Jim Weil of Sound Application was understandably proud of
the system he assembled at THE Show. Its natural rendering of musical detail made his room
a spot to sit and relax. A pair of Silicon Arts ZL-120 solid-state amplifiers
($23,000/pair) drove Venture Excellence speakers ($56,000/pair) to near perfection. The
source was a modified Esoteric UX-1 universal player used as a transport running into a
Weiss Medea DAC. A Silicon Arts CF-080 preamp ($18,000) was also in use. Sound
Application's own RLS-1 power conditioners provided power, with racks and platforms from
Precision Audio/Video and all cabling from FMS.
We were unfamiliar with the Silicon Arts
electronics, but this system changed that. They are electronics to watch -- um, to hear,
that is.
