HEAR THIS

The HEAR THIS room was the other Best Room of the Show. It too was exceptional and I could have stayed there all day listening! In truth, I stayed there quite a long time listening and enjoying the Zen-like atmosphere created by the Hear This folks.

The HEAR THIS setup brought scale and dynamics, transparency and detail, refinement and nuance, and a mastery of the entire bass region that was astounding, from these relatively small speakers.

The magic came, interestingly enough, when a Heed Audio Thesis Delta Transport was in the mix as attached to the WestminsterLab Quest V2 Pre-Amplifier and the WestminsterLab Rei Class A Monoblock Amplifiers, the Lampizator Horizon 360 DAC, and the Von Schweikert VR-30 w/Foundation Hybrid Bass System. Don’t get me wrong the Sonore Signature Rendu Streamer and the Small Green Computer i9 Music Server were quite good, but not magical.

This was a system that seemingly knew no limitation—small, intimate cafe, large cathedral with a most impressive organ, a jazz quintet, etc.—all were handled superbly, with a shoulder-dropping musicality, that fastened one to their seat.

Again, there were other good to very good to exceptional systems, but this system and the other that I’ve written about below, stood out beautifully. Bravo!

The components of the HEAR THIS system:

• Heed Audio Thesis Delta Transport ($3,250)

• WestminsterLab Quest V2 Pre-Amplifier ($25,100)

• WestminsterLab Rei Class A Monoblock Amplifiers ($33,900)

• Lampizator Horizon 360 DAC ($62,000)

• Von Schweikert VR-30 w/Foundation Hybrid Bass System ($59,000)

• Sonore Signature Rendu Streamer ($5,350)

• Streamer and the Small Green Computer i9 Music Server ($1,895)

• MaterBuilt Ultra Loom (prices vary depending on length)