What’s a British-created and Hong Kong-based cable and electronics company doing running VR-55 Special Edition loudspeakers with Foundation/ARC bass controllers ($85,000/pr) from Von Schweikert Audio? Making fabulous music! I first heard WestminsterLab playing on Von Schweikert at CAF 2023, and it was pretty glorious despite the smallish room. Axpona 2024 continued the tradition. Newport Beach, CA dealer Hear This shared the room with Von Schweikert and LampizatOr.
Words and Photos by Graig Neville
LampizatOr had the Poseidon Balance DAC/preamplifier ($25,800) for digital duties in collaboration with the Sonare Signature Rendu SE Deluxe Musical Streamer ($5,350), and a Small Green Computer sonicTransporter i9 (Gen4) Roon Server ($3,999). Von Schweikert also provided MasterBuilt Audio speaker, power, interconnect, and USB cables ($23,000, $17,000, $18,000, and $12,000 respectively). A Vividus zwo grounding box ($13,000), Folgenha0s Bespoke 3-tier Double-wide Rock Maple rack ($19,500), and Falken0hr Amp stands ($14,000) provided a solid foundation electrically and mechanically. A pair of Von Schweikert V-12XS MkII Shockwave ARC Systems ($33,000) were strategically placed to cancel out room modes.
But the new kid from Hong Kong garnered the most interest from this reviewer. Two WestminsterLab Quest (full carbon edition) dual mono balanced preamplifiers ($26,900 each) were driving four WestminsterLab REI Class A monoblock amplifiers ($16,950 each) in vertical bi-amp mode. Founded by Mr. Angus Leung while he was studying architecture in, you guessed it Westminster UK, he and his buddies started making cables in 2007. What started out as a hobby morphed into something much more after he finished college and moved back to Hong Kong in 2012. Working as a hi-fi repair technician during his summers he learned about great gear and what started as a hobby migrated into a serious hi-fi offering.
The REI operates in what WestminsterLab calls “sliding Class A” and draws inspiration from 1990’s Krell circuits. Krell called this iBias in 2014 and WestminsterLab adopted the same name. The REI puts out 100W into 8Ω or 400W bridged. A true doubling amplifier with 1% matched transistors the REI puts out 200W into 4Ω and 400W into 2Ω.
The WestminsterLab Quest preamplifier is claimed to be a minimalist design, but also has ten, yes 10! power supply rails. The front face is bare, not even a volume knob graces its surface. The internals are shielded with carbon fiber and other non-magnetic materials. Even the screws are non-magnetic steel. The Quest has been internally well-grounded to avoid spurious magnetic fields or electrical signals that could interfere with the delicate source signals. A number of plug-ins are available including a DS Audio converter, MM/MC phono stage, and a RCA input. Since the design is true dual mono balanced only XLR connections are included in the stock unit.
As expected from Von Schweikert, bass response in the room with WestminsterLab was excellent and prolific. I stopped by early during the show and when I heard the sound I knew on Sunday the sound would be truly epic. I chatted for a moment with Damon Von Schweikert, the current president and son of the founder, who is a terrific guy and very approachable to congratulate him on such a fine sounding room. It was well deserved.
If you would like to hear even more coverage from AXPONA 2024, 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.
