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Harbeth showed the latest iteration of their vintage-styled three-way über monitor which I expect will be right up former Polish contributor's Wojciech Pacula's alley since he owns the previous version for his personal reference.
Hornfabrik suggested that red may be the new orange but otherwise stuck with the traditional valve power recipe compliments of Ralph Karsten's AtmaSphere OTLs.
Each hornspeaker maker must face the same challenges of how to fix their various horns to a solid visually convincing support. Given the enforced growth of diameters with falling frequencies, many opt for a traditional subwoofer to extend reach without becoming too large. Comparing various such solutions purely for industrial design is an interesting study all in itself.
JoSound's solid bamboo Voxativ-based single-driver speakers from the Channel Islands once again shared space with the Berlin pater familias of Inès Adler and her Voxativ models on the other wall. Talk about supporting your OEMs.
The mono amps were from Taiwan's Arte Forma International Ltd.
KEF's Blade 2 is the original Blade with smaller sidefiring woofers and a lower sticker.
KingSound's electrostats were all spirit and no body when I visited. Feeling just then in a more meatarian than vegetarian mood to counter the onset of disembodiment from sensory overload, I moved on. These folks also have affordable earspeakers to go Stax for easier coin.
Lab 12 from Greece showed their tongue-in-cheek Mighty EL34 SET stereo amp whilst the colourful faceplate in the background reiterated my silly orange theory.
They've also got a matching preamp, DAC and headphone amp.
Lansche Audio bi-amped with the still mythical Mola Mola monos to remind us that at present, Ncore really is the very last word on class D technology. Bel Canto's Michael McCormick who unwittingly proposed to his lady over dinner—it just slipped out but I witnessed it so the deal is sealed and Rome or Venice it shall be—agreed. That's why a low-gain version of Ncore powers their flagship Black.
Lawrence Audio bowed their new Double Bass 6-driver 4-way which is sized and styled to fit its name. Aurum Cantus ribbons, AMT and dynamic drivers commingle and there's another rear-firing ribbon on the sloping back. Joël Chevassus signed up for a review so we'll find out in due time what he thought.
Industrial design in loudspeakers is all over the place, from the grotesque to the robotic or futuristic, from Bauhaus to Edwardian, from plain to extravagant. I happen to find the musical-instrument models from Lawrence Audio to be unusual but attractive and something that my wife would welcome in the right colour. Or as they'd put it in our French part of Switzerland, super beau.
