RMAF 2008 Show Report (Rocky Mountain Audio Fest)
Saturday Page 1

 

Thoress is like DIY gone pro with their offerings. Seen here is the company's dual-mono design preamplifier (4,600€) with three MC phono inputs. Three MM version is also available.

 

Virtually everyone knows of Nelson Pass of legendary Threshold an now Pass Labs fame. Then there is his First Watt brand like the B1 Buffer ($1000) that has no voltage gain. It simply impedance matches with jfet follower type of preamplifier.

 

Daealus Audio had their Ulysses three-way large floorstander being driven by Manley Labs 250 monoblock tube amplifiers.

 

War Of The World's? No, it is ViV Laboratory evanui signature loudspeakers ($60,000). This is a 'full range' single 3-inch driver unit with a cabinet made from 63 layers of wood.

 

Feastrex was showing a prototype of their 811 tubed stereo amplifier that produced 17 watts per channel Degawa bridge rectification, Tango transformers... The top line stuff here folks.

 

With the Enjoy the Music.com DIY Magazine comes a warm welcome of Audio Note kits. Not new to the kit realm, yet this is the company's new EL34 stereo amplifier kit ($1500 or thereabouts).

 

JoLida will be releasing a new line called the Glass Fx, and here is their first prototype called the JD-10 ($399) stereo integrated amplifier. It uses EL84 tubes for output to produce 10 watts per channel. There are three inputs, two being RCA and the other being 1/8-inch for portable audio players.

 

As always, Kimber Kable had a great sounding setup in conjunction with Pas Labs, Sound Las and many others. Their IsoMike recordings are well worth a good listen, so if you have not investigated then do seek them out.

 

Scaena loudspeakers re twelve 4-inch drivers for midrange, a long ribbon for highs and includes a separate cabinet for the 18-inch subwoofer.

 

All of the latest dCS goodies were the source components for the Scaena loudspeakers. The dCS Scareatti line easily decodes handles digital media and can upsample for high resolution.

 

Ayon had their new Triton integrated amplifier hat uses a quartet of KT88 tubes per channel, plus a selection of 12AU7. There are four inputs plus a direct all via RCA jacks.