LATEST ADDITIONS

I'm referring to the company's new PranaWire Linebacker XE ($12,500), an in-line passive power filter with what it's designer, Joe Cohen of The Lotus Group, calls two stages of passive filtering materials and a "super enhanced" ground plane.

Transparent Audio's new Gen 5 (Generation 5) family of cabling supersedes their MM2 line. With resonance control and network technologies derived directly from their year-old flagship, fittingly called Magnum Opus, Gen 5 includes new cable, new networks, and new network enclosures.

Transparent also introduced the colorful, entry-level Hardwired brand, which is designed to satisfy the wants of newcomers to the fold.

Scot Markwell of Elite AV Distribution proudly displayed Furutech's top-of-the-line Nanoflux power cable ($4395/1.8m, almost 6 feet). The cable's wire is coated with Nanofluid, microscopic gold and silver suspended in squalene oil that fills in tiny gaps between wire crystals to improve performance.

Larry Smith (left) and David Salz (right) of Wireworld have every reason to smile. Not only have they entered the headphone cable market with four levels of Nano cables for headphones and portables, and stand prepared to market a Starlight CAT7a media network cable ($TBD) that claims higher transmission speeds for streamed music and video, but they've also come out on top in a recently published cable listening comparison test.

With a major nod to ZenSati, who designed the cables, Viola Audio Labs' president and technical director Paul Jayson happily displayed the company's new cable line.

First time I've seen this manufacturer at CES, but WOW what a gorgeous product! I've included a couple more shots from their website so you can see how this Swiss jewel is put together. The aluminum chassis is surrounded on all four sides by glass, for example, and can sit vertical or horizontal.