AAudio Imports Buzz

Hartvig TT Signature Gramophone

Audio Exotics thread on the Hartvig TT Signature Table from Denmark.

info link... http://audioexotics.hk/index.php?option=com_simplestforum&view=postlist&forumId=1&parentId=10375&topic=true&Itemid=53

RMAF 2012 Featured Audiophile

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Updates from the high-end audio community

RMAF 2012 – Featured Audiophile – Brian of Aaudio Imports

It’s become a tradition for Brian Ackerman, owner of Aaudio Imports, to invite RMAF attendees to visit his personal audio showroom. We were lucky enough to get invited along for this year’s fantastic event. To say Brian’s system is amazing is an outrageous understatement. From his room treatments, to seating, to lighting, Brian knows how to create the ultimate listing experience. Thank you, Brian for sharing your room with us! If you want a little taste of what we heard, check out this video.

Here’s a video of his personal showroom where he describes his system and room treatments, as well as gives us a taste of what his gear can do.

It was great to get to know one of our Featured Dealers (you can look him up on Audiogon here) Now that you’ve seen his system, let’s get to know a little more about Brian.

AGON: What’s your favorite piece of gear in your current system?

Brian: Ypsilon SET100 Ultimate Amplifier

AGON: How did you become an audiophile?

Brian: I think I was born as an Audiophile.

My parents owned a great all tube system when I was growing up in upstate NY. When they were out working or on date nights I would invite my friends over and crank the system. We had the music piped into our basement so I would play the drums to the music to impress my friends.

I later enlisted in the Navy and traveled the world. We had these great duty free stores which sold all the latest and greatest audio and photo gear. I would save my paychecks for months while out at sea, and then once the ship pulled into port I headed straight to the duty free store to buy my stereo equipment and cameras.

My friends and family would put their orders in, and I would return to the states with all the new toys.

AGON: What advice can you give those who are new to high end sound?

Brian: The best advice I can give is to find a good dealer that you can trust and allow this dealer to work with you and guide you in making your system complete.

Go for the system aproach… Otherwise you may find yourself chasing your tail around and changing out your gear all the time.

Choose a dealer that’s up on the industry and has good experience setting up high end systems.

Ask for references from his customers.

AGON: Do you like to tinker with your “toys” or would you rather plug and play?

Brian: Honestly I don’t like to tinker so much with my systems. I prefer to set up the system properly the first time by paying attention to details.

I don’t mind tweeking the systems once everything is settled in and playing for several weeks to get a clear reference point.

I do believe that the fine tuning and tweeking is what makes a good system great, and thats where the real magic comes in.

AGON: What are your favorite recordings and/or favorite live music experiences?

Brian:

- James Taylor Live
- Rush Live
- Van Halen Live
- Fleetwood Mac Live
- Heart Live

AGON: What is your day job?

Brian: Importing and selling high end audio 24/7.
(He’s telling the truth! Check out the Aaudio Imports website

AGON: If you could have any other job than your own, what would it be?

Brian: Wildlife Photographer

AGON: Which artists have you or would you like to meet (living or dead)?

Brian: Dean Martin, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Elton John, Dido, James Brown, Melody Gardot, Seal, James Taylor, Sade, Eva Cassidy

AGON: If money and time were of no consequence, what would your dream audiophile evening be?

Brian: Having any famous recording artist listen to their music on my best in-home system.

Official Link...
http://blog.audiogon.com/2012/11/06/rmaf-2012-audiogon-featured-dealer-aaudio-imports/

A Visit to Aaudio

by Paul Bolin | October 6, 2012

rian Ackerman of Aaudio Imports invited Marc Mickelson and me to visit his showroom/residence in Parker, Colorado, just south of Denver over a weekend late last month. Brian is the importer and distributor of, among other lines, Ypsilon electronics, Lansche speakers, B.M.C. components and Bergmann turntables. Also in-house for this fact-finding visit was Carlos Candeias, the CEO and chief designer of B.M.C.

Paul Bolin (left) talks with Carlos Candeias of B.M.C. . .

Candeias explained every aspect of his design philosophy and how it is implemented, which was fascinating all by itself. The son of a Portuguese father and a Spanish mother, Carlos was raised in Germany, where B.M.C. is headquartered. These days he spends most of his time in the city of Hangzhou, China, where B.M.C.’s wholly owned factory is located. Fluent in a half-dozen languages and even more technical disciplines, Carlos is one of the brainiest and most impressive people I have met in any field of endeavor, anywhere. He loves to talk audio and has a knack for the teaching aspect of the process; he is able to explain why he does what he does, and how it works in a manner that makes his concepts immediately accessible and understandable even by people like me -- my degrees are in political science and law -- for whom most engineer-speak may as well be Sanskrit. On top of that, he has wildly eclectic and wonderful taste in music.

DIY digital remastering: a "revelation"

I first met Carlos Candeias last summer, more than a year before Paul Bolin and I together flew to Denver just a few weeks ago. I already knew how well versed he is on all manner of subjects, from the properties of capacitors to the fine points of B.M.C.'s unorthodox sales model, whereby the company pays its dealers. For full discussion of this, see my blog from last year.

When Paul and I began our listening to the full-boat B.M.C. system arrayed in Brian Ackerman's purpose-built demo room, it was with our own CDs. We played cuts we knew well that could reveal the system's capabilities, if not fully then reasonably well. As the conversation shifted to digital audio, specifically file playback via computer, Carlos revealed yet another of his ample talents: a deep understanding of digital remastering. Back in the mid-1990s, when he still had something of a personal life, Carlos wanted to improve the digital music he listened to and valued most. Eventually, as he told us, he rewrote the algorithms for "a not well-known digital editing program" and set about doing his own remastering. In general terms (that's all he would reveal), Carlos corrected "frequency-domain and time-domain errors, dynamic errors and noise problems." With some pieces of music, this took minutes, while with others (usually from poor source materials) it took days.

