Pacific Audio Fest Report - Part 2
Allow me to introduce you to Gunny Surya from Sonner Audio. Gunny contacted me before the PAF and asked me to stop by his room, so Gunny's was the first room I stopped to visit.
Loudspeaker designer Gunny Surya, in his Sonner Audio room with his Legato loudspeakers.
Gunny's story is a classic one. Gunny started designing loudspeakers for his own pleasure, but as friends heard his loudspeakers, they asked him if he would make them a pair.
Then word started to get out to a wider audience about how good his loudspeakers were, and Gunny ended up building more loudspeakers than he had anticipated.
Then Gunny decided he should started selling his loudspeakers on a commercial basis, and Sonner Audio was born.
Gunny manufactures his loudspeakers in New Hampshire. The model shown above is from Gunny's Legato series of loudspeakers, which are 90dB sensitivity floor standing loudspeakers that have already won a number of awards from The Absolute Sound.
Sonner Audio Allegro loudspeakers.
Gunny also builds stand mounted monitor-like loudspeakers, the Allegro series.
Be sure to check out Gunny's website HERE for more information about all his loudspeakers.
Olson's Hi-Fi room with Estelon X Diamond Mk II loudspeakers.
Remember what I said earlier about there being a shift in the audio industry towards a design focus that is more musically natural?
Olson's Hi-Fi was a perfect example, where they were demonstrating the Estelon X Diamond Mk II loudspeakers ($79K/pair USD) that were designed specifically to have a more musically natural presentation.
If you check out the Estelon loudspeakers website, you'll see phrases like "recreating rich natural sound", "rich life-like sound", and the "astonishing force of music".
Olson's HiFi room with Estelon X Diamond Mk II loudspeakers.
Three cheers for Estelon from me, for their the design goal of rich natural musicality.
Olson's HiFi.
Associated equipment was MBL for a digital source, and Krell electronics for amplification.
Olson's HiFi and Krell.
The world is changing my friends, and the hi-fi world is evolving and getting better, much better, particularly in terms of musicality. A trend I am happy to see - and hear!
By the way, you can hear this system at Olson's HiFi in Lynnwood, WA, so be sure to stop in for a visit!
As an aside: It turns out that Lynnwood is a pretty cool place to visit if you need a snazzy new car, a motorbike, or a hifi, or a home theater system.
My BMW R1250 GS Adventure that I bought from the Lynnwood Motoplex.
I bought my BMW R1250 GS Adventure motorbike from the cool guys at the Lynnwood Motoplex, who made my customer experience an absolute delight. Highly recommended!
As another aside: There were a surprising number of audio systems that weighed in around the $750K to $1M+ range, and I was rather surprised to hear that they actually sell quite a number of them.
I don't remember if it was Olson's HiFi that told me this, or it was in another room, but in the Seattle area, the affluent tech crowd are buying these kinds of systems ... wait for it ... not to play music on, but to play video games on! Gasp!
Focal and Naim room.
Apparently video games have impressive sound quality these days, and are a lot of fun to experience on high-performance audio systems because they immerse you so deeply into the experience.
Whether music or video games, I'm all for it, as it's all good for the audio industry!
When I think of Naim amplifiers, for some reason I always think of the old days at Naim (above).
If you look at the 'black boxes' between the Focal loudspeakers a couple of photos above, those are a pair of Naim mono amplifiers (closeup below), with a Naim preamplifier sandwiched between them. $300K USD for the lot. That's right, each mono amp is a $100K, and the preamp is a $100K. Crazy!
Focal and Naim room.
Naim and Focal are under the same corporate umbrella these days, which I wasn't aware of.
The good news is there were also a lot of very fine audio systems being shown that sounded fantastic, and were within reach of us regular blokes, instead of the pricey stuff targeted at tech moguls.
Eliseo (Troy Audio), Bill Hanuschak (Great Plains Audio), and Santos Oropel (Troy Audio).
Remember during the pre-pandemic period, a few years ago now, I told you about a chance meeting with Bill Hanuschak and Santos Oropel while in Munich?
I was sitting in a German beer hall eating dinner and having a beer with Leo, and I heard someone pass by our table say, "Jeff Day? Are you Jeff Day?" I was surprised to be recognized, particularly in Munich. Small world.
