Lounge 376 products OTY

Lounge 376 Product of the year

We were hoping to add this to our new Lounge 376 website, but things were not to be as our Lounge website will available only in early 2012. Certainly less compromise, Component budget have somewhat increased, but alas, we are a little closer to the sonic nirvana that some of you are looking for. Only 4 components segments will be chosen, of special merit, all available and on demonstration.

Speaker of the year: Usher 8571 II Diamond (less than 15,000.00).

What, no Volents 3.5? Well we cheated on this one, we chose the Volents VL-2 for reason you have already read above.

The 8571 II are Very big, very long to burn in , very difficult to set up , very impressive looking, very heavy at over 200 lbs each , and somewhat very long in letting its secrets go. But once you master the affront to your senses, and after the 8571’s settle in, one gets a stunning aural cues that is tri dimensional, very palpable, inflexions’ are real, finesse is upfront and personal, transparency is said at the level of Wilson speakers ( the latest generation Diamond tweeter is used and is years ahead of others diamond tweeter manufacturer ), depth is extreme at all level. Strong tube amplifiers or great transistor need only apply. From this model and up in the Usher line up, we get an aural as well as a physical sculpture that is at times beguiling. The 8571’s are not shamed in any way by my triple more expensive other speakers.

Cables of the year : Nordost Valhaha ( over 5,000.00 per connect ) / JPS Aluminata speaker cables ( over 12,000.00  8 ft pair ) / Kimber Palladium power cord ( approx 2,000.00 ) / Audio note AN Sogon ( over 5,000.00 )

All  are established cables in their own rights, yes all are owned and used in Lounge 376 , sometimes at both locations.The only hic was if the Aluminata speaker cable should take honors’' over our Kimber Selekt 3038 ( over 15,000.00 , 8ft pair), but alas we chose the JPS because of it’s more compatible nature. We even chose the Kimber Palladiums’ over the JPS Aluminata power cord (less than 5,000.00), because we thought, that the Kimber’s do something awfully nice to the music, without pulling our another loan from the bank.

It might be said that all cable share one trait, and that is that these cables let you see into the music in a substantive way that is spooky and yes, that word again, palpable. These companies do make affordable cables as well, but in our view, here and now, the above are consistently top of their class.

Components of the year : Audio Note Conqueror Silver S/E edition ( over/Approx 8,000.00 ) / Linn Akurate DS ( less than 8,500.00 ) / Audio Note 3.1X II cd player ( approx 7,000.00)

We have several AN Conquerors on hand, a few versions in fact, all share similar sonics, but the S/E edition makes music that is at once up close, with benchmark liquidity, smoothness, coherency, surprising dynamic and powerful, and yes a type of sound that no one tends to forget quickly. There are a lot of 300B’s out there, but only one Audio note Conqueror. We limit ourselves here to strictly  Uk manufactured stock , built in the UK. We carry a few for good reasons’.

We consider the 3.1x II ( as well as the 2.1 x II and 4.1  x II to stand alone in a very convoluted digital market ), please read our Stereo Passion awards, but what AN silver disc engines manage to do is to make people revisit what they are being bombarded with  by journalist and scribes , that the silver disc is beneath contempt. From the 2.1 x II onward, these poor souls are proven wrong, oh so wrong,  time and time again.

Here is another component that we have 2. One unit here and the other at Stereo Passion. The topsy turvy world of digital is wild, quick to change, and all things considered, the AK DS is still my benchmark in DS for now after 4 years of being tweeked and upgraded by Linn. There is only one way to go from here, and some of our clients have done so already: The Klimax DS ( 23,000.00 ) The AK/DS sonics is in the domain of the semi gods. Its agile, organic, and dense as well as transparent nature brings you in into the music, and does not let go. True of the above Audio Note Conqueror as well.

Hope you enjoyed the read

Stereo Passion