CES 2014

Swiss company Manufacture Le Son was one of many that attended CES in hopes of securing US distribution. In tow was their LS002 Le Son (approx. $35,000), a dual-mono class-B stereo amplifier that outputs a bit more than 100Wpc into 8 ohms, and 180Wpc into 4.

Designed with a famous Swiss watch designer to look like fine art—my photo above does not do justice to its eye-catching internal structure—its aesthetic receives inspiration from a statement by Charlie Chaplin, "Art is an additional emotion applied to skillful technique." Although Le Son also manufactures the LS001 streamer/DAC, which can play up to 32/384 and DSD128, a Nagra was used as the source, with the system driving Swiss-made Alumine 3-way loudspeakers from Stenheim, a company launched by four former Goldmund engineers who now, I was told, work for Devialet.