We had the pleasure  of a suprise visit from Dennis Davis of The Audio Beat, himself a lover to vinyl and owner an eviable record collection. Dennis dropped by to attend our listening party and  check out the shop, he covers it here:  

In the Neighborhood: Tone of Music Audio

by Dennis Davis | April 7, 2017



We recently had  a listening party to welcome some new goodies to the shop. Bea and Luke Manley were on hand to spend time with us and play some great music. JVS  of Stereophile dropped by to enjoy our preview of the Berkley Audio Ref 2 dac/Magico M3 / VTL system. I like to say a great big Thank You  to all the folks who helped to make it a sucessful day!

Musical Magic at San Francisco’s Tone of Music Audio

Posted March 23 , 2017 



We recently held an event to celebrate the opening  of our new studio.  Our cleints and friend were joined by featured guests Alon Wolf and John Baker of Magico, Dan D' Agistino , Luke Manley and Bea Lam of VTL , Hank Schram of Parasound whom graciously took time out to vist and shared wonderful stories with us. I want to personally thank all in attendance for making it a great party. JVS of Stereophile covered the event here:

Tone of Music a New Store in San Fancisco

Jason Victor Serinus • Posted: Dec 23, 2013

CES 2013

The JL5 was fronted by a Simon Yorke Designs S9 turntable/'arm combination ($10,000) with a van den Hul Frog Gold cartridge ($3650) and Audio Aero Capitole CD player, CAT’s own SL-1 Renaissance full-function preamplifier ($10,000), and Wilson Audio Sasha W/Ps ($27,900/pair) performed the speaker honors. The JL5 will sell for between $10,000 and $12,000 when it hits the dealers in a couple of months. The sound in this room was elegant, spacious, and extremely engaging.

Las Vegas 2013: A Moveable Feast
by Paul Bolin | February 8, 2013

While some folks complain that the KT120 is a bit grainier sounding when substituted for the KT88, Convergent Audio Technologies Ken Stevens shorts circuits the entire argument by operating the KT120 as a triode while taking advantage of its generous plate dissipation spec. A prototype JL5 ($12,000), built on a JL2 chassis was making music.
CES 2013 Show Report: Tube Gear
Show report
by
Dick Olsher
| Jan 15th, 2013

In the case of Convergent Audio Technology, the new JL5 stereo amplifier was playing, although it was housed in a much larger JL2 chassis. The JL5 uses four KT120s (a great tube) per channel, putting out a very conservative 100 watts per side. The price of a deluxe JL5 is penciled in around twelve grand, a basement bargain for a CAT amplifier. Ken Stevens' designs always sound good, but this year's lash-up, with Wilson Sasha W/P loudspeakers, sounded especially warm and luxurious. Assuming it will sound as regal in production, the CAT JL5 wins a Jimmy Award for Second Favorite Prototype.

Peak Emotions: The 2013 Jimmy Awards
by Jim Saxon | January 30, 2013

I heard the Inamorata with the Voce speaker as well (for about 30 minutes)listening to The Wailin’ Jenny’s…well, wailing… and they sounded amazing, the only room i like more at C.E.S and T.H.E Show was the Convergent Audio Technology room with their stereo amp driving the Sasha watt puppies, the sound was immaculate and glorious!. This is coming from someone who’s never been crazy about Wilson speakers, i heard them with components of upward of a 100K before and after i heard them in this room and while they sound good, they just never do anything for me emotionally…except in this room, they reached out, grabbed my heart and beat it like an African drum! So much so that I contemplated grabbing the component and making a break for it! Did you get to hear this room?

Dagogo
reader

James Olomo
January 15, 2013 at 5:09 pm PST


California Audio Show 2012



Dagogo California Audio show 2012

By: Ray Seda | September 2012 Dagogo magazine

First up is the Tone of Music Audio room. This room was graciously hosted by owner of Tone of Music Audio, Tim Nguyen. Aside from being right near my sleeping room, I was drawn in almost immediately when I read that there was a New Simon Yorke S9 turntable playing ($10,000). The cartridge was a Lyra Kleos.

