audio Obelisk SI and X2 external power supply

As Yo La Tengo once said, today is the day. It’s a day to hang my head low and finally pack up the Heed Audio Obelisk SI integrated amplifier and matching X2 external power supply and send it back to Dan Muzquiz of Blackbird Audio Gallery. I checked the date on the original packing slip and was surprised to see it was dated March 24, more than three months ago. My time with the Heed gear flew by. I’m sure the opposite is true for Dan since these are his personal amplifiers, and I’m sure the spring must have dragged by insufferably without these incredible little black boxes in his home. We’re talking treadmill time. We’re talking waiting-in-line-at-the-DMV-time. I feel for you, Dan. I really do.

If Heed Audio isn’t on your radar, then it should be. This Hungarian audio company, quite frankly, is on a lot of people’s radar lately. For the better part of the last year, every time I mentioned that I was in the market for a quality integrated amp, whether it be LFD or Naim or something else, a dedicated contingent of Heed fans emailed me and told me I should check out the Obelisk at once. In fact, every time I mentioned Heed on this blog, every audiophile in Hungary checked in and drove my Google numbers through the roof. Hungarian audio forums were buzzing with the news that some crazy guy in Texas had discovered their audio secret, and they were excited. For them, it seemed, it was a terrible oversight that Heed wasn’t a household name throughout the world. Here in America, however, I have yet to encounter an audiophile who knows about Heed and isn’t head-over-heels in love with this gear.

Hyperbole aside, the Heed gear is at first glance rather modest-looking gear—simple black boxes that are quite small in size. When I first saw a photograph of the Obelisk SI, I instantly thought of the Naim NAIT 2 I owned through the ‘90s. When I saw the matching X2 power supply, I was reminded of the Naim NAP140 power amplifier I later added to the NAIT (although mentioning one of Naim’s power supplies, such as the HiCap, would be much more appropriate for this comparison). Both pairs of gear fit neatly onto a single shelf of your equipment rack. On closer inspection, however, the Heeds are more robust and stylish. In photographs they seem plain and austere, but the faceplates are thick and glossy and the shiny knobs have a luxurious feel to them. When the unit is turned on, blue LEDs glow discreetly and exude calm and grace. Not to bash the old Naim gear, which was attractive in its way, but the Heed is decidedly more modern and substantial in terms of build quality.

The Obelisk SI on its own is basically a 40wpc integrated with five inputs, the first one which has been taken up by the optional DACtilus digital to analog converter. The X2 external power supply, based on the same chassis, actually boosts the output another 10 watts per channel. Both are attached by a 5-pin umbilical. Heed Audio is very strict about using non-DC coupling in all of their designs. Alpar Huszti, who runs Heed Audio along with his brother Zsolt (the designer), explains his brother’s philosophy this way:

“Zsolt is strongly convinced that DC-coupling is the main culprit of the processed, often artificial sound -- that is, "chopped-off", "square-cut" notes instead of naturally decaying notes -- of most solid-state amps. He says, the superiority of valve amps over transistor-based should be attributed more to the way these are coupled to the speakers (not only, but to a large extent) , rather than to the vacuum tube itself. The reason behind it is simple: tones demand natural decay; DC-coupling, however, "tends" to short-circuit the speaker, thus cutting off the notes earlier than they are naturally resolved in performance.

“DC-coupling can be circumvented by 1) using output transformers (all valve amps, plus a famous exception from the 'transistor-camp', the McIntosh), 2) using output capacitors (Ion, Heed), and, finally, 3) using a fully balanced, truly +/- bridge-mode topology with two mirror-like amp stages.”

Because of this choice to avoid DC-coupled designs, Heed Audio enjoys a reputation for being just a little bit different in their approach compared to other audio companies, which may go a long way in explaining why these small boxes produce such a big, surprising sound.

