CES 2010

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Πλήρης κάλυψη, των συσκευών που μας αφορούν τουλάχιστον, από το Stereophile: CES 2010 blog

 

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Lindemann USB to SPDIF.
Καλή φάση αλλά ο ανταγωνισμός (ειδικά από Ιταλία μεριά...) είναι δυνατός και με τέτοια τιμή δεν έχουν ελπίδα αν δεν έχουν κάποιο δυνατό selling point (πέραν της υψηλής τιμής).

Speaking of handy little devices under $500, the new Lindemann USB-DDC 24/96 converts USB to SPDIF for the simple reason that some folks who want to use their computer as a source already have a classic DAC that they love, but it lacks a USB input. It's available now for $495.

 

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Ed Meitner's EMM Labs also has a new SACD/CD player/reference DAC called the XDS1. Available now for $25,000, the company's Shahin Al Rashid says that if you want the lastest and greatest from Ed, this is the piece to buy. In addition to the XLR and RCA stereo outputs on the back, there are both AES/EBU and Toslink input jacks to accomodate external sources.

 

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dCS Debussy DAC

The highly acclaimed dCS Ring DAC featured in the pricier Scarlatti, Paganini and Puccini products, is now available in the new Debussy DAC, expected to come in around $10,000.

Inputs on the back include AES3, AES, SPDIF and USB, and a connection for locking the Debussy to an external word clock signal generated by a dCS Master Clock.

 

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Ayre DX-5 Universal Player
Παίζει και Blu-Ray αφού στην ουσία έχουμε ένα μονταρισμένο Oppo.

Here's Ayre's Steve Silberman holding the new DX-5 universal player that can handle not only SACD, CD and DVD-Audio, but also DVD and Blu-ray discs. Think of it as an Oppo BDP-83 on super steroids.

In fact the company starts with an Oppo drive and MPEG processor and throws everything else out, adding in a new power supply and all the important digital bits. Wrapped up in a beautifully machined package and retailing somewhere around $10,000, pre-orders begin next week, and deliveries should happen sometime in the first half of February.

 

[SUDOKU]

Lindemann USB to SPDIF.
Καλή φάση αλλά ο ανταγωνισμός (ειδικά από Ιταλία μεριά...) είναι δυνατός και με τέτοια τιμή δεν έχουν ελπίδα αν δεν έχουν κάποιο δυνατό selling point (πέραν της υψηλής τιμής).

Speaking of handy little devices under $500, the new Lindemann USB-DDC 24/96 converts USB to SPDIF for the simple reason that some folks who want to use their computer as a source already have a classic DAC that they love, but it lacks a USB input. It's available now for $495.

Με 495 usd βρίσκεις καινούργιο laptop με spdif έξοδο...
Αλλοιώς παίρνεις αυτό με 60 usd:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290385358600

 

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Καλούτσικο το Teralink αλλά δεν παίζει Hi-Rez. Καλύτερα το M2Tech με λίγα παραπάνω.

 

[petkef]

http://blog.stereophile.com/ces2010/Lamm2-450.jpg

 

[petkef]

http://blog.stereophile.com/ces2010/KaranAvalon-450.jpg

 

[gstriftos]

:404:

 

[gstriftos]

Κώστα βγηκε κεντρικό για τα Quad.
Μην τα πουλάς,θα φτιάξεις home cinema:116:

 

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Τώρα ρε;! Υπάρχει χρόνια πλήρες σετ..!
Κρίμα που δεν ενδιαφέρομαι.

 

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http://blog.stereophile.com/ces2010/Lamm2-450.jpg

Amplification in the Signature system in the Lamm room featured the ML3 Signature power amplifiers ($139,290/pair). Like the LL1 preamplifier, the ML3 isalso a four-chassis system. These 32W, single-ended, pure class-A amp is based on a direct-heated GM-70 triode.

The sound in the Lamm Industries system started with a digital front end from NeoDio, a full complement of Kubala-Sosna cables, and the Wilson MAXX 3. I totally blissed out listening to Arleen Auger singing works by Aaron Copland. The total cost of this system as I heard it was more than $335,000. This doesn’t include the analog front end that wasn’t hooked up yet. I’m still wondering why this system wasn’t under my tree this Christmas.

 

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With 1TB of internal music storage, backup management program and Shoutcast internet radio capability, the Cary Audio Design Music Server appears to be a screaming deal at the estimated $2000-2500 price range. You can also add additional music storage via USB and control everything with an iPhone or Touch running their app.

 

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Kαι o αγαπημένος μου...

Α revolutionary new integrated, the M2 ($5999). NAD's Stephen DeFuria (right) told me that the M2 is what NAD calls a "Direct Digital" amplifier—there is no analog circuitry!

First, the M2 offers a wide variety of digital inputs: one S/PDIF, one AES/EBU, two coaxial, and two optical. The amp also offers two pairs of analog inputs (both balanced and single ended), which are converted to a high-resolution digital signal so the rest of the amp's many digital features can be utilized. Second, the output stage is a class-D design using technology developed by English company Diodes-Zetex, which features what NAD calls Direct Digital Feedback. This method of amplifier feedback determines any pulse error and passes this information back to the digital domain section of the amplifier where compensations can be made.

