Part 2 of my TAVES 2016 report
5. Bryston
Bryston of Peterborough, Ontario had an entire room of their awesome stuff. For some reason I never paid much attention to Bryston. Shame on me, them being a local brand with a world class equipment. And this room was a proof of that. The sounds coming out of Model T speakers were excellent. Great imaging, clean tight bass and detailed highs. And what's even more pleasing is that Bryston equipment doesn't cost a fortune and can hold its own against the brands that are tens of thousands of dollar more expensive. For more info visit www.bryston.com.
6. KEF Muon, VPI, Hegel
This was one of the most anticipated experiences for me. I've seen KEF Muon concept speakers on photos from various shows around the world as well as private setups. And finally I got to experience their amazing and mind blowing sound in person. The setup included the awesome VPI Titan turntable and Hegel electronics all resting on a massive Brazilian rosewood custom rack by Massif Audio Design, who also were kind enough to let me use most of the photos of this setup below. First photo is mine, though.
7. Skogrand Cables, Triangle Art, Venture
Skorgrand Cables are Ultra High End Audio cables hand made in Norway.This is my second year visiting Knut Skogrand's room and for the second time I am impressed by the sound in his room. The warm lush sound of the tube amps is just like nothing else. Once again Skogrand Cables partnered with Tom Vu and his amazing Triangle Art Turntables, namely the Signature and the Symphony SE. But this year Triangle Art featured not only the analog sources, but electronics as well - a pair of new Reference Tube amplifiers, and Reference Tube preamplifier and phono stage (both of two chassis design with separate power supplies). Speakers this year were Venture Audio Ultimate. Simply superb setup! Not only did it sound awesome, it all looked awesome too! See for yourself:
8. Tri-Cell Enterprises (Acapella, Accustic Arts, Transrotor, HRS)
Another room I was eager to get to. Tri-Cell Enterprises is a local distributor for such Ultra High End brands as Acapella, Accustic Arts, Thoress, Transrotor, Acoustic Solid and others. This room featured the stunning looking Acapella Atlas spherical horn speakers with their ion tweeters. Amplifier was Accustic Arts AMP III. Transrotor turntable was the analog source connected via Thoress phono stage. Gold Note CD1000 was the digital source. Everything resting on the HRS stands. After reading so much about spherical horns, I was expecting to be blown away by the sound. However, that was not the case. This is the problem with the audio shows. Sound is a hit and miss even with the most amazing equipment. Many factors are at play here. It could be cables or just the wrong matching of the electronics and speakers. I wouldn't say the sound was bad. I just wasn't impressed. I'd be curious to know what others thought of this setup.
