Pacific Audio Fest Report - Part 3
The Audio Note (UK) rooms are always a pleasure to visit at audio shows, both for their musically natural high-fidelity sound quality, and the live music comparisons courtesy of Canadian cellist Vincent Belanger.
Audio Note (UK) room.
Like always, the Audio Note (UK) room and audio system was truly superb. The Audio Note (UK) system consisted of the TT Three turntable (with PSU Three, Arm II/3, AN-S4 step-up transformer [review HERE], IO I moving-coil cartridge [review HERE]), the CD4.1x CD player [review HERE], the Meishu Phono Tonmeister Silver integrated amplifier [review HERE], the AN-E/SPe HE loudspeakers, AN SPe bi-wire speaker cables, Isis power cables, and AN-V and AN-Vx interconnects.
Audio Note (UK) TT Three turntable.
Audio Note (UK) TT Three turntable, CD4.1x CD player, and Meishu Phono Tonmeister Silver integrated amplifier.
AN-E/SPe HE loudspeakers
On the left in the photo below is Vincent Belanger, the famous Canadian cellist. To Vincent's right is Adrian Ford-Crush, who was carrying the Audio Note (UK) flag at PAF while Peter Qvortrup was attending a family wedding.
Cellist Vincent Belanger (left), Adrian Ford-Crush (right).
It was great to meet you Adrian and Vincent!
Cellist Vincent Belanger.
It was a lot of fun hearing Vincent play solo for us, and then play along with a recording of himself on the Audio Note (UK) system.
It wasn't a contest, but of course Vincent won the live vs. album performance.
What was amazing was how eerily close the Audio Note (UK) system came to Vincent's live un-amplified sound.
I've got all Vincent's albums. If I remember correctly, Vincent mentioned that his albums will be coming out on deluxe 45rpm vinyl in the future, so that's something to look forward to.
Canadian jazz artist, Anne Bisson.
Oh, as an aside, even though Vincent is primarily a classical artist, he played on one of Anne Bisson's jazz albums as well. Vincent called his playing on Anne's album "jazzy classical".
My buddy Doc Leo really liked this Audio Note (UK) system (for good reason), and it was one of his favorite systems at the show, regardless of price. Ditto for me, of course.
I'll have to ask for sure about the price, but based on what I have here, I suspect this system comes in around $65K+ USD.
I've got a duplicate of much of this Audio Note (UK) system here at my place at the moment (photo above), including the IO I moving-coil cartridge and AN-S4 step-up transformer (reviews HERE), the the CD4.1x CD player (review HERE), and the Meishu Phono Tonmeister Silver integrated amplifier, which I wrote about for Positive Feedback recently (review HERE).
I suspect Doc Leo will be coming by to give the Audio Note (UK) kit a listen in my system, after his positive impressions of the Audio Note (UK) system at the Pacific Audio Fest.
The Genesis Advanced Technologies room with Ki Choi.
There were quite a few reel-to-reel tape machines on display, with some being used as sources, playing master tapes, master safeties, etc., as in the Genesis Advanced Technologies room in the photo above.
Ki Choi (photo above) is considered one of the world's leading expert in restoring, calibrating, etc., vintage studio reel-to-reel (R2R) tape machines.
Genesis room with restored vintage Studer R2Rs.
Genesis room R2R tape machine.
Genesis room sources - wow!
He gave a fascinating talk about the restoration and calibration of R2R tape machines, and did a demonstration of the performance of different R2R tape machines, how performance varies between 15 ips and 30 ips R2Rs, how R2R compares to vinyl and digital playback, all on the new Genesis Prime+ loudspeaker system that Gary Kow (Genesis Advanced Technologies) brought to the Pacific Audio Fest.
Genesis Prime+ loudspeaker system.
R2Rs are pretty clearly at the top of the pecking order for source components, but at $500 a pop for an album on tape - and the extremely limited choices of albums that you can buy - they will remain a rather exclusive commodity from the magic magnetic era of the recording arts, I suspect.
Restored R2R in the Marketplace display room for sale.
There were a number of restored consumer versions of vintage R2R tape machines for sale in the Marketplace display room.
If you want to get in on the R2R tape machine action, don't wait too long, supplies are dwindling, and prices are rising rapidly as a result.
Canadian jazz artist Anne Bisson.
By the way, about 6 or 7 of us lucky show attendees who happened to be in the right place at the right time were treated to an impromptu live performance by Canadian jazz artist Anne Bisson.
Anne Bisson!
Anne was all of a couple of meters or so from us, and sang for us unamplified. Anne was truly breathtaking.
These are the sorts of magic musical events you get to experience when you attend the Pacific Audio Fest!
Genesis room with restored vintage Studer R2Rs.
Bernie Grundman recorded Anne for a new album, and we were able to hear a copy of the master tape from that session played at 15 ips (machine on the left) and 30 ips on the R2R (machine on the right), as well as the vinyl version (below), over Gary Koh's big Genesis Prime+ loudspeaker system.
Anne Bisson on vinyl!
As good as Bernie's master tape sounded, and it was really good (as was the vinyl), hearing Anne singing in a private performance for us a few meters away was one of those magic moments, and the winner by a country mile over the master tape. Goosebumps!
By the way, Doc Leo bought a copy of the Anne Bisson R2R tape to play on his R2R tape machine at home (restored by Ron Barbee), as well as the vinyl, so I hope to give you a follow-up on hearing those at some point.
RX Reels for R2R tape machines.
RX Reels were recommended to us in the Genesis room discussion as being essential to getting the best performance from R2R tape machines.
RX Reels carbon fiber reels are available in a variety of finishes.
Doc Leo picked up a couple of sets of the carbon fiber reels for his R2R machine.
Click on the link below to go to Part 4.
