LATEST ADDITIONS

CES 2007
Like a Cathedral
Wes Phillips & Jon Iverson  |  Jan 10, 2007  |  0 comments
Zanden's Kazutoshi Yamada builds amplifiers like Medieval villages built cathedrals: To glorify the quintessence. Jon Iverson and I were lured into his room because his Model 9600s were so . . . shiny (hey, we're guys, we're not complicated). Then we heard 'em driving the Ascendo System Z-F3 loudspeakers. Wowsers.
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CES 2007
Beautiful Singing
Wes Phillips & Jon Iverson  |  Jan 10, 2007  |  0 comments
Bel Canto's John Stronczer made a bold decision to demonstrate exclusively with a music server streaming Music Giants. He ran the output from his laptop to the $2495 e.One DAC3 digital-to-analog processor and then directly to a pair of e.One REF1000 1000W monoblocks ($1995 each).
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CES 2007
The Oldest Trick in the Book
Wes Phillips & Jon Iverson  |  Jan 10, 2007  |  0 comments
We walked in to the room and spotted a pair of floorstanding speakers. Stevie Ray Vaughan filled the room, so we assumed the floorstanders were channelling him. "Oh no, you're listening to those."
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CES 2007
Too Much Fun
Wes Phillips & Jon Iverson  |  Jan 10, 2007  |  0 comments
"Basically, we're just having too much fun," Conrad-Johnson's Lew Johnson told me. "We're introducing three new state-of-the-art products. Well, the ART Series 3 is more new and improved.
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CES 2007
Door Number Two
Wes Phillips & Jon Iverson  |  Jan 10, 2007  |  0 comments
Lew Johnson pointed at the LP275M ($12,500). "This is something CJ hasn't done in a while: a high output tube monoblock. We use four pairs of 6550s to obtain 275W with our proprietary translinear transformers. We can configure it for 2, 4, 8, or 16 Ohm loads (standard is 4 Ohm). Like our most recent designs, we're using metal foil resistors and Teflon CJD capacitors. We'll be shipping them by February."
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CES 2007
To Boldly Go
Wes Phillips & Jon Iverson  |  Jan 10, 2007  |  0 comments
"Here's something a little different for us," CJ's Lew Johnson continued his tour. "The $10,000 TEA1 triode equalization amplifier embodies our current understanding of the state-of-the-art in phono stage design. It's a zero loop feedback design with two tube gain stages and a passive equalization network. We put a high-current buffer stage isolates the unit from cable and other loading elements."
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CES 2007
But Wait, There's More
Wes Phillips & Jon Iverson  |  Jan 10, 2007  |  0 comments
"I'm not done," Lew Johnson said. "I showed you our high-aspiration products, now here's one more from the heart: the ET250S is a more realistically priced product at $7500 for 250Wpc. At the heart of the amp is a single-ended triode amplifier that supplies the voltage gain. A high-current buffer stage couples that to the speaker load. That architecture gives you tube grace and finesse, but deliver all the brute force you need for any loudspeaker. We'll ship them in February."
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CES 2007
Repping the Brands
Jon Iverson  |  Jan 10, 2007  |  0 comments
The ever-gracious Rosemarie Torcivia running the Primedia room at the Venetian.
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Stephen Mejias
CES Coverage
Stephen Mejias  |  Jan 10, 2007  |  0 comments
In case you were wondering, you can find me in Vegas. Our live coverage takes you into the heart of the Consumer Electronics Show.
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CES 2007
New KEF References
John Atkinson  |  Jan 10, 2007  |  2 comments
When I reviewed KEF's top-line Reference 207 loudspeaker in February 2004, it featured a supertweeter perched atop the module housing the coaxial Uni-Q tweeter/midrange driver to achieve true ultrasonic performance. A redesign of the Uni-Q driver, the tweeter in particular, has meant that the supertweeter could be dispensed with for the Mk.2 version, launched at the 2007 CES.
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