Reviews
THE Show 2024 by Ron Resnick – What’s Best Forum
Video interview with Kevin Malmgren about the new SYSTEM THREE loudspeakers can be viewed here.
Video walkthrough of the SYSTEM THREE loudspeakers exhibit can be viewed here.
Video clip of the SYSTEM THREE loudspeakers playing can be viewed here.
Video clip of the MODEL ONE monitors playing can be viewed here.
THE Show 2024 by Adrian Alexander – The Absolute Sound
Video interview with Kevin Malmgren about the new MODEL ONE monitors can be viewed here.
THE Show 2024 by Gary Alan Barker – Hifi Audio Guru
The theme of T.H.E. SHOW this year for me seemed to be tiny speakers that sound amazing and better than their larger counterparts, and The Audio Association with their Evolution Acoustics Model One Reference Monitors ($3,780/pr) driven by a Mola Mola Kula Integrated Amplifier ($15,055 + $8,500 for DAC option + $3,000 for Phono Stage option) and source via a Grimm Audio MU1 Streamer/Roon Core ($12,500 + $630 for 8TB SSD Storage Option) using a Dejitter It Switch X Audiophile Network Switch ($3,500) and Dejitter It WiFi X Audiophile WiFi Access Point ($850) were the first to bring me to that conclusion, not only did they sound amazing, they were an incredible bargain costing less that any other component in the system (other than the WiFi Access Point) including the cables, Evolution Acoustics Speaker Cables ($12,275/9’pr), Evolution Acoustics Power Cables ($3,600/6′), and Evolution Acoustics XLR cables ($4,500/1M pr).
That is not to say that their main system down in one of the ballrooms employing the Evolution Acoustics SYSTEM 3 Loudspeakers ($129,800) with WestminsterLab Rei Monoblock Amplifiers ($32,900/pr) and WestminsterLab Quest Preamplifier ($25,100 + $5,200 optional Mono Phono Card) with the WestminsterLab Monologue Phono Stage ($13,900 w/DS phono option) was not impressive, but what actually caught my eye was the ATR-102 1/4″ Hot Rod Tape Machine (an Ampex Studio Reel to Reel with external controllers and Dolby A noise reduction, price not published) as well as the Wave Kinetics NVS Reference Black Jonathan Tinn Memorial Edition Turntable (price not published) with a Durand Tosca LE Tonearm ($34,000) and a Durand Tosca Tonearm ($18,000) sporting a DS Audio Master 3 Optical Cartridge ($9,500) with a DS Audio Ion-001 Ionizer, and a Miyajima Infinity Mono .7 Cartridge ($3,475) respectively. A Seismion Reactio 651 Isolation Platform supported the turntable and was in turn supported by a Massif Audio Design Curly Rock Maple/Macassar Audio Rack ($4,200), Massif Audio Design Turntable Platform ($400), and Massif Audio Design Turntable Platform Ebony footers with Obsidian Sphere ($800/set of 3) with matching Massif Audio Design Amp Stands ($1,200/ea).
THE Show 2023 by Jacob Green – Audioholics
Moving on from one of the more affordable systems at the show, we come to what was probably the most expensive system I heard all weekend. The American speaker company Evolution Acoustics always makes great sound when paired with the beautiful, red and gold electronics from Switzerland’s darTZeel. It’s been a while, but the last few times I saw these two companies at an audio show, the speakers on demo were the small and sleek Evolution Acoustics MicroOne stand-mounts ($5,000/pair). When powered by pricey darTZeel amplification (which looks exactly like something Tony Stark might use), those little speakers sound incredible. But I don’t know how they’d sound with more affordable gear, and that uncertainty was just barely enough to enable me to control myself when I learned that the MicroOne was being offered for $1999/pair, including stands and shipping, if purchased during T.H.E. Show. My wallet managed to escape unscathed, but I’m still not sure I made the right choice. I have heard many impressive demos of the MicroOne in years past, but it was only on passive display this time around. The demonstration system at T.H.E. show involved something very different, and MUCH bigger, from Evolution Acoustics.
Evolution Acoustics SYSTEM SpeakersThe Oregon-based company took advantage of T.H.E. Show for the world premier of its new super-high-end modular speaker system, appropriately called SYSTEM (Select Your Speaker Through Exact Modularity). I love tortured acronyms, so this stupid name did not discourage my interest any more than the astronomical prices did. Evolution Acoustics describes SYSTEM as “a statement product providing audiophiles the ability to custom tailor world class reference loudspeakers to their specific needs.” Whether you have low-power single-ended triode amplifiers in a small room, or solid-state kilowatt monoblocks in a listening room the size of Versailles, Evolution Acoustics says there’s a SYSTEM configuration that will work for you. There are three module types that make up the system. SYSTEM CORE ($35,000 or $38,000 each, depending on crossover) is the module housing the midrange drivers and silk diaphragm air motion transformer tweeter. These are crossed over to a bass unit using either a two-way EXACT crossover ($35,000 — best suited for low-power/tube amps) or a three-way EXACT crossover ($38,000 — best suited for high-power solid state amps like the darTZeel amps used here). There are two kinds of bass modules that can be used. The SYSTEM AMP ($22,500 each) is an active woofer module designed to be matched with the two-way EXACT crossover. It can also be used as a standalone subwoofer, providing deep bass response down to 10Hz. The SYSTEM BASS ($18,500 each) is a passive woofer module designed to be matched with the three-way EXACT crossover. Various configurations of these modules result in speaker systems of different sizes, suited to different rooms. Evolution Acoustics says that the overall sound of the various configurations will be the same, though adding the active woofer modules is recommended for truly full-range performance. The SYSTEM CONNECT ($5,000 each) provides isolation, connection, and stabilizing accessories to convert multiple individual modules into towers.
The enormous demonstration system, sponsored by the LA-based high-end audio store The Audio Association, included three SYSTEM towers per side. The center tower on each side was composed of two SYSTEM BASS modules sandwiching a SYSTEM CORE module in a D’Appolito configuration. Flanking the center tower were two bass towers, each made of two SYSTEM AMP modules stacked together. That means each side had one tweeter, two midrange drivers, and no fewer than 24 woofers, for a total cost of $360,000! And that’s just for the speakers. Electronics included the darTZeel LHC-208MKII integrated amplifier ($25,500 — being used as a network player and DAC), the NHB-18NS MKII Preamp ($61,000), and the NHB-468 monoblock power amps ($245,000/pair). Although I listened to digital audio, there was also an analog rig, which included a Wave Kinetics NVS Reference direct drive turntable ($45,000), a Durand Tosca LE tonearm ($31,400), a Durand Phono Cable Level 3 ($4500), and a phono cartridge from darTZeel’s new Founder Series (price not given). I couldn’t escape Holly Cole at the show, but I didn’t mind hearing “Train Song,” with its persistent percussion patterns, on this ridiculous system. The upright bass was reproduced with incredible power and effortless depth, though it sounded a bit exaggerated down in the gut-rumbling region. Santana’s “Oye Como Va” sounded huge, vibrant, and like it was recorded yesterday. There are certainly worse ways to spend a million bucks than on this massive, over-the-top audio system.
THE Show 2023 by Ron Resnick – What’s Best Forum
Video walkthrough of the SYSTEM SEVEN loudspeakers exhibit can be viewed here.
Axpona 2019 by John Atkinson – Stereophile
“Why is there a box of parts next to each of the Evolution loudspeakers?” I jokingly asked Blue Light Audio’s Jonathan Tinn. He explained that those were the external crossovers for the three-way Maestoso loudspeakers ($18,900/pair) with their lids off. The speakers were being driven by the darTZeel NHB-108 Model Two power amplifier ($44,000), which was making its North American debut at AXPONA, and preamp was that Mikey Fremer favorite, the darTZeel NHB-18NS Mk.II ($44,000 with phono stage).
I listened to a CD transfer of Ray Lamontagne singing and playing acoustic guitar played with Merging Technologies’ Merging+NADAC D/A processor ($10,000) with its optional external power supply ($6000) and the new Merging+Clock-U external clock ($36,000 making its first-ever appearance), and was impressed by the smooth, clear, detailed presentation.
We then changed to LP playback, with “The Needle and the Damage Done” from Neil Young’s Live at Massey Hall LP, played on a Wave Kinetics NVS direct-drive turntable ($45,000 plus $600 for the W8 record weight and reviewed by Michael Fremer in our October 2012 issue) fitted with a Durand Tosca tonearm ($14,950) and the no-longer-available Ortofon MC Century cartridge. Wow!
I finished my listening to this admittedly super-expensive system with a live DSD recording of a Debussy piece by Russian pianist Ilya Itin decoded by the Merging Technologies DAC—Double wow!!
Axpona 2019 by Myles Astor – Audio Nirvana “Axpona, Day 2: Time to Get Down and Dirty!”
Jonathan Tinn/Blue Light Audio was conspicuously absent from the last couple of RMAF shows and it was nice to meet face-to-face again at Axpona 2019. Blue Light Audio showcased several new products including Evolution Acoustics Exact Series $18,900 Maestoso 3-way speaker with external crossover, Dartzeel’s NHB-108 Model Two Reference Stereo amplifier (North American premier) and Durand Audio’s $14,950 Tosca gimballed tonearm/$1850 Tosca tonearm cable. Rounding out the system were Dartzeel’s $44,000 NHB-18NS Mk. II Reference preamplifier with integrated phonostage, Wave Kinetics’ $45,000 NVS Reference direct-drive table, Ortofon Century cartridge and Ampex’s long discontinued ATR 102 1/4-inch reel-to-reel machine (tape from Leslie Brooks of analogaudioinc.com).
I wasn’t able to get a lot of information on the new products but from what I was able to glean the new Durand tonearm is a gimballed (as opposed to Joel’s earlier unipivot) design. Joel keeps experimenting with different tonearm materials and the his latest offering comes with a ~10-inch Carbon fiber tube and Tungsten counterweight. Kudos to Joel too for adding a less rather than more expensive tonearm to his product line.
Despite the rather small room, Jonathan and Kevin Malgren of EA managed to get very big sound from the system. The speed and transparency of Ortofon new Century moving coil cartridge shone through in spade. The Century definitely has more of the A95 attributes rather than being an updated Anna. Nor did the tapes Leslie was rolling on the ATR 102 hurt one bit!
Axpona 2019 by Michael Lavorgna – Twittering Machines “Axpona 2019: My Favorite Things”
I can remember walking into Jonathan Tinn’s room at T.H.E. Show in Vegas in 2008 and enjoying myself, a lot. The combination of system and music was a smile and in-seat boogie machine. Walking into Jonathan Tinn’s room at Axpona 2019 proved that not much has changed in the intervening 11 years.
The system in use during my visit: Maestoso loudspeakers ($18,900/pair), darTZeel NHB-108 Model Two power amplifier ($44,000), darTZeel NHB-18NS Mk.II ($44,000), Merging Technologies MERGING+CLOCK ($36,000), MERGING+NADAC ($10,000), MERGING+POWER ($6000), and a reel-to-reel tape deck which I failed to photograph or note.
