Vivid Audio Introduces Giya Cu Loudspeakers

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Sennheiser Drops HDB 630 Wireless Headphones

Sponsored: Radiant Acoustics Clarity 6.2 | Technology Introduction

PSB BP7 Subwoofer Unveiled

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NY Audio Show 2013

Worry-free Sound from Audioarts

Stephen Mejias Apr 16, 2013

“To limit yourself to just vinyl,” says Audioarts’ Gideon Schwartz, “would be ridiculous.”

It’s not that Schwartz doesn’t like vinyl&#151several LPs were scattered about the beautiful demo room, said to have been the office of Leona Helmsley&#151but he simply believes that a good system should work well with all music formats, and more, should sound good in many different rooms.

NY Audio Show 2013

Woo Audio, M•A Recordings, and Black Cat Cable

Stephen Mejias Apr 16, 2013

Woo Audio’s WA7 Firefly headphone amp ($999) uses a pair of 6C45 power tubes in a single-ended, class-A design, and employs a Texas Instruments PSM5102A 32-bit DAC chip. Around back, a USB input is specified to support 32-bit/192kHz playback, while a single set of RCA jacks are switchable for use as analog inputs or D/A outs.

NY Audio Show 2013

MrSpeakers Mad Dog headphone

Stephen Mejias Apr 16, 2013

Dan Clark’s MrSpeakers Mad Dog headphone ($299) starts as a Fostex T50RP, but adds extremely comfortable lamb-leather ear pads, a leather “comfort strap,” revised 3.5mm and 7mm headphone jacks, and modifications to the headphone cups and driver surfaces.

Clark’s goal was to make a closed-back headphone that would perform well at home and on the go. He says that additional upgrades can be made easily over time, so that customers can “treat each purchase as an investment.”

NY Audio Show 2013

High Fidelity Meets High Fashion: Sennheiser to expand its Momentum line

Stephen Mejias Apr 16, 2013

I was pleased to learn that Sennheiser has plans to expand its fashion-conscious Momentum line to include at least two new, lower-priced models.

Ariel Bitran NY Audio Show 2013

Merrill Audio: "Not For Tube Lovers"

Ariel Bitran Apr 16, 2013

rrill Wettasingh of Merrill Audio says his class-D Veritas Monoblock amplifiers are "not for tube lovers." The crimson or black chassis is made of a solid 60lb billet of aluminum. Allowing only spade connection for the "best and biggest" sound, these 400 watt (8 ohms) power-houses seek "audio purity" rather than coloration, according to Wettasingh.

NY Audio Show 2013

Passion In My Pants: Astell & Kern’s AK100 portable music player

Stephen Mejias Apr 16, 2013

In the Headzones room, Astell & Kern’s Owen Kwon introduced me to his company’s sexy little AK100 hi-rez portable music player ($699).

The AK100 is good-looking, powerful, and versatile:

Ariel Bitran NY Audio Show 2013

My First MartinLogan Experience

Ariel Bitran Apr 16, 2013

Few hi-fi brands seem to have the omnipresence in the consumer electric goods market as MartinLogan, likely because of their affordable prices and non-invasive aesthetics. Yet, I’ve never gotten a chance to hear them, only see them inside a Best Buy. I found a Grateful Dead Dick’s Picks from 5/22/77 in Pembroke Pines, Florida in their stack of CDs.

NY Audio Show 2013

B&W P5 headphones and the Meridian Explorer

Stephen Mejias Apr 16, 2013

Wow. In the NYAS's always-busy Headzone area, I was extremely impressed by the sound of an AIFF file of Paul Simon’s “Diamonds On the Soles of Her Shoes” played from a MacBook, sent through Meridian’s pretty little Explorer USB DAC ($299), and then to Bowers & Wilkins’ handsome and comfortable P5 headphones ($299). Sponsored by Innovative Audio, this is the kind of sweet, functional, real-world system that is guaranteed to attract more people to the world of high-fidelity sound.

NY Audio Show 2013

Cardas Ear Speakers

Stephen Mejias Apr 16, 2013

Cardas’ Andy Regan enthusiastically introduced me to his company’s EM5813 Model 2 in-ear monitor ($425; a more efficient, but less refined Model 1 version costs $325). The EM stands for “ear mirror,” as the device was designed to mirror the human ear system; the numbers 5813 are part of the Fibonacci Sequence, which remains integral to all Cardas designs.

Ariel Bitran NY Audio Show 2013

A Return to the Past with Audio Note

Ariel Bitran Apr 16, 2013

At last year's NYAS, the Audio Note room had been a musical joy and learning experience. After a brief hello to music lover, photographer, and Audio Note exhibitor David Cope, we got straight to business with music listening. First on the Audio Note TT Two Deluxe turntable ($3500) was Las Guitarras De Sergio y Eduardo Abreu, where the brothers perform the music of Bach, Scarlatti, Albeniz, and more. Having played this record at least fifteen times in the past four weeks, I noticed immediately that the soundstage was imbalanced. Both guitars were too far to the left, but I refrained from comment.