Carlos's laptop, which runs Linux, as he believes this does the least harm to music played from a computer, was loaded with nearly 40 gigs of his remastered music -- everything from Supertramp to Peter Gabriel to 50-year-old classical chestnuts to original recordings made by one of the people who works for B.M.C. We began listening to familiar material, some mid-'70s Neil Young, and were immediately dazzled by the ease and purity of what we were hearing. This digital music sounded all the world like exceptional analog -- which was not the source. It was good old CD. We could push the volume as much as we wanted, and the music never showed signs of stress -- neither did the electronics nor the speakers. Transients had whip-crack speed without edgy emphasis, and drums were impressively, impossibly impactful. Vocals were redolent and more intelligible. We listened for hours to Carlos's music, finding new cuts we wanted to hear and then being astonished by them. Paul had a great line about what we were hearing: "This doesn't clean the window. It knocks the glass out."

At one point many years ago, Carlos had visions of releasing some of his remastered music on a CD sampler, but licensing issues were simply impossible to sort out, so he instead reserved it for his own listening. While the 32 gigs of music he had on his laptop seem like a lot, he has hundreds more that must represent thousands of hours of work.

Carlos was kind enough to loan me some of the music he had with him, putting it onto a high-capacity thumb drive, so I could explore it at home -- with a full system of B.M.C. electronics, which I'm adding to my system piece by piece. I'm used to hearing incremental improvements in sound quality -- they're the stock and trade of audio reviewers -- but Carlos's remastered music went well beyond "incremental." It was digital like I've never heard before, not from high-rez PCM, not from DSD. For me, this music was the revelation of meeting with Carlos a second time, and I will be guarding that thumb drive with my life.

-Marc Mickelson

Brian’s main listening room is something in and of itself -- purpose-built for auditioning the highest of high-end components, it is comfortable, spacious and possessed of the most imposing array of acoustic treatments I have seen in a private home.

On a Saturday evening that stretched into the wee hours of Sunday morning we were treated to a B.M.C. system consisting of the BDCD 1.1 belt-drive CD player/transport ($5990) and fully loaded DAC 1 PRE DAC/preamplifier ($6290), AMP M2 mono power amplifiers ($15,980/pair) and the new Arcadia loudspeakers ($36,300/pair in satin finishes, $40,300 in glossy piano finishes). The system was hooked up with Stage III’s Gryphon interconnects ($7100/meter pair) and Mantikor speaker cables ($14,900/two-meter pair), and Stage III Minotaur and Zyklop power cords ($4600 and $6600, respectively). Also present were B.M.C.’s MCCI phono stage ($3890) and Bergmann’s Magne air-bearing turntable/tonearm combination ($13,000), which were not auditioned. Power distribution in the form of an HB Cable designs Powerslave Acrylic ($6995) and a three-shelf Tandem Audio Statement Series rack ($16,100) and amplifier stands ($4500 each) completed the system.

The Arcadias are worth some exposition all by themselves. This narrow-baffle, bipolar speaker has an 11" woofer mounted on each side of its cabinet and sports an external crossover that weighs a hefty 37 pounds. The midrange drivers and Air Motion Transformer tweeters take up the top third or so of both the front and back of the cabinet, which is made of cast ceramic. To say that the Arcadias’ cabinets are dead is to understate the case. A soft, quickly decaying "tk" is the only sound produced by a sharp rap. Carlos designed all of the drivers.

While quite expensive, this system delivered a level of sonic excellence and completeness that can be legitimately compared to systems costing three to four times as much. The B.M.C. components have as fast and lithe a character as even the most exotic solid-state competition but do not sound skeletal or unnaturally thinned out in the least. The system’s dynamic performance was simply extraordinary; with one of Carlos’ recordings featuring a Tibetan ensemble, the impact of the Kodo drummers’ thunderous entrance was like being hit in the chest with a hammer. With my own music, the B.M.C. system effortlessly peeled open the multi-layered remix of Ayumi Hamasaki’s "M" on Ayu Trance 2 [Avex Trax 10135] like an onion. "O Fortuna" from Orff’s Carmina Burana [Naxos 8.570033] let the system, particularly the Arcadias, throw an immensely broad and deep soundfield in which every instrument and singer was placed precisely as a fully dimensional image. As the night wore on, Marc, Carlos and I selected track after track with the same results.

The B.M.C. gear has a resolution floor the likes of which I have not heard before, dynamics that sit at the top of any class you might care to name, Usain Bolt-like speed to burn, and a full-bodied presence that consistently hit "electrifying." The Arcadia is a soundstaging champ and delivers controlled deep-bass thunder which seems utterly incompatible with its modest footprint. Though I have spent more than twenty years as a high-end hobbyist and journalist I cannot recall any company that has exploded onto the scene with the impact of B.M.C. Every one of their products is superbly finished, sonically distinguished and thought through with a relentless fanaticism. In value terms, I’ve not heard anything that can touch them. These are world-class, top-level components at what have to be seen as bargain prices when compared to their sonic competition. Mark my words: Carlos Candeias is a lead-pipe lock to be one of the faces of high-performance audio for the next couple of decades.

The other system in Brian’s big room was truly all-out and cost-no-object. This monster consisted of Bergmann’s top-shelf Sleipner turntable, which sports an air-bearing tonearm and air-bearing/air-centered platter ($54,000) carrying a Lyra Atlas cartridge ($9500), Ypsilon’s VPS100 tube phono stage ($26,000) and accompanying MC10L moving-coil step-up transformer ($6200), CDT100 CD transport/player ($26,000), DAC100 tubed D/A converter ($29,000), PST100 Mk II hybrid preamplifier ($37,000) and the striking SET100 Ultimate monoblock power amps ($125,000/pair) all feeding Lansche’s No. 7 loudspeakers, which feature a plasma tweeter ($108,000/pair).

