Updates …

We will NOT be showing at Capital Audiofest this weekend.  Although D.C. looks good at the moment, previously quiet places like the Bay Area and Colorado are seeing Covid upticks and we just think it is too soon to be gallivanting through hotel rooms crowded with friendly audiophiles in such unpredictable times. To say nothing of spending several hours in an actual airplane to get there and back. We send our apologies to all our East Coast friends, and to the wonderful Capital Audiofest show organizers, and hope to see y’all next year.

We currently have three systems up and running here in Palo Alto and are occasionally hosting masked audiophiles who we have good reason to believe aren’t completely daft.

New toys: Audio Note Fifth Element / Fifth Force DAC, Audio Note TT3 turntable with PSU3, Audio Note Meishu Phono Tonmeister Silver 300B integrated, Audio Note CD4 CD player, Audio Note M3 linestage.

Acapella Apollon loudspeakers, Audio Note U.K. Gaku-on amplifiers, Audio Note U.K. DAC 5 Signature, Audio Note M9 Phono preamplifier, EMM Labs NS1 Streamer, Triangle Art Master Reference Turntable, and HRS VXR equipment rack with M3x2 isolation bases as shelves.

 

Acapella High Cellini loudspeakers, Acapella integrated amplifier, EMM Labs DV2 DAC/volume control, Audio Note U.K. CD4 CD player, Audio Note U.K. Kegon amplifiers, Audio Note CDT-5 transport, Audio Note S9 Step-up transformer all on vintage RixRax equipment stand.

Audio Note U.K. AN/E SPe HE loudspeakers, Audio Note U.K. OTO Phono SE Signature integrated amplifier, Audio Note U.K. M3 Phono preamplifier, Audio Note TT2 Deluxe and TT3 turntables, Audio Note Meishu Phono Tonmeister Silver integrated amp, Acapella Audio One music server, all on a HRS SXR equipment rack.

Added a 3rd stereo system here at Audio Federation

In addition to our large system, which you may be familiar with,

 

with the Acapella Apollon loudspeakers and Audio Note Gaku-On power amplifiers… [we just added the little EMM Labs NS1 streamer there on the top right shelf of the HRS VXR rack]

 

… and in addition to our interestingly popular small Audio Note system (with large 82 inch flatscreen)….

 

We added another, medium Goldilocks system with the Acapella Cellini High loudspeakers and LaMusika power amplifier, EMM Labs DV2 DAC/PRE and Audio Note CDT-5 transport.

Other gear in photo: Audio Note DAC 5 Signature, Audio Note Empress 2A3 amplifiers, Triangle Art turntable and newer Pranawire speaker cables.

Yep, having to make use of all available space, this system is in the dining room. It sound really quite good, if a little bit live-sounding. Thinking of putting a piece of carpet down or something. Yeah, a tube jiggled loose in the Acapella ION (Plasma) tweeter over there on the counter while in transit from the previous owner’s system on the other side of the country. These things happen…

The last piece in the picture is the small, cute Audio Note Zero integrated on the middle shelf of the Rix Rax rack. Neli knows more about this [about everything here] than I do [ which is good… SOMEBODY has to know what’s going on around here 🙂 ].

State of the systems at Audio Federation

A little update on the state of things here…


The Audio Note Ongaku integrated is on the Coltrane Supreme speakers. Those are the Lamm ML2.1 waiting in the wings. They were used as part of a recent out-of-towner audition. [Yes, the speaker cables are taking a shortcut over the Marten crossover – a little cable dressing no-no but, well, it ain’t going to reach otherwise].


The deathstar [mixing movie metaphors here, I know] Audio Note digital is on the left: The CDT-5 transport, the Fifth Element DAC and Fifth Force power supply. On the right is the Brinkmann turntable, the Audio Note S9 step up transformer and the Audio M9 Phono preamplifier. On the bottom there is the Emm Labs XDS1 CD/SACD player.


Downstairs we have the Audio Note Kegon amps driving the Audio Note AN/E SE Signature speakers.


On the side we have a lot of stuff. We have the Audio Note CDT-3 transport and DAC 4 Balanced into the Emm Labs PRE2 linestage. We also have the Walker turntable into the Lamm LP2 phono preamplifier. Other components – not hooked up – and the Audio Note Kegon Balanced amps and M3 RIAA phono preamplifier.


In the small room we have the Audio Aero Capitole CD player and the, I think Neli has the P1 hooked up, driving the AN/E SPe HE speakers.