Here, I regret to say, is another report not on the equipment but on the room.
The story in the PS Audio room was the company’s new loudspeaker, the AN3, various prototypes of which have been demoed at audio shows throughout 2019. The RMAF demo pair was described by the company as the final prototype. The design—strongly influenced by the late Arnie Nudell, the “AN” in AN3—includes servo-corrected powered woofers, a folded ribbon tweeter, a rectangular planar midrange, and an 8″ cone “mid-bass coupler. (The information in the previous sentence was based on earlier prototypes. Here’s the current info: Both tweeter and midrange drivers are planar magnetic. “Mid-bass coupler has become two drivers in a modified D’ Appolito array. Bass is a 12” powered woofer. The driver has a split-ring magnetic assembly and there is DSP being designed that, in combination, may mitigate need for a servo.” Quoted text is from PS Audio’s Bill Leebens.—JCA)
The AN3s were set up quite differently than YGs in the VTL/YG/Nordost room. The result: The sound on Loreena McKennitt’s “Cymbeline” was lovely, warm, and smooth—ditto for a track by Jamie Woon. But the PS Audio room did not entirely escape the wrath of the acoustic demon of the Gaylord Convention Center. A 24/96 Tidal stream of part of the Shostakovich’s Symphony No.11, performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Andris Nelsons, was midrange-preponderant and overly smooth. It lacked punch. On LP, Hank Jones, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams, performing “A Night in Tunisia,” could have used more sparkle on top.
To repeat: What I heard was so obviously and strongly influenced by the room that I can’t draw conclusions about the equipment’s sound. It’s not that the room was terrible; it just didn’t give up many secrets. [Editor’s note: This is very common at shows, even typical, which is why, to the chagrin of a handful of our readers, Stereophile refrains from all but the most basic sonic commentary in show reports.—JCA.]
Heard: PS Audio DirectStream DAC ($5999), P20 PowerPlants (2@$9999/each), P15 PowerPlant (1@$7499), AN3 loudspeakers (price TBD), and AC Series cables; BHK Signature preamp ($5999), Stellar phono preamp ($2499), and Signature 300 Monoblocks ($7499 each); VPI HW40 turntable ($14,999); Mac Mini.
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