Trellis Equipment Rack from Splintr Designs

I was able to borrow the Trellis equipment rack we used in the Unison/Opera room at CES last week. We're using two Trellis racks at our next trade show--the AXPONA show in Chicago in March--so it made sense to break down the CES rack and take it back to Texas for a couple of months. While we struggled to make the entire rack and hardware fit into the two smallish supplied boxes (we forgot to watch the guys from Splintr Designs unpack the rack and set it up), once I got back to Texas and unpacked it I found the rack incredibly easy to reassemble.

The Trellis racks are unusually attractive and well-designed. Because they are manufactured with a CNC machine, tolerances are tight and everything fits together with uncommon precision. Each shelf insert, made from heavy wood, has small rubber plugs at the corners to decouple it from the rack. Small cones are then used to control vibrations between each section of the rack, and larger, beautifully machined cones rest under the bottom section, which can also be used as an amp stand.

After unpacking all the pieces, I had the rack assembled and leveled in less than ten minutes. This particular rack is in maple. The Trellis equipment racks start at $1950, so with the upgrades this four-shelf rack will retail for roughly $2900. Splintr makes the Trellis racks in a wide variety of finishes, including some very exotic types, all which will increase the price. The shelf inserts are also available in a choice of woods, manufactured rock and granite which again drives up the price. But while the Trellis racks may seem pricey to those still using Expedit furniture from IKEA for their sound systems, these racks are actually a great value compared to some high-end audio racks that can cost well into the five-figure range.

We used the Trellis racks at both CES and the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest last October, and the majority of show attendees commented that the prices were extremely reasonable. I did have one gentleman in Vegas ask me point-blank why the racks were so expensive. I started off by explaining the high cost of a CNC machine, and his eyes seem to glaze over. So I wound up saying "They're not expensive at all."

As you can see, the additional Trellis rack gives me a lot of flexibility in my listening room. I've had a ton of equipment flow in and out of my system in the weeks leading up to CES, and it's been a royal pain to store this equipment all over the house when it's not in use. Now I can just leave it all on the rack. I'm set to receive the new preamplifier and monoblock amplifiers from PureAudio in the next few days, and now I have the room for all those amps.

If you'd like more information about Splintr Designs and the Trellis equipment racks, just visit their website.

Sam Cooke's Night Beat on Analogue Productions 45rpm LP

When Chad Kassem of Acoustic Sounds tells you that a record will change your life, you tend to reach for your wallet. That's exactly what I did last week at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest after Colleen and I visited Chad at the AS booth in one of the big ballrooms on the ground floor. Colleen and Chad have known each other for years, so I started rummaging through the bins for LPs--I like to blow my allowance for one really nice LP at every trade show I attend--while they caught up.

I had it narrowed down to about thirty or forty awesome possibilities when suddenly I found Sam Cooke's Night Beat in one of the bins (the $50 bin, natch). I had rekindled my love and admiration for Mr. Soul last year when I reviewed the HDTracks download of Ain't That Good News for Stereolist, so naturally I picked up Night Beat and noticed it was the 2009 Analogue Productions 2-LP reissue cut at 45 rpm. That's when Chad stopped talking to Colleen and looked over at me as if I'd just picked up a loose Faberge Egg off the carpet. That's when he said what I said he said. And that's when I broke out the credit card.

We took it back to our RMAF room and showed everyone else what I had purchased, ostensibly for demonstration in our system. Everyone nodded solemnly in agreement. Bob Clarke, who has a gift for understatement, said, "Yeah, that's a great one." My copy of Night Beat lost its virginity on one of the best-sounding analog rigs I've had the privilege to play: Unison Research Giro turntable and arm, Transfiguration Phoenix cartridge and PureAudio Vinyl phono preamplifier. By the end of the first song, "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen," I realized that this 1963 classic was going to be used at a lot of trade shows from that point on. In fact, it was the only LP I played during the last hour or two of the show.

While Night Beat ranks among the most amazing vintage albums in my collection, right up there with my DCC pressing of Nat King Cole's Love Is the Thing and the Classic Record reissue of The Royal Ballet Gala Performances, at times this album shrugs off the studio artifacts from fifty years ago and sounds absolutely modern in its clarity and immediacy. The Nat King Cole album, for example, truly shines in the way it projects Nat's vocals into the room with authority and presence, but the string orchestra sounds compact and slightly canned in contrast.

But listen to the round, full double bass in songs such as "Lost and Lookin'" and "Fool's Paradise" and you can feel the flesh on the strings and the air inside of the wooden body of the instrument. In "Mean Old World," the tiny bell rings true as if the percussionist was sitting next to you, keeping time in person. I haven't even mentioned Sam's hopeful, transcendent voice. Suffice it to say that it's relaxed and effortless within the mix and doesn't sound shoved forward as in many recordings of the time.

Fifty bucks isn't exactly cheap, but this is one of the rare instances where I've laid down some serious green for an LP, listened to it and said, "It was worth every penny." Think about every time you bought something rare on eBay or at a used record store and then sighed in disappointment once the needle hit the groove. This is a sure thing, and if you're an audiophile who doesn't already own this, you should. Thanks, Chad.

Pics from Set-Up Day at RMAF 2012

Here are some great pics, courtesy of Dan Muzquiz of Blackbird Audio Gallery, from yesterday's set-up day for the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2012. We're in Room 1113, so please stop by and say hello!

