French for 'High-Fidelity in Every Room'
Cabasse ran an impressive demo at our store
Sometimes we all need to stop thinking and sit down and listen.
"High-End Sound Everywhere in the House"
The Free 10x Upgrade
Apart from being a lot of fun to say aloud, the Cabasse Abyss is a 120 W (into 8 ohms) class-D stereo streaming amp with all of Cabasse's advanced custom DSP features. Just add speakers. (Note, it is not available just yet, but we will let you know as soon as it comes in.)
Alexandre played us the Minorca with the Abyss set to the flat DSP profile, and it was good, but when he switched to the custom Minorca profile, it was like an instant 10x cost multiplier. The sound seemed to leap off the speakers and fill the room but stayed clear, dynamic, and highly engaging. This was not a "disembodied head" artificial soundstage but one that felt real and accurately scaled.
Cabasse The Pearl Akoya: "A Great Solution for Music Lovers"
You know when an audio journalist ends a glowing review with the endorsement "Reader, I bought it"?
It may be a cliche, but definitely pay attention when somebody in the industry says that they actually parted with money to own a product for themselves. After all, we have access—often long-term—to high-end components, cables, and speakers. And if you work at Upscale, you can borrow nearly anything from the store (well, not the biggest speakers). Even remote staff are regularly sent products to try.
This is how Bill Rudolph, an Upscale sales associate in Oregon, has had the Cabasse The Pearl Akoya at his home, and yes, he is buying one for himself.
"It is a great solution for music lovers," he says of the Akoya. It's easy to set up, there are few wires, the app is stable and user-friendly, and it has a "huge soundstage, really fills the room."
To his surprise, Bill found that this speaker's portable aspect is "very intriguing." It comes with a high-quality padded carrying case, making it easy to take high-fidelity sound to the cabin, the family barbecue, or simply out onto the patio.
Bill found uses for the Akoya even without internet access. He played CDs, connected a phone via AirPlay, and even "hooked up a DVD player and watched a movie with just one speaker. Way better than the average TV speaker."
Cabasse has completely won over yet another Upscale employee. "I will be buying a single unit for long trips and background music at home," says Bill.
Does the spherical design not work for you? Consider the "Akoya in a bookshelf," the Cabasse Rialto. The more traditional enclosure brings a touch more bloom to the bass, which our resident Cabasse experts really like. In addition to regular app control, there is a touchscreen on the top of one speaker to access common controls.
Alexandre describes Cabasse's house sonics as a "lively, precise sound" that is "natural and straightforward." While Cabasse sometimes cautions that its presentation is quite dynamic, we never find it exaggerated or rushed sounding, as there is also always weight and harmonic richness.
Throughout the demo, Cabasse speakers grabbed the room's attention but also conveyed or retained the delicacy in recordings, whether the room decay of instruments or the texture, weight, and dynamics of even background instruments and voices.
The little Rialto (pictured in the first image next to Alexandre) stole the demo. All of us thought we had a clear idea of what this diminutive active speaker would sound like, and all of us were pleasantly surprised at just how much it filled the room with truly great sound. Respect!
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 Cabasse The Pearl Akoya Powered Wireless System | Cabasse Rialto Powered Wireless System |
We're Open on Saturdays
The Upscale Audio store at 2058 Wright Avenue in La Verne is open on Saturdays from 9 to 5. We will be running with a smaller crew, and there are a couple of important things to note:
1) As with all other days, you'll need to call ahead and set up an appointment for a specific demo. If you decide to drop by, you won't be turned away, but your auditions will be limited to our headphone station and—only if the rooms are free—whatever systems we already have set up.
2)Â The warehouse will be closed, so if you need to pick up something, please call ahead, and we'll ensure we bring it over by Friday. If you buy something while you're here, it might be cheaper to ship it! After all, shipping is free above $49, and you'll save a little on La Verne city tax. Unless you live in La Verne...
Please call 909.931.9686 to make a demo appointment.