T.H.E. SHOW Newport 2018 - Day 1

T.H.E. SHOW Newport 2018 – We’re just enjoying the beautiful weather and taking it easy. We had a great time just chatting, drinking, making new friends, and simply enjoying the music.

Mostly second-floor coverage today. Scott Walker Audio had a huge presence (5 rooms!). High Fidelity Cables is always magnetically fun and we love the guys at Cambridge Audio (thanks for the shirts!).

Alma Music and Audio – YG, Innuos Statement, D’Agostino, Stromtank. The snaps and bass plucks in the intro of “My Love Is” – Diana Krall…ooh wee, gimme more.

The German Power Tank

Making its debut…the BLUE UEF Duplex. They’re throwing these bad boys into the PowerCell 12 UEF conditioners as well. The gains on the BLACK duplex were huge. Can’t imagine what BLUE brings.

Scott Walker Audio: PowerCell 12 UEF SE power conditioner with new BLUE duplexes.

Scott Walker Audio: Synergistic Research’s demo room turned out to be my top listen of the day. It was so enjoyable, I wouldn’t have minded just skipping the demo altogether. With a set of ELAC speakers, there was a richer and more weighted sound this time around. This blended beautifully with their loom. Those ELAC Adante AF-61 ($5,000) sounded way too good for the money, and much better with the HFTs. If there were a demo that illustrated the benefits of SR’s acoustic treatments (especially the Atmosphere XL4), this would be it.

An exciting new release by High Fidelity Cables: The CT-2 interconnects ($2,000). Essentially the love child of their uber high-end Ultimate Reference Helix and Reveal series interconnects. The design and feel of these cables are unique and highly attractive. Given how impressed I was with the Reveals, these CT-2s are sure to crush more giants.

High Fidelity Cables’s room full of magnets – This time with their new MC-1 Pro.

Darin Fong Audio – Impressive surround experience without all the bulk.

The gorgeously polished High Fidelity Cables MC-1 Pro

Show Surprises: The Cambridge Audio Edge NQ preamplifier ($4,000) with network player and Edge W power amplifier ($3,000). B&W 805 D3 bookshelf speakers ($6,000). Somehow I always leave this room drunk with a red cup in my hand (AXPONA). But this time I wanted to give their stuff a proper listen. With You Make Loving Fun – Fleetwood Mac, tonal contrast and clarity were simply outstanding. There was a nice balance of weight, depth, and tonal density. Strings and vocals were focused, accurately layered, and incredibly smooth while being resolving of the finer details. I expected a five-figure price tag for each component – definitely one of the strongest values in audio today.

The secret sauce to Cambridge Audio’s amplification. “We pioneered the use of toroidal transformers in amplifiers, which led to improved performance. In Edge we take this one step further, using opposing symmetry twin toroidal transformers. This cancels out electromagnetic interference whilst offering outstanding power and maintaining consistent tonality, no matter how loud it’s played.”

I love the attention to detail Cambridge Audio has placed on their products. From the elegant chassis design, to knob tactility and texture, to even having coordinates for their headquarters (as pictured). A labor of love indeed.

Shunyata Research & Gryphon – Silky smooth and rich.

Rick Shultz A/B’ing the High Fidelity Cables MC-1 Pro for the crowd. More focus, resolution, and overall tightness. Ooohs and ahhhs abound.

This tiny Perfect8 Cube speaker ($18,000) packs a punch! Enormous, yet a well dimensioned and controlled sound field. Doesn’t dig super deep but richly shaped for some fun listening across all genres.

Raspberry Pi 3 with HiFiBerry sourcing a $70,000 Perfect8 & Ypsilon setup.

Ypsilon DAC 100 ($29,000) and Phaethon ($25,000)

Tweak Studio – Another fantastic sounding room. I’ve never heard the YGs speak with so much ease, fluidity, and speed. Sounded great, even sitting off-center. I have a hunch those Burmester components are responsible for some of that gracefully incisive music.

Piega Coax 511 – $15,590

My classy red cup (credits to Cambridge Audio)

PranaFidelity: I highly recommend listening to these PranaFidelity Bhava loudspeakers and electronics. Ask Steven to play Jazz Variants off the La Bamba album. You’ll be blown away by explosive dynamics and organic rawness. It is the best I’ve ever heard this heavily percussive track. I definitely plan to revisit before the show is over.

Furutech NCF Booster and DPS-4.1 sighting…

Advanced and highly efficient elevators. Select a floor and they’ll direct you to the proper door.

Inside the elevator…

It’s here…

Although a bit neutral about ELAC’s Adante AS-61, the Adante AF-61 floorstanders ($5,000) are making its mark – big time. Absolutely stunning and musically accurate sound from these loudspeakers. Without breaking the bank, these could be end-game speakers for many. Thoroughly impressed.