LATEST ADDITIONS

With a shipping weight of 1.3 tons, this is YG's first four-way loudspeaker. All drivers are manufactured in-house, which in this case means one very unique ForgeCore tweeter, two BilletCore mids, three BilletCore mid/woofers, and four BilletCore woofers. All drivers are milled from aircraft-grade, solid-core aluminum.

Today, in Vegas, DeVore's super-sensitive Orangutan O/96 loudspeakers ($12,000/pair) were powered by Sugden's Masterclass LA-4 line preamplifier ($3750) and Sapphire FBA800 40Wpc class-A amplifier ($7500). The system was playing Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings (on Daptone Records) with super cool but hot-running LP joy.

While the New York Times recently focused on the introduction of the company's SL-1200G coreless-motor direct-drive turntable ($4,000), my interest focused on Technics' 188-lb, $17,000 SE-R1 digital amplifier, which I heard powering their SB-R1 3.5-way floorstanding speakers.

Both sides of the Atlantic are making tube products that (again) sound at least a little like actual vacuum tubes and less like high-strung solid-state racing cars. Both cultures now want genuine tube sound but demand 21st century tube longevity and reliability—and, of course, a discrete headphone amplifier.

Emotiva looked so direct-sales, street-wise smart—and everybody was talkin’ about how musical Emotiva’s stuff sounds: “It sounds good—and they're givin’ it away!” I couldn’t wait to try one of their products.

The Philharmonia loudspeaker ($50,000/pair), designed by Jean Nouvel and the French audio-engineering firm Amadeus, is the first consumer-level product from a company whose specialty is studio monitors…

While the dCS and Nagra suites at the Mirage approximated the size of a typical medium sized living room, the YG suite at the top of the Venetian was something else entirely. The room was quite large, the speakers human size, and a bigger crowd was also on hand. Lori Lieberman was playing on the system as we walked in and YG's Director of Sales, Dick Diamond greeted us with a big smile and helped me get the laptop connected.

Jake was going to hear his music for the first time on a system totaling over half a million dollars.