[Paret]

+1 on all of the above.

Mary, very nice meeting you in person.

Also great to see Frank and everyone else.

Saturday the show was packed and the line out the AVA room was consirable.

Everyone I talked to was very impressed with the sound there.

Kudos all.

Now I need to budget to upgrade my Transcendence 8 and my Synergy 450 , which by the way sound awesome in my room, at some point.

So is the life of a music lover.

[Tom Alverson]

Audio by Van Alstine got very nice mentions, both with good photos of our equipment, from The Absolute Sound and from Stereophile in their respective Axpona show reports.

We even got very nice comments about our Fet Valve Hybrid DAC.

Frank

Stereophile covers the Janszen setup but fails to mention the amp used:

http://www.stereophile.com/content/janszen-and-exasounds-superb-sound

"I've reported on this pairing before in show reports, but this was, by far, the best and most transparent sound I've heard from JansZen and exaSound. The top was nice and alive, the height and openness quite lovely, and the sound very natural and musical. Doing the honors were the brand new JansZen zA 1.1 single-panel loudspeakers ($4495/pair), JansZen za 2.2 loudspeakers ($9400), exaSound flagship e22 native quad-rate DSD DAC ($3499) with "the world's first and exclusive support for DSD256 on Mac" and third-generation headphone amplifier, Emotiva electronics, and a stock USB cable."

Does not look like an Emotiva amp to me.

Here is the Salk/AVA writeup:

http://www.stereophile.com/content/salk-and-van-alstine

[mrlittlejeans]

To be fair, there appears to be an Emotiva amp next to the AVA amp in the picture and it may have been running off of that during the demo.

[avahifi]

If the reporter heard the larger Janszen ZA2.2s, then they were being driven by our Fet Valve 400R only.  The Emovita 5 channel amplifier was only used for the small speakers during surround sound demos.

Why did the reporter think the Janszens sounded better then ever?  Maybe an AVA power amplifier?  Duhh.

Why we were left out once again I have no idea. Its happened before.

Oh well.

Frank Van Alstine

[paul79]

I hear ya Frank. Speakers get most of the credit. I think that is because they are making the final physical connection, for one.

It's not just your electronics that get neglected, I can tell that from reading, but I absolutely understand your frustration.

When you are reading a report about a room, how it sounded, mostly talking about how great the speakers are, and all you get is, (electronics by AVA) for example, shoved in there somewhere...... That's just wrong. But that seems to be the norm.

[jackmonster]

The clarity coming from your amps are incredible.  The Exotica 111's and the Janszen's were 2 of the best rooms at Axpona.  There was something so right about both systems.  Your amps had a lot to do with it.
The Janszen's never sounded better.

[Tom Alverson]

Some nice comments from TAS here:

http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/axpona-2014-loudspeakers-and-electronics-under-15k/

"Jim Salk and Frank Van Alstine joined forces to produce some of the best mid-priced sound at the show. The Salk Soundscape 8 floorstanders ($7995/pr) are beautiful throughout the highs thanks to a RAAL ribbon tweeter, and two 8-inch woofers and two 12-inch passive radiators help to achieve a very low 25Hz. Van Alstine electronics included the Fet Valve Hybrid DAC ($1899), Fet Valve CF tube preamp ($1899), and the Fet Valve 600R hybrid power amp ($3199), which outputs a very robust 300W. Imaging seemed to be pulled to the left a bit, but that was most likely due to the proximity of the side-by-side demo with Salk’s new Exotica 3 ($12k), which features servo-controlled 12-inch active radiators and great low-end drive. I preferred the Soundscape 8 to the new Exotica 3, at least in terms of overall sonic presentation—especially in the mids and highs. The Exotica 3 dominated in low-end damping, finesse, and convincing reproduction of the electric bass in Zero 7’s “Summersault,” but I’d personally want to own the Soundscape 8 and save the $4k for other components. Frank Van Alstine’s gear is a heck of a bargain and represents that old-school passion when high-end audio was something built in a garage. What I mean by that is he will fix minor equipment problems for free, will upgrade any older models to the latest design, and only charges for the upgrades you really want. Base models can be enhanced with little upgrades; add a front-panel push-button power switch, silver faceplate, and LED indicator lights to your power amp for $300, for example. This allows the budget-conscious audiophile to prioritize sound quality first, and upgrade features as money permits."

