Alex Sound Technology Shows Japanese SET (Takatsuki) and Digital (Sforzato), & German loudspeakers (Blumenhofer Acoustics)
As an enterprising Stereophile reporter, I do my homework. When I saw that Alex Sound Technology, of Windermere, Florida, was bringing the gorgeous Japanese Takatsuki 300B TA-S01 SET amplifier ($32,000, 8Wpc, new to the USA), along with new Japanese brand Sforzato (below), including their DST-050EX network transport ($4600), DSC-030EX Zero Link DAC ($9900), DSP-030EX Network Player ($9900), and PMC-015EX Master Clock ($4990), plus the Blumenhofer Acoustics Genuin FS 2 Mk2 horn-loaded loudspeakers ($22,850/pair), a bee flew into my Southern man’s bonnet and I requested room coverage to major domo Jim Austin.
Along with handsome Takatsuki-tubed amplifier (below) and equally stunning Blumenhofer Acoustics loudspeakers (top), Alex Sound Technology included the Fidata Music Server SX20U ($7995), French-made Pachanko Server Constellation Mini-SE ($3600), with Plixir’s BDC linear power supply ($1000) and BAC-400 balanced power conditioner ($1500). Cabling was provided by Alex Sound’s own True Power Lab ($1100-$3300), fashioned from an alloy of copper, Palladium, Platinum and Osmium within a “densely packed, multi-layer, crystal lattice,” noted the press materials.
While none of the assembled rig was inexpensive, compared to some luxury brands, it’s perfectly, reasonably priced. And the sound produced by this SET-powered speaker system was thrilling, to say the least. The Blumenhofer two-way is comprised of a horn-loaded 1.4″ compression driver with a Titan membrane, coupled to an Alnico magnet-powered, 12″ paper-cone woofer, set into a 25mm birch plywood, floor-ported, bass reflex cabinet. Frequency range is a stated 36Hz to 11.5kHz; sensitivity 94dB. and impedance 8 ohms.
Time was running late, and I had to dash, but the system’s rendition of Johnny Hartmann’s I Just Dropped by to Say Hello, was of human scale, sweet, transparent and thoroughly, naturally human sounding. Magic.