This was one of the products at the show that I felt warranted a full write-up and evaluation in Stereophile—when I told the well-known class-D skeptic John Atkinson about the M2, he explained that not only did he agree but that his enthusiastic review will appear in the March issue of the magazine.

 

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Magnepan 1.7 !!

Alongside the Magico Q5, the Maggie MG 1.7--the successor to the speaker I have long considered to be the best buy in high-end audio, the Maggie MG 1.6--was the product I most looked forward to hearing at this year's CES. Unlike some folks, Maggie doesn't come out with a new improved model every year. In fact, it doesn't come out with new improved models every decade. Thus, the 1.7--Maggie's first "all-ribbon" (well, actually, all-quasi-ribbon) floorstander with quasi-ribbon bass, quasi-ribbon mid/tweet, quasi-ribbon super-tweeter, improved crossover (with higher-quality parts), and all-aluminum frame--was big news, especially considering that it costs a mere $100 more than the speaker it was replacing.

I am delighted but not a bit surprised to report that it is an unqualified success, both as a two-channel speaker and as a surround-sound speaker. (Maggie demo'd it as both with equal success.) Everything about the 1.7 is an improvement over the 1.6--and the 1.6 was anything but chopped liver. Here we have a $1995 speaker whose staging, focus, and low-level resolution are not just much better than that of its excellent predecessor but downright superb by any standard short of a CLX or an M5, with detailing in bass choirs that was so good it reminded me of the Maggie 1-Us (which had the most lifelike detail in the mid-to-upper bass I've ever heard). The 1.7s, at least driven by Bryston 28Bs, also have astonishing power in the low end, which seems to extend down to somewhere around 35-40Hz. When's the last time you heard a sub-$2k speaker reproduce not just the pitch and timbre but the genuine growl of an electric bass? And the genuine size of an electric bass? This one does!

Like the Magico Q5s, the 1.7s was a shade dark in balance (maybe this was the largish room it was in or the Brystons), but that didn't keep its top end from shining. This new Maggie has absolutely lovely treble (fully integrated with its mids and bass, BTW) and its high end did seem, as Maggie claimed, to have better dispersion than that of the 1.6s. I thought I detected a little added bite in the upper octaves in the room we listened in, but I'm not sure because I wasn't familiar with some of the music being played. Moreover, the bit of bite wasn't present on most cuts, so it might have been the digs (which were undamped) or the amps. I can tell you this with certainty: The 1.7 was wonderfully realistic on "Rainy Night in Georgia," reproducing Captain Luke's rumbly-grumbly voice with just the right about of bass and just the right about of baritone and genuinely lifelike presence.

In my opinion the 1.7 was clearly the most important introduction at this year's show, simply because it offers truly lifelike sound at a price that most of us can afford. No, it doesn't go as low as the bigger boys. No, it is not a Q5. But, brother, does it play well where it plays. So well, in fact, that It will be a strong contender for my Best of Show Award.

avguide.com

 

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Τα μεγάλα Vandersteen... Αdelias ακούει;!

Vandersteen's $45,000/pair, time- and phase-correct, four-way, floorstanding, Model Seven loudspeaker made its debut at the 2009 CES but is now in production. I sat with Richard Vandersteen in his suite at the Venetian, and listened intently to his description of how he designed the Model Seven. He started by saying, "I didn't really understand the advantages of carbon-fiber as a material that could help speaker design until I built my own airplane." From there, he described how he developed a patent-pending sandwich of high-Young’s Modulus carbon-fiber skins bonded to a balsa-wood core for the mid-bass, midrange, and tweeter diaphragms, which combines very high stiffness for proper pistonic operation, with high self-damping. Carbon-fiber construction for the enclosure also allowed him to restrict the cabinet resonance to very high frequencies, where they will have no effect on sound quality. The drive-units use Vandersteen’s patented method of avoiding rear reflections from the magnet structure. The powered 12" subwoofer fires down at the floor. All this was evident when he played a vinyl recording of Holst's The Planets. The Model Seven, driven by Aesthetix amplification, played with unusual clarity and definition, and I could easily follow different motifs in this orchestral selection that I had not been aware of at home. From what I heard at the Show, I anticipate the Model Seven doing very well in the review scheduled to run in the March, 2010 issue of Stereophile.

 

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Tidal + Ypsilon

Visiting one of Aaudio Imports' rooms gave me another opportunity to hear Tidal loudspeakers from Germany. I initially encountered an extremely imposing pair of these speakers on the first day of the show, paired with BAlabo electronics and Echole cabling. Now before me was a smaller pair of the Tidal speakers, either the Contriva Diacera SE ($73,500/pair) or Piano Cera ($28,400/pair). (The equipment sheet listed both models).

The rest of the system consisted of Bergmann of Denmark's Sindre Airbearing Turntable ($21,000); Ypsilon of Greece CDT100 CD transport/CD player ($26,000), DAC100 tube DAC ($29,000), VPS100 tube phono stage ($26,000), MC10 step-up transformer ($2800), PST100 MKII tube preamp ($37,000), and Aelius push-pull hybrid mono amps ($34,000/pair). Cabling was by Stage III, custom hand-built in LA with carbon-fiber castings. (The speaker cables are the most expensive, at $19,800 for a 3m pair).