As I’ve mentioned before in this blog, the first thing I noticed when I put the Heeds into my system (Trenner & Friedl ART monitors, Rega P3-24 turntable/TT-PSU power supply/GrooveTracer subplatter/Funk Firm Achroplat platter/Zu Audio DL-103 cartridge, Lehmann Audio Black Cube SE phono preamplifier, Blue Computer Solutions music server, Wavelength Brick V3 24/96 DAC, Cardas Clear Light cables) was the absolute lack of any grain. That was one of the shortcomings of the Rega Brio3 that the Heeds replaced, although I need to temper that statement with the fact that the Rega is probably the most satisfying and complete $700 integrated money can buy. But the Obelisk/X2 combination removed any sense of artifice or noise from the system that existed with the Rega, however slightly, and allowed the music to flow into the room unimpeded.

If I had to use just one word to describe the sound of the Heeds, it would be confident. These little amps seemed to proudly state, “We know we’re little. What are you going to do about it?” They were completely unfazed by any type of music (you can see my previous blog entry about my late night Tool-fest here), and they never seemed to implode or run out of gas. This is one aspect where the Obelisk does not resemble the NAIT 2 in the slightest; even with the NAP140 providing extra juice, the Naim always found a way to remind you of its limitations, usually in the form of an alarming and sudden downsizing of the soundstage. The Heeds never quit projecting a fully-realized portrait of the music. Now I’m not saying the Heeds, coupled with the tiny Trenner & Friedl ARTs, are the perfect choice for your next rave. But I am saying that after living with the Heeds in your system, you’ll realize that size doesn’t matter when it comes to delivering an accurate spatial re-creation of the original musical performance.

I’ve also heard from a lot of the Heed faithful who believe that the Obelisk SI is the one solid-state amp that sounds the closest to SET amplifiers. I’ll agree with that to some extent, because the Heeds did excel at the whole voices-hanging-eerily-in-space thing. The midrange was smooth, natural and extended in the same manner as the Yamamoto Sound Craft A-08 45 amplifier I owned just a few years ago. Where the Heeds distance themselves from the classic SET sound, however, is their ability to continue that level of musicality to the frequency extremes. Highs were extended and airy, and I was experiencing an unusually accurate sense of decay in all types of musical instruments. While the ARTs limit my low-frequency output somewhat (they go down to the mid 40s), the Heeds were able to extract a far deeper foundation for the music than the Brio3 (which offer nearly the same output power).

Finally, the Heeds excelled at making all types of music sound good. I can’t remember a single instance with the Heeds where I found myself wincing at a strident, harsh recording. For instance, I have a publicist from Portland who sends me a lot of local music from up-and-coming bands. While the vast majority of these performers are quite good, they’re not hiring Bob Ludwig to master their releases. Nevertheless, the Heeds always managed to unearth the music out of every track and reduce the noise and the grunge. I’m not saying the Heeds rounded corners and applied several coats of lacquer to the music in a McIntosh 275 sort of way, since I was still able to mine an extraordinary amount of detail from the grooves and the bits. It’s just that the Heeds aren’t one of those amps that are always eager, like a puppy who has just encountered a skunk in the backyard, to show you every little ugly thing that’s going on in the rest of your system.

There are two caveats to owning the Heeds, but they are minor. First, since the Heeds are so compact, the back panel is pretty crowded. I use Cardas Audio Clear Light cables throughout my system, and even though they’re “light,” they’re still pretty thick. Along with the beefy and stiff Oyaide Tunami GPX power cords Dan sent along with the Heeds, the back of my rack became quite chaotic. Using the superb Cardas Audio spade-to-banana adapters on the speaker cables helped a bit, but you should be somewhat talented in the area of cable dressing to keep everything organized, separated and clean.

Second, if you’re using the DACtilus card, the Heeds need to be powered down for a significant amount of time before you start swapping components. As Dan told me, the chip can be “potentially confused or damaged if ‘hot plugging’ is going on and likes for the integrated to be off and fully discharged and that the digital source be off as well.” With the other inputs, it’s business as usual. If you’re a set-it-and-forget-it type of person, this is no big deal. But if you’re the type of audiophile who likes to do quick A/B comparisons between DACs, this may slow you down a bit.

