PATHOS Acoustics
Pathos Acoustics was presenting their products within a demonstration from as well as on static display within a Hall area. Unfortunately, I only managed to get to their static display, though was able to take a few photos of their products there. The first of the products that I took note of was the Pathos InPol Heritage MkII amplifier €17k, which is a 2 x 80 W / ch, Pure Class A tube amplifier that is made in Italy, like all Pathos products.
Sitting also there on display, just to the lower left was the InPol Legacy fully balanced dual-mono amplifier; also, a Pure Class A tube amplifier product with a rather striking look that pulls together natural wood with tube romanticism.
Last but not least, in fact nothing anywhere close to least, were the very tall Pathos Legacy Frontiers floorstanding loudspeakers €50,000; a 4-way bass-reflex speaker that offer near full range sound, 28 Hz to 25 kHz, with a sensitivity of 88 dB.
ARETAI with MOONRIVER Audio
Walking down one of the paths between booths, I came across a charming young lady, Annija Kristiana Sirma, Business Development Manager, for Aretai, a Latvian loudspeaker company. Annija, with a friendly smile, ushered me into their booth to get a listen to their loudspeakers.
There on rotation were all three loudspeakers within the Aretai lineup, including the Contra 100S €9000 / pr 2.5-way standmount; Contra 200F €24,000 / pr 3.5-way floorstander and; the Contra 350F €54,000 / pr 3.5-way, large floorstander.
Brothers in Arms by Club for Five was played on the 350F and the sound had a pleasing density, presenting upfront with a rich and soothing tone and voluminous though well managed bass. Moving over to the smallest 100S, a John Coltrane track immediately revealed the speakers quick and nimble nature, with generous detail. The 100S revealed the atmosphere within the recording and given its size delivered astounding bass reproduction and reach – it does reach down to 32 Hz. Amplification was via a MoonRiver Audio Model 404 Reference stereo integrated amplifier €4950, with a 505 Hybrid Stereo Phono EQ Stage. Aretai’s products though available in several European countries; is still working on breaking into North America but I was told that it should be there soon.
PURITAN Audio Laboratories & LYRAVOX
PURITAN Audio Labs, had a display within the LYRAVOX room. It’s there that I met Mike Lester, the company’s founder.
Mike expounded on the Puritan products, explaining that unlike typical power conditioners, Puritan’s remove electrical interference / noise, without robbing dynamics and life and serve to reveal greater musical details and larger soundstages. Puritan offers three levels of products: Entry – Power Bricks, Intermediate – Power Strips and their Very Best – Studio Master Series. From their Studio Master Series, they demonstrated the PSM156 (6 x 15 Amp sockets) – showing the noise on the line with and without the PSM156 in play – see for yourself:
PSM156 (In)
VS. PSM156 (Out)
Puritan also produces three tiers of power mains cables: Classic £75 / m; Classic Plus with Magnetic Screen £115 / m and; Ultimate £460 / m high current (40A capacity). The Lyravox system, using Puritan power cables and conditioner was playing with very authentic piano music, while I was in the room – life and dynamics most evident.
Qobuz
Qobuz had an area at the show promoting their high-resolution music streaming service.
I’ve recently acquired a subscription and have been enjoying the sound quality, music selection and app. For now, I’ll say that not all streaming services sound the same, regardless of their high-resolution specifications and I’d recommend giving Qobuz a spin – taking at advantage of the free limited time promotions. Qobuz was thoughtful to provide a listening ‘booth’ at the show to give their service a whirl.
STENHEIM & darTZeel Audio
It seemed that Stenheim and darTZeel Audio had decided they might work collaboratively at the show, as I found their products paired together in no less than three rooms:
Room 1:
The first and smallest system combined an Stenheim Alumine Two.Five floorstander with darTZeel CTH 8550 mkII integrated amplifier and LHC 208 MkII danalogue (phono) amplifier connected to a Thales TTT-Compact II turntable, strapped with Wayxseries cables and VDM Sound Group acoustic panels.
This system sounded beautifully transparent, quick and lifelike.
Room 2:
It was comprised of the Stenheim Alumine Three floorstander, again with a darTZeel CTH-8550 MkII integrated amplifier and LHC-208 MkII danalogue amplifier connected to a Thiele TT01 zero tracking error turntable with Sumiko cartridge.
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Though pleasant sounding, I found this system sounded a bit threadbare, and could only attribute that to the setup or the recording, as I’ve heard those Alumine Three loudspeakers sound glorious in the past and the darTZeel worked very well in other pairing.
Room 3:
The third room was the largest setup for these two fine manufacturers. It stepped things up considerably by using the Stenheim Reference Ultime Two loudspeakers with darTZeel NHB-18NS MkII preamplifier; LHC-208 MkII network player / DAC / integrated; and a pair of NHB-468 monoblock power amplifiers sitting on Thixar Stands.
The analog sources were a pair of tables from Japan, by CSPort: the LFT1M2 turntable system and a TAT1M2 table. Both tables were setup with the all-new (prototype) dartZeel MC cartridges – a Black Ruby MC and a Diamond MC.
The sound of this system delivered riveting accurate timbre, a full rich harmonic palate with a natural presentation that demonstrated intrinsic detail. I was amazed at the lifelike rendition of bell tones from the vinyl LP. I was fortunate enough to meet Herve Deletraz, founder of darTZeel, who graciously posed for a picture.
PART VII (coming)
