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CES 2018

Ruark R7 High Fidelity Radiogram All-In-One System

Jon Iverson Jan 12, 2018

England-based Ruark has a complete line of powered small to medium size all-in-one music boxes as well as powered desktop speakers. But what caught my eye was the console-size R7 which managing director Alan O'Rourke called a "Radiogram." For US citizens, a radiogram is a piece of furniture from the UK that historically combined a radio and record player. In this case though, that would be a CD player and radio.

CES 2018

Definitive Technology Demand Series Bookshelf Speakers

Jon Iverson Jan 12, 2018

Three new bookshelf models were unveiled which Sound United's Mark Suskind explained are intended to replace the Studio Monitor Series. The models start with the D7 at $499/pair which feature a 4.5" woofer and 1" aluminum dome tweeter and is also ported. The D9 retails for $749/pair and has a 5.25" woofer and a 5"x9" passive radiator and 1" aluminum dome tweeter. And finally the new D11 has a 6.5" woofer and 6"x10" passive radiator and sells for $999/pair. All available since late last year.

CES 2018

Marantz ND8006 Network Audio and CD Player

Jon Iverson Jan 12, 2018

Emmanuel Millot, from Sound United (Marantz's parent company who also owns Denon, Polk, Definitive Technology, and others), was on hand to walk us through the new Marantz ND8006 CD and network audio player/streamer. Retail is $1,199 and it became available late last year.

CES 2018

JBL L100 Classic With Retro Safety Orange Foam Grill Included!!

Jon Iverson Jan 12, 2018

Discerning college dorm rooms and recording studios rejoice! JBL's famed L100 speaker from the seventies has been rebooted as the L100 Classic (left, in the photo above), which, despite the familiar look, Harman's Todd Eichenbaum says is new from the ground up.

CES 2018

Revel Performa3 Be Series Loudspeaker

Jon Iverson Jan 12, 2018

Slated for release in the next several months, the "Be" indicates beryllium tweeters. Harman's Todd Eichenbaum explained that all of the drivers in the new series are updated from the original performa series.

CES 2018

Mark Levinson 585.5 Integrated Amplifier

Jon Iverson Jan 12, 2018

Harman's performance audio director of engineering, Todd Eichenbaum, was on hand to explain the ".5" updates to the ML 585. "The 585.5 is the same at the original 585 integrated, but adds the same phono stage as the 523 and 526 preamps." The 585.5 has been shipping since late last year at $16,000

CES 2018

Great Sound from a Familiar Pairing

Jason Victor Serinus Jan 12, 2018

dCS, D'Agostino, Wilson, Transparent, and HRShow often have we found products from these companies making a synergistic and most musical match? As you'll learn from Jana Dagdagan's video once it's posted, Jana, John Atkinson, and I visited the spacious suite in the Mirage Hotel in which these companies paired a dCS limited edition Vivaldi 1 ($80,000 or, in the striking bright nickel finish seen in this room, $92,000) and Rossini clock ($7999); an HRS VXR rack; D'Agostino Master Systems Progression preamplifier ($22,000) and Progression stereo amplifier ($22,000); Wilson Audio Sasha 2 speaker, with Transparent Generation 5 XL cabling (approx. $50,000 total); and Transparent Reference Power Isolator ($5995).

CES 2018

fidata HFAS1 Network Audio Servers

Jon Iverson Jan 12, 2018

Importer Mark Gurvey notes that this is the first time that fidata has shown products in the US, and they include a 1TB server (HFAS1-S10U at $5,000) and 2TB server (HFAS1-XS20U at $7,000) that are now available. Inside are sets of 500GB SSD Samsung pro-grade drives, and both servers are built on what Gurvey says is a "true audiophile" platform designed from scratch with physically isolated sections within the chassis for each function.

CES 2018

Lumin D2 Streamer/Renderer/DAC

Jon Iverson Jan 12, 2018

Lumin's popular D1 has been updated to the D2 (black unit on top in photo above) with several new features: internal switch-mode power supply (no more wall wart), dual-mono Wolfson WM8741 DAC chips, reworked board layout, and DSD 128 support. There is also SPDIF out and you can bypass the internal DAC.

CES 2018

M2Tech Rockstars Series

Jon Iverson Jan 12, 2018

Replacing the mid-size chassis offerings from M2Tech that were originally targeted to desktop and secondary system use, the new Rockstar line is now intended for main systems as well. The Young MKIII preamp/DAC features include additional digital inputs and analog inputs and outputs, DSD 256, full MQA, and Bluetooth APTX .