The rest of the system included CAT (Convergent Audio Technologies) Renaissance Preamp ($9,995), Air Tight ATM2 Power amplifier ($15k), Zesto Audio Andros PS1 phono ($3,995), Esoteric K03 Player ($12k), Stealth Cables ($10k), and Oyaide MB6 Powerstrip ($1,100).

Speakers were the absolutely gorgeous Franco Serblin Accordo ($13k). I mentioned to Tim that these speaker looked very Italian and indeed sounded reminiscent of Sonus Faber speakers I have heard in the past. As it turns out, Franco Serblin is formerly from Sonus Faber. Overall the sound was wonderfully rich, excellently imaged, expressive, and perhaps just a tad tilted upward in the highs (a migrated Sonus Faber trait?). This room was a treat and I made sure I came in for a second and third visit during the course of the weekend.

CES 2011

We are happy to announce our room at the 2011 CES received John Atkinson's (Editor-in- Chief of Stereophile magazine) Joint Best Sound at the Show. We demonstrated the  Simon Yorke S 10 Record player and yours truly did the room set up, our partners : Convergent Audio Technology, who was showing Ken Steven's phenomenal new Statement Mono Blocks amplifier) awsome Stealth cables transmitted the vibes, and ESP's excellent power chords and line conditioner provided the juice, all played through the Vandersteens 5A s to superb effect in the Venetian Tower. Most in attendance were shocked by the by what a top quality source,  amplification, and cabling  could do with the very familiar 5As... Also confirmed by the enthusiastic response of many attendees and members of the press. We would like thank you all for taking the time to visit out room. We also want to thank our partners for their generosity of spirit, hard work and goodwill.

We exhibited at the Rocky Mountain Audiofest 2010 this year, as you may already know the Audiofest is highly regarded event for the warmth, kindness of the the good people of the Colorado and for where some of the best gear available on the planet is put on display for all to hear. These are some thought attendees had to share with us. I'd personally like to thank all attendees from audio enthusiasts to members of the press for taking the time to enjoy our sound. 

"Some of my happiest sonic experiences at RMAF arrived in the last two rooms I visited: the Tidal Audio/Argento Audio Cables/dCS showcase... and the Simon Yorke/CAT/Synergistic/Lansche exhibit assembled by Tim Nguyen of Tone of Music (San Francisco, CA)...

 "I was smitten by the sound of San Francisco-based dealer and distributor Tim Nguyen's Tone of Music equipment line-up at the California Audio Show. Tim's RMAF exhibit, which featured the Simon Yorke turntables he distributes, included the Simon Yorke S10 Record Player ($19,950), Convergent Audio Technology preamplifier ($9950) and Jl2 signature amp ($19,950), and Synergistic Research cabling. The big difference was the presence of the Lansche No.3 loudspeaker. Once again, this system exhibited gorgeous tonality. Enhanced by the CATs' euphonic shine and air, I absolutely loved the sound of a Reference Recordings LP of Copland's Appalachian Spring. On one of Copland's Emily Dickinson songs, Marni Nixon's voice was especially beautiful. Only the sounds of a show closing kept me from staying longer."                                                                                                                

Posted Fri Oct 22, 2010, 3:10 PM ET
By Jason Victor Serinus

                             Stereophile  Oct 2010  

" What follows, today and tomorrow, are my Top Five of each of two days...Simon Yorke S-10 record player ($19,980 with tonearm). It is fitting that Simon Yorke, a Brit, relocated to Alicante in Spain, the home ground of the poet Federico Garcia Lorca, as his player has more than a touch of real poetry in it -- a tonally rich yet superbly clean sound -- the result of both manufacturing precision and loving artisanal craftsmanship. I heard it playing the Singapore siren Jacintha covering jazz standards in her breathy, sexy, Julie Londonish style. Distributor Tim Nguyen of Tone of Audio in San Francisco put the Yorke S-10 together with CAT electronics, Lansche No.3 two-way speakers, Hovland Music Groove 2 phono cable, and an Allaerts MC 1B cartridge.

