LATEST ADDITIONS

CES 2015

Epos & Creek

Robert Deutsch Jan 16, 2015

Epos and Creek have long been associatedEpos loudspeakers seemed to work particularly well with Creek electronicsbut the connection became more solidified in 2014, when Mike Creek acquired total control of Epos and appointed his son, Luke, to be the Epos brand director. The first result of this change of ownership is the new Epos K-Series, which importer Roy Hall describes as being more "lifestyle-oriented."

CES 2015

The "Most Famous" Wharfedales

Robert Deutsch Jan 16, 2015

Wharfedalewhich now bills itself "Britain's Most Famous Loudspeaker. . .Since 1932"introduced the Diamond 200 series at CES 2015. The series includes the model 210 and 220 bookshelf monitors, model 230, 240 and 250 floorstanders, model 220C center-channel speaker, and model WH-D8 and WH-D10 subwoofer.

CES 2015

Dan D'Agostino's Cinema Standard

Kalman Rubinson Jan 16, 2015

While his multipurpose integrated amp lurked in the background, I took immediate notice of Dan D'Agostino's hulky 6U form-factor multichannel amplifier, the Cinema Standard. Available with two ($12,000) and three ($15,000) channels, it offers 250Wpc into 8ohms and doubles down to 500 into 4 and 1000 into 2, at 0.1% total harmonic distortion! Now that's dynamic headroom.

CES 2015

The Manley Art Gallery

Kalman Rubinson Jan 16, 2015

Manley Labs' Evanna Manley was deeply involved in discussion so I asked around about what new amps/preamps are showing. The answer was that, since there were no new products being introduced, they decided to present their current offerings to emphasize their aesthetics by having them framed and hung. Point taken. Picture taken.

CES 2015

PrimaLuna Premium

Kalman Rubinson Jan 16, 2015

Kevin Deal was so proud of his new DiaLogue Premium HP power amplifier ($3899 stereo or monoblock) that he insisted on showing off its underside so that we can all appreciate the quality of the components and the fastidious wiring.

CES 2015

Burson

Kalman Rubinson Jan 16, 2015

I visited the Burson room because I retain a strange interest in this Australian company’s innovative discrete op-amp modules even though I am long past my DIY years. (JA has a pair of Burson's op-amp modules in for evaluation.)

CES 2015

Octave Amplifiers

Kalman Rubinson Jan 16, 2015

Dynaudio North America's Michael Manousselis was proudly demonstrating the Danish parent company's Contour S 3.4 LE speakers with the new Octave V 110 integrated amplifier ($8000), a fixed-bias pentode design that has been optimized specifically for the KT120 tube. Features include wideband output transformers while utilizing soft-start circuitry, extensive monitoring and protection circuitry, as well as an energy-saving EcoMode feature.

CES 2015

T+A Amplifiers

Kalman Rubinson Jan 16, 2015

T+A's entire HV range was the epitome of sleek and sexy. I was particularly impressed with physical architecture, even beneath the skin, as there is a casework frame of solid aluminum plates, screwed together. The plates form sealed chambers to de-couple and shield all sub-assemblies from each other. External case parts are up to 40mm thick!

CES 2015

The Ayre Twenty Editions

Kalman Rubinson Jan 16, 2015

The big news at Ayre is that the standing range of "5"-series components is being upgraded to "The Twenty Editions," which incorporate the circuit and performance facilities of the well-received flagship KX-R Twenty, MX-R Twenty and VX-R Twenty.

CES 2015

Questyle QP1 and QP1 Pro Portable Players

Jon Iverson Jan 15, 2015

With the demise of the iPod, the number of high quality portable players has jumped. Case in point are these two new players from Questyle. Both play DSD and Double DSD files along with about a dozen PCM formats up to 24/192. The players also feature the company's unique "current mode" headphone amplification.