I spend a lot of time at these shows talking about the Big Audio Rooms such as Von Schweikert/VAC, Wilson Audio and The Voice That Is!, but Jeff Fox of Command Performance A/V is quietly joining that exclusive club of rooms that are must-sees in terms of sheer scope and great sound. Jeff and his Command Performance room tied for Best Sound at Show at RMAF with Joseph Audio, Doshi Audio and J. Sikora, but this time he gathered an even more ambitious system in a much larger room that featured the amazing DeVore Fidelity Orangutan Reference speakers, Luxman, Aurender and once again the exciting new turntables of J. Sikora from Poland.
The DeVore Fidelity Orangutan Reference speakers ($88,900 for the system) is now in its final production form, but with many changes from the first time I heard them a year ago (these were another Best Sound at Show winner then, and are even better now). The most notable change was the addition of another big driver on the outer boxes, plus many internal changes that resulted in natural full-range sound that makes their seemingly high price a downright bargain. One of the few things that have carried over is the mesmerizing beauty of these four relatively squat enclosures. Wowzers.
One of the main reasons I chose to cover the Command Performance A/V room was to listen to the many new products from Luxman–especially the new CL-1000 preamp ($19,995). This is perhaps the finest preamp Luxman has made–there is so much technology packed into every cubic inch of the insides that the CL-1000 is as heavy as most power amps. And it’s unbelievably beautiful–my photos don’t do it justice. Just check out the “floating” 3-D faceplate! Luxman also introduced a new low-powered integrated amp and matching CD player that also doubles as a killer headphone rig. I want.
The J. Sikora turntables continue to sound mighty impressive–Jeff told me that many show attendees commented that they’re incredible underpriced for the performance they provide. (The J. Sikora Standard MAX turntable, for example, retails for just $18,195 and looks like it should cost at least twice that.) I’m still waiting on the entry-level Initial model ($8000) for review in the coming months. So when it comes to the Command Performance room at the 2019 Capital Audiofest, Jeff and his brands have easily found their place at the highest level of sound quality.
