Hi Peter,
The four analog front ends that were great to hear for me were:
1. The new Dobbins Kodo Signature Edition turntable. This is a step up from The Beat TT that I have been enjoying for the past 2 years. It is quite striking to see: The outer plinth material is now aluminum and the top of the table is covered in leather to match the visuals of the Absolare electronics. The internals of the plinth of the new table are different and improved from the Beat and according to Steve makes the table even quieter. He was using the Schroeder Linear tracking tonearm which is finally ready for production, along with the Lyra Atlas cartridge and the Allnic H300 phono stage.
2. Two rooms were using the new Lyra Etna cartridge and both also sounded very good by late Saturday afternoon after they had chance to put some hours on the cartridge. They were the WIlson Alexia/VTL room using a Spiral Groove TT and VTL 6.5 phono stage and the Vandersteen 7 room which used the AMG TT/arm with the ARC Ref 10 phono stage.
3. Finally, the Audio Arts room which was using a Holborn TT/arm, Allaerts cartridge ( not sure of the model) and the Trinity phono stage with CH Precision amps and Zellaton speakers.
Arnie
