My visit to the Lyravox, CH Precision and Acoustical Systems was prompted, once again, by Doug White of The Voice That Is. As a dealer, Doug has been instrumental in getting me an Acoustical Systems cartridge for review, and he’s the one who suggested I need their SMARTractor for the set-up. (That’s the one thing I still lacked in the analog set-up department–one of them there fancy alignment protractors.) On a side note, I’ve owned the Acoustical Systems Arche headshell ever since I reviewed it for the Occasional Magazine.
Words and Photos by Marc Phillips
I spent quite a bit of time in the Lyravox and AS room–it was my last room of Munich 2024, and I sat in on a killer demo of vintage jazz tracks using one of the big Acoustical Systems turntables and a one-of-a-king AS phono stage built by founder Dietrich Brakemeier. The sound, quite simply, was extraordinary, which is why stayed so long. I know Acoustical Systems, obviously, and I know CH Precision, but I didn’t know much about German speaker manufacturer Lyravox. These are gorgeous modular designs, and I was intrigued by the smallest two-way models in the room.
I had a brief discussion with the Managing Partner of Lyravox, Dr. Goetz Martin von Laffert, about the design, and my final question to him was, “Does Lyravox have an importer and distributor in the US?” Dr. von Laffert immediately beamed when he revealed that the deal for US distribution had just been finalized earlier that day. Would I like to meet the distributor to talk about a review?
I shook hands with this gentleman and we started talking and then we both sort of looked at each other. “Marc!” he said. “Brandon!” I said. Yes, this was Brandon who was once my dealer in Denver years ago when I was a distributor. I turned to Dr. von Laffert of Lyravox and said, “Yes, we can make this happen.” That was an unexpected surprise in the last room at Munich 2024, but a memorable one–and yes, it’s true that the high-end audio industry is a very close-knit community that often feels more like family.
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