I will admit that I’m a newcomer to GamuT, with my only real experience with the brand being enthusiasm from George Counnas of Zesto Audio for their amps (Newport 2012, RMAF 2012, and Las Vegas 2013) and an enthusiastic endorsement of their loudspeakers from TONEAudio’s Jeff Dorgay.
Regarding the loudspeakers, it was something of a surprise to see Robert Greene of TAS pan their mid-level offering, the new $30k/pair RS-5. Having heard these loudspeakers in New York, and again at RMAF a couple of weeks later, I can honestly say I have no idea how Greene got to his conclusions, but I do wonder if he set them up right. Seems to be the only way I can reconcile his view and the universal acclaim that these speakers received at those two shows — something’s really off in that review. Just sayin’.
Anyway, the RS-7 is what was on display here at CES. The RS-7 ($40k/pair) is a full 3-way, unlike the smaller RS-5, adding a second woofer at the top of the cabinet. Were it up to me, the RS-7 would be the one I’d want in listening room. Well, sure, the mammoth RS-9, at a whopping $110k/pair, would be awesome, but I’d need another room (in a different house) for that monster. So, back to reality (ha!) — the RS-7 would be pretty much an ideal game-ender loudspeaker. A 4Ω (3.2Ω minimum) loudspeaker at 89.5dB and capable of 22Hz – 60kHz, the entire line sports a very clean look. A raked-back fascia, with grooved, textured and a deep sweeping curve to the side panels, all conspire to make the speakers appear much smaller than they are — they’re 150lbs+ each, for one thing, and 51″ tall and 20″ deep. Most definitely not tiny.
Shown here with the same equipment from RMAF, including the M250i mono power amps ($12,990 each), the D3i Dual Mono preamplifier ($8,290), and a GamuT CD3 player ($7,990). Cables were all GamuT also, including their new leather-clad “Wormhole Reference” speaker cables ($14,990/biwire set @ 5′), and the Wormhole Signature interconnects ($2,990) and power cords ($3,490). Pear Audio Analogue provided the complete analog source path, based on their gorgeous Kid Thomas turntable from the new Pear Blue line ($5,995) with a Cornet 2 tonearm ($2,195), an external PSU ($1,995 extra) and Reference 2-box phono pre ($4,495), an EAR MC4 SUT ($2,295) for the Ortofon Cadenza Bronze moving coil cartridge ($2,309).
This system, like the last several GamuT setups I’ve heard, was powerful, eloquent and tonally rich, with more than enough bass to irritate the neighbors several floors away. That said, what I kept thinking, kind of over and over, was: “Really, there aren’t tubes in there? You’re SURE?”
The sunset on the strip didn’t hurt the overall presentation, either. This was magic, pure and simple.