Jonathan usually introduces each track, something I really like, and he played a nice mixed bag first through the Merging Stack then tape. In my opinion, playing tape should come with some sort of handicap. Maybe the speakers should be covered in fabric making them less revealing because tape, when its good, and it usually is at shows, is so very good. My foot, then feet, then legs, hips, and full mind and body were fully activated by one-off recordings on tape of Johnny Hodges and Co. playing music that reached way past my ears and into my heart. Bravo!
Axpona 2019 by David Robinson – Positive Feedback “Impressions: My Audio Oasis! Awards from AXPONA 2019”
In the Blue Light Audio room…world-class components, all!
Another big-time non-surprise: The Blue Light Audio et al. room was gassed, stoked, and ready-to-go! once again. Jonathan Tinn, Kevin Malmgren, and Joel Durand hosted a really seductive room, filled with state-of-the-art designs, and the amazing Maestoso Loudspeakers with their Exact external crossovers.
The system:
Wave Kinetics NVS Reference Turntable ($45,000)
Durand Tonearms Tosca 10″ Gimbal Tonearm ($14,900)
Ortofon MC-Century Cartridge ($12,000, limited edition, sold out)
darTZeel NHB-18NS MkII Preamplifier ($44,000)
darTZeel NHB-108 Model Two Stereo Amplifier ($44,000)
Merging Technologies MERGING+NADAC DAC ($10,000)
Merging Technologies MERGING+CLOCK ($36,000)
Merging Technologies MERGING+POWER power supply ($7,000),
ATR Services Ampex ATR 102 RTR Tape Deck (price varies; contact ATR Services)
Evolution Acoustics Maestoso loudspeakers ($18,900 per pair)
The unique Evolution Acoustics Maestoso Loudspeakers have impressed me every time I’ve heard them at audio shows. Unlike their much more bulky MM2, MM3, and MM7, the Maestoso’s have a slim profile, and stand tall with a linear array. They are astonishingly coherent, lightning quick, and really dynamic. And they reach remarkably deep with their multi-driver ceramic array. The Exact external crossovers are real masterpieces…praise to Kevin Malmgren for his extraordinary work!
The NVS turntable is a particular favorite of mine. It is cosmically linear, silent, and easy to setup and operate. This year it featured Joel Durand’s latest tonearm, the gimbal-mounted 10″ Tosca sporting a now sold out Ortofon MC-Century MC cartridge. Only 100 were produced for Ortofon’s 100th anniversary, at $12,000 per, and all are gone now. After hearing the results here, I can say, “Rightly so!”
The good news is the NVS and Tosca Tonearm will be arriving here at Positive Feedback River-City-and-up-the-hill in the next couple of weeks. Along for the ride will be the DS Master optical cartridge and dedicated phono amp…one of the most (and perhaps the most) amazing phono cartridge developments ever.
We’ll see!
Also in the room was an ATR Services Ampex ATR-102 RTR…my choice for the tape deck that I’d like to own.
Merging Technologies’ DAC stack: bottom to top, the NADAC Power Supply, NADAC DAC, and the new MT Clock
Rounding out the sources in this room were the components of the Merging Technologies DAC stack: a NADAC DAC, a POWER+ external power supply, and their new CLOCK+ ultra-accurate digital clocking mechanism.
Friends, this is quite the reference set.
Yes, there was no doubt that this space deserved an Audio Oasis! Award…gladly given!
THE Show 2019 by Jason Victor Serinus – Stereophile
See that weird looking thing? It’s the outboard crossover to end all outboard crossovers, and it belongs to the relatively slim Evolution Acoustics Exact Series Maestoso 3-way loudspeaker system ($18,900). Heading an impressive and hardly bargain system from Blue Light Audio of Portland, Oregon, and The Audio Association of Anaheim Hills, the Maestoso made one of its first show appearances since I covered its debut at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest—was it three years ago?
I don’t recall what recording was playing when I entered the room, but piano tonalities were just wonderful. Highs were a touch bright on Leonard Bernstein’s recording of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, but the soundstage was huge and airy. “Really fun imaging,” I scribbled while listening to a DSD file of Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead performing “Friend of the Devil.”
THE Show 2019 by Marc Phillips – Part Time Audiophile
When I walked into Room 315 at T.H.E. Show 2019, I was met with a group of components that I haven’t seen often at high-end audio shows–Durand tonearms, darTZeel, Evolution Acoustics and Wave Kinetics. I’m not saying that these manufacturers rarely exhibit, but I had this feeling of discovering unicorns, of listening to gear that just isn’t seen out in the wild on a regular basis. This room was sponsored by importer distributor Blue Light Audio and local dealer The Audio Association, along with Jonathan Tinn and Kevin Malgrem of Evolution Acoustics and Joel Durand who represents, well, a certain tonearm in the room–the brand new Tosca ($15,000).
A perfunctory web search showed these gentlemen have been exhibiting at several recent hi-fi shows, so it must just be me, but I got a kick out of hearing many of these products for the first time. I have heard gear from both Evolution Acoustics (in Australia at Jeff Knox Audio) and Durand tonearms, many years ago at the Lone Star Audio Fest of all places, but I’ve always been intrigued with darTZeel and have only read about them in audio magazines. The gold and red motif is even more beautiful in person. The Pleasure Control knob is everything I wanted it to be, by the way. Wave Kinetics is also been a brand that, in my world, has been seen but not heard.
In addition to the Durand tonearm, the system featured the almost impossibly thin and tall Evolution Acoustics EXACT Maestoso loudspeakers ($18,900), the Wave Kinetics NVS turntable ($45,000), the darTZeel NHB-108 Model Two stereo amplifier ($44,000) and an NHB-18NS MK. II preamplifier with a built-in phono section ($44,000). This system produced a soundstage that was incredibly deep and realistic, which seemed impressive coming out of such slender transducers.
This was also an exceptionally beautiful system, with clean lines and bold colors. While much of the focus was on the Durand tonearms, which has been creating a lot of buzz on the internet, that Wave Kinetics turntable was absolutely gorgeous. As I sat and listened, I envied the audiophile who will purchase this equipment and listen to the engaging sound while gazing at all those smooth, gleaming surfaces. My time in that room seems like a blur now, so hopefully I’ll have another chance to dig even deeper in the future.
THE Show 2019 by Ron Resnick – What’s Best Forum
Jonathan Tinn, Kevin Malmgren and Joël Durand hosted Blue Light Audio’s and The Audio Association’s room, which was fronted by the Evolution Acoustics EXACT Series – Maestoso loudspeakers ($18,900). The darTZeel NHB-108 Model Two stereo amplifier ($44,000) and an NHB-18NS MK. II preamplifier with built-in phono stage ($44,000) powered the signal from a Wave Kinetics NVS turntable ($45,000).
Kevin’s outboard cross-over was on full display, and an audiophile never grows tired of looking at that piece of electronic artwork.
Joël showcased the production version of his incredible-looking and sounding gimbaled Tosca tonearm ($15,000). The tonearm was extremely polished-looking, more so than the prototype I remember from last year.
The sound was very good, with greater dynamics and weight than one would expect from merely looking at the slim loudspeaker towers, but I think this year the room was not doing the system justice.
THE Show 2019 by Jack Roberts – The Audio Beatnik
All weekend it seemed like everyone wanted to get into the Evolution Acoustics room presented by Blue Light Audio and The Audio Association. Once I finally made it in, I knew why it was so popular. It was one of the best rooms at the show for listening to music!
Before we get into the system itself, this is a good time to say thank you to the dealers and importers who play such an important role in getting equipment to audio shows, particularly to the smaller regional shows. Blue Light Audio is an importer located in Portland, Oregon. The Audio Association is a Los Angeles area dealer.
The System
Let’s start with the speakers. They were the tall, slim and beautiful Evolution Acoustics Exact Series Maestoso 3-way loudspeaker system for $18,900. They were connected by Evolution Acoustics cabling to a darTZeel NHB-108 Model Two Stereo Amplifier at $44,000 and the NHB-18NS MK II preamplifier with a built-in reference phono stage for another $44,000.
The turntable was the Wave Kinetics NVS Direct Drive for $45,000. Using their W8 record weight added another $600, the A10-U8R Vibration Control System added $300 each, and the 2NS Loudspeaker Interface System was another $1,600 for a set of 8.
Mounted on the table was a Durand Tosca Tonearm for $15,000 with an Ortofon Anna Cartridge for $8,924. The digital source was the Merging Technologies NADAC D/A Converter for $10,000 with an upgraded power supply for $7,000 and a U-Clock for $36,000.
The Sound
This was one of the few systems at the show to get really lifelike bass in one of the smaller rooms. I thought the sound with both the analog and the digital sources had good tone and a believable soundstage. The midrange was open and clear with a well extended top end.
THE Show 2019 by Jan Montana – Copper Magazine “Maestoso Loudspeaker”
I always stop in at the Evolution Audio room, as much to say hello to the affable Jonathan Tinn and his engineer Kevin Malmgren, as to hear their excellent speakers. They didn’t disappoint me with this version, which produced bass so serious I looked for a subwoofer. The heroic efforts Kevin employed to engineer the right sound can be seen in the exposed crossover.
THE Show Newport 2018 by Ron Resnick – What’s Best Forum
This year the exhibit of The Audio Association, which is the dealer for Evolution Acoustics, darTZeel, Wave Kinetics and Durand Tonearms in the Los Angeles and Orange County areas, was presided over jointly by Kevin Malmgren, the Director of Operations and Product Development at Evolution Acoustics, and Joel Durand, the Proprietor and Designer of Durand Tonearms. These gentlemen were substituting for the traditional Master of Ceremonies, Jonathan Tinn.
Leslie Brooks, of Analog Audio, also was missing because he is in the middle of a business relocation in Florida.
Kevin was demonstrating the same Evolution Acoustics Maestoso loudspeaker he debuted last year ($18,900 per pair). Electronics by darTZeel consisted of the NHB–108 stereo amplifier ($39,000) and the NHB-18NS preamplifier with integrated phono stage ($44,000).
The vinyl front-end consisted of the Wave Kinetics NVS turntable ($45,000) and the Durand Tonearms Tosca prototype (price to be determined) on which was mounted the brand new ZYX UNIverse Optimum cartridge ($16,500). This exhibit was the world premiere of both the Tosca prototype tonearm and the UNIverse Optimum cartridge. The cross-over for the Maestoso loudspeaker continues to be the most unbelievably impressive-looking cross-over I have ever seen.
Overall the sound of the system was terrific: transparent, dynamic and natural. There was not a hint of excessive brightness anywhere. I liked the sound very much!
