CCI at the New York Audio Show

I can't believe it's been nearly two years since Colleen and I went to the AXPONA Show in New York City and announced the start of Colleen Cardas Imports. We're headed back to New York this week, but we'll be attending the New York Audio Show this time. Things have changed a bit since June 2011--we had no dealers back then and just two lines, Unison Research and Opera Loudspeakers. Now we have five lines--we added PureAudio, MAD Loudspeakers and MOOS Audio over the last few months--and around twenty dealers. At AXPONA, we exhibited in one room full of Unison and Opera. This week we will have the equipment in three different rooms.



The main room Colleen and I will be running is the My Audio Design room, which will feature a system slightly like the one we demonstrated at the AXPONA Show in Chicago last month. (Above is a photo of that room.) We'll be using the My Audio Design Duke Royal Limited speakers again, as well as the PureAudio Control Preamplifier and PureAudio Reference monoblock power amplifiers. While I'd still love to have that analog rig in the photo--a Sota Millenia, SME iV.Vi and a Soundsmith Hyperion--we will not be doing vinyl this time. We have a surprise guest for a digital playback system, and you'll have to stop by to see what it is. Colleen and I will be manning this system in room 1015 for Timothy Jung of MAD.



In addition, our good friend Jeff Joseph of Joseph Audio is borrowing the Unison Research Unico 50 integrated amplifier for the room he is sharing--1007--with Channel D/Pure Music. Jeff is well-known for achieving great sound at audio shows, and we're honored that he's using the Unico 50 at this show.



Finally, you'll be able to see the US debut of the My Audio Design Baron loudspeakers in Room 1019, which is the Care Audio room. Care Audio is a brand new dealership in Edison, New Jersey, and they will be a MAD dealer once they open their doors. The New York Audio Show is a christening of sorts for Care Audio, and we are proud to be there at the beginning. The speaker you see in the photo is the actual Baron that will be at the show; the pic was snapped at the MAD factory in the UK just as the speaker was finished. These are a smaller version of the Dukes with one less woofer per side and are more affordable. I'm looking forward to listening to them at the show.

The upcoming New York Audio Show will be held at the New York Palace Hotel at the corner of Madison Avenue and 51st Street from April 12 through the 14th. For more information on the show, check out the Chester Group website at http://www.chestergroup.org/newyorkaudioshow. Hopefully I will see you there!

PureAudio from New Zealand Has Arrived...

Colleen and I just received the full line of amplification from PureAudio of New Zealand just in time for the AXPONA show, which is in Chicago in just less than two weeks. I've been eagerly awaiting these pieces for quite a while--I've had some seat time with the Vinyl phono preamplifier already and I was hoping the Control preamplifier and Reference monoblock power amplifiers would be equally good. They are. In just a few minutes I had the four components unpacked and hooked up in my system. The first song I played, of course, was "Yulunga" from the MFSL pressing of Dead Can Dance's Into the Labyrinth. It's what I always play first when I make changes to the system.


The Control preamp, pictured here, is unusual in that it's so simple--you'll find just one knob on the front panel (volume), making it look more like a power amp. You might notice the lack of a selector switch. You don't need one--the Control automatically senses a music signal and switches to that input. I haven't seen what happens when you play music through two inputs at once. As you may have noticed, this is a vinyl only system right now--my Unison Research CDE CD player is on its way to Chicago as I write.


This is one of the Reference monoblocks. It provides 65 wpc of pure Class A amplification. I have some support cones underneath them so all that heat from the amplifier won't singe my carpet--or, in turn, so that the carpet won't block ventilation from underneath the amp. Again, the Trellis equipment rack is on its way to AXPONA and I had to improvise. There are hefty fans underneath the chassis of the amp as well, keeping everything relatively cool so far.


The remote is also minimalist in design--just two buttons for up and down on the volume. It's sleek and sexy and the little vertical bar glows when you push a button. That vertical bar is found on all of the PureAudio products--it glows a soft white when everything is in stand-by mode and turns off when music is playing.


Gotta love those Cardas binding posts. I wish every amp used them. You can hook up a speaker cable with one hand.


I only have a couple days to put some hours on the PureAudio gear. You can hear the entire system in Room 813 at AXPONA along with a SOTA turntable, Soundsmith cartridge and the My Audio Design Duke Royal Limited loudspeakers. Cabling and power management is provided by WyWires. See you there!