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Hands down the product that blew everything away was the Pioneer Elite infinite contrast Kuro that was a mere 1/3 inch thick.
Another CES under our belts, and there were new audiophile products galore. What new product at CES caught your eye (or ears)?
Gosh, what a show! Lots of new two-way box speakers, what incredible innovation! And more turntables! You can't say enough about those great, forward-thinking audio companies, can you? Oh, and did I mention the classy (and expensive) iPod docks? Yes, sir, a show with this much originality makes me proud to be an audiophile.
The Roger Sanders 10A ESL electrostatic hybrid speaker system would have been my “beat of show” were it not for the one-person narrow sweet spot. I do not consider that a real world speaker. Therefore, my favorite goes to the Final 1000i electrostatic loudspeakers. They go down to 38hZ, are relative efficient (for electrostatic panels), are fast, clean, coherent, and extremely detailed with no hint of offense. I have long liked the clean and coherent sound of the Manger drivers. They sounded the best I have ever heard them in the new Zeroboxes 109-AG Silver edition. Driving then was a Callistro CD transport into the all-analogue Delta Sigma North Pole Special Edition integrated amplifier. Kudos goes to Jaton for their Class-A 150W/channel Operetta AP2300A amplifier. It sounds even better than their current Operetta AP2140 and includes the same noise reduction circuitry.
The Wadia iTransport really caught my eye. If it can do what they claim for that price point, I'll be first inline to get one. Also, the new Mark Levinson line of amplifiers look great. I'm glad to see there going back to 300 series of styling with the new 500 series line.