LA Audio Show 2017 by Jason Victor Serinus – Stereophile
The Audio Association of Anaheim Hills commandeered a long room to showcase the world premier of the six-years-in-the-making Evolution Acoustics Exact series Maestoso 3-way loudspeaker system with outboard crossover ($TBD). In a system that also included darTZeel NHB-458 reference monoblocks ($170,000/pair) and NHB-18NS reference preamplifier with integrated reference phonostage ($40,000), Wave Kinetics NVS reference direct-drive turntable ($45,000) with world premier W8 record weight ($600) and world premiere A10-U*R vibration control system ($300 each), Durand Kairos tonearm ($6450) with tonearm cable ($1850), Ortofon MC Anna MC cartridge ($9000), Taleo Audio DAC prototype ($TBD), Sound Galleries SGM2015 reference music server ($16,000), Evolution Acoustics cabling, and more, the sound was lively, with excellent pace.
Bass, in fact, was tremendous, the midrange excellent, and the top lively on the Brahms Hungarian Dance No. 1 in g. However, on Vanessa Fernandez’s Led Zeppelin cover at 45rpm, the top was bright, and bass a bit wooly.
When I visited, virtually all attention of listeners was focused on the outboard crossover of a speaker whose ceramic aluminum drivers were designed by Kevin Malmgren. Kevin tells me that the drivers were not fully broken in, and the speaker cables out of the box. Between those two factors and a room with a big 5dB hump at 80Hz, who knew what was going on . . . besides the fact that the crossover has filters specifically designed to break up peaks.
“This is a new product,” Kevin said of the Maestoso. “We’re still discovering things about it.”
LA Audio Show 2017 by Neil Gader – The Absolute Sound
The Audio Association premiered the narrow three-way, nine-driver tower from Evolution Acoustics Exact Series, the Maestoso ($TBA) with DarTZeel electronics, Wave Kinetics ’table, and Durand tonearm with Ortofon mc Anna cart, and a DAC prototype from Talea Audio. Its very fast transients and wide-open soundstage made a listening impression.
LA Audio Show 2017 by Ron Resnick – What’s Best Forum
The Evolution Acoustics/darTZeel/Wave Kinetics/Durand/Analog Audio room, orchestrated by Jonathan Tinn, was the first room I visited on Thursday. Kevin Malgram was there fine-tuning the system. Leslie Brooks, of Analog Audio Inc., was busy calibrating an Ampex ATR-102 so he could play his master tapes.
The system set up by this team in a large room last year at the Irvine Hotel won my Best of Show, so I was expecting another state-of-the-art performance. I was not disappointed, but I was surprised.Expecting to see again the large and impressive Evolution Acoustics MM3EXACT speakers, I was surprised to see a brand new speaker making its debut: the EXACT Series Maestoso (price to be determined). The Maestoso is a very thin, medium height floor-stander, with an M-T-M module on top and a line source of small woofer drivers below. The tweeter is an air motion tweeter.
The crossover for the speaker is the most amazing-looking crossover I have ever seen. It is a large box about two feet square, with two levels of circuits boards on which were affixed a beautiful collection (if such things ever can be considered beautiful) of capacitors and inductors. (Kevin removed the side panels of the crossover boxes so the elaborate innards were visible.)
Kevin mentioned the design of the speaker has been on-going for several years. Kevin said the tweeter is a special air motion tweeter made to his specifications. Each small driver in the long column of six drivers has 32mm of maximum excursion. Kevin said these little woofer drivers could be used as full range drivers because they are low in distortion up to 20 kHz. Kevin believes that by distributing the low-frequency load of the speaker over many small drivers he is achieving the low frequency extension of a 10 inch woofer, but with lower distortion. Kevin attributed the low-frequency extension of the speaker of -3dB at 25 Hz and of -6dB at 15 Hz to the cabinet’s transmission line design. I found this design intriguing and innovative. It is consistent with my general theoretical personal preference (although I am the first to agree that implementation is at least as important as design) of using a vertical line array of smaller drivers, rather than one or two 12 inch or 15 inch drivers, to generate low frequencies.
Tantalizingly, Kevin suggested that the next model in this range will double up the vertical in-line woofer array and create a complete M-T-M speaker, with the AMT in the middle of the speaker, a midrange driver above and below the AMT, six woofer drivers above the upper midrange driver and six woofer drivers below the midrange driver. (This is the same concept utilized by Rockport Technologies when Andy doubles up the woofer driver complement on an Altair II to create a d’appolito configuration Arrakis.)
Associated components included darTZeel NHB-458 monoblock amplifiers ($170,000); the NHB-18NS Preamplifier with built-in phonostage ($40,000); the Wave Kinetics NVS direct drive turntable ($45,000); the Durand Tonearms Kairos tonearm ($6,450); and the Ortofon MC-Anna cartridge ($9,000).
If you covered my eyes and sat me down to listen I never would have suspected that so much transparent, dynamic, believable sound was coming from such thin, medium-height, floor-standing speakers. The stunning-looking crossovers must be contributing to the purity and naturalness of the sound. This speaker is one to watch. I will be fascinated to hear its taller brother in the future. That tall system, which could provide the height and thus the scale which I value, coupled with a pair of subwoofers (my personal preference; Kevin suggested no such thing) could be a near state-of-the-art Evolution Acoustics option for people whose rooms cannot accommodate MM3s or MM7s.
On Friday morning, when I returned to the room with my wife, Leslie played his tape of Simon & Garfunkel Live in Central Park. Leslie told us that this tape was the exact physical tape sent by the recording company to Paul Simon. It never reached Paul Simon’s hands, and, somehow, Leslie “Tape Sherlock” Brooks acquired possession of it. It is, indeed, a fantastic live recording! Anyone who is participating in the resurgence of reel-to-reel tape should get to know Leslie and his fantastic library of low-generation master tape copies available for purchase.
THE Show Newport 2016 by Sasha Matson – Stereophile
The Quail Hill Room had been staked out by distributor Blue Light Audio, based in Portland OR, and local retailer Alma Music and Audio in La Jolla, CA. This was a super-enjoyable visit, involving varied outstanding hardware manufacturers, and with sources including both LP and analog tape playback. Featured was a Wave Kinetics NVS Reference direct-drive turntable system ($45,000), fitted with a Durand Kairos tonearm ($6,450). Analog Audio, Inc. President Leslie Brooks was there to roll 1/4″ tape on his handsome Studer tape deck. Amplification was by darTZeel: their NHB-18NS Reference preamplifier with phono stage ($40,000) and NHB-458 Reference monoblock amplifiers ($180,000/pair). And making a lot of (great) noise was the world premier appearance of the Evolution Acoustics MMThree EXACT Reference loudspeaker system ($104,500/pair). Evolution Acoustics provided their own cabling: the TRSC loudspeaker cables ($10,000/pair), Link 50 ohm BNC cable ($6,500/pair), and a TRPC power cord ($3,500, lengths not specified). Evolution Acoustics’ Jonathan Tinn was on hand, and he made me smile when he put on the MoFi LP pressing of Jerry Garcia and David Grisman doing “Friend of the Devil.” This is a great track, and it just sounded wonderful: love it! As if that wasn’t enough, I turned around and Leslie Brooks hit Play on his Studer and we heard from a 1/4″ tape Duke Ellington doing “Blues in Orbit.” Absolutely killer: as Ahmet Ertegun used to say when he liked what he heard in the studio, “That’s the shit”—and it was!
THE Show Newport 2016 by Jack Roberts – Dagogo “Part 3: Mega-systems”
The third mega-system that play music that really moved me emotionally was the Blue Light Audio room. They were playing the big, and I do mean big, Evolution Acoustics speakers driven by darTZeel electronics; and the source I listened to was the Wave Kinetics’ NVS turntable. I have often and again at this show marveled at the sound of their little MicroOne speakers. This year they were playing Quad DSD in Positive-Feedback’s room. As good as the MicroOnes are, they did not prepare me for the big guys. They have all the finesse of the little guys and then some. They produced a sound that was big and powerful as you would expect from a speaker this size, but they did not sound bigger than life. This room was one of the few at the show where the music really moved me.
THE Show Newport 2016 by David Robinson – Positive Feedback “Impressions: THE Show Newport Beach 2016, Part 1, My Audio Oasis! Awards”
Blue Light Audio/Alma Music and Audio/Audio Evolution Acoustics/darTZeel/Wave Kinetics/Durand Tonearms/Talea Audio/Analog Audio Inc./KLAudio/Ortofon
Another no-surprise room, with truly stellar sound! Jonathan Tinn, Kevin Malmgren, Joel Durand, and friends teamed up to put together a room that was a real mountaintop experience.
The room was large, but the sound of the Evolution Acoustics MM3 speakers and MMExact external crossover, driven by the darTZeel NHB-18NS preamp, LHC-208 danalogue integrated amp with Quad DSD DAC (also in the PF hospitality room), 458 reference monoblock amps, and fed by Wave Kinetics’ NVS turntable with Durand Kairos tonearm, or Joel Durand’s new Talea Audio tubed Quad DSD DAC, was beyond great…it was bloody spectacular…just what the editor ordered! Absolutely full-range sound, with extraordinary transparency, and yet with truly authoritative dynamics.
In fact, the only thing larger than the MM3 plus MMEXACT in the Evolution Acoustics quiver are the even larger and more impressive MM7’s, which are truly monumental. (Just ask the guy who knows. That would be me, among others.)
It didn’t matter what we were listening to: DSD, LP, or open reel tape, the results were all the same. First rate and world class on all counts! Take that to the bank. And this was another room to imitate, newbies to the biz…Jonathan Tinn and company know how to do it right!
An easy winner!
THE Show Newport 2016 by Ron Resnick – Mono and Stereo “Best Sound of the Show”
Evolution Acoustics / DarTZeel / Wave Kinetics and Durand
I spent a long time in Jonathan Tinn’s Evolution Acoustics/DarTZeel/Wave Kinetics/Durand room. Everyone was there: Jonathan, Kevin Malmgrem, Joel Durand — with Leslie Brooks, of Analog Audio Inc., playing reel-to-reel tapes on a Studer A80.
The system consisted of the Evolution Acoustics MMThree Exact (huge outboard cross-over), Wave Kinetics NVS Reference and the Durand Telos tonearm on which was mounted an Ortofon Anna. The speakers were driven with DarTZeel NHB-458 mono block amplifiers with the top DarTZeel preamplifier.
Jonathan was a wonderful host, and he graciously played my “Send in the Clowns” as well as my Jeff Buckley “Hallelujah.” Last year I felt the sound was a little strong in the high frequencies. This year, I had no such feeling. I asked a friend of mine who has the four column MMSeven and who was there listening as well and he agreed that this year the system was a little bit softer in the highs. I thought the system sounded life-size, transparent, open, dynamic — “basically perfect,” as I told Jonathan.
I asked Kevin why the system sounds a little bit softer and more natural this year. He said that upgrading to the NHB-458s, with their extreme headroom, probably accounts for the (welcome, to me) difference in sound.
Jonathan played on vinyl a fantastic 45 rpm recording of Lou Reed’s “Walk on the Wild Side” and a very transparent LP of Ryan Adams Live at Carnegie Hall. But the real treat for me was when Leslie played Dave Brubeck’s Time Out on tape. I just love tape!
