Sunday, May 28, 2017

Audio Cabana in Austin

The amiable Josh Miles of JWM Acoustics hosted a gathering of Texas audiophiles at his apartment yesterday. On hand were a pair of his excellent sounding Alyson standmounts, fed by his equally impressive sounding Karen 12 table (the 12 for the long Ortofon arm), and Etsuro-Urushi MC, and Daistasis phono stage, courtesy of Joshua Masongson of Believe Hifi, with amplification by Raven's beautiful Shaman monoblocks (we missed you Dave!) Cabling mostly by Douglas Connection, another local company with some later improv of whatever was to hand to make some connections fit.

Some gear swaps occurred throughout, including a late run with a pair of expensive Aries Cetras preamps that were really impressive sounding, and digital feeds from a laptop (don't ask me, I am a materialist).

So, apartment set up, no abnormal room treatments, just a lot of gear you can fit into a normal room, basic furnishing, floor rug, sofa, dogs, booze and tacos. You know, a  normal guy's home! Sonics were really pleasing on most material, a mix of stuff on hand and recordings people brought to share. Yes, jazz was the dominant genre but the quality of stuff on hand was toe-tappingly good. Later we veered into Temple of the Dog (RIP Chris Cornell) and some new sounds to me, which Siri shazammed for me but did not note for the record, so those names are gone. I just asked Siri what it last played and it told me 'sorry, but I can't find 'what I last played' in your records. Technology!   But hey, it was a good time.

The Karen table is a gorgeous and elegant design, no flash, all sonics, about as fuss-free and groovy as you could want. The pic below does not really do it justice and as Josh would tell you, this is a sample that he takes on the road, his finished versions are just better looking, and its true, I've seen them. The Esturo cartridge was new to me, so not sure what to make of its contribution to the sonics but I was there to have fun, and fun we certainly had.


For kicks, as everyone's level of 'refreshment' advanced, Joshua from Believe HiFi distribution introduced a pair of Aries Cerat preamps to the mix. OK, we're entering the nosebleed end of audiophilia here with the basic preamp being $12k and and reference level component, pictured here, hitting closer to $80k. I don't know what to tell you but two things seemed pretty clear to those of us fortunate enough to be there. The $12k preamp is stunning, it just gave the whole system a lift from the moment it was introduced. But wait, there's more. The top of the range reference model was even better. I know....$70k better? I'll take the usual audiophile reviewer cop-out of telling you it's not up to me how you spend your money but it was better and if I could have either, I'd take it. I have no idea where the cost goes as these are not the most beautiful components one might ever see. The supertube these preamps are built around? The origins of the design in a long-forgotten dissertation?  Life and audio are mysteries....But none of that takes away from the $12k model - it was really, really good sounding in this rig. 

Anyway, that was Audio Cabana....a fun gathering and easy going session where men (and only men, sadly) came to hear some great music on really nice gear while sharing light conversation and a few drinks. My thanks to Josh for hosting -- a more genial host it would be hard to imagine.  This was way more fun than most rooms at RMAF and I hope to get a pair of those Alyson speakers into my room to review in the coming months - they have some real magic going on I sense. 


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