Two brands that I’ve experienced before, however never — together. AGD Productions has been winning hearts and minds with their GaN Tube electronics, which really involve no tubes at all, just a GaN module, housed inside of a tube substrate.
Reporting by Eric Franklin Shook
Handling the presentation side of things, the new JansZen Audio Nine.Five loudspeaker, which is David Janzen’s take on the esteemed KLH Nine. And when I tell you that this was easily in my top five best sounding rooms at the show, believe it. Absolutely stunning.
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AGD Productions
First, let’s talk about AGD Productions GaN Tube amplifiers and electronics. The new ALTO preamplifier was crafted to be the perfect companion piece to the similarly chassis’d TEMPO amplifier (pictured above).
Some notable features of the ALTO include:
- Fully Balanced Phono preamplifier stage with MM & MC cartridges support (selection via Menu and Remote control) and with dedicated ultra-low noise linear power supply and ultra-low noise linear professional grade amplifiers stage
- Analog boards fully shielded and separated from digital boards to deliver the lowest possible noise and prevent any undesired interference
- High Dynamic low noise professional grade instrumentational amplifier stages for the output buffer stage (configurable as bi-amp X-Over upon request)
- Fully balanced design and full DC coupling (no capacitors in line with analog signals)
JansZen Nine.Five
The original KLH Nine which this speaker is based on, was designed by Arthur A. Jaszen in the mid-1950s and field tested by JansZen Laboratory. Ultimately brought to market as a flagship loudspeaker with help of KLH.
The KLH Nine was the first truly full-range electrostatic loudspeaker, and was loved by the audiophile press of its day.
David Janzen’s take on the design incorporates the use of 8-inch ceramic cone woofers, six per side, in dipole configuration. Handling frequencies up to 200Hz, whereafter electrostatic panels take up the duties of upper bass, midrange, and treble.
There’s a lot of tech talk about how these electrostatic line arrays load the room and focus their sound at the listener, but it’s a bit much to go into here. Just know, that when put to the exhibit test, the Nine.Five (introductory price, $19,500 pr USD, sold direct) panel speakers seem to be without peer in their category.
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The Sound
Sheesh. How does one explain this? Seamless? Effortless? Perfection?
As big as this year’s show was, it’s possible for some rooms to slip right through your fingers, and no one else from the PTA team ventured into this dimly lit room, other than me.
If you would like to hear even more coverage from CAF 2022, check out our recap report and highlights from our audiophile-oriented show The Occasional Podcast. You can stream the episode direct from the embed below, or from your favorite podcast platform including iTunes, Android, Google, Deezer, Spotify, iHeartRadio and more.