Cabling was all from Stage III Concepts: five Minotaur ($4600 each), three Zyklop ($6600 each), two Kraken ($8400 each) and one Vortex Prime ($2800) power cords, an Analord Prime tonearm cable ($3100), a Chimaera digital link ($5900), three pairs of Gryphon interconnects ($6400 each) and Mantikor speaker cables ($14,900). Power distribution was with Powerslave Marble units ($8995 each), and Symposium Acoustics three-level ($5000) and double-wide four-level ($10,000) racks were used in addition to nine Acapella platforms ($3200 each). All of this adds up to a boggling $587,990, if my Minnesota math is correct.

The sound of this very big and very imposing system was quite different from that of the B.M.C. system: a bit lusher and more rounded. Only on a bit of sustained listening, particularly with analog sources, did the true excellence of this system become forthrightly evident. Images were gloriously life-sized, with tonalities that were burnished yet totally extended on top (that plasma tweeter is rated to 150kHz) while remaining utterly relaxed. This system was as coherent in every way, dynamically, timbrally, and temporally, as anything I have ever heard. This kind of superiority is only to be expected when a system carries such a stupendous price tag, though that by itself is no guarantee of excellence. Few things are easier to do in audio than throw together a random group of megabuck components and emerge with sheer mediocrity in sonic terms.

. . .and listens to the half-million-dollar Ypsilon/Lansche big rig.

Such was assuredly not the case with this system, however. Brian fired up the beautiful Bergmann Sleipner and played "St. Thomas" from Sonny Rollins’ Saxophone Colossus [Analogue Productions 7079]. When the track ended, Marc and I were actually standing and applauding. Riffling through Brian’s LPs, Marc found Dean Martin’s Dream With Dean [Reprise RS-6123], which Brian had commended to him a while back. This rather unusual album featured the crooner with a jazz quartet led by guitar legend Barney Kessel. The intimacy and lifelike quality of this album were enough to make me swoon. Dino was there, sitting between and about a foot behind the huge Lansches, the quartet laid out perfectly in space behind and around him. Nirvana’s Live Unplugged in New York [DGC/Original Recordings Group ORG 034] was every bit as compelling. Sade’s "Smooth Operator," from Best of Sade [Music on Vinyl MOVLP-130 ], was like slipping into a skin-temperature Jacuzzi. As Billy Crystal used to say in his Fernando Lamas character from Saturday Night Live, "simply maaah-velous." Initially it seemed to me that the B.M.C. system was faster, but on extended listening this proved not to be the case. The speed and resolution were there, but they were combined with a suave and relaxed quality that only the finest, best-balanced systems can achieve.

All in all, it was a most entertaining, informative and enjoyable two days. Time spent with interesting people, great gear and superb music is always time well spent.

Official Link... http://www.theaudiobeat.com/visits/aaudio.htm

Stuff that dreams are made of

Visiting Aaudio Imports in November, 2011

Link To Spotlight Article with Pictures...
http://www.dagogo.com/View-Article.asp?hArticle=971

My visit to the Aaudio Imports this year marks my fourth annual excursion to this wonderland that is also home to Brian and his lovely wife Debra and daughter Sarah. Each year, Brian injects new excitement into this hobby by demonstrating products that sets no precedence in performance and uniqueness. The highlights of my past visits included auditions of his Acapella Triolon Excalibur loudspeaker system in 2008 and 2009, and the Acapella High Violon IV in 2010.

The $211,000 Triolon Excalibur has been my dream loudspeaker ever since my first visit and each subsequent encounter of it at the CES and RMAF conjured up the same sweeping experience I had during my stay at Brian’s home. Being the busy body that he is, Brian made another breakthrough in his product makeup yet again this year by importing the only other loudspeaker company on this Earth to possess expertise in ion plasma tweeter design, Lansche. The main speaker being demonstrated in the Aaudio Imports showroom is the $100,000-per-pair No.7 in the Black American Walnut Satin finish:

Frequency Response:
25Hz-150kHz, ± 3dB

Sensitivity:
92dB/1W/1m

Impedance:
6.8Ω nominal, 4.9Ω minimum

Maximum level:
114dB/1m

Drivers:
1 x 0.3-inch Corona Plasma tweeter
2 x 4-inch Audio Technology midrange
4 x 8.7-inch composite glass fiber/polyester fabric cone, coated

Crossover frequencies:
200Hz/2.5kHz

Dimensions:
69 H x 17 W x 24 D (inch)

Weight:
286 lbs. each

According to Brian, the original individual inventor of the ion plasma tweeter issued two patents, and they were bought up by Acapella and Lansche. Per Brian, while Acapella’s ion tweeter has remained largely unchanged all these years, the Lansche design has seen considerable technological updates over the years. In contrast, while the most affordable ion tweeter-equipped Acapella model retails for $51,000 the pair, a $26,000 pair of the Lansche model No.3 in Satin Veneer finish also features the same Corona plasma tweeter of the $100,000 No.7, this time accompanied by an 8-inch, coated paper cone woofer in a ported cabinet. Audiophiles rejoice!

Across the room from the No.7 was a pair of the No.5.1, complete with an all-BMC system, comprising the BDCD1 CD-Beltdrive Player/Transport ($5,990), DAC1 PRE Digital-Analogue Converter with DIGM+PREAMP+HIGH RES USB ($6,290) and M1 monoblocks ($7,790 each).