THE Show Newport 2015 by Jason Victor Serinus – Stereophile “Sound the Trumpets! THE Show is Off and Running”
Dean Martin’s Dream with Dean, a superb recent LP release from Acoustic Sounds, was graced by an absolutely gorgeous midrange on a world premiere pair of Evolution Acoustics MMTwo EXACT loudspeakers ($89,500/pair) with new outboard crossover (pictured alongside the loudspeaker). In a system assembled by The Audio Association of Anaheim, these beauties were joined by Evolution Acoustics cabling ($20,000); two new iterations of darTZeel products that are due to ship in June, the LHC-203 “DANalogue” streaming Ethernet DAC w/integrated amplifier ($15,000) and NHB-18NS reference preamplifier with integrated reference phonostage ($40,000); Wave Kinetics NVS reference direct-drive turntable plus accouterments ($47,400 total); Durand Kairos tonearm and tonearm cable ($8300); and Ortofon MC Anna MC cartridge ($9000).
If the midrange shone on Dean Martin’s prime condition voice, the bass foundation on Zubin Mehta’s performance of Mahler’s Symphony 3 was equally impressive. With the only room treatment in the sonically daunting square space being draping, this system’s beauty and control were outstanding. Given that the preamp was not broken-in, I can only imagine how good this system will sound by the final day. Hats off to Jonathan Tinn for pulling it all together.
THE Show Newport 2015 by Steven Rochlin – Enjoy the Music
Before the show opened, I wandered into the Evolution Acoustics’ room with their beautiful MMTwo EXACT loudspeakers ($89,500) with the Wave Kinetics NVS Reference Turntable ($45,00) that had the new Durand Tonearms’ Kairos. It had the Ortofon MC-Anna Reference cartridge, which is said to offer incredible performance.
Evolution Acoustics MMTwo loudspeakers aim to produce an emotional connection and dare i again mention how beautiful they looked. Gorgeous finish! They have what the company calls “Maximum Modularity” so that you may easily upgrade them as finances permit. MMExact is an acronym for External X-over Acoustic Compensation Technology. According to thei9r website, “This is the identical circuit topology housed in our flagship MMSeven loudspeakers. In short, the MMExact module system transforms MMTwo or MMThree loudspeaker systems up to the real world performance standards of our statement product. The midrange and tweeter achieve the same output characteristics as the MMSeven. The woofers receive increased smoothness and definition.”
Also within the room was the darTZeel NHB-18NS preamplifier, all-in-one LHC-208 (amplifier / preamplifier / DSD 2X DAC) and the NHB-108 stereo amplifier.
Wish I had time to revisit this room, yet with all the business meeting and so many excellent conferences going on, time simply ran out. Such is the situation when being the Editor and Creative Director of Enjoy the Music.com and needing to cover shows whilst also conducting some business, with a touch of leisure time to enjoy live music and night time parties by the outdoor fireplace at Irvine Hotel.
Hold the phone! Looking at my listening notes it seem I did find time to revisit this room. My notes say “Beautiful upper registers and tight bass. Imagining was very three-dimensional, throwing a wonderfully encompassing soundscape. Very relaxed sounding, all day listenable”. So there ya go and glad i found time to revisit this room. So many rooms… so little time.
CES 2014 by Jason Victor Serinus – Stereophile “DartZeel’s Integrated Streaming Amplifier”
DartZeel’s prototype LHC-208 integrated line amplifier with double DSD DAC and full digital streaming capabilities ($TBD, due early summer) was hardly broken in, but its potential was beginning to emerge at T.H.E. Show. Thanks as well to Evolution Acoustics’ MMMicroOne loudspeakers and the company’s top-of-the-line cabling, I could hear into the heart of the Nash Ensemble’s Red Book recording of Brahms Piano Quartet No.3 in c. No hi-res content was available, alas, given that a previous visit by an esteemed member of the press had inadvertently obliterated it. But the appetite was whet, especially by the potential of LHC-208’s two clocks to eliminate jitter.
Keep your eyes peeled for this one. Love to Blue Light Audio’s Jonathan Tinn, who stayed home to heal a wicked case of the flu.
CES 2014 by Key Kim – Stereo Times “A Key Witness to Great Sound”
darTZeel/ Evolution Acoustics
darTZeel debuted their all in one LHC-208 integrated amplifier ($13,700). Talk about versatility! The system features full digital streaming capabilities. I was very impressed with its Innovative design with a powerful 200 watts per channel, a built in DAC, unique darTZeel smart clock system whichcan accommodate just about any source or format. The LHC-208 powered the Evolution Acoustics MMMicro One loudspeakers ($4000) beautifully; surprisingly for a speaker of this size it had a nice body and weight and rendered music with lot of detail and transparency.
THE Show Newport 2014 by Mike Davis – Audio Federation “MMMiniTwo Speakers”
Evolution Acoustics speakers, Dartzeel electronics, Wave Kinetics turntable and Ampex ATR reel-to-reel
This room sounded good at this show [really prefer these larger speakers than the little monitors], and was in the top five or six rooms at the show, sound wise, to our ears.
Hit all the main points of music reproduction – not doing anything terribly wrong, nor stupendously right, either. A little on the neutral side, detailed, and fairly even across the frequency spectrum and, well, that kind of describes it.
CES 2013 by Greg Weaver – Positive Feedback
After some more catching up I gave up on fumbling though the mediocrity that was so rampant and made my down the hallway and into a room that also NEVER fails to impress, Blue Light Audio, in 4040.
The gear that Jonathan Tinn (President, Blue Light Audio), Kevin Malmgren (Evolution Acoustics), and Andreas Koch (Playback Designs) had set up here was virtually identical to what they showed last year, and, the year before that… In fact, last year, my show report made light of that fact; I had joked that I was NOT using my show photos from the year previous, but had indeed taken new shots—just like I did this year.
Sources were either the over-achieving Playback Designs MPS-3 CD Player ($8500) with USB input from Jonathan’s windows laptop, which he repeatedly claims is a “$300 laptop,” or the striking looking and sounding Wave Kinetics NVS Reference ‘table ($45,000), fitted with the Durand Telos tonearm ($19,500), sporting the new Ortofon MC Anna cartridge ($8500).
During this visit, electronics were the darTZeel NHB-18 NS preamp with MC Phono section (≈ $41,250) and NHB-108 Model B (≈ $29,400) and all equipment sat on Leeds Studios custom Audio Furniture. Power conditioning was handled by an Audience adeptResponse aR6-T ($4600). Speakers were the staggeringly over-achieving Evolution Acoustics MMMicroOne, ($2500 with stands) and all cables were of Kevin’s design; the DRSC Speaker Cables ($6000/pr), The LINK 50 Ohm BNC-BNC interconnect ($6000), some TRPC Power Cords ($3000), and a CD2One Power Conditioning Power Cord ($2000).
Kevin seemed perfectly serious when he asked me if I thought the diminutive Evolution Acoustics MMMicroOne speakers sounded better this year. I said I really couldn’t say, it had just been too long between listens. When I asked what was different, he smiled back and said that they were the same pair they had used last year, but now they were fully run in! Regardless, this system was remarkable, again one of the most engaging, musical, and emotive systems I heard at this years combined event.
Strengths of this system were remarkably accurate tonal balance, jolting dynamics, especially given the small size of the drivers, and a stark level of resolution. While unable to reconstruct the lowest of lows, the bass that they did reproduce was persuasively deep, exquisitely detailed, and fast! These speakers have no business sounding as big as they do—but they pull it off. As I suggested last year, go out of your way to hear them—you will never look at “minis” in the same light.
CES 2013 by Fred Crowder – Dagogo
Evolution Acoustics, Dartzeel, Playback Designs, Durand Telos: Jonathan Tinn strikes yet again with superb sound at yet another show. Female voice was superb. Even though these were the smallest and least expensive of the Evolution Acoustics speakers (MMMicroOne), the sound was excellent. Sound was delicate and detailed with good depth and a stable soundstage. Harmonically, the system was spot on.
THE Show Newport 2013 by Jason Victor Serinus – Stereophile “Playback Designs ‘World Premiere’ with Evolution Acoustics”
Using a similar line-up as at CES 2013, the public show premiere of the Playback Designs’ IPS-3 ($13,000), which contains a remote controlled amplifier/preamplifier/DAC with USB input that can handle up to 384kHz PCM and 6.1MHz DSD, paired with Evolution Acoustics MMMicroOne loudspeakers with integrated stands ($4000/pair), sounded very solid and musical on a big band selection. I would have stayed longer, but rather than interrupt an intense conversation, I added this room to my “next show wish list.”
THE Show Newport 2013 by David Robinson – Positive Feedback “Impressions: My Audio Oasis! Awards”
Playback Designs/Evolution Acoustics
Another “no surprise” room was the Blue Light Audio/The Audio Association room, featuring Playback Designs and Evolution Acoustics. The Evolution MMMicroOne loudspeakers were very familiar to me, and have been seen for several years at various shows. Killer deals at $4000 per pair, including their integrated stands… one of the best price-performance speakers in high-end audio, period.
What was new to my ears this year was the Playback Designs IPS-3 integrated. It combines DSD DAC, a preamp, and a stereo amp (130 Watts per channel), all at an MSRP of $13,000. That’s a pretty amazing price point for an all-in-one component with top-notch performance.
I spent quite a while in the Playback Designs/Evolution Acoustics room, marveling that such a compact system, looking very sleek and sexy, could be sounding this amazing. Double DSD recordings really helped, of course… nothing like Double DSD to spruce the place up.
Enough. Pure PFO Audio Oasis! Award stuff… killer. And (relatively) amazing prices, too.
THE Show Newport 2013 by Kirsten Brodbeck Kenney – Part Time Audiophile “Why Go to an Audio Show?”
Of course, my expensive taste reared its head when I once again encountered Playback Designs, this time rocking out to the Playback Designs IPS-3 integrated amp ($13,000). I’ve been impressed with Playback’s digital audio in the past, and the internal double-DSD-capable DAC on this integrated unit sounded really sweet, especially powering the Evolution Acoustics MMMicro One speakers ($4,000), a pair of truly mighty mites.
CES 2012 by John Atkinson – Stereophile “Evolution’s MMMicroOne”
I missed this tiny jewel of a speaker when it made its debut at the 2011 T.H.E.Show, but it’s now in production. As I sat down to listen to it at this year’s show, I asked what it cost.
“25.”
Okay, $25,000/pair is not unheard of for high-performance minimonitors; the Sonus Faber, Magico, and Franco Serblin stand-mount speakers are even more expensive.
“No, 25 hundred per pair. With the stands.
