[An Excerpt From]

Stereophile Show
Home Entertainment 2007 Hi-Fi and Home Theater Event

 Report By Rick Becker

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Bobby Palkovic usually puts on a rather straightforward display. Yet his room is simply one of the Best Rooms year after year because the music itself is inviting, involving and eminently listenable. An Audio Aero Prestige CD player ($14K) was at the front end and the latest VSM MXe, lead-free European version of his Merlin floorstanders (with super bam) was at the other ($10.5K). Everything was connected with Cardas Golden Reference cables. The star this year was the premiere of the Ars Sonum Filarmonia integrated amplifier putting out 30 wpc (the first 22 watts in Class A). I've had the fascinating experience of watching and hearing this amplifier develop over the past several years when I would visit Bobby on my way to furniture shows in North Carolina. It has grown into a beautiful swan that can sing with the best of them. What started out as a $3500 amplifier now commands $4000 due to the devaluation of the U.S. dollar and given the sound I heard with the Merlins, this is still a great value. Both the amplifier and his loudspeakers are built with lead-free solder, which Bobby asserts improves the sound as well as being good for the environment — not that you will want to throw either into your local landfill. At the end of the show I revisited the room and had the pleasure of meeting the manufacturer of the amplifier, Sr. Ricardo Hernandez, from Spain, with whom I exchanged a few words in Spanish.

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So Many Products, So Little Time I returned to the Press Room to thank Lucette Nicole for the excellent and smooth running operation she administered, but the room was in tear-down mode and Lucette was off organizing the Grand Evacuation, no doubt. I took my cue and packed up my cache of cameras and brochures in the lobby before heading for the Lincoln Tunnel and the frontier beyond. As I hiked across Manhattan to retrieve my Tracker, I lamented not seeing my friend Bill Parish. I don't normally mention products and vendors who are not present, but I learned afterward that Bill had hit one of those large potholes in life and had to pull out of the show at the last minute. I can assure you he will be back with his Kharmas and other fine lines, and I for one will be glad to see him again. A lot of reviewers and attendees place high priority on identifying the top room at shows. I typically prefer to select a bunch of Best Rooms in order to cut the presenters some slack for luck of the draw in room variations and the quality of the music that I might have heard during my brief visit. I certainly didn't listen to a favorite piece of music in every room — rather it was only a small fraction where I pulled out a disc. I'm also aware that my personal bias toward tube gear and analog playback makes the playing field somewhat tilted as well. So here, in the approximate order I visited them, are my selections. Rest assured that many others were very close behind. And keep in mind that I missed a few rooms, too. Merlin Music Systems, Ars Sonum, 1604 Zu Cable and Loudspeakers, 1607 KEF, Chord Electronics, 1414 The Soundsmith Corporation, 1542 Aurum Acoustics, 1515 MBL of America, Uris Room Aperion Audio, Wintergarden room, (for exceptional value) Cabasse, Bel Canto Design, 1409 Magico, VAC (Valve Amplification Co.), 1408 TAD Home Audio (Pioneer), MSB, 1413 BAT (Balanced Audio Tech.), Wilson Audio, Shunyata Research, 1421 Keeping in mind that very few of us walk into a store and buy a complete rig all at once, I'd like to offer a list of interesting new products that sufficiently impressed me to recommend further investigation. The rooms where I found them might not have been among the Best Rooms, and their target audience might be anywhere along the continuum of wealth of people who enjoy listening to music. Again, in the approximate order discovered with their approximate price, I'd like to suggest the following Components for Further Investigation. Ars Sonum Filarmonia tube integrated amplifier, $4000 Gershman Acoustics Sonogram loudspeakers, $2700/pr Mozart Violin Concertos, Thorsen w/Trondheim Solistene  [DXD (Digital eXtreme Definition) CD & SACD, 2L38] Audioengine A2 loudspeakers, $200/pr ModWright 36.5 Line Stage, $6000 Hyperion A45 tube monoblocks, $4500/pr Proclaim loudspeakers, $26,000/pr Zu Druid Mk IV loudspeakers, $3400/pr VAC Alpha tube integrated amplifier w/phono, $10,000 Scaena loudspeaker, (Expensive) Nova Physics Memory Player, $10,400 Omaha Audio OD-300B stereo tube amplifier, $1400 Soundsmith Straingauge cartridge and phono stage (Expensive) VAS Stereo Control Center (Expensive) SUBstage 200 Flatmatic Stealth Subwoofer, $400 EAT Cool Valve tubes, $35 each Usher BE-718 monitor loudspeakers, about $2500 Clearaudio Performance turntable, $2500 Mark and Daniel loudspeakers, from $1800 Noise Destroyer, $250 As I finish writing, it is three weeks to the day from the close of the show. During that time I drove to Baltimore twice to bring my mother-in-law to town so she could see her newest great granddaughter who was visiting from Chicago. We had four generations under one roof for a few days, and three generations for more than a week. I'm starting to get the hang of this multi-tasking skill, converting our home office into a bedroom long after midnight. I hope the wait has been worth it, and that you have found a few bits of information that will move your life and your musical pleasure forward. Now, I think I'll drift into the listening room for an hour with Hearts of Space. Safe journey, People of Music, wherever you are