The BDCD1 connects to the DAC1 PRE through a proprietary system called Superlink, in which four supplied 75Ω BNC cables carry left/right clock, bit-clock, digital music data from the transport to the DAC, while the fourth BNC cable sends the master clock signal from the DAC to the transport. BMC’s expertise in belt-drive CD transport hails from its OEM productions for CEC, and the new belt-drive design in the BDCD1 features a 50-micron precision bearing. The CD is to be put to the flat underside of the clamp and then placed onto the spindle together. A transport-only version retails for $4,990

The DAC1 PRE packs more innovations than its price suggests. Firstly, two Burr-Brown 24-bit/192kHz PCM1792 DAC chips with current output are coupled to fully balanced I/V converters. The 4-cable Superlink design purports to rid the sonic presentation of coloration induced by common sample rate converters, thus producing the purest-sounding upsampling operation. Available upsampling rates are “Low” at 32fs, and “High” at 128fs. BMC claims the former to have “a more dynamic and detailed presentation, while ‘High’ is softer and smoother.” Selectable digital filter options include “Flat” for frequency response optimization and “Pulse” for best dynamic response and minimized pre- and post-ringing. The large round knob up front controls the BMC DIGM (Discrete Intelligent Gain Management) volume control system. BMC claims lossless volume adjustment in sixty-six precise 1dB increments. The upsampling rate selector, digital filter and volume can all be controlled via the remote. Fun!

The DAC1 PRE also features a dedicated USB digital input that is activated by a free custom driver program to be installed on your computer. My audition of the Lansche No.5.1/BMC system entailed the use of the CD transport and the DAC.

With me sitting 10.5 feet away from each ear to the corresponding speaker, with 9 feet from my ear to the back wall, the No.5.1 were spread 9 feet apart, 4.5 feet away from each side wall, and 5 feet to the front wall. This is my first encounter of a plasma-tweeter speaker system with all dynamic drivers and no horn, and the result was very satisfying. For horn aficionados, there is no substituting an Acapella horn. But for the adventurous, the high-outputting nature of the No.5.1’s two 8.7-inch coated, composite glass fiber/polyester fabric cone woofers were the first surprise element in the speaker’s sonic makeup for pumping out fulsome but judicious levels of bottom-end notes. To my ears, the kind of weight and scale produced by these two 8.7-inch woofers qualifies them as a solid contender among similarly priced competitions. Even more fortuitous was how the Audio Technology midrange complemented the Corona plasma tweeter.

I had a prolonged exposure to another pair of speaker system that featured two, larger-diameter version of the Audio Technology midrange, the $35,500 Rockport Technologies Mira Grand II. To this day, I can still recall the sumptuous tonal texture of instruments and vocalists that the Audio Technology midrange imparted. The Lansche No.5.1 exhibited the familiar tonal richness, this time via a 4-inch AT midrange. But as opposed to the volume of output of the two Rockport midrange, the Lansche’s lone midrange presided over the twin woofers with surprising ease. Not only was it able to place pianos and violin groups on the same playing field with incredible, differentiating dynamics and finesse, the No.5.1 was able to throw very convincing portrayals of the physique of the instruments onto the stage as well. There are plenty of midrange driver choices for different design budgets; but there aren't too many to choose from if the midrange is to complement one of the most exotic tweeters in history.

Whether it was Acapella’s or Lansche’s, I haven’t heard any other tweeter design traversing the upper-mid to top-end so effortlessly, floating over the vast, complicated sonic landscape faster and cleaner than any material-based design. Regardless of type of diaphragm material used, be it diamond or carbon or ceramic, all driver designs energizes that thin layer to vibrate and excite the air. The result will always be an inherent coloration native to the diaphragm used as well as loss of energy, however minute. The Corona plasma tweeter, on the other hand, energizes the air directly. I look forward to the day when Lanshce comes out with a full-range plasma driver! An illuminated switch at the back of the speaker cabinet turns on the power to the plasma tweeter, which is plugged into the wall.

For the readers among us sporting deeper pockets and a medium-to-large listening rooms, a more immersive listening experience awaits in the form of the $100,000-per-pair No.7. To my ears, the five-foot-nine Lansche delivered consistently one of the most definitive musical high-end audio experiences I've encountered. Unlike the Acapella Triolon Excalibur that reinforces the most spectacular horn speaker experience via its large lower-midrange horn, plus the iconic ion tweeter and a column of four woofers nonetheless, the Lansche No.7 harkens back to the dynamic drivers system in its most explicit expression.

First, some system details. Situated 9 feet apart from each other, 3 feet from the back of the speaker to the wall behind it, 4.5 feet from edge of each speaker to side wall and 12 feet from front of speakers to my ear, the No.7’s were driven by a complete Ypsilon system. It includes the CDT100 CD player/transport ($26,000), the DAC100 tube DAC ($29,000), the PST100 MKII preamplifier ($37,000) and last not least, the Aelius monoblocks ($36,000 the pair). It is a hybrid amplifier, inputting via a pair of Siemens C3g input tubes with 6CA4 rectifier tubes, and producing 220 watts into 8 ohms via a MOSFET output stage, of which the first 60 watts are in pure Class A bias! The exotic-looking monoblock pumps up its output to 380 watts in to 4 ohms, and 500 watts into 2 ohms. The Aelius features switchable XLR and RCA inputs, has a frequency range of 11 to 75 kHz and weighs 100 pounds.

The beauty of Ypsilon electronics is their use of the Siemens C3g NOS tubes as input tubes, implemented in conjunction with high-compliance solid-state output stages, as exemplified in the DAC100, the PST100 MKII preamplifier and, of course, the power amplifiers. Music by the Ypsilon system took on a force eminently lively and musical, complex and crystal clear, and yet infused with a judicious touch of single-ended triode sweetness, and propelled by such familiar solid-state aplomb as to be fantasy-mayhem inducing.