Now that is extremely affordable for a speaker that gave one of the best sounds I heard in Las Vegas, even if it is manufactured “overseas.” Driven by a darTZeel NHB-108 stereo amplifier and a darTZeel preamp, with the source the new Emotion media server software from Merging Technologies (of pro-audio Pyramix fame) running on a Windows laptop and feeding DSD data via USB to a Playback Designs MPS-3, these little speakers produced a huge soundstage yet with extraordinary dynamics. The bass drum thwacks at the start of the Tilson-Thomas/San Francisco performance of Mahler’s Symphony 3 were simply awesome!
System power was being sourced from two Audience aR6-TS Adept Response power conditioners. The MMMicroOne’s drivers are all custom. The tweeter uses a Kapton diaphragm and is similar to an AMT type while the twin long-throw 4″ woofers use a sandwich cone formed from a magnesium core with ceramic on both sides, Excursion is claimed to be 6mm, linear, 20mm total, with extension to 35Hz.
CES 2012 by Dave Thomas – Stereo Times
Evolution Acoustics blew me away with their MMMicro One loudspeakers. This is another speaker using the D’Appolito configuration with two 4” ceramic drivers and a 2” Pleated Diaphragm Air Velocity tweeter. It’s a gorgeous looking and sounding little speaker and retails for only $2,500/pair including their own stands. This may prove to be one of the best bargains in audio. The sound of this room did benefit greatly from excellent electronics from darTZeel (NHB-18 NS preamp and NHB-108 Model B amp) and the excellent Playback Designs MPS-3 CD player. Still, $2,500 for a speaker I thought would have cost many times the price, makes it well worth seeking out. I hope to get a pair to review sometime this year.
CES 2012 by Greg Weaver – Positive Feedback
Evolution Acoustics, darTZeel, and Playback Designs—absolute proof that you can’t judge a system by its appearance only.
System Details
Ampex ATR-102 Open Reel analog Tape deck with Aria Electronics ($???)
Playback Designs MPS-3 CD Player with USB Input ($8500)
darTZeel NHB-18 NS Preamplifier with MC Phono section (₣30,000 [Swiss Francs]/~$32,000)
darTZeel NHB-108 Model B Amplifier (₣25,000 [Swiss Francs]/~$26,700)
Evolution Acoustics MMMicroOne Loudspeakers with stands ($2500/pr)
Evolution Acoustics DRSC Speaker Cables ($6000/pr)
Evolution Acoustics The LINK BNC Interconnect ($6000/ea)
Evolution Acoustics TRPC Power Cord ($3000)
Evolution Acoustics PC2One Power Conditioning Power Cord ($2000)
Wave Kinetics A10-U8 Component Control System ($700 / set of 4)
Wave Kinetics 2NS Loudspeaker Interface System ($1600 / set of 8)
Audience Adept Response aR6-TS power conditioner($6000)
Approximate System Total: $120,000
I know what you’re thinking… but I swear that these are NOT my photos from last year’s show report. I can prove it! See the laptop computer on the top shelf of the rack? Yeah, last year that was a turntable!
Seriously, though the components in play here are virtually identical to last year’s configuration, the Playback Designs MPS-3 CD Player, the Ampex ATR-102 Reel-to-Reel deck with Aria Electronics, the darTZeel NHB-18 NS Reference preamplifier and NHB-108 Model B Reference stereo amplifier, it was even better sounding this year. No really!
The primary reasons for the sonic improvements were the minor improvements Kevin Malmgren (Evolution Acoustics’ design engineer) has made to the miniscule MMMicro ONE. Though the speaker was just $2000 a pair last year, the new, improved version, which now include their own dedicated stands, still sell for a miniscule $2500!
The new and improved Evolution MMMicroOne, with its PDAV tweeters and pair of Ceramic Matrix mid-woofer drive units.
What you have to understand about this room is that these speakers are just 18″ tall, 7″ wide, and 12″ deep. The driver complement includes Evolution Acoustic’s own designed 2″ Pleated Diaphragm Air Velocity (PDAV) tweeters and pair of 4″ Ceramic Matrix (CMAT) mid-woofer drive units. Fronted with over $85,000 worth of electronics (excluding the undisclosed price of the open reel system), and using over $25,000 worth of cable, these $2500 mini monitors pulled off one of the best sounding rooms at this event—regardless of size.
This room recreated the space of the recording as well as any, and while that is usually an expected attribute of mini’s, it is not a given. While they don’t reconstruct the lowest of lows, the bass that they do reproduce was exceptionally deep (did I mention they only use a pair of 4″ midbass drivers?), exquisitely detailed, and fast! These speakers have no business sounding as big as they do – but they do it.
Other strengths in this room were remarkably accurate tonal balance, jolting dynamics (did I mention these are mini monitors?), and a stark level of resolution. To be honest, if I’d been set down in front of this system blindfolded and asked to describe the speakers, I have bet I was listening to a pair of floor standing 3 ways with an 8 or 10 inch woofer; ones that had a price tag of $7000 or $10,000. I don’t know how else to convey to you just how overachieving these speakers are. Go out of your way to hear them—you will never look at “minis” the same again.
CES 2012 by Myles Astor – Positive Feedback
Show in and show out, Jonathan Tinn, Kevin Malmgren and Andreas Koch, manage to coax the most out of the gear that Blue Light Audio represents. The biggest news in their room was that Evolution Acoustics will begin shipping their new $2500 Micromini 1 speakers (with stands) in April. Proving that high price doesn’t always mean the best sound, these little MM1s will compete with speakers costing many times their price. And there no room had better source material. Thanks to Bruce Brown of Puget Sound Studio, the source material consisted of both 15/30 ips tapes and DSD and 2XDSD files from Steely Dan and Count Basie.
THE Show Newport 2012 by Jason Victor Serinus – Stereophile “Thumbs Up to Blue Light”
One of my fondest memories of a past CES was sitting with John Atkinson at T.H.E. Show, playing a track from one of his superb recordings of Cantus on an all-out darTZeel /Evolution Acoustics system from Jonathan Tinn’s Blue Light Audio. Here, on more modest speakers and electronics, I was again blown away, this time by the fabulous soundstage height, three-dimensionality, and realistic depiction of horns and cymbals on Michael Tilson Thomas’ recording of Mahler’s Symphony 3.
Doing the honors were Evolution Acoustics’ MMMicro One loudspeakers—Reference 2-way ($2500/pair), complete with the company’s own SRSC loudspeaker cables ($6000/pair), interconnects, and power cables; the darTZeel NHB-108 Model B reference stereo amplifier (25000 Swiss francs) and NHB-18 NS reference preamplifier with MC phono section (30,000 Swiss francs); Playbach Designs MPS-3 384kHz PCM & 6.1MHz DSD player ($8500); and Audience Adept Response aR6-T power conditioner ($4600). Analog equipment from Wave Kinetics, Ortofon, and Durand tonearms sadly remained unplayed due to time constraints.
THE Show Newport 2012 by David Robinson – Positive Feedback “My Audio Oasis! Awards”
Blue Light Audio/Playback Designs/Durand Tonearms/Ortofon/Evolution Acoustics/Wave Kinetics/darTZeel
Well, here’s an old friend, and no surprise to find this room once again in Audio Oasis! land. Year after year, the combination of Playback Designs (DSD/SACD), Wave Kinetics (turntable) with its Durand Telos Tonearm and Ortofon Anna MC, darTZeel preamp and amp, and Evolution Acoustics MMMicroOne speakers have set a standard for state-of-the-art audio performance that is reliably superb. I have praised the many excellencies of this extraordinarily synergistic system repeatedly: utter transparency, exceptional imaging and soundstaging, natural ease, musicality without compromise, harmonic and music richness, dynamic slam… whatever you’re looking for, it’s here!
Source files were DSD and 2x DSD prepared by Bruce Brown of Puget Sound Studios via the Playback Designs MPS-3, fed by a Windows 7-based computer. I would consider the 2x DSD to be true master-level reference caliber… if you heard these, then you know what I mean. The Wave Kinetics NVS turntable with the brilliant Durand Telos tonearm and the equally fine Ortofon Anna MC provided LP playback of the highest order.
Once again, I spent a lot of time in this room, and for all the right reasons. Unless something changes drastically in the Blue Light room, I imagine that you’ll see them continue to win awards from me… this is a very tough act to follow.
Another Audio Oasis! Award for Blue Light Audio and associated companies… and richly deserved once more.
RMAF 2012 by Jason Victor Serinus – Stereophile “OMG: Blue Light’s Golden Sound”
As familiar as I may be with the Playback Designs/Evolution Acoustics set-ups that Blue Light Audio’s Jonathan Tinn brings to shows—one of these, with darTZeel electronics and much bigger Evolution Acoustics loudspeakers, received my Best of Show at T.H.E. Show Las Vegas a few years back—I constantly find myself amazed by the quality of the sound. This time, with Playback Design’s MPS-3 DSD-capable high-resolution CD player with USB input ($8500); an Ampex ATR-102 open-reel recorder, restored by ATR Services, Inc of York, PA, playing 15ips master tapes sourced from ATR and Puget Sound Studios; and B.M.C. Audio’s AMP CS2 integrated stereo amplifier ($8400) driving Evolution Acoustics’ MMMicroOne 2-way monitor loudspeakers with stands ($2500/pair), the sound of a Shelby Lynne demo safety copy of her new album, provided by ATR Services, blew me away with its solid bass, powerful slam, and great depth. True, there was a bit of an edge on Lynne’s voice, but it may have been room-induced, and sure didn’t stop me from writing “OMG” in my notes. Then again, we were listening to a master tape, and comparing its sound to a double DSD copy played through the Playback Designs CD player. I didn’t have time to linger, but I thought the DSD version sounded a bit warmer and smoother, which sure is a good thing.
I’ve learned over the years how important component supports and cables are. Here, the system benefitted from Wave Kinetics’ A10-U8 Component Control System ($700/set of 4) and 2NS Loudspeaker Interface System ($1600/set of 8), and, from a company new to me, AFSC cabling. The latter included AFSC-S(pades) speaker cables ($1250), AFIC-X(LR) balanced XLR interconnects ($1250), AFSC-S(ource) power cord ($1250), and AFSC-A(mplifier) power cord ($1250).
RMAF 2012 by Steve Marsh – 6moons
Evolution Acoustics, B.M.C. Audio, Pugent Sound Studios. Led Zeppelin’s Stairway To Heaven spun on an Ampex ATR-102 open-reel tape deck when I entered. I read that Pugent Sound Studios provided 15ips master tapes so I assume that’s what I heard through the wonderful little Evolution Acoustics MMMicroOne 2-way monitors ($2.500/pr). Amplification was by B.M.C. Audio’s CS2 integrated amp. I heard none of the edgy quality from their higher model last year when I played the Cassandra Wilson “Red River Valley” cut. These little speakers put out a lot of sound and held up well under the high dynamics and sheer volume at which they were being played. I’m not sure how they perform at lower volumes because I only heard them at high volumes. I’m voting them best mini monitor of the show.