I have three more related reviews to conduct on the Heeds before I’m done with them, and hopefully I’ll get them out in the next couple of days. First, I need to talk about the DACtilus DAC option. Second, I want to talk about the Oyaide power cords. Then I want to talk about the sound of the Obelisk SI…without the X2. But those three subjects need their own space, and I’ve already gone on long enough.

As you might have guessed, I highly recommend the Heeds. The Obelisk SI is $1650, the X2 is $1200 and the DACtilus is $400--I can’t think of a better way to spend roughly $3000 on solid-state amplification. The combination of the Heed Audio Obelisk SI integrated amplifier and the X2 external power supply is one of those elusive products that makes you forget about what your system is doing right or wrong…you just shut up and listen to the music. They formed a very synergistic bond with my Trenner & Friedl ART monitors (yet I also tried them with my stand-by Vienna Acoustics Bach Signatures with excellent results), so if you own either one of these products and are looking for its mate, you have your answer.

In other words, if you ask me about Heed, I’ll say yes. Definitely yes. Check them out. Now.

Movin' On Up...

I won't be blogging over the next few days because I'm moving across town. Once I arrive, I'll be eager to set up my new (and much bigger) listening room. My new house has 10' ceilings, so it will be interesting to see how this affects the sound of my system.

After I've settled, I have a lot on my plate. I'm ready to offer my final reviews of the Heed Obelisk SI integrated amplifier and X2 outboard power supply, which will include evaluations of the DACtilus DAC card. I've also spent the last few days listening to the Obelisk without the X2, so I'll be able to comment on that as well. I'll also wrap up my observations on the Achromat and Achroplat from Funk Firm.

After that, I'm off to New York for the second AXPONA trade show, which will begin on June 24. So by the end of the month, I'll blog plenty of reports from the show. Since I have to send the Heed and Funk Firm gear back to Dan Muzquiz of Blackbird Audio Gallery, hopefully I'll be picking up some more gear after AXPONA. I'll give you a hint: it has TOOBS. (Thank God...I've missed the glowing little buggers in my system.)

Heed Audio Obelisk SI and X2 power supply....first impressions

It'd been eons since I'd last had the house all to myself, especially at night. "What kind of trouble should I get into?" I asked myself (and some of my Facebook friends). My first posted response was "First, I'm eating the rest of the Pringles," which I didn't do. I did smoke a nice little Camacho Triple Maduro, a cigar so black that I could hardly make it out between my fingers as I puffed away in my spot out on the back patio. Then it came to me. I could listen to music. Not just any music, mind you, but the type of music others in the household might object to. You know, like Tool.

I stared at my dimuntive Trenner & Friedl ART monitors, paired with the equally diminutive Heed Obelisk SI integrated, and I wondered if they were up to the task. The last small speaker/amp combination I'd used--Spendor S20s and a Naim NAIT 2--had a habit of imploding whenever I pushed them too hard. Stop me if you've heard this all before, but the soundstage would shrink in all directions whenever the music was supposed to be LOUD. Or, as one of my friends back then put it, "Your system isn't quite optimized for rock and roll."

But the ARTs and the Obelisk were a little different. First of all, the ARTs can reach down to 44 Hz, and my old Spendors would struggle to get down to 70. Second, the Spendors were only 84 dB efficient, and the ARTs are a much more amiable 87. Finally, the Heed sports 40 watts per channel, and 50 with the X2 power supply. The NAIT 2 had 15 or 21 or something like that. I had high hopes, especially since I've had the Heeds for a few weeks and I knew they could sound as beefy as hell with the right music.

A couple of years ago, someone tried to play me some Megadeth and Metallica on a very expensive system that consisted of 350 wpc of amplification and a huge (i.e. scraping the ceiling) set of panel speakers. With a pair of matching subwoofers. This person cranked it up to 11 and expected me to fall all over myself with superlatives. Instead, it took every ounce of my being not to wince and run from the room. The whole system sounded horribly dry, grainy and downright belligerent. While the Heed/ART system couldn't beat that system in terms of bass response, dynamics and unlimited soundstaging, I'd take it any day over that aforementioned mess.

