Best Sound at the Show awarded to TCHERNOVAUDIO DISTRIBUTION for the following set-up: LAMM INDUSTRIES M1.1/ML2 power amps, LAMM INDUSTRIES L1 line stage preamp; JM LAB Mezzo Utopia speakers; YBA CD-2a CD player; Tara Labs The One interconnect and speaker cables.

Award recipients (from left to right):
Yves-Bernard André (YBA),
Peter Tchernov (Tchernovaudio distribution),
Jacques Mahul (JM Lab),
Irina Tchernov (Tchernovaudio distribution),
Vladimir Shushurin (LAMM INDUSTRIES)

Show report (excerpts)

“…The interest in faithful reproduction of music and film appeared quite awhile ago, and lived side by side with the storage medium itself. Be it a grammophone record or later a vinyl LP one or another Russian was always nearby trying to improve what they were hearing. That’s the spirit. Even in iron curtain times there always were people who did lay hands on those nice Marantz tube amps or giant Infinity speakers. Wiser people used this sort of equipment for creative adaptations to an awkward local industry left stagnant due to lack of competition and proper waging.

One of the people mentioned was Vladimir Shushurin, a well-known amplifier designer from one of the huge R & D facilities Russian electronic industry used to have. [Eleven] years ago he left Russia seeking political asylum in the West and finding it in New York, NY. He never had a chance to return, even for a brief visit. Now he’s back on Russian soil – to visit the show and to demonstrate his new single-ended amps, made in USA.

LAMM Audio ML2s weren’t the only premiere demonstrations at the Moscow show. Many other products had their first public appearance in Europe. At least one product was having a world’s debut – the Micromega Minium DVD player, expected to be priced under $1000. Nor was Vladimir Shushurin the only foreign visitor in frostbitten Moscow… 

Best Sound At Show

Show attendees were given a questionnaire to fill in and on Sunday morning the counting of votes took place. There were three awards to be given. The best sound of the show was won by a huge margin. It (the best sound) was made by a YBA CD2 CD player, LAMM L1 preamp, LAMM ML2 power amps and JM lab Mezzo Utopia speakers, connected by Tara labs cabling. I would completely agree with the visitors’ choice: overall the LAMM/JM-lab sound was by far the most coherent and musically satisfying…” 

Sergei Taranov (posted at StereoTimes)