Leia aqui o relato das Ultimate Sessions 7º Aniversario Porto em português
Seven Years of Ultimate Audio in Porto — A Celebration That Made Everyone Forget the Rain
The rain falling over Porto last Saturday seemed set on testing the will of those who truly want to listen to music the way it deserves to be heard.
Neither the bad weather nor the challenge of finding a parking spot discouraged those who value the experience.
At the 7th anniversary of Ultimate Audio Porto, the weather became mere background noise, the true atmosphere was human.
There, among machines and melodies, it was clear that high-end audio in Portugal is more than a niche: it is a living culture that endures, even when it asks us to give up a quiet, rainy weekend.
A Community Growing Through Sound
For 15 years now, Ultimate Audio has been one of Portugal’s great ambassadors of high-end Hi-fi sound.
Its listening sessions in Porto have become meeting points for a growing community, people united by music and by the pursuit of hearing it in its purest form.
This Ultimate Sessions Anniversary gathered many familiar faces from past events, a reunion of sorts, but also welcomed newcomers, drawn by curiosity and the promise of discovering a place where one learns to listen deeply.
To listen not just to music, but into it, through high-fidelity systems and the expertise of those who live for it.
As usual, the event unfolded in two distinct spaces. The smaller listening room featured a more contained system — yet one of the most engaging setups I’ve heard in this space since I began chronicling the world of high-end audio.
The main hall, larger and acoustically treated for stereo systems, once again demonstrated how far technical refinement can take us — from hearing music to truly experiencing it.
Let’s Start with the “Smaller” Room
The pairing of Accuphase amplification with Revival Audio speakers was no surprise to me, I live daily with the Atalante 3 and the integrated E-280 in my own system.
Here, though, the scale was entirely different: the imposing Atalante 7 Évo, powered by the Accuphase E-5000.
For context: the Atalante 3 measures 39 × 24 × 27 cm, while the 7 Évo stands at 82 × 45.6 × 48 cm — over seven times the volume.
The smaller model is a two-way monitor with a 7” woofer; the 7 Évo adds a 3” midrange and a 15” basalt-fiber woofer, keeping the same 28 mm soft-dome tweeter.
The Atalante family’s sonic DNA, spatial immersion, controlled bass, and organic tonality, remains intact, now magnified with greater air movement and scale.
Amplification and digital-to-analog conversion were handled by Accuphase: the E-5000 integrated amplifier and DP-450 CD player, delivering the brand’s signature balance of transparency, analytical neutrality, and effortless musicality.
The Aurender A-100 served as the network transport, leaving the Japanese player to handle D/A conversion. I’ve tested the DP-450 in my own home — it is an outstanding performer as both a CD player and standalone DAC. It was no coincidence that Ultimate Audio paired it with the Aurender for this session.
Cabling was provided by Ansuz and Esprit, with power distribution through an Isotek Polaris.
What We Heard in This Room
School – Supertramp
An opening worthy of Morricone. The silence sliced by harmonica and playground noise gives way to a pulse of energy. The drums gain weight, the bass is full yet lean, the piano sparkles without harshness. Nostalgia turned into pure dynamics.
My Funny Valentine (feat. Sting) – Chris Botti
The trumpet cuts through a velvet backdrop of piano. Sting’s voice hovers over the stage with charm and irony, a serenade, a dialogue, an elegant embrace between voice and horn.
Take Five – Kenichi Tsunoda Big Band
A reinvented classic. The brass attack is firm, the bass tight and textured, instrumental separation exemplary. Rhythm and restraint in perfect balance.
Mudjer d’Ilia – Princezito
Utterly organic. The voice sounds raw, the bass and percussion breathe wood and skin. The system reveals the history beneath the music, vibration born from the earth itself.
Suite No. 1, BWV 1007, in G: III. Courante – János Starker
You feel the bow’s weight on the cello strings, air vibrating within the wood’s resonance. Sound as texture, as physical presence.
Midnight Sugar – Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio
Energy and tenderness in nocturnal conversation. Crystalline piano, natural bass pulse, precise drums. Stunning treble extension!
When I Fall in Love (Live) – Keith Jarrett
Every note a confession. The system retrieves the artist’s intimacy with emotional precision. Sound flows like liquid through the room.