So the Heeds with the T&Fs aren't the ultimate system for rock and roll. No big surprise there. But they did what that other system couldn't...sound pleasing to my ears. I could have used a little more oomph whenever Danny Carey sprinted over the pedals to his dual bass drums, and I would have enjoyed it if the blows to my solar plexus had been more persuasive. But I could hear deeper into the mix than ever before. For example, during the hell-bent climax to "The Grudge" from Lateralus, I noticed for the first time that Maynard was singing verses all the way through. He wasn't just a-whoopin an' a-hollerin. And the final whack of the bass drum that ends the song had an unbelievably realistic decay. In the past, I just heard silence.

Compared to the Rega Brio3 that previously took up space on my equipment rack, the Heed and its power supply sound deeper, purer and far more natural. The grain in the Brio's treble is gone, gone, gone. The soundstage has expanded in every direction. Or at least I think it has, since the Heeds have passed the clipboard test with flying colors. In other words, as I've listened to the Heed over the last few weeks, I've simply forgotten about detecting what it's doing right. All I know is that it sounds right on recording after recording, whether it's 10,000 Days or God Willin' and the Creek Don't Rise.

Before I start writing up a final review, however, I'll have to put the Heeds through more paces. First, I need to check out the internal DAC card, called the DACtilus, and use it with my music server so I can compare it to the $1750 Wavelength Brick V3 24/96 and the $120 Soundblaster external sound card (the DACtilus is a $400 option). Second, I need to take the X2 power supply out of the equation and see how the Obelisk SI does on its own without the extra juice. Then I may remove the Oyaide power cords that Dan Muzquiz says are so well-matched to the Heeds.

But I really want to take my time with this. You see, when I'm done with the review, I have to send the Obelisk and the X2 back to Dan. They're his personal amps. He misses them. But so will I.

And now for a little Paranoid.

Update to the update on Heed...

I've just received a couple of emails from Alpar Huszti of Heed Audio clarifying a few points. Regarding the fact that there are three separate models of the Enigma, Alpar says:

"No. There's always been just one Enigma, but Zsolt has been tweaking it over 10 years. More significant changes were marked with '3', '3s', '3es' .... Mk1, Mk2, Mk3, you know. The ugly dark grey version (left) had been a DIY project in Zsolt's DIY hi-fi magazine (Sound & Technology) in the late nineties -- the cradle of many electronic and speaker designs of him. The other two are basically identical, but the tweeter in the white cabinet has an oval-shaped felt surrounding. By the way, the tweeter was Morel MDT-40 but it's no longer available and has just been replaced by the new CAT408. Well, with some custom-made changes, of course .... conjuring omni's with conventional drive units being predominantly designed for directional speakers is a darned tough job."

Next, Alpar reminded me of his previous request that "....and do not hesitate to contact me whatever you'd like to know additionally." So he translated "egyre szélesebb rajongótábora" as "ever-increasing fan community"...which means ME.

Darn. I was hoping it meant "O beloved and knowledgeable Vinyl Anachronist"!

Alpar has provided me with plenty of technical data on the Heed Obelisk SI and X2 power supply that I am now evaluating. His input has been extremely valuable to me during the review process, and I'll include much of this information in coming blogs. Suffice it to say, however, that I'm very high on Heed right now (if you haven't noticed), and I'm excited about the sound I'm currently experiencing in my listening room.

Thanks, Alpar!

Heed Audio speakers...an update!

I've just heard back from someone at Heed Audio concerning these speakers, which I blogged about a few days ago. Evidently they are almost ready for a US debut, and if I'm good and eat all my vegetables I may actually get a pair in review. If these speakers are anywhere as good as the Heed amplification I'm currently using (courtesy of Dan Muzquiz of Blackbird Audio Gallery), then I know I'll be impressed.

By the way, I think these speakers may be called the Enigmas. Or maybe the gentleman from Heed was referring to the fact that these speakers are "enigmas" to me...

Speakers from Heed Audio

Dan Muzquiz of Blackbird Audio just posted these pics of these Heed Audio speakers on his Facebook page. I've been using the Heed Audio Obelisk SI integrated amplifier and X2 power supply for a month or so, and I have to say this Hungarian company really knows how to make great hi-fi.

