Blu Note Audio & Home Theater may be a new Denver audio
dealer, but it has collected an impressive list of brands, including the ones showcased in
its demo system: Avalon, VTL, Ayre and Cardas. VTL MB-450 mono amps ($15,000 per pair)
drove Avalon Indra speakers ($19,995 per pair). Sources were both digital -- an Ayre C-5xe
universal player ($5950) -- and analog -- an Ayre DPS turntable with modified Rega tonearm
($9050) and Dynavector cartridge. The phono stage was a VTL TP-6.5 ($8500), and the preamp
was also from VTL, the TL-6.5 ($11,500). All cables were Cardas Golden Reference.
A cut from Ray Brown's Soular Energy LP
demonstrated what the sound was all about. It seemed impossibly spacious for the small
room in which the system was housed, and the bass was extremely well defined, fast and
agile. We've never heard Avalon speakers sound better.
This was by no means an inexpensive system, but it
certainly displayed the full potential of high-end audio.
