Von Schweikert Audio's VR-5 SEs ($25,000/pair) aren't new, but once again they impressed Jon Iverson and me with their verve and natural presentation of acoustic guitar. Nils Lofgren's "Keith Don't Go" kept us nailed to our seats for the whole 12 minutes—which, in CES Show mode, is equivalent to seven human years.
Joseph Audio's Jeff Joseph didn't bring any new goodies to the show this year. He once again demonstrated the $2495/pair Insider. "I'm still trying to demonstrate how incredible an in-wall loudspeaker can sound—if it uses an infinite slope crossover, that is."
Paul McGowan's $2500 PS Audio Power Plant Premier is radically different from his earlier power regenerating products. "For one thing, it's 85% efficient, which means it runs cooler and uses less energy," McGowan explained. "It has 10 Power Port receptacles with Nano Crystalline filters. It's even remote controlled."
Franc Kuzma showed us his $900 VynVac record cleaner. "It's compact and, when it's not in use, it doesn't take up much space," he told us.
Is there any record collector who hasn't wished for a device that would flatten warped records without damaging them? It's the classic "why doesn't somebody invent that?" product.
Pathos Acoustics has one of the uniquest design esthetics in audio. Paolo Anriolo and Giaani Borinato beamed with delight as Jon Iverson and I <I>oohed</I> and <I>ahhed</I> over the $8000 Endorphin CD player and $1950 InControl preamplifier.
Pathos products don't resemble anything else in the audio world, but the $35,000/pair 150W Adrenaline Class-A monoblock is stunning even in a room packed with other Pathos gear. It's a zero feedback design and it sounded even more stunning than it looked.
Penaudio's Sami Pentillä brought an entirely new line of loudspeakers to CES: the Ambient series.
At the GamuT house, the first beauty that caught my eye was their new Phi3 loudspeaker dressed in drop-dead gorgeous zebra wood. "In Europe," said designer Lars Goller, "anything striped is really hot right now."
