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Audacious AudioFloor Loudspeaker Reviews
TAD Grand Evolution One loudspeaker
Sasha Matson  |  May 01, 2024  |  2 comments
Review samples of some new high-end audio products do not grow on trees. They are more like dray horses trouping from one destination to another. After the US premiere of the Technical Audio Devices (TAD) Grand Evolution One (TAD-GE1), a floorstanding speaker from TAD's Evolution series, at the 2023 Capital Audio Fest, the review pair came to stay with me in Upstate New York for a couple of months before traveling on to the 2024 Florida Audio Expo for another public appearance. After that, they returned to John Atkinson for measuring—then off again on another journey.

The TAD Labs GE1 is a three-way, three-driver design. Up top is TAD's proprietary Coherent Source Transducer (CST), a 5½" coaxial tweeter/midrange driver. Two matched 7" woofers fill out the middle of the front panel.

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AXPONA 2024
Wilson Audio, Dan D’Agostino, Clearaudio, DS Audio, dCS, Innuos, Stromtank, Transparent, and Critical Mass Systems
Jason Victor Serinus  |  May 01, 2024  |  0 comments
Does this star-studded brand lineup from Quintessence Audio Ltd. of Chicago sound familiar? It should, not only because it’s frequently encountered at audio shows and dealers, but also because it consistently earns plaudits as one of my Best Sounding Rooms.
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AXPONA 2024
Quintessence’s take on Perfection: Wilson, Moon, Clearaudio, Hanna, Innuos, Kubala-Sosna, and Critical Mass Systems
Jason Victor Serinus  |  May 01, 2024  |  0 comments
After achieving Serenity and acquiring Knowledge, do we end up in the land of Perfection? The room I visited after Perfection was Connection, which was occupied by Quintessence Audio. So perhaps we can say that Serenity + Knowledge + Perfection produces a Connection to something higher than ourselves, which in this case would be Nirvana. (There's also a Nirvana room.)
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AXPONA 2024
A Full Active Gryphon System Wows
Jason Victor Serinus  |  May 01, 2024  |  1 comments
There are times when a music critic gets so upended by a recording of well-loved music that their previous plaudits for a different recorded version demands reassessment.
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AXPONA 2024
Gryphon Audio Designs’s New PowerZone
Jason Victor Serinus  |  May 01, 2024  |  0 comments
Just as they did last year, Gryphon devoted the large Schaumburg E space to static displays, including the debut of the Gryphon PowerZone PZ3.10 power purifier ($14,000) which has eight Furutech AC sockets and 20A current capacity and is said to utilize Quantum Resonance Technology.
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AXPONA 2024
Stenheim, VTL, dCS, Nordost, VPI, and Lyra Wow Once Again
Jason Victor Serinus  |  May 01, 2024  |  0 comments
Last year in the large Schaumburg F air-walled room in the Convention Center, Stenheim, VTL, and Nordost put together one of the finest sounding rooms I’ve heard at any show. This year, the sound was again among the best I encountered in the over 40 rooms I auditioned.
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AXPONA 2024
Fidelity Imports: Opera, Soulnote, QED, Titan Audio
Ken Micallef  |  May 01, 2024  |  0 comments
Steve Jain and his Fidelity Imports crew presented six rooms at AXPONA, stuffed with debut products from across the world.
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Phono Accessory ReviewsPhono Preamp ReviewsTurntable Reviews
Spin Doctor #12: EMM Labs DS-EQ1, The Wand 14-4 Turntable, M•A Inner Sleeves
Michael Trei  |  Apr 30, 2024  |  3 comments
"I think both moving coil and moving magnet cartridges are terrible." That's what legendary Canadian audio designer Ed Meitner told me when I asked about the pioneering transimpedance current drive phono stage he created for his Meitner PA6 preamp some 40 years ago.

Meitner has been designing innovative hi-fi gear for the pro and consumer audio markets for more than 50 years, but for most of the last 30, he has been best known for his work with high-resolution digital audio and DSD recording. Despite this focus on digital—and despite that comment about the two leading phono cartridge technologies—deep in his heart, Ed still loves analog and has fond memories of the Kenwood optical cartridges from the 1970s, which I discussed in last month's Spin Doctor column. So when Ed read that a company in Japan called DS Audio was bringing back an improved version of the optical cartridge using modern materials, he contacted designer Tetsuaki Aoyagi to learn more.

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AXPONA 2024
Zesto, Tidal from The Voice That is, Dr. Feickert, Tri-Planar, Ortofon, Cardas, and Stillpoints
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Apr 30, 2024  |  0 comments
Oh, how I love the look of Zesto Audio equipment. Here it found its ideal visual complement in Tidal Piano speakers ($57,000/pair) from Philly-area dealer The Voice That Is and a catchily titled (not) Stillpoints ESS42-26-4 rack with acrylic shelves ($13,788).
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AXPONA 2024
Treehaus Audiolab
Ken Micallef  |  Apr 30, 2024  |  0 comments
Rich Pinto of Treehaus Audiolab, which is based in Southport, Connecticut, has been dedicated to developing SET amplifiers and high-efficiency speakers since 2017. Here at AXPONA, he introduces the A/Machines 300B monoblock amplifiers ($39,000/pair), which showcase his commitment to classic design, in the sound and the aesthetics.
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