LATEST ADDITIONS

At the last few Nordost demos I've witnessed, I've been amazed by the huge soundstage, deep bass, and tonal accuracy produced by Raidho's diminutive C-1.0 loudspeakers. Imagine my surprise when I learned that this little speaker, no larger than many a bookshelf design, lists for $18,000/pair. Then again, it produces a fuller, larger, and more coherent image than many a full-range floorstander of comparable price. It also has a pretty even 6 ohm impedance, and is said to be very tube friendly.

I've been a major fan of Echole Obsession cabling ever since hearing it paired with Kaiser Kawero loudspeakers at RMAF 2008. With those marvelous babies lamentably absent, here it was paired with a loudspeaker new to me, the towering, 500 lb Tidal Sunray ($178,600/pair), whose 6'8" designer, Jörn Janczak, is equally imposing.

Here's a product that should warm the digits of anyone with a vinyl collection. Furutech, who is generally known for its high quality connectors and cabling, will be releasing the $450 GT40 USB DAC with built-in phono stage this March.

More and more companies at all price ranges are releasing disc players that can also function as a DAC/preamp for other digital sources. Burmester is no exception, bringing their new top-of-the-line CD player to market with both Toslink and SPDIF along with a pair of analog ins on the back and a selectable volume control.

I had a great time listening to my own recordings in the Halcro room. Though the room lighting and the alien looking Vivid Audio G2 Giya speaker gave foreboding vibe in this photo, the sound was warm and detailed and the Halcro folks were really friendly. Featured in the Halcro system were the dm10 preamplifier($20,990) and the dm78 power amplifier ($41,990). The dm 10 is Halcro's top-of the line preamp and features its own phono stage. (It was reviewed in the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/solidpreamps/404halcro">April 2004 issue</A>.) The dm78 is a mono amp that puts out 225W into 8 ohms and handled big dynamic swings in recordings of both Vivaldi and Eric Whitacre with ease and grace.

This is Rosemarie Torcivia. I just met her today. She works for Source Interlink Media, the parent company of <I>Stereophile</I> and <I>Home Theater</I> magazines. She gets to spend her days at CES in the <I>Stereophile</I> and <I>Home Theater </I> suite answering questions and being a knowledgeable and friendly face for the dealers, manufactures and readers who pop in to say hello. She was thrilled when I took her picture and told her she was going to be in the official <I>Stereophile</I> CES blog. <I>I</I> was thrilled when Rosemarie helped Jon Iverson and I get lunch today. I like Rosemarie and I bet you would too.

God, how I love mbl's demos. Their rooms at RMAF have been major highpoints of the last two shows for me, and their exhibit at CES 2010 is just as fine. There was an incredible warmth and inner glow to the midrange, a tremendous presence and clarity to the sound of cymbals, just the right weight to an electric bass, and a wonderful transparency throughout the range that made me want to stay forever.