CES 2016

ELAC America introduced a new 100Wpc, class-A/B integrated amplifier with a switching power supply, the "Debut Series DA101EQ" ($499), which looked so Walter Gropius' Bauhaus: Moderne. I was deeply impressed by its industrial design quotient. Hidden inside its elegant 2.1-channel skin, the ELAC integrated includes an "Auto Blend" control feature that measures the nearfield response of your main speakers and subwoofer and then corrects phrase and adjusts crossover frequency to suit the listener's room.

It also has "Remote EQ," which takes a bigger room-sized picture and tailors your system for flat frequency response in the listening position. We budget-type audiophiles are living in exciting times and all this new ELAC gear is surely a major contribution to that excitement.