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NEW ADDITIONS
August 2011: Auravis Systems is pleased to anounce the introduction of Neat Acoustics Speakers. Neat Acoustics products are making their USA debut at Auravis after being out of the US market for nearly five years. 20 Plus Years in business, Neat Acoustics speakers are custom built in the UK and renowned for their rhythm, pace and timing as well as their synergy with Naim electronics and many other UK electronics. Neat Acoustics' speakers fall into four product families ranging from lifestyle/home theater models through their classic series and culminating with a reference level series named the Ultimatum Series. We could not be more excited!
July 2011: Rega certainly has been busy taking their well known and well received products to the next level. The first shipment of the new high performance, high value Brio arrived at the Sound Organization and as usual we made sure that we had our units included. Here’s an integrated amp (with built in phono stage no less) that at a budget of $1000 or less is simply a “game over, slam dunk” choice. We’ve been marveling at this mini-mite and are so pleased to be able offer an audiophile grade product for less than the price of most ‘Mid-Fi” consumer electronics being offered throughout the industry. Add a Rega RP1 Table and pair of Dali lector book shelf speakers, all for under $2000 and we’re talking about a system that simply blows away the competition.
As if the new Brio wasn’t exciting enough, Rega announced the next generation of it’s long running and wildly successful P3 Turntable. Named the RP3, these tables are due to start shipping in August we’ve ensured that we’re on the first shipment dealer list. Among the multiple upgrades is a brand new tonearm designed from the ground up. In the mean time, we must say that a part of us is sad to see the colorful P3-24 tables ushered into retirement. We’ve been addicted to their flamboyant colors and packaged “TT PSU” external power supply since the table’s inception. So being the sentimental audio geeks that we are, we purchased the few remaining Rega P3-24 tables in some of our favorite colors before they disappeared forever. Who does that with discontinued products?
June 2011: Our latest treat from Conrad Johnson arrived this month. CJ’s newest preamp, the ET5 fits in the line as their mid-point preamp. Don’t be deceived, however, this spectacular piece yields reference level performance in every way. Though less than half of the price of the flagship “GAT” preamp, we’re hearing a hugely disproportionate level of performance. Needless to say, we’re impressed and we’re only about 100 hours into a “burnin” that won’t approach ideal until well over 200 hours. Stay Tuned!
Brinkmann’s new PI cartridge showed up to give us a new analog toy to play with. Also arriving in timely fashion was VPI’s new Classic 3 table. We could not have planned these arrivals better, as they turned out to be meant for each other. The PI, based upon a Benz engine but tweaked with a carbon fiber body, provided just the perfect blend of speed, timing, and warmth to bring out the best in the new VPI reference Classic.
May 2011: Power cords, always near and dear to our heart, were added by Cardas to the outstanding "Clear Series" of products. Knowing that George Cardas adds no product before it's time. we've been anxiously awaiting these new additions. Verdict? Well, suffice to say that these new cords were worth the wait. Equally as exciting is the value that these power cords represent given their extremely reasonable cost.
April 2011: Manley Laboratories’ Mahi mono-blocks arrive
at Auravis for the first time. Talk about a fun,
“mini-mite combo” with remarkable versatility and
musical fun. “Tubes Rule!”
OK, so not all of our excitement has to involve spending
a great deal of money. Many who know us, know that we’re
“tweak geeks”. We brought in a half dozen C8 power cord
adapters from our friends at Synergistic Research to
play with. Frankly, we wondered whether or not
components like game systems, SONOS boxes, and SAT boxes
would benefit from the ability to add an aftermarket
power cord. OK, we’re “sold”. Anyone looking to upgrade
their mainstream consumer boxes should give these a try.
More Tweaks? Sure, why not? We’re
always game for fun “widgets”. For those that feel that
our remarkable Weihzi, HRS, Harmonix, BDR, or Cardas
isolation devices are a bit much, we now stock Dayton
Audio’s full line of cones, feet, and accessories. Their
absolutely beautiful small size brass finished cones are
less than $40 for a set of four.
March 2011: Auravis
joins the Conrad Johnson Team. The new ET3 Special
Edition preamp w/ phono stage and ET250S hybrid
amplifier arrive. The best mix of finesse and power in
CJ’s classic styling. The brand new, “giant killing” ET5
preamp and economical LP125 monoblocks are on the way.
(After listening the CJ’s reference gear at CES, we
can’t wait to get our hands on a pair of Art mono-block
amplifiers.)
Cardas Clear is here! As excited as
we were to add these renowned new cables to our “bag of
tricks”, we greatly underestimated the shear musicality
and realism of these amazing cables. Those of you who
know our obsession with cables and power conditioning
also know that we are not easily stunned by cables in
this price range.
We just received our first Velodyne
Digital Drive Plus evaluation piece in the 12 inch
configuration for evaluation. Given extensive experience
with JL Audio and Rel products, we were a bit skeptical
of just how competitive this new sub from Velodyne would
be. Suffice to say that we are adopting the Velodyne as
our new high performance reference sub.