 .... It sounded wonderful on my LP of the Prokofiev First Violin Sonata. Though not as quick and articulate in the bass as it is in the treble (how could it be?), it was better integrated than any previous Lansche I’ve heard. A very good sound."

the Absolute Sound

"We've never met Simon Yorke but we like him. We're told he isn't in it for the money but makes turntables

at his leisure simply from the love of music and his joy in making fine works of art that happen to play LPs.

We don't publish Stereomojo at our leisure, but we do so out of love of music and the things that play it back in our homes.

We're not in it for the money either. But then we don't live on an estate in Spain like Simon does.

The $10,000 S9 is a descendant of the S7 which was part-developed for the United States Government, Library of Congress Audio Preservation Facility. It has been around for decades, but here it was at the show. It consists of a turntable chassis, bearing and platter, armboard, unipivot tonearm and free-standing motor control unit – complete with remote low-voltage power supply and offering 33,3 and 45,0 r.p.m.

It is simple and elegant. The platter is a finely balanced flywheel, precision machined in solid aluminium, and capped with a solid graphite record mat. The turntable bearing uses a hardened stainless steel shaft revolving in precision bored bushes above a hardened thrust pad. Cartridge output is conveyed via two twisted pairs of Teflon-insulated silver-plated copper wire terminated via miniature gold connectors to insulated RCA phono sockets allowing connections to be made in unbalanced or quasi-balanced modes."

James & Linda Darby - Publisher/Executive Publisher

Stereo Mojo October 2010

Clement Perry

Stereotimes November 2010

Simon Yorke TT S9 Flamenco turntable, CAT signature preamp and amp, Ayre QB9 dac, and Lansche #3 speakers. 

"The sound was organic and smooth, but with nice detail, making it a nice musical experience. "                                                                                        Member of Audio Circle Rmaf 2010 Show Report

We exhibited  at the California Audio Show to  enthusiastic response from attendees whom visited our room. I would like to thank all attendees for taking the time to visit and enjoying our system.

 
"The Simon Yorke S10 Record Player ($19,950), now imported into the US by Tim Nguyen's Tone of Music Audio in San Francisco, is the replacement for the former Simon Yorke S7. That's the table Michael Fremer used as his reference for 10 years until the far, far more expensive Continuum Labs Caliburn entered his life in 2006. The new S10 is completely hand-machined on a lathe by Simon and his son Spencer from solid raw blocks of aluminum and non-magnetic iron.

Beautifully matched with the Convergent Audio preamp ($9950) and Jl2 signature amp ($19,950), and heard through Quad ESL-2805 loudspeakers ($9950) and Synergistic Research cabling, the sound was wonderfully clear and warm, with a most pleasing euphonic tint. On a very left-speaker/right-speaker Blue Note LP of Hank Mobley, the sax was to die for."

By Jason Victor Serinus/Stereophile Aug 1, 2010

report link here

                                                                           Simon Yorke S9 and S10 ready to spin some vinyl                                                                       

"The Tone of Music room sounded great with Quad loudspeakers and Convergent Audio Tech amplifier".(and Simon Yorke S10)

 -Dave and Carol Clark/Positive Feedback Online-Aug 2010

link here

  "Who would ever have thought to mate Quad electrostatics with electronics designed by Convergent Audio Technology and a Simon Yorke turntable? As strange as it may sound the combination was characterized by extremely fast transients, a nice tonal balance and spectacular detail. The exhibitor did a nice job of explaining the differences between the sonics of the two different Simon Yorke tables that he was showing; however, it would have been nice for the sake of comparison to have the same cartridge on both tables." (Can you ever satisfy a reviewer?-Ed)

Fred Crowder Dagogo Aug 2010

 report link here



By Jason Victor Serinus • Posted: Mar 20, 2017