We spent the final day of the show
searching for new and interesting products to fill holes in our show coverage and
listening to products we've meant to hear. One of the latter for me was the speakers from
Zu Cable, which I've heard several times but only briefly. This company has its marketing
down cold. They portray a hip, youthful image that gives a come-hither wink to the
iPod generation, whom Zu Cable wants to attract to high-end audio. The speakers look cool
too, especially in the vibrant colors on display at the RMAF: orange, violet, candy-apple
red.
The sound? That was a very different matter to my ears. The
system with the Druid Mk IVs was smeared from the lower treble through the midrange, as
though frequency bands were doubling back on themselves, creating a tangle of sound
instead of a flow of music. The Definition Pros were better in this regard, but they
conveyed little tone color, even though they were driven by a tube amp, and their bass
sounded overdamped -- uptight-- as well.
I know some listeners love Zu Cable speakers, but for me
the issues I've mentioned would be far too pervasive to overlook in favor of any perceived
strengths. Yes, the dreaded "show conditions" are responsible for producing
wretched sound, but we do hear good sound at shows too. Maybe an in-home
evaluation of a Zu Cable speaker is in order.
Symposium Acoustics Panorama
A speaker that looked like a work-in-progress but sounded
darned good was the Symposium Acoustics Panorama, which uses proprietary, hand-built
planar-magnetic drivers from 100Hz up, and separate large subwoofers from that point on
down. While the Panoramas' projected $50,000-$60,000 price will make many audiophiles take
a long pause, their big, pure sound belied the fact that Symposium is known for its
isolation products and equipment racks, not speakers.
Finally, a quick mention of the new Merlin VSM-MXe speakers
($12,000/pair with Super BAM), which were at the business end of a system that included
Joule Electra electronics and JPS Labs cables. This is a combination that you could have
heard in 1998, and it's still making satisfying music in 2006. Some things never
change.
* * *
After seeing them a number of times, I finally got to hear
the Thiel CS3.7s, though not a completely finished, production version. They sounded
squeaky clean and very extended up and down, as Jim Thiel's speakers do. Electronics were
from VTL, and the source was a Marantz CD/SACD player. The CS3.7, whose price has been set
at $9900/pair, may be the next big thing -- once it's finally in production. [www.thielaudio.com]
I was also impressed by the Green Mountain Audio Continuum
3, a floorstanding time-and-phase aligned speaker. This one is for sale now, and, based on
what I heard, it's something special, even crammed into a room that seemed too small for
it. Such sweet precision and powerful bass! On my Wailin' Jennys demo cut, "Old
Man," the voices were arrayed in spectacular fashion, and when Roy Johnson of Green
Mountain Audio played a cut from Tangerine Dream that was heavy with drums, his speakers
sorted out the busy music with seeming ease. I should give some credit to the Flying Mole
DAD-M310 mono amps ($995 each), Birdland DAC and Sony CD player used as a transport that
were also part of the system. The Continuum 3s aren't cheap at $16,995 per pair, but
there's a lot of solid engineering behind them that has its payoff in the sound.
Verity Audio Rienzi.
Finally on this Speaker Saturday, I also briefly heard the
brand-new Verity Audio Rienzi ($7995/pair), which looks all the world like a smaller
Parsifal Ovation. Like that speaker, the Rienzi is a two-cabinet design whose woofer can
face forward or backward. Driven by Nagra electronics, including Nagra's new CD player, the Rienzi produced a
gigantically spacious sound -- aided by the fact that the speakers were probably 15 feet
apart. Even so, the center image was distinct. At $7995 per pair, the Rienzi will cost
less than the Thiel CS3.7 and Green Mountain Audio Continuum 3, but all three of these
speakers demonstrate how different well-established companies approach the task of
building new and better loudspeakers.
* * *
My first time at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest marks the
second time I've been to Denver in two months. Last month, Doug Schneider and I were
downtown covering CEDIA Expo -- a very different show from the two-channel-centric RMAF.
The crowds were thin today -- at least by the standards we use to judge such things -- and
the venue seems less than ideal for an audio show. The rooms are narrow, and the windows
are sealed shut, which makes the whir from air conditioners an ever-present issue for
exhibitors, a few of whom complained to us.
Behold and Ascendo at RMAF.
Still, we came across some impressive demos, a few of which
you'll read about as Standouts. Two designers I hadn't heard of but who made a lasting
impression on me were Ralf Ballmann and Jim Hagerman. Ballmann's
Behold electronics mate computer and audio technologies in new and effective ways, and
Hagerman's extensive line of kits and assembled
products make him and his products worth watching. The Behold demo in particular
impressed with not only its forward thinking but its user niceties and tremendously
refined sound. While the sonics weren't anything new to Doug Schneider, who has heard
Behold equipment at the Munich show, I was impressed enough to discuss future review
possibilities with the US distributor. These are cutting-edge products that deserve
such a title.