MicroOne by Best Buys Audio & AV
“So impressive is this that it’s hardly a “stereo image” at all: it’s more like a “surround field”. Sit in the sweet spot when listening to the MicroOnes and you will really believe that you’re there at the original live performance, because the image they create has everything in spades: full height, full width, full depth. Combine this with the dynamics and sound quality unleashed when we gave the MicroOnes the power they crave, and that airy high-end stretching above 20kHz, and these are special standmount speakers indeed”.
CES / THE Show 2011 by Jeff Dorgay – Tone Audio “Best Sound a THE Show”
Somewhere between the odds and ends at T.H.E. Show, just down the street from the Venetian, where CES is featuring most of the high performance audio, there is a beacon of light. Well, sound, actually.
Should you be attending T.H.E. Show, do not miss the Blue Light Audio exhibit in Room 4044. Jonathan Tinn is has a stellar exhibit, that is by far the best sound at the show.
On display is his new Wave Kinetics reference direct drive turntable with a Durand tonearm and the Ortofon MC A-90 cartridge, the Playback Designs MPS-3 player darTZeel amplification and the amazing Evolution Acoustics MMMicroOne speakers.
The most amazing thing is that this six figure reference system is driving a $4,000 pair of speakers (not a typo) and the combination is fantastic. With solid bass down to 35hz, these small but stylish speakers threw a huge soundstage, with a tonality so realistic, you’d be hard pressed not to think you were listening to at least a $10-15,000 pair of speakers.
CES 2011 by Clement Perry – Stereo Times
Of all the great sound heard at this year’s CES few could equal the amazement that overcame me once I heard the Evolution Acoustics MicroOne Loudspeakers. It is expected of any manufacturer to design a big or expensive loudspeaker to sound good. It’s far more impressive to make a little loudspeaker sound big and expensive. I expect to read and hear lots about this attractive and affordable miniature marvel.
Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2010 by Myles Astor – This is a Dogma-Free Zone
My first encounter with the Evolution Acoustics speaker line came earlier this year at CES and Jonathan Tinn followed up at RMAF with the debut of the new Evolution MMMiniOne/Two (15K without subwoofer and 27K with subwoofer). Belying its appearance, the MMMiniOne is actually a 2-way bookshelf (a 5-inch ribbon tweeter coupled to 7-inch ceramic midbass driver) integrated into its own high mass stand. Thanks to its modular construction, the MMMiniOne speakers can be upgraded with the addition of the MMMiniSub woofer; to my ears, I much preferred the sound of the MMMiniOne plus subs. The subs added a far more substantial foundation to the music as well as more dimensionality and midrange presence.
Some people might accuse Tinn and company of stacking the deck by bringing along either a modded Studer 810 reel-to-reel machine to playback 15-ips/2-track tapes or a $15,000 Playback Designs MPS-5 Reference SACD/CD player with 24/192 input (the PD was hands down and by light years, the best sounding digital front-end I heard at the show—and unlike the others actually did justice to the music) and a $2500 Music Servers Direct MSD-1 Reference music Server ($2500) to playback high-rez digital files. On the other hand, these sources allowed Tinn to demonstrate the system’s resolution, frequency response and musicality.
And did they ever! The highlight of this year’s RMAF was the simply jaw dropping sound of second generation, 15-ips tape copies of two of my favorite LPs: the first was Solti performing Glinka’s “Russian and Romantic: Overture” from Romantic Russia (original Decca release SXL 6263) and the other, Oscar Peterson’s “You Look Good to Me” from We Get Requests. Neither LPs ever sounded like this! On the Glinka, the low end extension, string delicacy and sense of space, a Kenneth Wilkinson’s trademark, was beyond spooky. On We Get Requests, Ray Brown’s bass was incredibly solid and powerful. It ws almost as if Brown was there in the room. Peterson’s piano never sounded more wooden. The digital was no slouch either though not up the quality of the 15 ips tape playback. Bruce Brown of Puget Sound Studios played some outstanding high-rez digital files from audiophile favorites such as the Muddy Waters “Good Morning Little School Girl” track from Folk Singer. (Muddy Waters as well as Buddy Guy were remastered for Winston Ma’s FIM label and HDtracks.) Of course, all this did is give me a Jones for the original tapes!
Tasked with the job of playing back the front-end sources were the new and the Dartzeel CTH-8550 250 wpc integrated amplifier with phono stage ($20,300), assorted cables from Dartzeel and resonance control footers from Wave Kinetics.
CES / THE Show 2010 by Jason Victor Serinus – Stereophile Magazine “Finishing with Evolution and darTZeel”
As John Atkinson and I entered the room at THE Show in which darTZeel electronics partnered Evolution Acoustics loudspeakers, I was immediately struck by the fullness of the midrange. It was as though the system was opening its heart and welcoming us in. That’s how warm and nurturing the sound was.
What was especially wonderful was that this system was about far more than midrange. From a very open, clear and realistic top all way down, the darTZeel/Evolution Acoustics system sang true. And beautifully. Very, very beautifully.
First we listened to a favorite audiophile demo, tenor José Carreras singing an excerpt from Ariel Ramirez’s Misa Criolla. The air around voices and instruments was as wondrous as the clarity of playback.
Then came something very, very special. But first, a description of the system.
This not exactly bargain-priced system consisted of darTZeel’s new NHB-458 monoblocks, whose 1000Wpc will set you back a mere $135,000/pair, and the darTZeel NHB-18 NS reference preamplifier with MC phono section ($29,000). Speakers were the brand-new, just introduced Evolution Acoustics MMtwo loudspeakers ($35,000/pair). Weighing 375 lbs each, these gorgeous babies claim a frequency response of 10Hz–40kHz ±3dB, and a sensitivity of 93dB. They also sound marvelous.
The rest of the system comprised Evolution Acoustics’ DRSC speaker cables ($5000/pair), the LINK-Reference 50 ohm BNC–BNC interconnect ($6000), and PC2One power conditioning power cord ($2000). Playback was from either a Playback Systems MPS-5 Reference SACD/CD player with 24/192 input ($15,000), or the world-premiered Music Servers Direct MSD-1 Reference Music Server ($1995) controlled by an Apple iPod Touch. Other goodies included the Audience
Adept Response aR6-T power conditioner ($4600).
Yes, it was an expensive room, filled with equipment I cannot possibly afford. But it’s not about me, John, or Stereophile; it’s about the music that gives us joy, and the equipment that brings it to us in all its glory.
After the Carreras track, Jonathan Tinn of Evolution Acoustics began telling John how much he loved listening to a track from one of John’s recordings, Cantus’ While You Are Alive. (Stereophile’s newest reviewer, long-time audiophile Erick Lichte, was Music Director of Cantus at the time of the recording and produced the CD). As the conversation grew more animated, I quietly mentioned that I just happened to have the CD with me.
I cannot begin to tell you how it felt to enjoy John’s energy as he immersed himself in two tracks from one his finest recordings. What I can tell you was that the sound was little short of heavenly.
On that high, I bid adieu to THE Show and CES 2010. If John, in his talk earlier in the afternoon, both acknowledged the bad year that has past and the good year that he expects to unfold, the Evolution Acoustics/darTZeel demo confirmed that 2011 has the potential to launch a very full, rewarding, and musical decade. With sound like theirs, the admittedly struggling high end gives indications that it is indeed alive and well.
CES / THE Show 2010 by James Darby – Stereomojo “Best Sound at Show”
“There’s no denying that this is an expensive system. We almost passed it by altogether. It was the last room we ventured into just a few minutes before the show officially closed.
We had heard darTzeel components before. We knew they were megabuck icons, not something we’d ever review. And we’d certainly never heard of Evolution Acoustics loudspeakers. Probably just another overpriced speaker system. A couple of ceramic drivers and nice enough lacquered cabinets, but nothing special compared to all the monstrosities we’d seen that weekend and at countless shows before. Not surprisingly, this system was heard at The Home Entertainment Show, not CES. Things just seem to be better at THE Show. Only real hardcore music and audio lovers venture there, not the teaming hoards that populate the massive Consumer show.
The moment we entered the room though, we knew there was something special going on. The room was crowded with several people standing outside the door, peering in as if something cool was happening. When they saw our Stereomojo badges, they eventually ushered Darby to the center chair.
Usually when you go into a megabuck room such as this ( Kondo in particular), you’d think you were at the last green at the Master’s Tournament waiting for the final putt. There’s a hushed reverence. Eerie. Not here. Everyone was so relaxed and jovial, like they had all just smoked some very happy weed. The room’s hosts were playing a selection from Reference Recording’s “Tutti” disk, one we know very well. Though we had heard that track thousands of times before, we had never heard it like THIS!
We’re not even going to try to describe the sound. All we can say is that this was not just the best sound at this show, it was the best sound at ANY show we’ve EVER heard. In fact, we can state that it’s the best stereo reproduction we have ever heard…period. And that friends, is saying a lot.
Yes, the darTzeel amps (NHB-458 monoblocks, whose 1000Wpc cost $135,000, but that’s a pair – not each…ahem), and preamp (NHB-18 NS – $29,000 – but it includes a phono stage…gasp) together cost around $300,000. Cables by Evolution as well and all the other ancillary gear probably added quite a bit more. The Playback Systems MPS-5 Reference SACD/CD costs another $15,000.
However, the Evolution Acoustics model MMtwo speakers were not anywhere close to those numbers, or close to any of the megalithic (we made that one up, too) speakers we saw. The Evolutions weigh 375 pounds (!) and sell for only $35,000 per pair. The “only” is in contrast to all the other six-figure speakers at the show.
They are 53″ tall, 18′” wide and 30″ deep. The tweeter is a 5 inch aluminum ribbon between two 7″ ceramic midranges and one 15″ treated paper cone for the woofer. Frequency response, according to the literature, is 10Hz-40kHz and that’s +/- 3 dB.
At -6 dB. they go all the way down to an unheard of 7 Hz. They claim that impedance is 7 ohms and only deviates by +/- 2 ohms, so no wide swings. Sensitivity is a very high 93 dB. They are phase and time aligned. Woofers and tweeters are user adjustable. An internal amplifier for the low end is rated at 600 watts RMS. Max power handling is 400 watts. Minimum watts, they say, is 5 watts. Hard to believe. But if those watts are only driving the 93 dB sensitive mids and tweeters, maybe so.
As big as those speakers were and crammed into a small room, when the music started they utterly disappeared. Linda said they sounded just as good to her and she was seated next to the left wall, way off axis. For the first and only time at this year’s show, we listened to the entire Stereomojo Ultimate Evaluation Disk. As every track played, we were mesmerized. We have heard each of those tracks thousands of times, but in this room it was if we’d heard them for the first time. No, there wasn’t any new sounds or noises we’ve never heard before, but what we did hear was simply….Wow! And it was not the amount of sound we heard, they weren’t blaring, it was utter realism of the voices and music. Herve Delatraz of darTzeel commented on what a great demo disk it was. The music wafting from that system was better than most live concerts. Publisher James Darby was heard to say to Evolution Acoustics’ Jonathan Tinn, “This is the only system I would PAY to hear”.
