AXPONA show 2019

Randy Forman’s Finest Fidelity room had some of the best sound of any room using Magico speakers. Oh so controlled yet at the same time timbrally on point.

The $28,000 Magico S3 Mk. 2 speakers were driven by the very attractive in their own simplistic manner 300 wpc (into 8 ohms) Accustic Arts

$24,999 Accustic Arts Mono II MOSFET power amplifiers. Making up the rest of the electronics were the German company’s $16,400 Tube Hybrid preamplifier and $25,995 van den Hul Grail SE phonostage.

The analog source was a simply super sexy looking, idler drive based, Garrard 301/Dobbins turntable with $4850 Reed 2P tonearm and $11,995 van den Hul Colibri Master Signature phono cartridge. The Dobbin/Garrard table uses a seven layer Gen III plinth and custom platter fashioned by Xact Audio. Steve certainly showed there’s still life in the old Garrard; what struck me was how he’s reduced the table’s noise floor. Cables here included van den Hul Mountain ICs and 3T Cumulus speaker cables. The other accessory unique to Randy’s room were a pair of AJ van den Huls Extenders mounted atop the Magico speakers.