Tokyo Show 2009

Glass Master is designed by a Japanese guy whose name I don't know, and sold exclusively through Scantech Hanbai:
http://www.scantech.co.jp/glassmaster_sd2.html
As Markus says, very expensive (4.5 million yen / pair) and rather low-key.

 

Oops, sorry for confusing Lyra and Scantech.

Any more pics coming, Joel?

 

Still puzzled. What are we supposed to notice? Very different construction to the Dorian for sure.

 

Lots more + will probably do the high-end show and the tube show this coming weekend!
It just takes time...

I should check with Jonathan before commenting on the differences. There's a gap in there for a start, though.

 

The magnet also looks very different, or maybe the protruberance from the anodized alloy piece is just there to keep the front part in place? And is that a nylon screw, as on the Skala?

 

People, you don't even see the magnet in both pictures.

1) there is indeed the gap between the plastic front magnet
carrier and the main body.

2) nylon screw iso aluminium/stainless

3) together they seem to decouple the magnet carrier from the body

4) Delos seems to be smaller than Dorian

5) Delos is ugly. Too bad. I liked the looks of the Dorian very much.

 

ugly?

well it's about the size of the nail on your pinky finger so it's no biggie !

 

Apologies if my photos made the Delos look uglier or larger than the Dorian. It isn't. Honestly. Sounds good, too.
Anyway, next up are Linn and Westlake (but not in the same room )

 

oooo westlake.... show show !!!

 

No apologies needed. I was commenting on the colour scheme, as someone who feels that everyone needs a red cartridge ;-)

Any idea about the price? I liked Dorian an awful lot when I reviewed it for TNT:

http://www.tnt-audio.com/sorgenti/lyra_dorian_e.html

 

Red and gold only looks good on Christmas trees.

 

Cmon, Cmon then, post the piccies. Not of Linn, the other one!

 

Each to their own I suppose

 

well she would also look good on top of a christmas tree in fairness.

..despite a little discomfort on her part, I'm sure.

 

Linn and Westlake

After the big metal and wood extravaganza of Tannoy / Esoteric, it was time to downsize with Linn who were showcasing their new Cara control software and what I guess is a Sneaky Music DS ( dimensions don't look quite right, but what else could it be?)



This is a modern, minimalist take on 2-channel audio that works really, really well. Admittedly there was a large screen and a Dell laptop at the back of the room, but that could just as easily be a NAS and a control interface.
If I were starting out in audio now, this is surely the route I'd be taking.
The Linn speakers, Majik 140 here, as usual, sounded OK at reasonable playback volumes, without being obviously fantastic (or terrible that I could hear for that matter). Maybe that's a good thing.

The second Linn room featured a sesei, bigger speakers and maybe even an LP12 somewhere. The volume was slightl,y cranked in this room and it didn't sound as good. Once he started going on (and on) about the importance of mains quality I left



Overall, the Linn rooms left a very pleasant taste in the mouth.



And so onto Westlake and Boulder
Now this is my kind of thing: huge 4-ways with enormous LF drivers and intimidating horns.



Or is it?
The sound was midrangy and strident. Was this the recording, the music, the room or the hifi? Not sure, but the sound was not very good even at lower volume. I know Westie can be enormous fun, but this day their apparent defects were revealed rather ruthlessly.




And of course, along with the Boulder equipment, we are not talking cheap. You could buy a Porsche for the cost of this lot. Know which I'd rather have based on an admittedly casual listen.

A disappointment, but the next room would provide quite a nice surprise...

 

Tease!

 

Piega, Trigon, Revox


Branded as Revox, and, from what I could tell, that's real cow...


"Mark and Daniel" which sounds like a gay porn duo (but how would I know) rather than a speaker brand are allegedly from LA. However, go to their website and it looks rather more that they're from somewhere in the vicinity of Shenzen.
http://www.mark-daniel.com/
Whatever. no idea how these or the revox sound as they were on static display.

The main setup were a pair of rather cool looking Trigon "Monolog" monoblocks in the bottom rung fo the rack



...and the new Piega MasterONE speakers



The speakers use Piega's trademark "coaxial ribbon" in a dipole configuration. My notes read "natural sound, nice volume.



So they were going pretty loud, maybe hitting a room node at around 60Hz - although it didn't sound like that.

Cutting to the chase,this was the best sound I heard all day and the best laugh from the Revox and Mark & Daniel boxes.
All hideously expensive, naturlicht.

 

Hmmm, I think I know where you're going..

 

Bet you weren't expecting Piega to be the answer ;-) Neither was I to be honest. Don't fret, there is more interesting stuff coming later. However, in the meantime...

 

Hi Joel..

You just 'never know' do you ?

My favourite sound at the Northampton show was the Maggie 3.6 ribbons...not a result I would have predicted ... I would have said my favourite would have been the Pioneer/Tad S1eX but they were good, but no favourite.