Well it was Santos, Bill, and Eliseo, who had the same idea we had, dinner and a beer at a famous German beer hall.
I asked them to join us, and we had a great time talking about audio, and of course Altec.
Santos and Bill were in Munich for the Munich Hi-Fi Show. Doc Leo and I just happened to be in Munich at the same time, but we weren't there for the Hi-Fi show.
Rather, we were just out on a beer drinking adventure in Munich, visiting the BMW Museum, then off to Austria and the Czech Republic for music concerts, good food & beverages, cool cultural experiences, checking out the breweries (1466 U Medvídků & 1842 Pilsner Urquell), museums and art galleries, and just generally being travelers exploring European cultures.
Most of you have heard about the rich audio heritage associated with Altec. They were the beating heart and soul of audio in the USA for many years, and in many ways were responsible for great advancements in audio technology during their heyday.
As you know, I'm a huge Altec fan, and have three pairs of vintage Altec loudspeakers. Is it possible to have too many Altec loudspeakers? No!
Bill Hanuschak is legendary in Altec circles. Great Plains Audio was formed in 1998 after the closing of the Altec Lansing factory in Oklahoma City. It was clear to Bill Hanuschak, who worked for them from 1980 until they closed, that there would be a need for someone to continue the maintenance of the large number of Altec acoustic products in use around the world.
Bill went to EVI/Telex, who had purchased Altec Lansing, with a plan to purchase all of the tooling, drawings, and equipment Altec used to build and service their loudspeakers, and to become their authorized service center for all of the Altec Lansing products that were still under warranty at that time.
In addition, Great Plains Audio assumed repair duties for all of the older, classic products that had served Altec’s customers since its inception with the parts manufactured from the original Altec tooling.
Great Plains Audio is also the source for original parts and warranty service for Altec Lansing Professional, which was a division of Altec Lansing Technologies. This includes all of their speaker products that were built through 2005.
Bill single-handedly saved the vintage Altec product lines from extinction, and today Great Plains Audio continues the Altec tradition by manufacturing repair parts and complete products of the highest quality.
Great Plains Audio drivers on display.
Guess who was at the Pacific Audio Fest? That's right, Bill, Santos, and Francisco Jileta, the CEO of Troy Audio, who purchased Great Plains Audio from Bill a few years back.
Don't worry, Bill is still involved, and providing inspiration as always.
Great Plains Audio drivers on display.
If you ever get a chance to see the Great Plains Audio 'Altec' drivers, be sure to give them a close look, touch them, and just marvel at their quality and beauty. They are truly something special to behold, and I guarantee they'll make lust bumps pop up all over your body.
Bill re-released some of Altec’s most famous vintage drivers, which they call the ‘Classic Series,’ including products like the world-famous 515C and 417-8H Alnico woofers, and the new 288H-series Alnico high-frequency compression driver.
Great Plains Audio drivers on display.
Great Plains Audio is excited about several newer products, like the impressive redesign of Altec’s famous 604-series of studio monitors, the 604-8H-III 16″ two-way loudspeaker, and the new 212-8A twelve-inch two-way loudspeaker, which unitizes the large format diaphragm used in the large 288 drivers.
Some of the new drivers that GPA introduced are the new 515-SW, 12 inch and the 8-inch drivers.
The Troy Audio room.
In the Troy Audio room we had a great time catching up with Santos Oropel, and had the great pleasure of meeting Troy Audio CEO, Francisco Jileta, a true hifi enthusiast who is intent on preserving the vintage 'Altec' legacy, as well as bringing out the next generation of new 'Altec' inspired products, including complete loudspeakers with the GPS nuevo 'Altec' drivers, under the Troy Audio brand.
I was impressed by the Acapulco loudspeakers they were playing in the Troy Audio room, and as we were chatting, we talked about doing a series of articles about the history and evolution of 'Altec' drivers and loudspeakers.
The history goes back to the Western Electric period, which eventually evolved into the Altec period, and from the Altec period the evolution continued to the Great Plains Audio period, and now Francisco Jileta has a vision for future vintage 'Altec' inspired products for a whole new generation of listeners.
Click on the link below to go to Part 3.