Profundo at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2012

As I said, there will be two separate systems in our Blackbird Audio Gallery room at RMAF 2012. Here's the system Bob Clarke of Profundo is bringing: Trenner & Friedl Pharoah loudspeakers, Heed DA/DT CD transport and DAC, Heed Obelisk PRE/PX linestage with power supply, Heed Obelisk PM monoblock amplifiers, Heed Quasar phono preamplifier and Cardas Clear cabling. Dan Muzquiz is also bringinghis Funk Firm Vector/FXR turntable/tonearm with the Transfiguration Axia cartridge. Great sound in Room 1113...be sure to drop in!

Getting Ready for the 2012 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest

It's that time of year again...time for the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, one of my favorite trade shows in the audio industry. This particular gathering has really become a favorite of a lot of audiophiles because it's not as business-centered as the Consumer Electronic Show in Vegas (which isn't even open to the general public). The atmosphere is more friendly, less stressful and generally just more fun for both attendees and exhibitors. Plus you get to travel to Denver in October, a really exciting time. Will it be warm? Will there be snow on the ground? Who knows?

Colleen and I are doing a rather novel thing this year; we're teaming with Bob Clarke of Profundo (Heed, Transfiguration, Trenner & Friedl and VivA) and Dan Muzquiz of Blackbird Audio Gallery in Santee, California for our room. We'll have two separate systems on display, although we will be sharing the turntable. Bob will be bringing the incredible Pharaoh loudspeakers from Trenner & Friedl and a wide variety of gear from Heed Audio. We've also mounted a Transfiguration Phoenix cartridge on our Unison Research Giro turntable, and it's making great music in my listening room as we speak.

In the photo above you can see the basic Colleen Cardas Imports system. Going clockwise, we have the Unison Research Simply Italy integrated amplifier, the Unison Research Giro turntable with Transfiguration Phoenix cartridge, the PureAudio Vinyl phono preamplifier and the Unison Research CDE CD player.

For speakers we are using the brand spanking new Opera Grand Mezza speakers. Right now I'm breaking in the very first pair out of the Opera factory in Italy; this will be the US debut.

This year's RMAF will take place from October 12-14 at the Denver Marriott Tech Center Hotel in Denver, Colorado. The Blackbird Audio Gallery room, where Bob, Dan, Colleen and I will be hanging out, is located on the 11th floor in Room 1113. We hope to see you there!

Another visit to Whetstone...with the PureAudio Vinyl phono preamp

First things first...Colleen Cardas and I just announced that we are now the US distributors of PureAudio of New Zealand. We have been so impressed with the Vinyl phono preamplifier I talked about last night that we jumped at the opportunity to represent this brand in the US. We also set the US retail price of this unit at $4500.

The day before we made the announcement, we brought the Vinyl over to Brian Di Frank at Whetstone Audio, our Austin dealer for Unison Research. Brian had already heard the buzz about PureAudio months ago, and when I posted on Facebook that we had the unit, he immediately responded "I want to hear it!" So we scheduled a visit and put the Vinyl into his showroom system that consisted of a Line Magnetic integrated amplifier, Well-Tempered Amadeus turntable, Dynavector 20X2 cartridge and Harbeth HL5 speakers.

After just a few tunes, Brian was impressed with the performance of the Vinyl. I'm going to give him a few days with it, and then get it back into my system so I can keep breaking in that Transfiguration Phoenix cartridge in time for the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest in October. In the Vinyl's absence, I went back to my old Lehmann Audio Black Cube SE phono pre. (I had to give up my Unison Research Phono One phono preamp for a couple of months so it could be reviewed in TONEAudio.) While the Lehmann is my favorite phono preamp in the $1000 to $1500 range, phono stages such as the Phono One and the Vinyl simply trounce it in terms of texture, 3-D imaging, deep bass response and detail.

Just a few hours after we left the Vinyl at Whetstone, Brian blogged about it on his website. He called it "flippin' great!" We agree. We're so enamored with the Vinyl that we decided to take it to the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest as well, where it will be mated with the Unison Research Giro turntable, Transfiguration Phoenix cartridge, the new Opera Grand Mezza speakers and a Unison Research amplifier TBD (either the Simply Italy or the Sinfonia, or maybe both).

Transfiguration Phoenix Has Stopped By for a Visit...

It's been an interesting week at CCI headquarters. First we get the PureAudio Vinyl phono preamplifier in for evaluation (and after four days, it's getting better and better), and now I just received a Transfiguration Phoenix cartridge from Bob Clarke. Bob runs Profundo, the US distributor of Heed, Trenner & Friedl, VivA and Transfiguration, and we're teaming up with him, as well as Dan Muzquiz of Blackbird Audio, for the upcoming Rocky Mountain Audio Fest in October.

Even though we're sharing a room with Bob, we'll each have a separate system that shows off our latest gear. Profundo will be showcasing such new arrivals as the Trenner & Friedl Pharaoh loudspeakers and the recently updated Phoenix, and Colleen and I will be showing off the Unison Research Simply Italy integrated and perhaps the upcoming Opera Grand Mezza loudspeakers. It'll be similar to the Hootenanny we had last year at Whetstone Audio, where Bob and I took turns playing music, but we've already agreed to forego the "you've been served" back-and-forth musical challenges.

Here's where the Transfiguration comes in: Profundo doesn't import a turntable (although Bob is very fond of Basis, a US company), and CCI doesn't import a cartridge other than the Unison Research UN1 that comes with the Giro turntable. The UN1 is a fantastic cartridge for the money, but it's basically a $550 moving-magnet. We wanted to up the ante for RMAF and feature a first-class analog rig, so we're pooling our resources and going with a much more ambitious moving-coil. I've been given the job of breaking this Phoenix in. I know, it's a hard job but I'll manage.

I'll mount this tomorrow and give initial impressions in a few days. I'm expecting great things, especially with the Phoenix matched to that utterly fantastic phono stage from New Zealand.