These Heeds use Morel drivers, and Dan reports that they "imaged really big (tall) and were really forgiving with the sweet spot too," adding that they were really fun to listen to. There's no price on these yet since Heed is still trying to figure out these can be marketed competitively in the US. Since the Heed amps I'm using sound utterly fantastic for their relatively modest price, I bet these will wind up being bargains.

They remind me a little bit of Shahinian speakers. I'd love to hear them!

NOTE: Dan just informed me that these are just older pics from about two years ago that he's recycling on his Facebook page. I'll try to get an update on whether or not these will be available in the US.

Trenner & Friedl ART Monitors

"I'm still undecided whether the Brio3 is a fantastic little amplifier that outperforms everything at its price point, or if the ARTs are an incredible speaker that makes everything sound great even with modest ancilliaries. I'm sure it's a little of both."

I said these words a few days ago, and it made me think about the Trenner & Friedl ART speakers that have resided in my system for the last six months. While half of a year is certainly not that long to have a piece of audio equipment in for review, I've felt remiss in not offering a formal review on the speaker I've decided is perfect for my needs. I suppose I was reluctant to offer any type of formal review on a pair of high-performance $4250 mini-monitors while my reference amp retailed for just $750. Now that I'm using the ARTs with the Heed Obelisk SI integrated amplifier and the X2 power supply--a combination that is truly synergistic in many ways--I feel I have a better handle on just how great the ARTs really are.

Bob Clarke of Profundo, the US distributor for both Heed and Trenner & Friedl, put it best. "You probably won't want to ever trade in the ARTs as you upgrade your system," he told me at the 2011 CES. "They will really continue to blossom as your amplification gets better and better." Bob should know, since he uses the ARTs as his own reference speakers mated to the expensive VivA tubed amplfication from Italy.

If you think my enthusiasm for the ARTs borders on hyperbole, then consider the following:

1. Terry Combs, owner of Sound Mind Audio in Dallas, uses his ARTs in conjunction with the dedicated 78rpm system I talked about in the latest Vinyl Anachronist column for Perfect Sound Forever. Terry carries a lot of expensive speaker brands, but he keeps coming back to the ARTs for his own listening enjoyment. "If someone told me I had to listen to the ARTs and only the ARTs for the rest of my life, I'd say okay...thanks!"

2. Before I listened to the ARTs, I was extremely enamored with a couple of British mini-monitors from a beloved and respected manufacturer. Since I've owned the ARTs, I've listened to these speakers on several occasions and actually came away unimpressed for the first time. The ARTs ruined them for me.

3. While listening to Trenner & Friedl's $170,000 Duke flagship speakers at CES, I came away thinking how similar the ARTs were in tonal accuracy and their ability to reproduce detail in a forthright and utterly musical manner. I have to admit that the Dukes are the finest loudspeakers I have ever heard, but when I returned home from Vegas and gave my ARTs an extended listen, I loved the little guys even more. The family resemblance, in other words, was amazingly strong--even considering the $165,000 difference between the two products.

In some audiophile circles I frequent, I received a bit of flak from so-called objectivists who felt that the ARTs aren't that impressive when you look at their numbers, especially considering their price. One audiophile and longtime acquaintance, who prefers Vandersteens and vintage tubed amplification, asked me, "Are you trying to say that you couldn't find a decent full-range loudspeakers you liked for $5000?" (The slightly inflated price was the result of his estimate of a good pair of stands for the ARTs.) I thought about that question for a while, and realized that the answer was no, there was no full-range speaker in that price range that I felt bettered the ARTs in overall musicality. In my relatively small listening room (actually a small spare bedroom in a rather large house), the ARTs are able to sound dynamic, authoritative and BIG. They are able to throw up a gigantic soundstage, just like a full-range speaker. They play loud. They produce an amazing amount of bass for a mini-monitor. And they never fail to sound musical.

