Show Reports

Welcome to Part 4 of my Capital Audiofest 2024 show report! And away we go. . .

PURE FIDELITY
Hi-fi dealership Now Listen Here, based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, set up an appealing system once again in the Executive Lounge at CAF 2024. They brought along Pure Fidelity’s The Symphony turntable — the latest release from the Vancouver-based turntable makers that, with an SRP of $21,995, makes it their new flagship model.

Now Listen Here had already debuted The Symphony turntable in its late-stage prototype form at Pacific Audio Fest back in September; now, the table has officially entered production. Now Listen Here’s Aaron Sherrick explained to me that the new The Symphony model has been “upsized in most elements,” including its plinth, Delrin platter, and subplatter that each have more mass. The plinth’s dimensions have also expanded, as has the tonearm’s length.

The Symphony table is made to accommodate a 12in gimbaled arm — in this case, one with a titanium arm tube supplied by Audio Origami of Scotland. The table’s speed controller and motor remain the same. EMM Labs’ DS-EQ1 V2 optical phono equalizer ($12,500) — another new product — contains DS Audio’s optical cartridge EQ technology, here paired with the DS Audio DS-W3 optical cartridge ($5,000), as seen above.

It’s not often one sees purple loudspeakers at a show — but, hey, why not? If you’re spending serious money on hi-fi, you might as well get what you want, perhaps even customized to your own tastes. The speakers’ saturated finish stood out, reminding me of Prince — and that’s a compliment.

Purple-hued indeed were the Vandersteen KĒNTO Carbon loudspeakers ($47,000) that were powered by Vandersteen M5-HPA high-pass amps ($21,000) and a Vandersteen L5-ACC preamp ($15,000). Digital sources included a Bel Canto Design Black EX DAC ($40,000) and an Innuos ZEN Next-Gen server ($12,000). AudioQuest supplied cabling throughout the system.

I listened to a track from the 2021-released 2LP set on PIAS, The Solution Is Restless, by Joan As Police Woman (a.k.a. Joan Wasserman). On “The Barbarian” (LP1, Side A, Track 1), bass extension impressed, while the track’s heavy extended groove was continuous and even-keeled, lifting my spirits and nearly sweeping me into a trance, so steady and controlled the playback sounded. Rhythms felt precise — whether they came from Tony Allen’s hypnotic percussion, or the electronic beats. Joan’s vocals showed a sort of smoky quality, filling the room with rich, mellifluous tones.

Part 5 coming tomorrow!

Author bio: Julie Mullins, a lifelong music lover and audiophile by osmosis who grew up listening to her father’s hi-fi gear, is also a contributing editor and reviewer on our sister site, Stereophile, for whom she also writes the monthly Re-Tales column. A former fulltime staffer at Cincinnati’s long-running alt-weekly CityBeat, she hosts a weekly radio show on WAIF called On the Pulse.

For more of our CAF 2024 coverage, go to Part 1 of Julie’s show report here, Part 2 here, Part 3 here, and also see Ken Micallef’s turntable video extravaganza here.