LATEST ADDITIONS

Rogers High Fidelity introduced their new 65Wpc 65V-1 integrated amplifier ($4000) as part of a neat system: Besides the EL34 stereo Rogers amp, the system included a pair of EgglestonWorks Niko Bookshelf speakers ($2500/pair), and a Detroit-manufactured Shinola Runwell turntable ($2500).

The Swiss manufacturer Soulution introduced the $32,000, 75-lb Soulution 511 stereo amplifier at CES 2017. Rated conservatively at 150Wpc into 8 ohms, it delivers 280Wpc into 4 ohms and 560Wpc into 2 ohms.

The ebullient Irv Gross, Director of Sales at Constellation, greeted me when I walked into the company's exhibit room at CES 2017. He pointed to the back of the room when I asked whether Constellation had introduced a new amplifier: there waited the 185-lb, 500Wpc Centaur II Stereo ($55,000), connected to a pair of Magico M3 loudspeakers ($84,000/pair) via thick MIT speaker cables.

Due to a scheduling conflict I missed the press conference with power point presentation (you can see the slides here), but having spent some time with Chord's Rob Watts in the past, I'm sure the new products are packed with carefully thought out tech. Pictured here is the new Chord Hugo₂, which follows on the heels of the successful Hugo DAC launched three years ago.

The palm-sized Chord Mojo DAC/Headphone amp is arguably one of the best portable audio invigoration devices around, so why not add some more super-powers? The Poly is a networking "module" which adds streaming, network and SD card playback to the Mojo. The Poly is about half the size of the Mojo and snaps onto one end. Very clever.

There's nothing remotely reticent about California Audio Technology's (CAT's) new CAT MBX 900 Trinity satellite loudspeakers ($50,000/pair) and companion CAT MBX 58 Miramar subwoofers ($50,000/pair). Designed to be used together, their presentation mirrors the strong, driving energy of Brian Barr, founder and CEO of the 27-year old company.

For those of you who like all of your functions tucked away in a single shiny box, Burmester has a product for you. The main all-in-one 161 Receiver is based on the company's Music Server 151 and the system also includes the B15 speakers (not shown) and the handy empty case that sits below the active electronics. Burmester says the empty case with fold down front door (shown below) is part of the product since their customers don't like clutter and prefer to store extraneous stuff like AppleTV boxes and game consoles out of the way. I realize that probably sounds a bit pretentious to some, but it makes sense to me, since I tend to go out of my way to hide wires and power supplies.