In the bottom-end, the No.7's performance exhibited a level of prowess and speed I've never experienced in sub-$100k speaker systems. The now-$211k Acapella Triolon Excalibur's woofer towers had superior, unworldly integration to the rest of its horns, yet it wouldn't approach the Lansche in sheer muscle. Deep-riding electric bass notes and wall-shattering tympani roaring are served equally well by both German speakers, diverging primarily in the way the bass notes are produced and the sonic preference of the listener. Again, I felt both speakers would do justice to rock'n roll and orchestral basses at concert volume levels nonetheless. The Lansche, however, seems to push the bottom-ends harder as augmented by the dual rear ports, and with livelier transients via the smaller, 8.7-inch woofers. This, my friends, is what translates into what I felt was dynamic drivers system in its most explicit expression: Four fast woofers pressurizing the room beautifully. If you and I are lucky, I may even get to experience the $208,000 No.8.1 in the not-too-distant future and write about it, with its two 10-inch paper composite woofers and two 15-inch pure aluminum active subwoofers! It'll be a riot.

The other half of the No.7 story is, of course, the complete sonic experience of the system as a whole. The No.7 is essentially stacking two No.5.1’s head-to-head over each other, but it would not conjure up the sound of the 5.1 en masse. A mere increase in quantity of sound is often the sole benefit achieved by designs I've experienced; the Lansche achieved so much more. Soundstage density was enhanced to such extent that I was at once transported to the front rows on the ground level of concert halls. Height of venue was immaculately reenacted, and volumes of air rushed forward. One could get lost in the mere sonics of the No.7 and not mind the actual musical type being played. Still, meaningful music, like the rumbling of the pipe organ in First Impression Music's K2-version of the Proprius reference disc Cantate Domino sent waves of clean and highly articulate shockwave, complimented very nicely by the solid boundaries of Brian's sound room. Yet, the vast energy of the bottom-end did not drown out the complex midrange and the airy vocalizations of the choir. The privilege of being able to purchase such a loudspeaker system is to be able to experience music so natural in dynamics and uninhibited in dimensionality. There is no greater love than that of the parents for their children, and there is no greater downfall for a man who feels more than just love for music through the most perfect loudspeaker he has discovered and experienced to date. Never mind the expensive electronics that went with it.

The resultant performance is arguably the most tonally musical and dynamically powerful, of both single-ended triode low-output tube amplifiers and steeply-biased pure Class A massive-output solid-state behemoths. And in Brian's system, everything just came together in the most amiable form possible, including the one key element in the chain: the cable systems. Cables are the kind of stuff that you want to forget about once you put them in place. The less you spend on it, the sooner you want to forget about it; especially when you are spending not nearly enough on it to complement your sound system, and you are not proud of it. Anyway you want to see it, there is only the constant reminder that you get what you pay for. In my experience of cable systems, there is no magic carpet ride where some strangely affordable cables can outperform products from reputable, well established brands. It is all about how much we want to compromise and how that compromise manifests itself in our system.

If you choose to build a budget systems, then your focus will not be on ultimate resolution and lifelike dynamics but listenability, and most importantly, getting oneself closer to the music through reasonable means. But if you choose to dispense with considerable finance on your audio system to attain realism in dynamics and resolution, then you must allocate a good portion of that investment in cable systems. Stage III Concepts cables was Brian's reference. His association with Stage III Concepts began in 2001, when he was its U.S. Distributor. In 2008, when Stage III Concepts relaunched its product lines with significant changes, Brian took a listen and signed a contract to be the company's global distributor. Stage III Concepts was Brian's wish coming true for a cable brand that would do his products justice for the many years that I've known him.

For the Lansche No.5.1 system, the following Stage III cable system was used in my auditioning. All prices are in pairs unless otherwise noted:

Signal cables
Amp to speaker: S III C Magnus Prime, 2m, spades, $7,300
DAC+Pre to monoblocks: S III C Gryphon, 1.0m, XLR, $7,100 (plus factory Toslink from DAC to monoblocks for volume control)
CD Drive to DAC+Pre: 4 x factory Superlink cables

Power cables
CD Drive: S III C Zyklop, 1.5m, $6,600
DAC+Pre: S III C Zyklop, 1.5m, $6,600
Monoblocks: S III C Minotaur, 1.5m, $4,600 (one per monoblock)
Weizhi power distributor: S III C Minotaur, 1.5m, $4,600

Accessories
Weizhi PRS-6 power distributor, $3,200
Acapella Platforms, 4 x $3,200 (21" W x 20" D)

The following are breakdown of prices of Stage III Concepts cables for the Lanshce No.7 system:

Signal cables
Amp to speaker: S III C Mantikor, 2m, spades, $14,900
DAC to Pre: S III C Gryphon, 1.0m, RCA, $6,400
Phono to Pre: S III C Gryphon, 1.0m, RCA, $6,400
CD Drive to DAC: Chimaera digital cable, 1.0m, XLR, $5,900 (each)
Turntable to Step-up transformer: S III C Analord Prime phono cable, 1.0m, RCA, $3,100
Step-up transformer to Phono stage: S III C Analord Prime phono cable, 1.0m, RCA, $3,100

Power cables
AC outlet to Weizhi PRS-6 power conditioner: S III C Minotaur, 1.5m, $4,600
CD Drive, DAC, Phono stage, Preamp: Stage III Concepts Zyklop, 1.5m $6,600
Amps, Weizhi PRS-6, Lansche Corona plasma tweeter: Minotaur, 1.5m, $4,600

All electronics rested on five Acapella Platforms that retails for $3,200 each.