Usually we go home and cogitate on our Best of Show Awards, but this experience was so compelling that we told Jonathan Tinn that he and darTzeel had just won our overall Best Sound at Show Award for 2010.
Congratulations!
CES / THE SHOW 2010 by Myles Astor – Select CES Show Stoppers “The Best of the Best”
Blue Light Audio – No K-Mart Blue Light Specials in aisle 8 were found in this room! What was present in the room was arguably the best sound at The Show and the CES show, especially considering the size of the hotel room. Jonathan Tinn and company unveiled several new products at The Show including the supersized, (who says big, much less solid-state amplifiers can’t sound good; I certainly won’t anymore!), 1 kW/channel Dartzeel NHB-458 monoblock amplifiers Reference priced at a hefty 135K ($135/watt). Music was played through the exquisite looking, not to mention sounding, $35,000 Evolution MM Two Loudspeakers (maximum musicality). The MM2s are nearly identical to their bigger brothers, the Evolution 3, save for the top woofer. Finished in a stacked Baltic birch wood, the inside of the MM2s cabinet varies from three to six inches thick and is internally damped to reduce standing waves. The woofers are powered by amplifiers rated at 600 watt/channel compared to 1200 for its bigger brother.
Another component in the Blue Light Audio product whose sound took me totally by surprise was the Steve Dobbins modified Technics SP10 direct drive turntable outfitted with the Reed tonearm from Eastern Europe and the fancy new $4200 Ortofon A9 cartridge. Don’t, expect, however, to pick a used Technics for a song on eBay; the last Technics SP10 went for the tidy sum of $9000. Despite the speakers being situated in a relatively small room (actually the amount of equipment jammed into the room may have made the room seem smaller than it actually was) that preventing the system from breathing, the piano was rich, drums were tight, controlled and very dynamic and percussion instruments didn’t break up. Another table displayed but not playing in the Blue Light room that deserves further investigation is the Kodo Audio “The Beat” Reference table (a modified Garrard 301 turntable) equipped with the Reed tonearm.
CES 2010 by Jim Merod – Positive Feedback “Las Vegas All Over Again (Why?)”
“Jonathan Tinn found a way to bring Evolution Acoustics’ $35,000 “MM Seven” speakers into play with the gloriously expensive darTZeel $125,000 monoblock amplifiers. The result was utterly compelling—in fact, spooky real sound that essentially “recreated” the soundstage dimensions and ambient vibe of New York’s famous Birdland, where I recorded Chico O’Farrill’s 18-piece Afro-Cuban Orchestra.
This system was so utterly real in its offering of what actually occurred on John Valenti’s magnificent jazz club’s stage that I found myself literally unable to avoid return trips to Jonathan Tinn’s musical universe. Three days in a row I wandered in, hopeful that the exotically appointed front row middle seat was unoccupied. Over and over I recommended, to all I knew within the span of those three days that a visit to that uniquely engaging sonic set up was imperative.”
CES / THE Show 2010 by Dave Thomas – Stereo Times “Best of Sound”
“The best sound at T.H.E. Show came from the darTZeel electronics and Evolution Acoustics room. Just like seemingly everything else at the shows this year, the components in this room were drop-dead gorgeous but monstrously expensive. But darTZeel was also one of the few companies to demonstrate that their gear was actually worth every penny. The system featured the new 1,000 Wpc NHB-458 monoblocks ($135,000/pr), and NHB-18 NS reference preamplifier ($29,000). But the speakers in this system are what struck me the most. They were the new Evolution Acoustics MMtwo. These breathtakingly beautiful 375 lb monsters, had every right to claim a six figure price tag compared to most of the speakers I saw that cost that much. But priced at only(?!) $35,000/pr, they would have to qualify as a definite bargain. They feature two 7” ceramic midrange drivers, one 5” ribbon tweeter, and a 15” treated paper woofer. They have a frequency response of 10Hz–40kHz and are 93dB efficient. They also have one of the most beautiful finishes I’ve seen on a pair of big speakers in quite a while. Oh, I forgot to mention the most important part, they sound fantastic.
The system was fronted by the Playback Systems MPS-5 Reference SACD/CD player ($15,000) and the Music Servers Direct MSD-1 Reference Music Server ($1995). Evolution Acoustics cabling was used throughout and an Audience Adept Response aR6-T ($4,600) provided the power conditioning.”
CES / THE Show 2010 by Robert H. Levy – Positive Feedback “T.H.E. Show of Shows”
“I then raced to the Blue Light Audio suite where Jonathan Tinn, Mr. Playback Designs, was presenting a knock your socks off system sonic show. Powered by the darTZeel Swiss made NHB-458 monoblocks, $135k and 1000 watts per channel, the Evolution Acoustics MM Two loudspeakers were amazing. With gorgeous fit and finish, they sported top notch Acuton drivers and more. They sell for only $35k per pair, but look and sound like they should cost double that! Also used was the NHB-18NS preamp with phono section selling for $29k. If the Playback CD was not good enough for you, they had the new Ortofon A-90 MC at $4.2k playing as well. All was hooked up with Audience AR6-T Power Conditioning at $4.6k. WOW! What a sound! This was sonically best of show by a very wide margin. Was it the amps? Was it the speakers? Who knows or cares? The end result was an ‘alive with in the room’ performance quality sound. “
CES / THE Show 2010 by Dean Seislove – Positive Feedback
On the other hand… there were the empress’ dowery (or credit line, anyway) products. As I’ve said before, superb materials, engineering, and innovation don’t come cheap. How cheap and how superb is a matter of perspective, but there’s no way of escaping the bitter truth that the rooms that absolutely stun you with an unbelievable level of detail, range, and musicality will set you back 50 large, minimum. I rarely have fifty little, maximum, but that shouldn’t stop me from barging in the queue to listen at the feet of the gods, and it didn’t. I loved the darTZeel NHB-458 monoblocks/Evolution Acoustics MM2 speaker pairing—this is how I’d spend my two hundred thousand (including Kubala-Sosna cables, a Playback Design Music Playback System 5, a really comfy armchair, and an even comfier investment portfolio).
CES / THE Show 2010 by Greg Weaver – The Audio Analyst
This year, Portland area Blue Light Audio owner, fellow New Yorker and good-friend Jonathan “Vin” Tinn (sorry, Jonathan, I had to!), was showing a number of world premier products. Hervé Delétraz and Serge Roche of Switzerland’s darTZeel were rightfully proudly showing off the completed-just-in-time-to-ship NHB-458 mono amplifiers ($135,000), while Music Server Direct’s new MSD-1 Reference Music Server ($1995), controllable with your iPhone or iPod touch, made its initial showing as well.
Optical playback came from the Playback Designs MPS-5 Reference SACD/CD Player ($15,000) or the brand new MSD-1 Reference Music Server ($1995). Vinyl was decoded by the Kono Audio “The Beat” turntable with Reed Tonearm ($24,000), fitted with, once again, the Ortofon A90 cartridge ($4200). The darTZeel NHB-18 NS preamp (with MC phono stage) handled source selection, and power conditioning was handled by the superb Audience adeptResponse 6-T ($4600)
Evolution Acoustics Kevin Malmgren’s choice for the room was his wonderful MMTwo ($35,000/pr). All his loudspeakers are designed, engineered, and handcrafted in the US. Inside, you will find only the finest parts, including reference grade film and foil capacitors, Goertz high purity copper foil inductors, Mills ultra high current 1% tolerance wire wound resistors, and Teflon insulated solid core copper wiring. Further, all parts are hand matched and soldered point to point in constant voltage crossover circuits.
The MMTwo centers a 5″ Aluminum ribbon high frequency driver between two 7″ Ceramic midranges, one above and one below. This array then sits atop a single 15″ treated paper woofer. All drivers mount on a 2′ thick baffle, are time, and phase aligned in a beautifully finished 53″ tall by 18″ wide by 30″ deep cabinet. With a 7 Ω nominal impedance, a 93dB efficiency, and weighing in at about 375 pounds, they are a very impressive sight.
Just one look at the new darTZeel NHB-458 monos and you know you are in for something special. These 450-watt monos are truly magical. I’m sorry that I don’t have more details on them at this time, but as new as they are, there is nothing available on their web site yet, and I didn’t harvest any details on them while I was listening—it was just too much fun to bother.
This room had it all; top to bottom extension and coherence, macro- and microdynamic prowess, midrange purity, eerie resolve, effortless and enormous space, and an inescapable sense of involvement. The alarming system transparency and resolve were well complimented with just the slightest dollop of sweetness. It seems clear to me that these new darTZeel monos have truly achieved the bloom and involvement of the best of the “toob” camp, while maintaining the utter authority, dynamic prowess, control, and slam of the best that the solid-state entrants have to offer. This room easily belongs near the top of my list of the best six systems at this year’s event.
CES / THE Show 2010 by Fred Crowder – Dagogo
“Of the many systems which I heard at the show, this is one of the very few that I would consider owning exactly as it was set up. Jonathan Tinn is closely associated with each of these products and assembled a system that was clearly greater than the sum of its parts. Every component represented something very special from a musical perspective.
The Evolution Acoustics MMTwo speakers, while not their most expensive, were ideally suited to the room size and truly full-range. The powered bass driver integrated seamlessly with the ceramic midrange and the ribbon tweeter. The ability to separately adjust the level of each driver also helped minimize detrimental room interactions. I am not usually fond of ribbon tweeters or ceramic drivers; however, any resonances that might mar the sonics of these drivers were carefully controlled and inaudible. Imaging was excellent, as were dynamics and tonal balance. The preamp was the Dartzeel NHB- 18NS; the amp their new flagship NHB-458 monoblocks. Both were beautifully designed and constructed. Digital was provided by the Playback Designs MPS-5. Analog was handled by a 30-year-old Technics SP10 which had been totally and lovingly rebuilt by Steve Dobbins, who replaced all caps and diodes, and rebuilt the motor bearing. It might be more accurate to say that Steve scavenged selected parts from the SP10 but built much of the table himself. The SP10 was mounted in a custom plinth also provided by Dobbins. The arm was a Reed equipped with an Ortofon MC A90 moving coil cartridge. The Reed has a number of unusual design features such as the use of an ebony arm wand and a laser to set VTA.
The sound of the combination was stunning. The best way to describe the sound of this system would be to think of the sound of Quad 57’s partnered with tube electronics but with real bass, extension at the top, dynamics and clarity. The sound was sweet and extended but with excellent slam. The re-issue of Bring in the Clowns by Classic Records was stunning! Male voice was rich, sonorous and harmonically right. Transients and low-level detail were also excellent. I liked this system so well that I requested review samples of the Playback Designs, the Dartzeel mono amps and a new and better ground up turntable effort by Steve Dobbins (the Beat).”
CES / THE Show 2010 by Danny Kaey – HiFi Statement
“Dartzeel’s newest mono blocks, custom built to order – at $135k, I don’t foresee any dealer stocking these like you would an iPod. Alas, amazing sound, probably among the handful of best sounding rooms at the show, running Jonathan Tinn’s amazing Evolution Acoustics MMTwo loudspeakers. Absolutely life-like imaging and 3D sound with those speakers!”