Having finally gotten through all that, I can actually talk about the sound. Playing an LP of Johnny Hartmann, clearly the favorite male vocalist for demos at CES 2010, singing "Easy Living," the system sounded rich and delicious. The midrange was simply wonderful. I wondered, however, why the piano was so tinkly, lacking the same warmth I had heard on the piano accompanying Hartmann on the VTL/TAD system. Was it the recording? I was determined to find out. Thanks to Bob Kehn of Oakland's Audio Image, who I was sitting beside me, I was able to borrow the Reference Recordings disc of Nojima Plays Liszt. Listening to this disc, which I know well, there was a brightness in the high treble that suggests that Tidal speakers need more room to breathe than the small rooms in the Venetian allow. Beyond that, the rest of the range was glorious.

 

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Kι άλλος Class-D από την Audio Research...

My last stop of the day, and of the show, was the Audio Research room. Dave Gordon showed me their new DS-650 (I'm not sure that the designator was DS) stereo amp and laughed that it was their "Magnepan amp." Yup, I agree. As I discovered when I paired a pair of MG-3.6s with Classé CAM-350s, while any competent 20Wpc amp will drive a pair of MG-3.6s adequately...any top-notch 300–400W amp will actually drive them well. Then Dave casually noted that the 650 was a class-D amp and told me to put my hand on its top. Sure enough, it was cool as a cucumber in spite of having been on and making music for several days. "The entire amp is ours, from the bottom up," Dave noted, "there's nothing standard or off the shelf in there."

The only way they were able to get the sound they wanted, or rather, needed for an Audio Research product, they had to start from scratch. The usual disclaimers about show conditions apply, but if the 650 sounds as good at home as it did in Las Vegas, this is an amp to be reckoned with. I believe that Dave said the new amp would go for $7995.

The system also had an up-to-date version of the classic Well Tempered turntable and arm, the epitome of clever engineering. This version had the arm attached to what appeared to be an actual golf ball, which was partially submerged in damping fluid, instead of the expected paddle assembly. I wonder if Surlyn covers sound different than balata, and what effect different dimple patterns might make. I've seen Well Tempered systems described as crude, or "Rube Goldberg" designs. I prefer the term "brilliant" although, I'll confess, the golf ball is a bit much.

The WT fed ARC's two newest front end components, the Reference 2 phono stage and Reference 5 line stage. On the digital side of the rack, the system had ARC's workhorse CDS disc player-transport, which sounded quite good in its own right. I contemplated the system for a few minutes and being an analog guy, the inescapable conclusion was that I need both the Ref Phono 2 and Ref Line 5. Plus, after three days of the show, $12k for each sounded pretty reasonable. I'm sure that Trish wouldn't mind...or is it possible that I've been in Vegas a little too long?

 

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TAD. Respect κλπ..

Ι felt as though I had entered sacred space. As I walked into the huge TAD suite, designer Andrew Jones was playing Aaron Neville's recording of "Amazing Grace." Everything about the sound, the speaker layout, and the rapt silence of the full house felt like a holy shrine.

Jones went on to play a voice with which I'm very familiar, Marta Gomez, singing "Maria." I think. Whatever the track was, I didn't want to move. It was that beautiful. The clarity, timbral accuracy, and total control of the bongos were the best percussion I'd heard at the show.

Rather than playing his big babies, Andrew had hooked up the TAD Compact Reference ($37,000/pair), now in production and in final form. This baby uses the same 6" beryllium midrange unit and 1" beryllium tweeter as its big brother, the Reference 1 ($70,000/pair), and offers 85dB sensitivity, a low-end response that is specified at –6dB at 34Hz, and a treble that extends up to 100kHz.

The amplifiers were the new TAD 600W monoblocks ($53,000/pair) that Erick Lichte described in an earlier posting. In the absence of TAD's forthcoming new preamplifier, Andrew used VTL's marvelous TL-7.5 ($18,500). Equipment racks were from Harmonic Resolution.

The Neville and Gomez tracks were played back through a Zelman TNN300 fan-less computer chassis, outfitted with power supply, multiple solid-state drives, Lynx AES16 PCI card, and RAID 5 hard drives (I hope I've got that right) put together by Chris Connaker of computeraudiophile.com for Tim Marutani ($6000 with lots of storage room). Paul Stubblebine provided some files, including hi-rez remasterings of Boz Scaggs and Patricia Barber, while other high-resolution files came from Reference Recordings and Chesky.

When Andrew invited the assembled congregants to offer up music of their own, I chose the recently released recording of Beethoven's Violin Concerto, performed by Renaud Capuçon. I had already played this recording in many rooms over two days, noting which systems overemphasized the timpani thwacks, which grew bright and edgy on the violin, and which rendered Capuçon's instrument sweeter than it actually was. Swear to God and hope to die, the TAD/VTL system was the first to get it right.

The TAD loudspeaker/electronics combo is a major achievement. Bravo.