Colleen Cardas Imports
Collen Cardas put together a relatively affordable system: Opera Loudspeakers Quinta ($5,495/pair), Unison Research Simply Italy integrated amplifier ($2,450), Unison Research Unico UPower booster amplifier ($2,895), a Unison Research Unico CDE CD player with dual-mono optional DAC upgrade ($4,120), MIT SL8 ($499/meter pair) RCA interconnects throughout, and MIT SL9 speaker cables ($799/8-foot pair) featuring new, compact networks. Total = $16,759. The sound was surprisingly transparent and musical. This is a great intermediate system package that can be relaxing or exciting whenever the mood calls for.
Wadia
John Schaffer represented another familiar face at this show. Whereas the Wadia exhibit had always been staffed by a multitude of employees manning a full shelf of gear, this year there were only two pieces of equipment at the exhibit, and one of them was a pair of speakers that didn’t require you to even touch it. The other, of course, was the company’s new Intuition 01 USB DAC/class D power amplifier. Outputting 350 Wpc into 4 ohms, the Intuition 01 completely dominated the Focal speakers. This sleek little darling screamed “take me home”. Speaker terminal was all banana. Projected MSRP is $7,500.
Studio Electric and Benchmark
Unfortunately the Studio Electric and Benchmark room was the last one we were able to stop into. And with a flight to catch we were unable to spend as much time as we would have liked. The sound from the room was not disappointing! Punchy, detailed, dynamic, snappy and fun. The new speakers were put together just in time for the show. Studio Electric also has a new integrated hybrid amplifier designed to correctly power their closed box bookshelf speakers which are just about the fastest little things this side of the Indy 500.
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Re Unison Research Simply Italy amp. Aren’t ultralinear and SET mutually exclusive designs?