On a fine Sunday afternoon, Brian and I visited dealership Audio Limits, where Gene and Darren O'Neal, our hosts, treated us to fine music via a system comprised of a pair of Venture Grand Ultimate speakers ($89,000/pair), BMC electronics and Silversmith cables. The O’Neal’s were playing music in high-resolution format via an Asus tablet with the BMC DAC1 PRE Digital-Analogue Converter with DIGM+PREAMP. The music was a Chinese audiophile track by a female singer against a backdrop of vast instrumental accompaniment. It was recommended to the O’Neal’s by Carlos Candeias, owner of BMC, and was it of demonstration class! The soaring female vocalization was supported by a powerful chorus, and the soundstage was as spacious as the sonic texture was smooth.

Midway through the demonstration, Brian took out his $3,200 Weizhi PRS-6 power distributor and a slew of Stage III Concepts cables; but the O’Neal’s were already using a $6,000 power conditioner. Back into our seats we went, and the soundstage changed from the hollowness of a dome-shaped sound field to one that was wide opened, all the way to the edges of the front walls and beyond. The ceiling of the soundstage was escalated by a story or two seemingly, and the specificity aspect of instrument localization was transformed in such manner, making the sonic performance under the $6,000 power conditioner two-dimensional by comparison.

I am not giving up my Isoclean system of 80A3, Supreme Focus and Super Focus yet; but I am legitimately concerned. Brian, don't expect me to give my full endorsement to your new Weizhi products without a formal auditioning in my system. And they better be superior.

On our drive back to the Ackerman residence, the one lingering thought in my mind was the one product the value of which stood out like Stop signs to me. No, it wasn't the Lansche No.7, although I will declare that they were the most fantastic and musical dynamic loudspeakers I've ever heard. The performance of the No.7 was at once nimble and whispery, while producing dynamics and spatiality of such magnitude as to be awe-inspiring. I did not feel compelled to compare the No.7 to the Acapella Triolon Excalibur during my entire stay, which was the perfect speaker system for me before the Lansche. The fact is the Lansche will now fit into my listening room very, very nicely, with dynamics and bottom-ends that will rival the Acapellas. If I had a huge room and twice the money needed to acquire the Lansche, I would still get a pair of the Acapella TEs, for they do make quite a visual statement first and foremost. Until then, the Lansche No.7 is now my dream speaker.

The thought of the Lansche No.3 became more and more relevant to me. For the first time in audio history, a speaker with plasma tweeter can be had for $26,000 the pair, and it is the same model used by the No.7 and No.5.1. The Corona is accompanied by an eight-inch paper cone woofer, and the system is specified to produce bottom-ends down to 40 Hz, +/- 3 dB. Not having heard it in person, I will not endorse it without reservations, but if the No.7 and No.5.1 are any indication, there is every reason to believe that the floor-standing two-way will impress just as profoundly in a small- to medium-sized room as its larger siblings in correspondingly larger spaces.

And then there is the Ypsilon Aelius push-pull hybrid monoblocks. The reference amplification in my own system is the Pass Labs XA100.5 solid-state Class A monoblocks. They are the closest in handling of low-level resolution and textural delicacy as those from Audio Note UK's SETs with silver transformers and all the precious metal innards, and the Ypsilons are able to make the one proverbial step further than the Pass Labs, albeit at about twice the price, in being the perfect amplification balancing act. At $36,000 the pair, the Aelius monoblocks is the most relevant reference amplification of the highest caliber I have come across.

Constantine Soo
dagogo

BMC: Uncommon Execution of New Ideas

by Marc Mickelson | September 29, 2011

y exposure to BMC -- short for Balanced Music Concept -- began nonchalantly enough, with a press release that explained the company's solid-state electronics. All of the products seemed interesting, if not particularly special -- at least at first glance. I wrote a short news story about the line, making a mental note to have a closer look at the sleek digital gear and amplifiers at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, the home court, so to speak, of BMC's US distributor, Aaudio Imports.

But Brian Ackerman, the one-man band that is Aaudio, had different plans. He called me a few weeks after the news story posted to tell me more about BMC. "I've been looking for a line like this," Brian beamed, then went on to explain that BMC was actually an offshoot of a well-established German company located for nearly twenty years in China. That company designed and manufactured audio electronics for other brands, most notably CEC, AQVOX and TEAC. Most interesting, Brian told me that BMC manufactures "large runs" of its products, instead of making them to order or building a few dozen at a time. What's "large"? "Hundreds of units," he revealed, this strategy, along with Chinese labor, helping BMC to keep manufacturing costs under control.

The picture became a little clearer, but "special" remained elusive. A few weeks later, Brian called again, asking if I'd be interested in writing about the entire BMC line in one mega review. The rationale was that these products, more than others, deserved to be used together. Brian's reasoning seemed simplistic. Electronics manufacturers always claim that their products work best together. Still, I agreed to do the review, mentally citing synergy as the impetus for the full-system approach. To kick things off, Brian invited me to Denver, where he's located, to meet and talk with BMC's CEO, Carlos Candeias. Background for the review, I conceded, and I was off to Denver.

Carlos Candeias relaxing.

This meeting turned out to be anything but a typical dog-and-pony show, for a number of reasons. The first was Carlos himself -- a trained musician of Portuguese and Spanish descent who grew up and studied audio-electronics design in Germany. He designed each product in the BMC line and knew every detail about their manufacture as well. He was also an astute student of the audio industry and the world economy -- equally at ease talking about power supplies and foreign currencies. His view was unusually global -- in terms of the markets in which BMC products are currently sold as well as his China-by-way-of-Germany company. The conversation was more My Dinner with Andre than The Wall Street Journal, but it was clear that BMC functions in some unusual ways.