February 2011: Our
Auravis Unity based Naimnet music serving network is
upgraded using Naim’s solid state drive UnitiServe-SS
and Synology 15 gig Network Attached Storage (NAS) hard
drive hardware. Our music and video library not only
sounds spectacular but our capacity is now essentially
limitless.
More Brinkmann just arrived. (We
haven’t even gotten over the Bardo yet.)
We just finished an in depth, formal
review of Wadia’s S7i flagship CD player. Simply put,
this is Wadia’s finest work, and we don’t pull punches
on expensive CD players. Keep in mind that the Wadia’s
competition at Auravis comes from Rega Reference, Audio
Aero, Burmester, Reimyo, and Zanden (coming soon).
Announced at RMAF 2010 in October,
Running Springs’ long anticipated budget option for
world class power conditioning is shipping. We’ve
received our first two Elgars and barely had enough time
to put them through a thorough evaluation before they
sold. While taking longer to break in than we are
accustomed too with Running Springs products, the Elgar
is absolutely unmatched at under $1000. This is another
product that belongs in every household with a stereo or
video system. Bring us your Monster or Panamax boxes.
We’ll take them on trade and substantially raise the
performance of your system with an Elgar.
January 2011: Analog
at Auravis has been taken to a whole new level with the
addition of a fully optioned Brinkmann Bardo Table with
HRS M3X Isolation base and Graham Phantom II tonearm. We
added a Dynavector XV-1 cartridge and run this magical
setup through Burmester’s unparalleled Phono 100
preamplifier. It’s a miracle that we ever get any work
done with this “rig” around
The new OPPOs are finally shipping.
We’ve received the first shipments of the BDP 93. The
BDP 95 is right around the corner. The original Oppos
were stellar with extraordinary performance. The new
pieces add even more performance and raise the “style
factor” beyond that of players costing 5-6 times the
price.
December 2010: Rega
did it again. Debuted by Rega this month, our new Rega
DAC just arrived. This level of performance for under
$1000? Shocking. And it’s not just the performance.
Taking a cue from the Rega Reference line, the build
quality and styling is simply amazing. Run the
economical SONOS system through it, or a $3000 plus
level CD player, sit back and enjoy the music.
November 2010: Our
UnitiQute arrived. Cute…yes, but we were not ready for
just how good this unassuming box could sound. Living
with the full size Unity for nearly 8 months, it was
hard to imagine that we’d be newly impressed by the
Uniti’s “little brother”. With remarkable versatility,
the full internet radio, digital output Ipod support,
Naimnet ready features, and internal DAC make it perfect
for every home’s family room A/V room. Our TVs never
sounded better. This is a must audition product!
October 2010: It’s
been a torturous wait, but but Rega’s RP1s finally just
hit the streets and we were thrilled to get our hands on
a batch of this first shipment. They are everything we
expected and, frankly, raise the bar in sonic
performance for any turntables under $500. This is the
ultimate entry level table. Looks like we’ll have to
wait again. We can’t keep them in stock. Synergistic Research just raised our in-house bar on
economical interconnects and power cables. Fresh off
their debut at Rocky Mountain Audiofest, we brought
these in and can now officially say that the magic of
premier cables can be had at an absurdly low price given
the performance of the Basik Strings Interconnects and
Precision AC power cords. (Absolute Sound was right!)
September 2010: Our
Cardas “Clear Light” cables have arrived and are quickly
defining a new level of performance given their modest
price points.
August 2010: Another
Auravis Systems Premiere! We are the first dealer in
North America to take possession of Burmester’s state of
the art 100 Phono Preamplifier. In fact of only five
pieces allocated to North America for the year, we
purchased two based upon our confidence in Burmester’s
ability to produce the finest reference phono
preamplifier in the world. High expectations?
Absolutely, but the Phono 100 still surpassed our
expectations. This is simply a “must have” for the “cost
no object” audio system.
July 2010: Our first
pieces of Stage III Concepts reference priced cables
have arrived. These cables exhibit a level of detail,
speed, accuracy, and “quietness”, that rival the very
best cables we have ever heard. The power cables are
simply astounding! These cables raised the level of our
most expensive Burmester electronics to a new high.
June 2010: Auravis
Systems is proud to join the Running Springs Family.
Having made a lifetime career of evaluating high
performance power conditioners, we are confident that
the Running Springs products are the finest of their
kind available. Period!
Previous Firsts & Milestones:
September/October 2009: Auravis Systems is the first North American retailer to
purchase and “floor” the new Reference Series ISIS CD
player and OSIRIS integrated amplifier from Rega
Research. “These are not your father’s Rega products!”
These pieces are simply stunning, and in typical Rega
fashion, represent an absolute bargain for the level of
performance exhibited.
November 2008: Auravis Systems is the first Manley Laboratories
retailer to take possession of the new remote controlled
“Steelhead RC” phono preamplifier. “Serial 0001 is in
the house.”
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