Jason Victor Serinus

Is M&K the High End's Best-Kept Secret?
CES 2018
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Jan 15, 2018  |  6 comments
I really don't know the answer; I just know that loudspeaker company M&K says that's the case. I also know that the original Miller & Kreisel was founded in 1973 by music lovers who wanted to manufacture speakers good enough to do justice to recordings by Steely Dan. 35 years later, the company went bankrupt, and was relaunched shortly thereafter by new Danish investors who have a strong home theater orientation. For the past 10 years, the company's owner has been Lars Johansen, who spoke with me in their room in the Venetian Hotel.
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Audioengine A5+ Wireless Speakers
CES 2018
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Jan 14, 2018  |  0 comments
The wireless version of Audioengine's highly regarded A5+ loudspeakers ($499/pair in black or white, $569 in bamboo) uses aptX HD Bluetooth to transmit signals up to 24/48…
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Dali and PSB Side by Side
CES 2018
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Jan 14, 2018  |  0 comments
With Dali and PSB—not to mention NAD and Bluesound—all distributed by Lenbrook, at CES the white Dali Callisto System active tower loudspeakers with SoundHub (target base price $5500/pair, available by early May) sat beside black PSB Imagine T3 speakers ($7499/pair). The Callisto system with SoundHub offers wireless HD audio transfer to the speakers, has numerous inputs including Bluetooth AptX-HD—"you can connect anything" is the claim—multiple outputs, two modular expansion ports, auto sensing source select, and Bluetooth remote control.
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Heady Sound from PSB and NAD
CES 2018
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Jan 14, 2018  |  0 comments
Paul Barton of PSB was on hand to demonstrate the RoomFeel technology he uses in his headphones. "Headphone listeners listen to recorded music that was designed to be heard in a room," he said. Therefore, his RoomFeel technology adds a simulated room response to music.
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Excellence from AMG, DS Audio, Musical Surroundings, and more
CES 2018
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Jan 14, 2018  |  0 comments
Beautiful and warm sound, gorgeous midrange, absolutely quiet surfaces with silence between the notes—these were some of my impressions upon hearing Natalie Merchant's performance of "The Butcher's Boy," from the LP version of Kronos Quartet's Folk Songs, on this brightly backlit, hard to photograph system from Musical Surroundings.
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New Concept Active Turntable from Clearaudio
CES 2018
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Jan 14, 2018  |  3 comments
In the room sponsored by distributor Musical Surroundings, I spied Clearaudio's new Concept Active turntable ($2600 to $4400, depending upon choice of three plinths, three tonearms, and three cartridges). The version I saw was $3200 in black and silver with Concept tonearm and Concept MC cartridge. This all-in-one, ready-to-play system incorporates a high quality internal phono stage and headphone amp.
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New from Esoteric
CES 2018
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Jan 14, 2018  |  1 comments
Esoteric's N-01 network player ($20,000), which debuted at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest in October, is now equipped to decode MQA. It was part of a system that produced very direct, fast sound and that, on LP, rendered Ray Charles' voice with exceptional clarity.
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Transparent's New XL PowerIsolator
CES 2018
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Jan 13, 2018  |  0 comments
Seen in passive display, Transparent's new XL PowerIsolator, aka XLPI ($7995 including a $2400 Transparent XL 2m power cable with 20 amp connector), sits right below Transparent's Opus PowerIsolator. With 4 outlets in isolated banks of 2 outlets each, it is claimed to deliver unrestricted, in-phase power to all audio components, including high-current amplifiers. It also provides integrated Network Source Protection compatible with Gigabit Ethernet and PoE, hydraulic-magnetic circuit protection, and avalanche diode failsafe surge protection. In the event of a volcanic eruption, run.
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A Winner from VPI, Totem, Transparent, and Simaudio
CES 2018
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Jan 13, 2018  |  6 comments
The three best lower-cost systems that I heard at CES were this one ($7105 total) and others from Chord/Spendor and Music Hall; thanks in no small part to Totem's founder, Vince Bruzzese, whose extensive traveling has brought him in touch with a treasure chest's worth of eclectic titles that he searched out on Tidal and then purchased in physical form, this one was hands down the most musically enjoyable.
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Lovely Sound from VTL
CES 2018
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Jan 13, 2018  |  0 comments
VTL has finally released its long-promised TP-2.5i phono preamplifier ($3750). A completely redesigned replacement for the venerable 2.5, which was in production for close to two decades, its upgrades include shunt regulation and technology trickled down—oh, how I hate that phrase—from VTL's flagship TP-6.5 phono stage. JFET/tube hybrid circuitry is used for the MC stage, and all-tube circuitry for the MM stage. It has what VTL calls "enhanced" RIAA compensation and a front-panel-switchable filter/mono function.
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