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LATEST ADDITIONS

SSI 2011

Jim Thiel-designed, Les Paul-signed

John Atkinson Apr 06, 2011

The 2011 SSI was my first chance to see and hear the Limited Edition Les Paul Signature version of Thiel's well-received CS3.7 loudspeaker. The last complete design by the late Jim Thiel, the CS3.7 was favorably reviewed by Wes Phillips in December 2008. Wes concluded that he "loved, loved, loved the Thiel CS3.7!"

SSI 2011

Naim

Robert Deutsch Apr 06, 2011

Venerable British audio manufacturer, Naim, has an almost-equally-venerable new Canadian distributor, Plurison. Headed by the genial Daniel Jacqueson the right in the photo, with Doug Graham, Naim's International Export Manager on the leftPlurison's list of distributed brands includes Focal, Mordaunt-Short, MartinLogan, Pathos, YBA, Micromega, and a host of others. It must put Jacques in a quandary when he has to decide what product to take home to listen to on the weekend!

SSI 2011

Naim's iPad App

John Atkinson Apr 06, 2011

Naim's line of Uniti network-enable music servers . . . er, renderers . . . er, digital music players, can be controlled by a uPnP app runing on iPads and iPhones. Doug Graham's iPad doesn't seem disturbed by his frantic handwaving as it hung in mid-air! New at the Show was the UnitiQute player, which combines a preamplifier with two analog inputs, five 24-bit/192kHz-capable digital inputs, a USB port, and WiFI and Ethernet network connections.

SSI 2011

The temptation of Saints John and Arthur

Art Dudley Apr 06, 2011

This looks like Jonathan Halpern, owner of the New York distribution firm Tone Imports, but it’s really the devil. Every time JA and I attempted to leave the Coup de Foudre room in which products by DeVore, Leben, EMT, Box Furniture, and Brinkmann were being demonstrated, the devil coaxed us to stay, just by playing one! more! song! We finally broke temptation’s chains and left to the strains of James Brown’s “Sex Machine”: JA and I had to literally back our way out of the room. Carefully.

SSI 2011

Burmester Phono Preamplifier 100

John Atkinson Apr 06, 2011

On display in the Burmester room at SSI was the new Phono Preamplifier 100 ($16,995$22,995), which, with its polished mirror finish, was almost unphotographable. The 100 features two inputs for MM or MC cartridges, and offers a wide range of gain and impedance settings. An optional onboard A/D converter allows owners to digitize their LPs and a unique auto-balance feature equalizes the two channels, to compensate for imbalanced cartridges.

SSI 2011

Dynaudio's Esotar tweeter

Robert Deutsch Apr 06, 2011

I have a lot of respect for Dynaudio speakers, and have enjoyed listening to them at various shows, but I've never been as taken with one of their speakers as I was with the new Confidence C1 Mk.II ($8200/pair). With Naim amplification and digital source (including a Squeezebox Touch), the sound was simply exquisite, with highs that were revealing and yet not clinical. The legendary Esotar2 tweeter (shown in the photo) has apparently undergone some evolutionary development, and continues to maintain its status as the best dome tweeter in the world.

SSI 2011

Affordable Excellence—Dynaudio & T+A

John Atkinson Apr 06, 2011

If the Legacy Whisper was an example of a superb speaker ill-marched to the size of the room in which it was being demmed at SSI, the combination of Dynaudio's new DM37 tower ($2000/pair), driven by T+A's new E-Series Music Receiver ($4200) vis Ocos cable, showed what could be achieved from a more modest system, well set-up in a suitable room. The 160Wpc (into 4 ohms) Music Receiver includes an Apple-approved iPod dock, which takes the digital music data from the iPod and also has a USB port and three Toslink S/PDIF digital inputs. There is also a high-quality FM tuner and T+A’s Streaming Client board allows Internet radio stations to be played.

SSI 2011

Essential Espresso

Robert Deutsch Apr 06, 2011

What comes next after Son and Image? Café, of course. SSI had the Nespresso line of espresso makers on demo, complete with free samples of espresso. Essential fuel for the weary show blogger!

SSI 2011

LSA Makes a Statement

Robert Deutsch Apr 06, 2011

For big speakers, like the Legacy Whisper XD in the story below, the problem in setting up an effective demo in a show environment is that the room may be too small for the speaker. And then for speakers that are more modestly sized, if they're demonstrated in a big room, the speaker may not be able to play loud enough and the bass response may not be sufficiently powerful for the big space. The LSA (Living Sounds Audio) Group's demo featured the LSA2 Statement ($5999/pair) speakers driven by their own LSA Standard tube hybrid integrated amp ($6200) . . .

SSI 2011

Legacy Whispers

Robert Deutsch Apr 06, 2011

Are you in the market for a giant-sized speaker but your wallet is not correspondingly giant-sized? Then check out the Legacy Whisper XD. Weighing 210 lbs, 63"x17"x13", the Whisper XD is for large spaces, and the somewhat bass-heavy sound at SSI suggested that it was not feeling quite at home in the small hotel room. The price is $20,000/pairnot exactly spare change, but you get a lot for your money: a 10-driver system with four 15" subwoofers, four 7" Rohacell-reinforced midwoofers, a 3" ribbon midrange, and a ribbon tweeter. The system includes a DSP crossover with room correction.