[mresseguie]

"Imaging seemed to be pulled to the left a bit, but that was most likely due to the proximity of the side-by-side demo with Salk’s new Exotica 3 ($12k), which features servo-controlled 12-inch active radiators and great low-end drive."

Someone is going to be embarrassed when it is pointed out that those servo-controlled drivers are actually 8", BWTHDIK?

[maty]

parttimeaudiophile.com AXPONA 2014: JansZen and exaSound Scott Hull

Moving on to the electronics, exaSound was showing a new flagship DAC, the $3,500 e22 which supports up to quad-DSD (DSD256 at 12.8MHz). I haven’t seen any files at that resolution yet, but still, it’s an impressive number to hit. The e28 multi-channel DAC has a few new-to-me options, too, including the $3,650 e28 FC, which includes a new extremely-high precision femto-clock.

Also in the rack were amplifiers from Audio Van Alstine and Emotiva.

Fet Valve 400R with exaSound e22/e28 like a preamplifier+DAC.

[jsm71]

As an owner of the JansZen zA2.1s and a friend of David I've been hoping he would move on to a better amp for his audio shows.  He made a great choice with the Fet Valve 400R and he seemed quite excited when he first got it and told me he would be taking it to the show.  I couldn't stay very long at his room other than to say hi, but I really liked what I heard.  I've have had big muscle SS amps in the past and now run all tubes, but if I ever get tired of an all tube amp, the 400R would be an easy and quick decision and save me some money to boot.

In the Stereophile report where the reviewer at first overlooked the AVA amp, the comments below the report corrected the oversight.

[avahifi]

Audio by Van Alstine and Salksound got a great thumbs up by Dagogo in their Axpona roundup.

http://dagogo.com/axpona-2014-noteworthy-rooms-doug-schroeder

Go to page two to see a good photo of Jim's new speakers.  Aw heck, you already know what our equipment looks like. 

Frank

[avahifi]

The Computer Audiophile just loved the Janszen room at Axpona where our Fet Valve 400R was driving the electrostats.

He raved about the violin sound as being breathtaking.

Unfortunately another case where Audio by Van Alstine was ignored (snubbed).  Come on you guys, loudspeakers don't play themselves.

I am really getting tired of this.

Frank

[Devil Doc]

Well, if it's any consolation, Frank, the other day I ordered a new turntable and cartridge from a well known internet retailer. The salesman said he wanted to know what components I owned prior to making a recommendation. He only made unintelligible noises of affirmation and glee when I told him my amp and pre-amp were AVA components.

Doc

[TF1216]

The Computer Audiophile just loved the Janszen room at Axpona where our Fet Valve 400R was driving the electrostats.

He raved about the violin sound as being breathtaking.

Unfortunately another case where Audio by Van Alstine was ignored (snubbed).  Come on you guys, loudspeakers don't play themselves.

I am really getting tired of this.

Frank

Frank, isn't Mr.  Computer Audiophile a MN native? Invite him over to your place. I thought he attended the Audio Society events.

[avahifi]

I have no idea of who Mr. Computer Audiophile is.  If I had his e-mail address I would drop him a note asking him why.

Frank

[TF1216]

He has Minneapolis listed under his profile on his website. He should be easy to contact through the computeraudiophile.com website.

[strat95]

The Computer Audiophile is Chris Connaker and he is in MN.

[ltr317]

Audio by Van Alstine and Salksound got a great thumbs up by Dagogo in their Axpona roundup.

http://dagogo.com/axpona-2014-noteworthy-rooms-doug-schroeder

Go to page two to see a good photo of Jim's new speakers.  Aw heck, you already know what our equipment looks like. 

Frank

Hi Frank,

Although I didn't write an Axpona show report, I am a colleague of Doug's at Dagogo.  I agree with his assessment of the Salk/AVA room, and I thought the JanSzen/AVA room sounded splendid as well.  Keep up the good work and see you guys at the Newport show. 

Cheers,
Paul Mah