By Dr. Panagiotis Karavitis
Kerem Kucukaslan, founder of Absolare had reason to be happy. His room was among the best sounding of the show. With a total price of around 400.000 euros, this rig consisted of Passion pre amp and 845 power amps, Allnic H-3000 phono stage and Rockport Technologies Altair II loudspeakers.
Both analog and digital sources were used equally throughout the show. A huge streamer rightfully named “The Beast” made by ReQuest and CEC TL OX transport were feeding MSB’s select DAC. Analog was even more interesting with Kodo’s “The Beat” turntable finished in furniture quality, real leather trimming by Absolare, equipped with Schroeder tonearm and Lyra Atlas cartridge. Cables were the Omnia series by Echole (a company also founded by Kucukaslan).
I enjoyed both the digital and the analog front end. Wynton Marsalis trumpet (CD) sounded very vivid without any high frequency harshness and made me think of reviewer’s favorite acronym, PRaT (pace, rhythm and timing). The symphonic dances by Rachmaninov (LP) on the other hand showed some limits in the analog playback. What lacked in particular was the lower octave extension and some control over those same frequencies. The 15” woofer of the Altair probably needs a bit higher damping from the amplifier in order to perform at its best. Still, a very pleasant sound.
Beautiful speakers, I wish you guys would report on the not so well known brands such as Auto Technology’ horn speakers. Let us know more about the under dogs!!!!!!