I guess it eventually all comes down to bass, since the ARTs are nearly perfect in all other respects. The ARTs do go down to 44Hz, plus or minus 6dB. It's that 6dB spec that has the objectivists in a tizzy; if it was only 3 dB, then that would apparently be okay. I tend to focus more on that 44hZ spec, since I believe that it can be further reinforced with proper room placement and amplification. Besides, I think about some of the huge British loudspeakers I've owned over the years. The Spendor SP100s I had for several years are flat down to about 45 Hz. The $13,000 Harbeth 40.1s I used for about six months are flat down to about 39 Hz. Those are giant speakers with huge footprints. The ARTs are downright miniscule in comparison. While that 6dB blip is the reason why I can't honestly say that the ARTs are in the same ballpark low frequency-wise with those other speakers, they're relatively close. Close enough, in other words, that I really don't care about the gap.

After living with the ARTs for the last six months, I'd say that I have the right amount of bass for at least 90% of the music that I listen to...maybe even 95%. There are certainly times when I know that a bass line is missing altogether, such as some of the subterranean bass guitar runs in the Flobots' excellent Fight with Tools CD. But the ARTs get so much right in the bass department that it's not that big of a deal. Double basses, for instance, are reproduced with the right amount of weight. Kick drums are visceral and potent.

The ARTs' ability to throw up a giant soundstage certainly helps. As I've said before, lack of deep bass is less noticeable in a humongous soundstage. The ARTs deliver the type of soundstage that easily transcends room boundaries. I've been told that they breathe even more in larger rooms than mine, but that undermines my point about the ARTs excelling in small rooms. I've never heard a speaker, small or large, that does so much with so little. To illustrate this, I recently had Colleen Cardas of Cardas Audio listen to my system (The ARTs, by the way, are internally wired with Cardas cable). Colleen's first comment was "Wow, this room is small." Her second comment, after listening to a few selections, was "This sounds like really expensive systems do."

In other words, if you want great sound in a small room, start with the ARTs.

So what about the five to ten percent of my music that needs more bass? Well, I suppose I could consider a subwoofer down the line. While visiting Dan Muzquiz, a Trenner & Friedl dealer in San Diego, I heard the ARTs mated to a Mingus subwoofer--a discontinued model from none other than T&F (I hope you've noticed by now that most T&F speakers are named after jazz greats, and the ARTs are named for Art Pepper). This was a thrilling full-range combination that gave me everything I could ever want--the same coherent musicality, the same unbelievable soundstage and the same thrilling dynamics. There was just a bit more bass. Not a screaming amount, just a bit.

Okay, so I've beat the bass issue like a deceased equine, and it's time to talk about why the ARTs are so great. What else is there to say? Now that the Heeds are in place, I'm experiencing a sound that is easily the equivalent of some of the $50 to $75K systems I had at my disposal while reviewing gear for TONEAudio. I tallied up my system the other day, and came away with a slightly inflated (aka MSRP) price of $18,000. That includes the exquisite Clear Light cables from Cardas Audio, which account for a bigger percentage of the total than I usually reserve for system cabling. There are also some weak links in the system, such as a modest Rega P3-24 turntable and Zu Audio DL-103 cartridge, and a very modest Denon CD player. (I'm not really interested in getting an expensive CD player as long as I'm using our custom Blue Computer Solutions music server, although I might be getting one in the near future for review). I truly believe that the ARTs are great enough to make those pieces perform at their very best.

The ARTs elevate the performance on the entire system, which explains my reluctance to point out the shortcomings of the Rega Brio3. (For the record, the Heeds underlined the fact that the Rega is a little gainy in the treble, and it isn't the most resolving amp in the world). The fact is, the Rega/T&F combination was much better than I expected. So in my humble opinion, the ARTs may be one of those rare components that can transform an entire system for the better.

I haven't even mentioned the fit and finish of these remarkable mini-monitors. The cherry veneer is deep, textured and rich. The Corian baffles are translucent and make the speaker seem to glow from within, much like the music the ARTs produce. These are absolutely gorgeous speakers, a rare mini-monitor that radiates beauty without resorting to odd shapes or glued-on doodads. The proportions are unique; while the ARTs look tiny when faced dead on, they are unusually deep, a result of the fact that they are designed using the Golden Ratio. In other words, the ARTs are uniquely striking without being gaudy. The pride of ownership with these little gems is through the roof.

