LATEST ADDITIONS

My experience with the new AudioQuest Nighthawk headphones ($599) was one of highest points of my CES adventure.

See that picture of a well-suited handsome man? That's Keith Martin of Washington-State firm, Vana Ltd. Vana distributes cool stuff like Vienna Acoustic loudspeakers, IsoTek AC line voltage products, Dr. Feikert Analogue (maker of one of the finest alignment protractors), and Acoustical Systems (makers of the Axiom tonearm, Archon cartridge, the Arché headshell, and the $799, SMARTractor cartridge alignment tool). What Keith is holding is the new Blue Horizons ProFono MM/MC phono stage ($1249).

It was the sonic flavor of new moving-iron Tracer 10 cartridge ($995) that really captured my attention in Pear Audio's room.

I am a sucker for the new breed of desktop "wireless" loudspeakers—when they look and sound as natural and dynamic as the new Audioengine B2 Premium Bluetooth loudspeaker, I can dance around, sing, dream on Bartok, or play air guitar while streaming Tidal or WFMU. You are invited!

The newly styled Roksan K3 integrated amp ($2500 with aptX streaming), the K3 CD player ($2500, which I am dying to review), and the soon-to-be-released K3 DAC ($2500) are so art-deco cool and artfully streamlined in their appearance that I was both gob-smacked and envious of the person who drew the lines that created these elegant faceplates.

I liked the sound of the music in this room. Driven by a Calyx M series music player and a Virtue Audio, "Virtue One" class-T integrated amp ($499), the Well Rounded Sound EXP loudspeakers ($1599/pair) and the WRS SUBST sub ($799) played the joyous hell out a variety of musical selections.

Bryston's latest DAC was on hand, and yes all of those buttons on the front represent the number of input options! In addition to the normal SPDIF, optical and USB inputs are four HDMI inputs for hooking up computer-based, SACD, Blu-ray and other "modern digital sources".