RMAF 2019 Show Report Part 1
Show Report By Rick Becker

  First stop was the Parasound & Tekton Design room (11116). I've reviewed three of Tekton's speakers over the years, but never actually met Eric Alexander. He gave me a very warm welcome and thanked me for putting him on the map with the review of his OB 4.5, an open baffle design I still cherish. I had heard two rooms with his speakers last year, one of which I thought was quite good. Here he was playing his new Moab model ($4500) with a beehive of dome tweeters capped with 12" woofers top and bottom.

Most of his designs are high efficiency and this is no exception at 98dB/W/m, allowing for a very transparent and dynamic sound. While he prefers to build the speaker spec'd at 4 Ohms, he will also send it to you set up for 8 Ohm resistance — like if you've got low powered SET amps. (And why not?) The paint here was a very nice blue lacquer that seemed to have a hint of metalflake, but that was probably just the spotlights reflecting on the textured surface.

The Moab was driven by one of two systems. System 1, totaling a mere $7500, included a the new Parasound New Classic 200 integrated amp ($1200), OPPO disc player, BlueSound wireless streamer ($600), $600 worth of Straightwire cabling and a new NorStone ESSE equipment rack with either red or black shelves for $360 — a new brand distributed by Parasound.

The second system included the same Tekton speakers, OPPO disc player and Straightwire cabling, but added a Parasound Halo JC5 stereo amp ($6k) on a Norstone Square Spider amp stand ($1500), a Halo JC2 BP preamp ($4500), and a Halo JC3 Jr. Phono stage ($1500), which required the addition of a Clearaudio Performance DC Wood turntable ($5800) and Ortofon Quintet Black MC cartridge ($999). This big way totaled out just over $26k. The JC5 stereo amp makes an excellent and very cost effective option for monoblocks if you want to bi-amp your speakers.

You can use one channel for the top and one for the bottom, controlling the actual power output with the individual channels with knobs on the back of the amp. I spoke with Joe Finn of Parasound who told me the replacement for the JC1 monoblocks is well along in development and they are anxious to get it out, but he could not hint at an estimated timeframe for introduction.

On this first visit I heard the first system playing the Moab and for that it deserves recognition as one of the Most Important Rooms at the show for its extraordinary high value. At the end of the show I revisited the room and heard the big rig driving the Moab and for that it deserves recognition as one of the Best Rooms at the show, still, for not a lot of money. This was absolutely a "must visit" room at RMAF.

---> My part two RMAF 2019 show report is at this link.

---> Back to main RMAF 2019 show report page.