This room looked more inviting to me than most other rooms I visited at the show. It looked like a private living room with plenty of space, so people waiting for a seat could just stroll around inside instead of waiting outside in the hallway, which was a relief.
But itโs an audio show. The fact the room was spacious wouldn’t mean a thing if the system in it didnโt sound good. I casually listened to a few tracks, including “Songbird” by Eva Cassidy, while I waited for the middle seat. Once I landed it, I listened more carefully and critically. What played was one of my favourite jazz albumsโ”Art Pepper Meets the Rhythm Section”. I know itโs well-recorded so I always have high expectations when itโs played in a demo. It didnโt disappoint. In fact, it exceeded my expectations by the vastness of its soundstage. Pepperโs saxophone solo is hard-panned to the left in the recording, but here it wasn’t stuck to the left speaker but quite further to the left of it, which put the legendary saxophonist almost next to me. The system did the same for the rest of the musicians, creating the effect of these four incredible players surrounding me. It was a big room and full of people but the system’s sound quality delivered the illusion that it was an intimate, private-affair performance played just for me.
The system included a pair of Audiovector R8 Arretรฉ loudspeakers ($92,000), a 200Wpc solid state Moon 761 power amplifier ($18,500), a Moon 791 network player ($21,000), a Naim Uniti Core music server ($3999), with cabling by AudioQuest from its Dragon series.
As an audiophile and a voracious listener of all kinds of music, Jonson believes that the experience of being immersed in music is often something spiritual. Born and raised in Korea, he cut his teeth on western music mostly through the music of the 80s and the 90s. As of today, names that make his heart beat a little faster include Vladimir Horowitz, John Coltrane, Youn-Sun Nah, Francis Poulenc, Leonard Bernstein, Tannoy, and Magnepan. Jonson also runs a podcast and a YouTube channel about language learning, called SpongeMind.
As you might know, PMA is an independent consumer audio and music magazine that prides itself on doing things differently. For the past three years, weโve dedicated ourselves to bringing you an authentic listening experience. Our commitment? Absolute authenticity. We steer clear of commercial influences, ensuring that what you hear from us is genuine, unfiltered, and true to our values.
However, independence comes with its challenges. To continue our journey of honest journalism and to maintain the quality of content you love, we find ourselves turning to you, our community, for support. Your contributions, no matter how small, will help us sustain our operations and continue to deliver the content you trust and enjoy. Itโs your support that empowers us to remain independent and keep our ears to the ground, listening and sharing stories that matter, without any external pressures or biases.
Thank you so much for being a part of our journey.
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