PAGE 3
Volume 1 2007
Exclusive VTV Online Magazine
2007 CES/The Show Report by Garrett
Hongo
Atma-Sphere, Ralph Karsten
VMPS, John Kassler
I heard designer Ralph Karsten's brand new MA-1 MK III monoblocks (140W Class A
triode, single stage gain) and also the massive MA-2 Mk III monos (220W each) in
different rooms.
MA-1 Mk III Monoblocks ($13,600), Debut at The Show '07
Atma-Sphere MA-Mk III - ($13,600)
In the Atma-Sphere/Tri-Planar room, the MA-1 Mk IIIs were driving a pair of Classic
Audio Reproductions Project T-1.3 horn-loaded speakers. In the VMPS room, the MA-2
Mk IIIs drove the VMPS RM v60 towers (100dB/tweeter: 95dB/mids; 94dB/woofers).
The Atma-Sphere amps are certainly the tubecraft carriers of audio. The M-1 Mk IIs use
fourteen 6AS7s per channel and 4 6SN7s each. The MA-2 Mk IIIs use twenty 6AS7s per channel
and six 6SN7s. And the sound both made was MIGHTY, MIGHT-TAY on orchestral
music--Beethoven's Violin Concerto (Heifetz/Munch/Boston on Living Stereo)--warm
and sonorous string tone and crazy fff dynamics. Source in the Atma-Sphere room was
the Esoteric DV-50. Source in the VMPS room was an Audience-modded Denon 3910--
something completely new to me. Besides the tremendous sound-pressure of the music,
the other most noticeable effect was the amount of heat given off by the phalanxes of
power tubes. After sitting a few minutes in the VMPS room, I felt like I was in the sauna
of a health club.
MA-2 Mk III
($34,800)
VMPS RM v60 with CD Waveguide Diffraction Slot removed to show array of
drivers
and 6"Aurum Cantus G3 tweeter
deHavilland Electric Amplfier Company, Kara Chaffee
There was quite a crowd in this room. I'd met Kara before at her home in Vancouver,
where I'd driven with friends from Portland to hear her Ios stereo amp designed around
the Shuguang a/o KR 811 direct-heated triode tube. At the Show, she was running her
Aries GM-70 monoblocks with her own Ultraverve pre, Alon Lotus Elite Signature
speakers, Prana Wire, modified tube-output Metronome C20 Sig DAC and Quad 67
transport, and Redpoint analog--a system dubbed "Best in Show" in '03 and '04 by
Positive Feedback. From what I heard, the sound was still very good. Although I didn't
hear them with my CDs, I found the amps superb on the rock music that was playing
when I got there--clear, rhythmic, full of funky impact, and with the liquid treble
extension
on the solo acoustic guitar of Nils Lofgren's "Keith Don't Go."
Audio Note (UK), Mario Binner
I heard the legendary AN (UK) Ongaku 211SE--a 25W Class A SET integrated based on
the 211 tube. Sourced with an AN CD II transport/DAC 5 Signature combo and
driving AN E/SPe HE monitor speakers (97dB) ($6,425/pr). These simple-looking monitors
have
a 1-inch silver voice coil soft dome tweeter and an 8-inch hemp cone
midrange/woofer. The sound was clean, resolving, and harmonically realistic. But,
given the overall price of the system exceeds that of a 3br middle-class house, I was
expecting something spectacular rather than understated and pure. Or maybe purity IS
spectacular.
Audio Note Ongaku SE ($79,350)
Audio Note Ongaku
Audio Note (UK) System
Sonist Loudspeakers, Randy Bankert
Sonist speakers were the surprise of the show for me, as I'd not heard of them until
then. Friends walking out of the room gave me smiles and thumbs up when I got to it,
and I wasn't disappointed. The designer, Randy Bankert, explained to me how he had the
wood cabinets milled from poplar planks and then finished with a special stain that had
molecules just smaller enough than the grain of the wood. The result was a deep, red-
brown cabinet that was a gorgeous piece of furniture as well as a fine, high sensitivity
speaker (95dB/8ohms).
Sonist Concerto 2 monitor
Sonist speakers with audio rack
Sonist Concerto 3 floorstander (left) and Sonist Concerto 2 (right)
Fi 2A3 amp (top) and Royal Device Ella Preamp (bottom)
Royal Device 300b amp
Randy has both monitors and floorstanders, called the Concerto 2 ($2495) and Concerto 3
($3495) respectively. The 2s were voiced through a Fi 2A3 amp (2W) ($1,275) and the 3s
were
through a Royal Device Sara 300b amp (10W) made in Italy ($3,295). Pre was Royal Device's
full-function Ella ($2,395); source was a Cary DVD 8 all-format player. Cabling was mostly
Acoustic Zen--Satori speaker cables, Diamond Matrix ICs. He used an Audience Adept
Response and Powerchord. The sound from either of group of Sonist speakers/amps was
involving, detailed, and non-fatiguing. Choral music came through without edge and
soloists had that special sweetness and liquidity that SET systems are known for. What I
discovered, especially with the Sara 300b amp and Concerto 3 speakers, was that a SET
system can accomplish great treble extension and sort out the harmonic complexities of
choral music.
Cyrus Brenneman Audio/Edgarhorn, Cyrus Brenneman
I'd first heard a Brenneman amp in a factory space in Lomita, California where Bruce
Edgar had taken me to listen to a pair of his big horns--a pair of Titan Slim Signatures.
He wanted to show me how they were on symphonic music, as, he said, "I base my
designs on how they play a big orchestra." I wasn't disapponted. The amp there was a
Brenneman Stereo Thirty--an EL34-based amp that produced 30W per channel. At the
Show, I found Cyrus Brenneman's room featuring a Cavalier Plus ($3500)--a 15W per
channel, cathode follower, single-ended Class A integrated amp. It used the KT-100 tube
to power a pair of imposing, red-stained Titan II Edgarhorns. It can also be fitted
with EL-34s or a KT-88s at reduced power output. With KT-100s, the sound was
magnificent. His wires were Cardas Neutral Reference. As I did in Lomita when Bruce
took me around, I asked Cy to play a Living Stereo hybrid CD of Jascha Heifetz
performing Beethoven's Violin Concerto with Munch conducting the Boston Symphony.
It was glorious, with a rich string tone, great orchestral impact and push, and fast
transients. After the demo, I was sad to hear that Bruce Edgar had a collapse soon after
shipping his speakers to Vegas ahead of CES and was now hospitalized. I hope he
recovers fully and quickly.
Brenneman Cavalier Plus ($3,500)
Cyrus Brenneman with his amp
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