CES 2017

One of the chief reasons I fly to woebegotten Las Vegas, USA is: I love all the wild, eccentric audio persons that treat CES as a business-building pilgrimage site. The other is that CES is the best place to find new products to review. This year I found several, and the one that has me the most stoked is the Rogers High Fidelity 65V-1 class-A, single-ended EL34/KT88 integrated amplifier ($3999). Not to mention: I have never seen an amp painted with industrial-black crinkle paint that I didn't love.

I have met Rogers' president and chief designer Roger Gibboni several times, at his New York dealer Stereo Exchange. I have auditioned his amps powering a variety of loudspeakers, including the fabulous DeVore Fidelity Gibbon XLs, and they always sound vivid and athletic—fast-moving and excitement-generating. But I've never felt the urge to review one, until now. This time it was love at first sight.

The Model 65V-1 not only allows the user to choose between EL34 or KT88 power tubes, it has selectable triode and Ultralinear modes of operation. It uses point-to-point Teflon-coated wiring, and it has a dedicated headphone output circuit.

But! Unlike any crinkle-painted single-ended amplifier I have seen, the 65V-1 allows remote-control capability via Bluetooth connection to Apple devices. It has slow start up and auto tube bias for prolonged tube life. Best of all, the Rogers 65V-1 is made in the US, in Warwick, New York, and comes with a lifetime transferable warranty. Like I said, I am very excited to review this product.