Shatranji – Haz’art Trio
Exceptional air and extension in the highs, physicality across the spectrum. Why have 15-inch woofers? For this. Jazz and Arabic maqam in perfect fusion, machines and music as one.
What a Wonderful World – Etta Cameron, Marilyn Mazur, Nikolaj Hess & Palle Mikkelborg
A spiritual reading. Etta’s deep voice anchors a cathedral of brass and ethereal percussion. High-fidelity becomes transcendence.
Invocation (A Prophecy) – Richard Bona
African vocal textures, percussive power, mystical scale. The skin of the drum feels alive. Bona’s voice floats above it all — shamanic and human.
Why did I barely use “audiophile” adjectives?
Because in this room, we didn’t hear machines. We listened to music.
Accuphase and Revival Audio — a truly harmonious marriage.
The “Main” Room
Then came the second act: the main auditorium — double the volume, double the power.
The room was dominated by a system that seemed capable of anything, and always with grace.
The Kroma Atelier Jovita loudspeakers — Krion cabinets, 8” woofer, dual 6.5” Purifi midrange, and AMT Mundorf tweeters, were driven by Orpheus H Three M800 Opus II monoblocks and the H Two 33BD Opus II preamplifier, delivering up to 800W per channel at 4 Ohms.
Analog front end: Clearaudio Innovation turntable with Unity 10” tonearm, Statement phono stage, and Ikeda Akiko cartridge.
Digital source: Taiko Extreme server, Nadac D DAC and Nadac C clock by Master Fidelity.
Cables by Siltech Master Crown and Royal Crown, power handled by Turnbull and Isotek V5 Sigma.
What We Heard in the Main Room
Matilda (Live) – Harry Belafonte (vinyl)
Belafonte’s presence fills the room — pure charisma, pure performance. The Ikeda brings the stage to life. You’re not listening to him — you’re with him.
The Pink Panther Theme – Henry Mancini
A timeless classic. Bass and sax strut with feline precision. The groove settles in, the brass cuts the air between instruments breathing. Cinematic space, effortless swing.
O Helga natt (Cantique de Noël) – Marianne Mellnäs, Alf Linder, Oscar’s Motet Choir & Torsten Nilsson
The organ swells like a wave of pressure, the choir rises in liturgical grandeur. The bass has both body and soul — the hall becomes a cathedral of sound.
Queen Mary – Francine Thirteen
Attack, dynamics, depth. Muscular, dry, and perfectly controlled bass. Every atom of the room energised by sound. Strength and finesse in the same gesture.
The Heroic Weather-Conditions of the Universe – Alexandre Desplat
Desplat’s own Tubular Bells moment. A must for every serious high-fidelity demonstration.
My Funny Valentine (feat. Sting) [Live] – Chris Botti
The same intimacy as before, but now, it feels as if we’re seated between the performers, among friends, in the front row.
Alternate One – Clark Terry, Dizzy Gillespie, Freddie Hubbard & Oscar Peterson
Trumpet fire and contagious swing. The speakers vanish; only the band remains, pure musical celebration.
St. James Infirmary Blues – Triad
Thick with atmosphere, imaginary whiffs of smoke and old liquor. It could be a dim bar in Marseille at the turn of the century, or Berlin in the roaring twenties. who knows? The voice wails, the accordion sighs, the bass mourns from below. The system delivers it all with brutal fidelity.
- Stimela (The Coal Train) [Live] – Hugh Masekela
The train roars through the hall. The drum crescendo is pure ancestral energy. You can feel the heat, the dust, the smell, the history itself moving through the air.
To end, it could have been Chuva (Rain) by Mariza,
but instead, ending on a high note, it was Ó Gente da Minha Terra (Oh! People of My Land), recorded live in Lisbon. The voice heavy with emotion, and portuguese soul, the orchestra breathing around her, every clap and tremor rendered in full truth. The whole room exudes emotion. When her voice is overwhelmed by feeling, the guitar hold the performance, and shines over the Orchestra Sinfonieta de Lisboa. The Kroma and Orpheus carried us straight to that moment, Lisbon, by the river, under the open sky. Mariza was moved, the audience was moved, and no one wanted to be the first to break the silence.
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