While each production run does involve building "hundreds" of each product -- 300 to be exact -- even more unusual is BMC's sales strategy. It's both direct to consumers and supportive of the brick-and-mortar dealer. The idea is to allow dealers to do what they do best -- demonstrate products to local customers -- while cutting down on the competition they engage in with the rise of online selling. BMC makes it attractive for dealers to buy demonstration units, and when sales are made, the company aids dealers again by collecting the funds from the customer, drop shipping, and then paying the dealer -- turning the traditional method of selling audio gear on its head. This approach yields a number of potential advantages, including the protection of list prices. BMC collects the money, so it knows what consumers are paying for its products and it can simply refuse a sale if the price is too low. It takes a special product line to ensure the success of such an arrangement -- one whose perceived value is high enough to give dealers incentive to sell it in this fascinating new way.

Inside the BMC DAC1 Pre.

Putting aside the technical particulars of each product, which I'll cover in my review, the care with which the BMC products are designed and manufactured is truly inspiring. Carlos gave me an in-depth tour of his DAC1 Pre ($6290), which, as its name suggests, is a combined digital-to-analog converter and preamp. The fine points were again unusual: bespoke capacitors, a special circuit-board material, gold circuit-board traces, and a new USB input board with proprietary asynchronous circuit. The cosmetics were stunning and, again, unusual. The faceplate is actually a mirrored panel through which LEDs illuminate to show the product's status, and the chassis consists of a matrix of extruded-aluminum pieces that fit together with exacting precision.

While I was in Denver to see the entire BMC product line and discuss the company with its CEO, the most important part of the trip was hearing everything in Brian Ackerman's well-appointed listening room. The only non-BMC products in use, including cables, were the Acapella High Violincello II Mk II speakers ($83,000/pair) and a Bergmann Sleipner turntable ($54,400) with Ortofon A90 cartridge ($4200). In between were the BMC MMCl phono stage ($3890), the aforementioned DAC/preamp, and a pair of Amp M1 mono power amps ($15,580/pair). Providing the bits was the BDCD1 transport ($4990). While this may seem like a rather pedestrian lineup, the ways in which everything was connected were far from common. The phono stage accepts only balanced input, which makes immediate sense, given that a phono cartridge has an inherently balanced output. More unusual was the Superlink connection between transport and DAC, which splits the digital signal into its constituent parts and sends each on a BNC cable, four of which run between the units.

The view from the listening seat.

However, the connection between the DAC/preamp and mono amps was easily the most novel -- even radical. While it's possible to use XLR-terminated interconnects alone, the BMC amps' Current Injection input allows for special connection to the DAC/preamp. In this case, in addition to the balanced interconnects, there is also a pair of TosLink cables that are for data only and carry no signal. This XLR-and-TosLink arrangement sends the source current from the preamp to the amps, allowing adjustment of system gain within the amplifiers themselves.

While this has some important technical advantages, including a dramatic lowering of distortion, it's what it does sonically that proves its worth. When I was packing my demonstration CD-Rs prior to leaving, I was sure I'd only pull out a couple of them once in Denver. Sitting in the prime listening seat, however, I shuffled through them all, and then started over again, just to discover what the BMC electronics were about and then to hear music that I knew well on this exciting system. The system was absolutely effortlessness at every listening level, redefining the term "grainless" and revealing instrumental timbres with extraordinary purity. My immediate impression, and one that persisted as I listened, was that the system presented more of the music and less of everything else.

I'll end this blog with that bit of wisdom -- or confusion. I will be receiving the BMC system shortly after the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, and, contrary to my initial thinking, I'm anxious to discover the depths of what does seem like a very special product line.

link to article... http://www.theaudiobeat.com/blog/bmc_denver.htm

Stage III Concepts Magnus Prime

I have been an audiophile for some time and have owned several different systems. I made the move from digital to analog only about a year ago and have never looked back. My past systems have included gear from Cary, Sumiko, Raidho and Sonus Faber. I have used top cables from companies like Synergistic, JPS Labs and Nordost.

My current system is built on simplicity. My preamp, amp and phono stage are from Einstein. My speakers are Tidal Piano Cera. My source is an Artemis Labs table, Schroeder Reference arm with a Lyra Titan I. The room is a dedicated room and, while small, has the proper treatment to bring out the potential of my gear.

I recently went on a cable quest upon buying the Tidal Piano Cera. All wiring is kept consistent throughout the system (no mixing and matching). First up was Nordost Valhalla as these were used with my previous set up. I have to say, the Valhalla cables were simply not a fit with the system whatsoever. They were actually tough to listen to. Etched would best describe the overall sound. I would not recommend these whatsoever for anyone who owns Tidal speakers. They were quickly sold and I arranged auditions for 3 other brands – Synergistic, Siltech and Stage III Concepts.

Synergistic – I have to give a shout out to Synergistic’s
customer service. Their local dealer provided a full onslaught of
Tesla cables, powercells and speaker cells. The cables were the correct mix of Tesla series for source and power.

I was a little overwhelmed at first. I have owned these cables before but never this many. Cables, lights, plugs…wow…this was a lot to take in. Given my goal for a simple system, I had my doubts as to whether these were for me. As for the sound, they were a huge improvement from the Valhalla. The soundstage was big (really big). Bass was tight and the etched sound from the top end went away. Good news. I kept them in for some time. Over the period, I could not help but notice one thing. Some pieces of music began to sound a little exaggerated. I spoke with a fellow audiophile about this. The word he used was “Technicolor”. Honestly, they were still really good. But I wanted to find something that I believed was more true to the source. The Tidals are very revealing. Out went the Synergistics (except the powercell and some power cables)….these will stay around for a while. In came Siltech.

Siltech – I used Siltech Prince ics and LS 188 speaker cables. The Siltechs are expensive and I realize that not going to the newer speaker cables may have held them back. But, this was the decision I made based on budget. I kept the Synergistic power products in. I am sure that Siltech makes great cables and that they work well in many systems. To me, they fell flat. The top end seemed rounded off and dull. They were the opposite of the Valhalla and just went too far in the other direction. I did not keep these around too long.

