LATEST ADDITIONS

Check out the throng of thick Silver Circle AC cables, each with heavy-duty connectors from Furutech. Also note the lovely side panels of the Silver Circle Pure Power One 5.0. Who knew a power conditioner could be so pretty? The Pure Power One 5.0 ($5000; reviewed by Michael Fremer in our August 2010 issue) includes a 65-lb, 5kVA, custom-built isolation transformer, a proprietary EMI/RF filter, four double-ganged, gold-plated Furutech AC jacks, and a Vesuvius power cord.

I loved taking a look at the exposed circuitry of the new Sutherland Engineering 20/20 phono preamp ($2200; review to come from Brian Damkroger). Made in the USA, enjoyed everywhere.

Spend some time with Ravi Rajapakse, President and CEO of Blackfire Research, and you might get the impression that he’s some sort of control freak.

The cute Chordette Gem Bluetooth DAC ($799) measures approximately 6” x 3” x 1.5”, comes in a variety of bright colors, and will be reviewed by Art Dudley in the January 2011 issue of <i>Stereophile</i>.

Audio Plus Services' John Bevier was sporting a snazzy bow tie at RMAF, echoing the sartorial sang-froid of another well-known audio distributor. More than one visitor to his room was puzzled by the apparent lack of any source component, yet the Focal 1038Be speakers ($12,000/pair) were playing the Gary Karr transcription for double bass and organ of the Albinoni Adagio and sounding sweet. John pointed to his MacBook, which was running iTunes with the Amarra front-end and sending the data via WiFi to the Micromega Airstream integrated amplifier ($4995), which has a WiFi front-end based on an Apple Airport Express router. This limits playback resolution to 16 bits and 48kHz, but for someone who wants to rip his CDs and play them with minimal fuss'n'muss, the Micromega is a contender. The system was wired with speaker cable from Crystal Cable, for which Audio Plus is now the North American distributor.

Hegel provided a great demonstration on the effects of jitter. Using a <a href="http://stereophile.com/computeraudio/logitech_squeezebox_touch_network_… Squeezebox Touch</a> ($299) as a source we listened to a track first through the onboard DAC in Hegel’s entry-level 70Wpc A70 integrated amplifier ($2000) and then through their outboard HD10 DAC ($1200). Speakers were the B&W 802 Diamonds ($15,000/pair).

I walked into the Rogue Audio room and was nearly swept up by the <i>vitality</i> of the music being played. There was more <i>life</i> in here. Hugh Masekela was throwing <i>a party</i>, starting <i>a revolution</i>.