Music Hall MMF 2.2 – $449.00 – complete with cartridge

This year we have helped more customers buy turntables than I can ever remember, Including the late 1970’s. It’s interesting to see our customers in all age groups returning to this format.  Now  with the availability of new-release, exceptional quality recordings, a nice sounding turntable can maximize  the presentation of any good audio system. One of our customers commented recently that when she pops on one of her older favorite albums it makes her feel like  she is a kid again. There is definitely  a warm musical feeling  from vinyl that’s difficult to get from digital recordings.

So  in the end is vinyl really better? Let me give you another quick example and you can decide:

Another one of our customers who has seriously gone back into vinyl now owns a Clearaudio Master Innovation with 2 tone arms, one for mono recordings and the other for stereo. He uses an Aesthetix Rhea Signature phono preamp to feed his system. When I asked him which format he prefers he said, “Let me put it this way, when I go to treat myself to a wonderful meal,  like say an excellent steak, I cook it on my gas stove and pay close attention to how it simmers.  But when I’m just hungry for a quick bite,  I usually just pop something in the microwave because its fast and simple. This is how I feel about vinyl verses my digital music server. My phono system is my gas cooktop,and my music server is my microwave.” And this is from a guy who only a couple of years ago told me he would never own another turntable.

So if you have been thinking about recapturing your childhood or treating yourself to a good meal, come in and give this a listen.

Today we fired up a complete Aesthetix System in our main listening  room. It included the Romulus CD / DAC, the Calypso Signature preamp and the Rhea Signature Phono Preamp, along with a pair of Atlas mono block amplifiers. We have been going between the Focal Diablo Utopia and one of our favorites the Stella Utopia. The Calypso is a new addition and we’re just breaking it in. However already I think this is one of the most 3 dimensional sounds we have experienced in our showroom.  I recently installed the same system for a client in Canada and felt the same sense of dimension while listening in his room.  I just wanted to invite whoever wants a wonderful  listening experience to come on in to hear it with your own ears. You won’t believe how good it sounds.

A big heartfelt thanks to our friend and colleague, Mr. Jim White of Aesthetix, for paying very close attention to what can be sometimes overlooked in our industry: musicality and detail but also a wonderfully rich presentation of the physical space sometimes seemingly hidden and often lost inside the recordings.

This morning we installed the long awaited SONY VPL-VW1000ESk projector in our theater room. This is considered by most video aficionados as the absolute State Of The Art in home theater picture reproduction. You know how good Blu-Ray looks right? Imagine 4 times the pixel count with eye popping  contrast and color. We watched a bit of “Planet Earth” and it actually feels as if you are looking through a window. 3D also looks better than anything any of us have ever seen. We are displaying it on our 133-inch Screen Innovations Fixed Screen and you can actually walk up to this screen, put your nose an inch away and not see a single pixel. The price is not for the faint of heart but when you see this, be careful… you are going to want it!

If you are considering an in-wall speaker system the Focal IW 1002 is a great choice. Focal uses the exact same quality components found in their family of floor standing speakers.  The easily removable magnetic grille allows for custom painting to match your wall or ceiling.  The purpose-built enclosure serves two purposes. It controls the mid-woofer so your bass is smooth and also helps to inhibit sound transfer into other rooms.  We feel many in-wall speakers do not produce an acceptable level of sound quality and that these are definitely an exception to that rule.

Come in and audition these and we are sure you will agree.

Krell’s New Integrated Amplifier has just arrived!

Krell is finally shipping, in limited quantities, their second batch of this beautiful piece of Audio jewelry –  the S550i, available for $5000.

This is truly a music lover’s product with more than enough juice to control any speaker system on the planet.

We started warming up  our display unit in our showroom yesterday and already can tell it performs well above it’s price range. Huge sound stage presentation, lots of detail and control as we have come expect from Krell.  It boasts 275 watts per channel into 8 ohms and a whopping 550 into 4 ohms. It weighs 64 pounds but don’t worry, we can help you with the installation. For those of you considering a serious musical upgrade but may not have the real estate for separates, come in and have a listen for yourself.

Here is a link to a recent review (PDF) from reviewer Ken Kessler of Hi-Fi News and Record Review.