CES 2008

"What have you heard that’s good at THE Show?" I asked the fabulous Kara E. Chaffee of deHavilland Electronics. "I'm heading to Joe Cohen's The Lotus Group,” she replied. "I've been told I've got to hear the new Feastrex speakers."

So do you. To say I was blown away is an understatement. Never ever did I expect that the single driver that comprises the Feastrex D9e 9" Field Coil Speaker ($35,000/pair), which was housed in an unfinished prototype cabinet and internally wired with PranaWire Nataraja speaker cable, could possibly transmit the entire range of Gustav Mahler's Symphony 2 with volume to spare. But in the third movement, not only did I hear every single instrument, from top to bottom, displayed in one of the widest, elevated, and most transparent soundstages I have ever encountered, but nuances were remarkably clear. Especially moving were alto Birgit Remmert's soft tones on the "Urlicht."

These guys have a claimed sensitivity of 106dB with a 16 ohms impedance. Designed Haruhiko "Hal" Teramoto of Japan and built with cost-no-object parts, they feature extremely heavy alnico magnets and a special formulation paper cone made by a 9th-generation paper maker. Quality leather rather than rubber is used on the surrounds. These drivers are made to last for decades. And frankly, they sound so good that I expect you'd want to keep them for decades. The cabinets are so new that measurements are not yet available. I am told that the smaller Feastrex D5nf 5" NaturFlux Driver/PB9 Passive Radiator in prototype cabinets ($15,800/pair) is equally mesmerizing in a different way.

Equal credit for the sound was due Al Stiefel's Red Rock Audio 50W Triode monoblock amplifiers ($39,750/pair) and prototype preamplifier, both of which have finally found their equal in Feastrex. It's taken three shows to find the right speakers to pair them with, but boy was the wait worth it. PranaWire Reference interconnects and speaker cables plus PlanaWire power cables were clearly the icing on the cake. Don't be surprised if you discover these amazing drivers employed by a host of speaker manufacturers in years to come.