So will I keep the ARTs forever and ever? That's hard to say, since I once said the same thing about my Spendor SP100s. All I can say is that if I do replace the ARTs one day, it will be with a speaker that is MUCH bigger and MUCH more expensive. And it will probably be sporting a Trenner & Friedl badge as well.

CES 2011--The Profundo Room

Sure, I spent as much time as possible in the big Trenner & Friedl room with the Dukes, but I also frequented the other Profundo room which was run by Dan Muzquiz of Blackbird Audio Gallery in San Diego. Profundo is the US distributor and importer of many of Dan's brands such as Trenner & Friedl, Heed Audio, Transfiguration and VivA Audio. Profundo is basically Bob Clarke, who is one of the good guys in audio because he loves music and puts that first. In fact, once you get to know Bob, you'll find out that when he plays music, he loves to crank it up. Yes, Bob Clarke rocks.

It was also great to hang out with Dan, because over the last few months we've become good friends and yet we've never met in person. It was weird to walk up to him in the Profundo room and wait for him to recognize me. When he did, I got a huge bear hug.

Anyway, Dan had some very intriguing gear set up in this room. First, as I mentioned before, he had the ART monitors set up and run by the Heed Audio monoblocks, along with a Heed preamp. Sources were a Basis turntable with a Transfiguration cartridge as well as a digital transport and DAC from Heed. Cables, of course, were all Cardas.

But the ARTs had a little something extra on top...the new add-on super tweeter from Trenner & Friedl. I erroneously reported earlier that this was the same tweeter used on the Dukes, but it's actually a scaled down model. It's a Vifa tweeter instead of the diamond tweeter used on the Dukes. That makes sense, because the diamond tweeter add-on would cost approximately $15,000 to $20,000, and that doesn't quite make sense with a pair of $4250 stand-mounted monitors. The smaller tweeter will retail for somewhere around $2500. While this still sounds expensive, especially in the context of the ARTs, it makes a lot more sense for the middle speakers in the Trenner & Friedl line such as the Ella and the Dizzy. Best of all, both of these super tweeters can be added to almost any speaker on the market.

This smaller tweeter also has the striking Swarovski crystal on top. I watched guest after guest walk into the room and immediately run toward those big "diamonds" perched on top of the ARTs and try to figure them out. Once Dan explained how they work, it made a lot more sense. The super tweeters, as you can tell from the pics, fire upward from the top of the speaker. The crystals are cut in a specific way to aid with proper dispersion. I was able to listen to the ARTs with and without the super tweeter, and the difference is not subtle. With the super tweeter in place, the ARTs sounded a lot bigger and threw up an amazingly deep soundstage. It's very impressive to hear such a wide, deep, expansive sound coming from such little speakers. As I toured from room to room in CES, I saw nothing but giant speakers everywhere I went. It was nice to see the ARTs, in many cases, sound just as authoritative and impressive as those big floorstanding behemoths.

I also felt that the ARTs, with and without the super tweeter, sounded much better in this room than in my own personal listening room at home. First of all, the room at CES was quite a bit larger than mine and the ARTs had more room to breathe. Secondly, the Heed amplification is quite a few notches above my current Rega amp. The ARTs produced an amazing amount of bass with the Heed monoblocks, so much so that we often found ourselves laughing at just how much low frequency information was coming from these mini-monitors.

Fortunately, I will soon be able to experience this kind of sound at home. Bob told me that once he recovers from CES, he's going to send me the Heed Obelisk SE integrated amplifier and X2 outboard power supply that I blogged about a few weeks ago. Bob told me that the wonderful thing about the ARTs is that you can keep throwing higher and higher quality amplification at them and they'll keep sounding better and better. Bob uses the ARTs at home with the expensive VivA amplifiers from Italy, and the ARTs definitely pull their own weight. It's nice to know that as I improve the other pieces in my own system, it will be a long time before I feel like upgrading the ARTs. In fact, unless I can win the lottery and buy a pair of Dukes in the near future, I plan to keep the ARTs for a very, very long time.

Maybe with that super tweeter, though.