CES / THE Show 2009 by Wes Phillips – Stereophile Magazine “Blue Light Special”
“It was jaw-droppingly real. “
CES / THE Show 2009 by Dennis Parham – Stereo Times
The Evolution acoustics room, whose products are engineered and hand crafted in the USA, demonstrated synergy between their Mini Two loudspeaker ($40k), darTZeel 250 watt integrated amplifier ($22k) and Playback Designs SACD / CD player ($15k). For me, the sound was natural sounding and inviting with plenty of harmonic rightness. A definite candidate for best sound.
CES / THE Show 2009 by The Groove
I’m visiting the Las Vegas high-end show for the first time and sitting in the sweet spot in this room was as heavenly as 2-channel music reproduction gets. No other room at the show (the Venetian included) had such a level of top-to-bottom balance, scary dynamics, pure realism and sheer palpability of voices, instruments, live recordings were REAL … and they weren’t even playing vinyl! I would say the absolute best matching of components and perfectly setup. Now, those prototype DartZeel monoblocks … my brain is still trying to comprehend how it is possible to sound SOOOO good, sound from another planet, sound for the Gods! Everyone in the room was shaking their head in disbelief! Most amazing indeed. Nothing compares.
CES / THE Show 2009 by Fred Crowder – Dagogo Magazine
Jonathan Tinn was again showing at the Alexis Park and definitely hit a homerun with the Playback Designs Player, the new Dartzeel integrated amp and the new, smaller version of his speakers with powered subwoofers. The integration between the drivers was absolutely seamless and the speakers were ideally sized for the room. Tinn had also used a fair amount of acoustic treatment on the walls. The sound was absolutely stunning. Space and depth were superb. Jonathan was showing prototypes of the new Dartzeel monoblocks, which are rumored to be something very special.by
CES 2008 by Greg Weaver – The Audio Analyst “Another One from the Road”
“Two industry members I’ve known for years now, Jonathan Tinn, of Blue Light Audio, and Kevin Malmgren, former Vice President of Engineering at Von Schweikert Audio, have teamed up to create Evolution Acoustics.
Evolution Acoustics teamed with Switzerland’s darTZeel electronics to pull off one of, if not the very best, sounding room I heard this year.
Showing in a smallish room at the Alexis Park, they managed to put together one of, if not the, best sounding rooms at the 2008 event. Kevin said that he had worked some ten months to develop the Evolution Acoustics flagship MM three. With a projected retail of $70,000 (show specials of $38,000), the MM three is a visually arresting design, with sweeping sides and a satin finish that photos just can’t do justice.
The MM three is a three way design using a 5″ aluminum ribbon tweeter centered on the front sweeping face, two 7″ ceramic mids immediately above and below on wider swept back portions, and two 15″ treated paper woofers, one above and below each midrange on yet larger portions. The response is given as 10Hz to 40kHz, ± 3dB and as 7Hz to 70kHz, ± 6dB.
A product of Blue Light Audio’s Jonathan Tinn’s imagination and Kevin Malmgrin’s engineering, the $70,000 MM three Jonathan has paired with Switzerland’s darTZeel electronics, which he imports into the United States, for a number of years now, always with simply stirring results. Driven by the $22,000 darTZeel NHB-108 amplifier which was fed from the $26,000 NHB-18NS preamplifier, the MM three created absolute magic. Evolution Acoustics also premiered their new interconnects, a rather largish cable, to say the least. Sorry, once again I find I did not note the digital source…
One of the most starling things about this system was how deep it was able to go in this SMALL room. Standing anywhere in the room was great, but taking the “hot seat’ was breath-taking. Focusing for a fairly small listening sweet spot in that smallish room made sense, and if you didn’t take time to take a turn there, you missed 30 to 40 percent of the magic this room had to offer.
In that sweet spot, I was treated to a presentation so three-dimensional, so dynamic, and so life-like, as to be spoiled to virtually anything else I heard at this year’s show. I was most taken with the extension, integration, horn-like dynamic attack, low frequency slam, and tonal balance I was treated to when I sat front and center in the “chair.” Kudos to the hard work and dedication of the Evolution Acoustics’ project.”
CES 2008 by Jason Victor Serinus – Stereophile Magazine “Make Way For The Big Boys”
Attendance was light at the Alexis Park on Wednesday, with the rooms closest to the front getting the most attention. That was certainly the case for Evolution Acoustics, whose imposing MM3 modular speaker commands respect. After seven years of development, this huge baby, designed by Kevin Malmgren (left, formerly of Von Schweikert) made its initial debut at RMAF 2006. Then, the company went low-key while Malmgren and his wife were busy raising their first child (who, after almost one year of development, has just made a most auspicious debut in his stroller at T.H.E. Show 2008). Well, not really. The speaker was back-ordered even before it was launched, and has kept Malmgren and its distributor so busy that they haven’t had the time or need to yet establish a dealer network.
The MM3 ($70,000/pair, intro price $38,000/pair) weighs 650 lbs per side and consists of three parts: the MM1 center portion ($30,000/pair, intro price $18,000/pair) and MM2 bottom and top ($50,000/pair, intro price $28,000/pair). The tweeter is adjustable for both level and crossover point to create a smooth and even response. The woofer is also adjustable on every level—how deep, how full, etc.—and is powered by a 1000W amp in MM3 configuration and a 600W amp in MM2 configuration. Because the woofer extends flat down to 10Hz, and actually reached down to 3Hz in the Alexis Park, it includes a subsonic filter to make it analog-friendly for platter spinners. Everything in the speaker except the midrange and tweeter is made in the USA.
Paired with DarTZeel electronics from Switzerland, Evolution Acoustics power cables with built-in power conditioners, and huge gauge EA interconnects and speaker cable, the system conveyed the weight of massed strings like no other speaker I encountered at T.H.E. Show save the Rockport Ankaa discussed earlier in this blog. When I played Martha Argerich performing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto 2, the strings were so close that I felt as though my head was under the piano’s raised lid. Playing a track from the new John Marks-engineered Pipes organ CD, issued by the Rhode Island Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, all I could write was, “Holy Shit! This really sounds and feels like an organ.”
I’m not sure how you-know-who uses the terms yin and yang, but from my understanding of Chinese medicine, the system was far more yang than yin, meaning that it was better with the big, extroverted stuff than conveying a voice expressing vulnerability and tenderness. While there was a bit of buzzing on voices, probably caused by the smallness of the room, what this speaker did right was so right that it commanded attention. Contact Jonathan Tinn (right) at Blue Light Audio in Portland if you hear the call.
Tinn also distributes DarTZeel. The system boasted the NHB108 amp ($21,181 and Stereophile’s 2005 Product of the Year), which outputs 160Wpc into 8 ohms; the battery-powered NHB18NS preamp ($26,250) complete with phono stage and remote control). The two units are connected by impedance-matched 50 ohm DarTZeel wires. They certainly did the Evolution speakers proud.
RMAF 2006 by Mark Wagner – Positive Feedback
“Evolution Audio – Jonathan Tinn of Blue Light Audio (Portland OR) along with the extremely nice and obviously talented Kevin Malmgren (formerly of von Schweikert) brought their new Evolution Audio MM-3 speakers ($38,000) powered with a DarTZeel MHB-108 Stereo Amplifier ($18,200), the DarTZeel NHB-18S Preamplifier ($23,250) along with the new EMM Labs single box player ($9900). Sharing the room was the super friendly Alvin Lloyd (of Grand Prix Audio fame) where he was showing his new ultra sexy looking and fine sounding GPA turntable. The speaker and I/C cabling were all Evolution Audio wire, with the exception of some Jena labs AC cords (the new Evolution AC cords were not quite ready for the show). All of the electronics were stacked on one of Alvin’s magnificent GPA racks.
I arrived early on Thursday and found the Evolution room very busy dialing in the system. Even though the system was still a long ways from being “ready”, I was immediately astounded by this speaker, which is HUGE, well over 6′ tall!
What I heard was detail, transparency, space, a colossal soundstage, and imaging galore. Throughout the show, I heard a wide variety of music on CD, SACD and LP. No matter what the style, the music was always engaging. There were times when the room was not so busy, so I got a chance to listen to all of the recordings I brought; from the new SACD of Mahler’s 5th with MTT/SFO, Michael Haydn’s Requiem (a killer Hyperion RBCD) to a CD of Bach’s solo works for violin. No matter what I played (either delicate solo violin or thunderous Mahler) the system was superb. At $38,000 a pair, these speakers have to be the deal of the century! One could easily expect a price of at least double for a pair of speakers this size and of this quality! If I could have done so, I would have awarded this room best overall.”
RMAF 2006 by Sam Roberts – Positive Feedback “Room worth losing a vestigial tail for (my favorite sound of the show)”
“The Evolution Acoustics/darTzeel /EMM Labs room was the only spot in the show other than the Kimber Isomike room that the speakers truly disappeared and you felt like you were listening to music instead of equipment. I was shocked that the speakers retailed for less than $40,000, still way out of my price range but well under many of the other flagship speakers at the show which impressed me far less. I liked this room so much I somehow forgot to take pictures in it. Evolution has smaller versions coming soon as well, be sure to keep on the lookout as these seemed to have great potential.”
RMAF 2006 by Albert Porter – Writer’s Choice Awards
“This year I only choose two products for my Writers Choice Awards. The first goes to a recently introduced loudspeaker and the second to an established product that recently benefited from a world class upgrade.
The Evolution Acoustics MMthree speaker system is the new product, a joint design from Jonathan Tinn and Kevin Malmgren. I found much to like about this speaker with the biggest surprise being a suggested retail price of only $38K. Granted that is a lot of money, but considerably less than competing speakers and the Evolution Audio abounds with top quality fit and finish, superb driver choices and an overall appearance that won me over in a single listening session.
This speaker was making loud, dynamic music with moderate power at the recent Denver AudioFest and I wondered how the 100-watt amplifier managed this task so easily. The secret is the speaker’s internal 1000-watt power amplifier, taking charge of the dual 15″ woofers. There are several controls on the rear panel for altering the sound and I was allowed a bit of freedom to experiment. To me, a slight reduction in treble and tightening the bass did wonders in that particular room.
These controls worked so well, that with some experimentation I believe it could be adjusted to match an almost unlimited variety of amplifiers for the midrange and high frequency drivers. In fact, I would have preferred experimenting with tubes on top, but that’s a matter of personal taste.
The twin midrange drivers are the super premium 7″ Accuton ceramics, and appear to be the same as chosen for several others of my favorite speakers, The Martin Design, Kharma Exquisite and Avalon Isis.
The high frequency driver is a 5″ ribbon tweeter with the whole package rated at 93 DB efficiency.
The woodwork was first rate and although I did not see the Evolution MMthree with the grills covers in place, I think this would make a handsome addition sonically and visually to any audiophile wanting first class sound.”
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