Las Vegas? Why bother to fly across the country or around the world when you can visit New York City, Venice’s Grand Canal, and Egypt’s Great Pyramid in one easy, smoke-filled, retail therapy-rich, constantly stimulating stop? Why search out music on the net when, in Las Vegas, it constantly bombards you in elevators, from outdoor loudspeakers, and at your free lunch at T.H.E. Show?
Ah, Las Vegas. In his wrap to CES 2012, Stephen Mejias did a beautiful job of asking the simple but profound question, “Why?” Why, of all the god-forsaken places on Planet Earth, has the Consumer Electronics Association chosen this compulsion-driven, ecologically devastating, one-stop tourist and gambling destination as the site for the largest industry trade show in the US?
I have no idea where the name came from, other than the fact that it’s a sunfish whose graphic likeness occupies the circle logo that replaces the dash between Mola1 and Mola2 in the house that designer Bruno Putzeys and company co-founder Jan-Peter van Amerongen have built. Nor can I pretend that Mola-Mola’s aesthetics are any more elegant than the name. But I can tell you that the company, headquartered in the Netherlands, manufactures amplification components whose sound, driving Vivid’s G3Giya speakers ($40,000/pair) brought me oodles of delight.
I expect there’s a movie industry connection to the name of this cable company, whose new Kraken flagship power cable goes for $8400/1.5m. With internal wiring a silver-palladium alloy, the housing is a combination of carbon-fiber and epoxy resin. Even the ceramic plug is a composite, complete with pins that are a silver-copper alloy with palladium coating. They also look as good as you’d expect for cable that is 100% handmade in Pasadena.
Thirteen years after the Maryland-based company’s founding, Stealth Audio Cables stand out for their unique geometry. According to R&D Director Serguei I. Timachev, the cables go from thicker to thinner to assist impedance matching in analog transmission. Handmade, including the connectors, prices range, to use interconnects as an example, from the “amorphous wire in Helium, VanCross geometry of Sakra v12 ($12,000/1m pair) to the pure 99.99% solid-core Gold Signal of PGS rev08 ($1000/1m pair).
Clarus Cable, launched less than two years ago at RMAF 2011, is based in Orlando, FL. Produced by Gordon J. Gow Technologies, and designed by Jay Victor, it was developed after Tributaries Cable dealers asked for a higher-end cable for their customers. According to Joey Perfito, National Product Specialist, the Ohno Continuous Casting Copper (OCCC) design consists of thick and thin-gauge conductors, each individually insulated, to transmit different frequencies, plus one long, flat conductor to help support the midrange. The boxes, designed for aesthetic purposes, conceal the start of silicon tubes on the terminations. Prices range from the Aqua interconnect ($500/1m RCA) to Crimson ($1000/1m RCA).
Even though Simaudio’s Costa Koulisakis once explained in near exhaustive detail the relationship between Moon products and Simaudio, all I can remember is how good the components sound. You too may go over the moon about the three new products in my blog price range. In numerical order, the Moon Evolution Series 610 LP phono preamplifier ($7000), based on the reference Moon 810LP that Michael Fremer reviewed in December 2012, is a dual-mono, fully balanced differential design with isolated oversized power supply with a pi-type filter; adjustable impedance loading, capacitance loading, and gain settings; and selectable equalization curves. It will even wash your windows.
Fresh from Primare, the Swedish company whose name, correctly pronounced “prime air,” derives from the fact that audio moves air, were two new prototypes with unfinished faceplates: the PRE60 preamp/DAC ($10,000 target price) and A60 stereo power amplifier ($10,000 target price). Both are expected to ship by summer.
The new Octave V110 push-pull pentode integrated amplifier ($8300) from Germany, distributed by Dynaudio, is a KT120-based product whose protection circuit is described as “bullet proof.” To demonstrate what that means, speaker wire terminations on one of the channels were intentionally crossed; not only did nothing blow, but the left channel, which was properly connected to a loudspeaker, continued to play. The Octave V110 is thus the perfect amp for folks who use battery cables to jump-start their cars, and then celebrate by clapping both clamps together.
LA Audio was but one of many companies who journeyed to Las Vegas in hopes of securing U.S. distribution. New to their line is the P-845 II monoblock ($12,000), a push-pull design that outputs 60Wpc and has a frequency response of 20Hz–100kHz. This is the most expensive product from a company with a 20-year history in Taiwan.
There’s good news for audiophiles who miss the distinctive sound of Edge electronics. They’re back, albeit under another name, with designs updated and prices significantly lower.
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