Stage III Concepts -- OK, I was skeptical. I am an avid internet searcher/reader.
I was surprised that I could not find more information on these cables. I have been a customer of the product lines that Brian Ackerman of Aaudio imports represents for some time. Brian originally turned me on to Einstein gear when he was based in Orange County California. He is a knowledgeable guy with an ear (and an eye) for some great gear. Brian sent along Stage 3 Magnus Prime cables for my system, which are second from the top in the line. The Magnus Prime is a silver/palladium alloy cable similar to the more expensive Gryphon. Stage III manufacturers their own “Hyperion” connectors, which look to be very well made and utilize carbon fiber plug housings to eliminate external vibrations. Contacts are pure silver with special ceramic core. Stage III cables are handmade to order.

The first word that comes to mind for me with the Stage III is “true”. Things fell into place with the system. This was by far the best imaging I have had in my system, ever!
My wife came down to the listening room and we put on Miles Davis Kind of Blue. She noted, “It sounds like they are in the room with us”. She was right.

These cables really did everything right in my system. Bass was perfect. The top end was not harsh or rolled off. The pieces fell into place. I am a fan of the “phantom” center sound when you get the voice or instrument dialed in so it sits just above the middle of your room. The Stage III Magnus Prime brought that in spades. I have continued to go deeper into my collection and am now listening to music I had not listened to in a while. These cables are as natural as anything I have ever heard. All I can say is these cables are special. I think it is only a matter of time before more audiophiles discover them.

Thread Link...
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/frr.pl?rcabl&1298685766&read&3&zzlAdstew

Associated gear
Click to view my Virtual System

Similar products
Nordost Valhalla, JPS Aluminata, Siltech Prince

by Adstew on 02-25-11

Absolute Sound/Jonathan Valin CES 2011 Show

Posted by: Jonathan Valin at 12:12 am, January 12th, 2011

Next up was the $80k Acapella High Violoncello II—a larger version of the High Violon with an extra woofer inside its box but the same ion tweeter and distinctive horn-loaded midrange. Compared to previous Acapellas, it seemed to have very little horn coloration, although its imaging was a little vague on the Mario Lanza cut, suggesting a slight lack of coherence. On the other hand, it had absolutely no dynamic compression on the punishing Lanza disc, as you might expect from a low-distortion horn speaker, and very high resolution of inner detail. I would have to say that this was the best Acapella speaker I’ve heard. The electronics were from Einstein.

Link to show report site...
http://www.avguide.com/blog/loudspeakers-25k-and-above-ces-2011?page=6

Stereophile/John Atkinson CES 2011 Show

Weizhi PRS6 AC Distribution

By John Atkinson • Posted: Jan 12, 2011

AAudio Imports' Brian Ackerman holds what must be the world's most expensive AC strip, the Weizhi PRS6. Priced at $3200, the PRS6 is machined from a block of Super Duralumin alloy and features a graphite grounding module. There are no isolating transformers or conditioning circuits, the PRS6 is purely passive. The thinking behind the product, said Brian, is "to get the noise out of the line without changing the sound."

Yes, the Weizhi is a gorgeous piece of audio jewelry but do people really pay $3200 for peace of mind? Brian told me that he is currently shipping 10 units a week, so I guess they do.

Link to show report site...
http://www.stereophile.com/content/weizhi-prs6-ac-distribution

Stereophile/John Atkinson CES 2011 Show

Acapella Revises the High Violoncello II

By John Atkinson • Posted: Jan 12, 2011

A highlight of my reviewing year in 2010 was living with and writing about the Acapella High Violoncello II speaker from Germany ($80,000/pair). With its horn-loaded, ionic tweeter and horn-loaded midrange unit, this speaker offered both high sensitivity and some of the most satisfyingly musical sound I have experienced in my room.

Current production has been modified a little compared with the much-traveled samples I auditioned for my review. (They were the same pair I had auditioned at the 2010 CES, Axpona and RMAF Shows.) The drive-unit complement, cabinet, and crossover are all the same, but there is now a greater range of level adjustment for the ionic tweeter and isobaric-loaded woofers. But the sound of the latest version at CES. driven by Einstein electronics, sounded just as I remembered: dynamic, transparent, neutrally balanced, and not a trace of horn colorations.

Link to show report site...
http://www.stereophile.com/content/acapella-revises-high-violoncello-ii

Stereophile/Jason Serinus CES 2011 Show

Stage III Concepts Cables

By Jason Victor Serinus • Posted: Jan 15, 2011

Stage II Concepts, a Pasadena-based company whose products are distributed by Brian Ackerman of Aaudio Imports, has released four newly re-engineered, top-of-the-line cables. All are part of the A.S.P. Reference series (Absolute Signal Purity), and are entirely handmade (including connectors) by Luis de la Fuente. Connectors are made of ceramic with a mixture of special resins to minimize crosstalk between pins, and the entire housing composed of carbon-fiber and epoxy resin. The wire itself is silver-palladium alloy. The A.S.P. Reference interconnect and speaker cable also sport a vacuum dielectric.

On display were the Zyklop power cord ($6000/1.5m), Gryphon interconnect ($5800/1m pair RCA, $6300/1m pair XLR), and Mantikor speaker cable ($13,200/2m pair). Besides digital and phono cables and speaker jumpers, the company sells hook-up wire for components in a variety of gauges. The least expensive, 22 AWG ($66/1.5m) is followed by 17 and 15 AWG ($280/1.5m).

Asked about the cable’s sonic properties, Ackerman replied, “It has no sound at all. It’s probably the closest thing I’ve heard to having no wire. It’s virtually invisible, like a direct connection.”

Link to show report site...
http://www.stereophile.com/content/stage-iii-concepts-cables