Jason Victor Serinus adds: The coaxial unit's midrange cone is composed of X3P, a plastic polymer that, when heated,…
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Photographed by Jason Victor Serinus in the Sumiko room on the 35th floor of the Venetian Hotel, this is the prototype of a new flagship speaker from Vienna Acoustics. Its signature elements are an innovative coaxial midrange/tweeter with a flat, reinforced, flat diaphragm for the midrange to eliminate any horn effect on the tweeter dome and an ultra HF unit to optimize polar response in the upper range. Note that the upper enclosure can be aimed to improve imaging.
Digital Source Component of the Year
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dCS Varèse D/A processor
($267,500; reviewed by Jason Victor Serinus in Vol.48 No.5, May 2025 review)
FINALISTS (in alphabetical order)
Bricasti M21 D/A processor
($16,500; reviewed by Sasha Matson in Vol.48 No.10, October 2025 review)
Cambridge Audio EXN-100 D/A processor
($1799; reviewed by Tom Fine in Vol.48 No.4, April 2025 review)
CH Precision C10 D/A processor
($95,000; $104,000 as auditioned; reviewed by Jim Austin in Vol.48 No.10, October 2025 review)
Innuos Nazaré server/…
Tomorrow afternoon, John Atkinson, Jason Victor Serinus, and I will meet in Denver, Colorado, for the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest. If you're at the show, please say hello.
If you're not at the show, please keep up with us at the show blog.
Jason Victor Serinus, who sent it our way, suggests it might. It will certainly make your morning coffee spurt out your nose.
Jason 'splains how to get there: "Click the link [below].
Scroll down to Soprano Meltdown
Read the short paragraph
Turn up your computer speakers
Click on the link
Be prepared."
Joint Overall Products of the Year
dCS Varèse D/A processor
($267,500; reviewed by Jason Victor Serinus in Vol.48 No.5, May 2025 review)
Magico S5 2024 loudspeaker
($74,500/pair–$83,000/pair; reviewed by John Atkinson in Vol.48 No.8, August 2025 review)
FINALISTS (in alphabetical order)
Ampsandsound Red October & Red October XL headphone amplifiers
($14,000 & $18,000; reviewed by Alex Halberstadt in Vol.47 No.11, November 2024 review)
Boulder 1151 monoblock power amplifier
($47,000/pair; reviewed by Jason Victor…
Ola Björling speaks with Kenzo Horiuchi of Boulder at High End Vienna 2026 about his company's new 800 series amplifiers, which include the 808 phono preamplifier and 851 monoblock power amplifier, in a video interview that's now posted on our official YouTube channel.
For more on Boulder, see Jason Victor Serinus's review of the Boulder 1151 monoblock power amplifier.
Follow us on YouTube.
Amplification Component of the Year
CH Precision L1 preamplifier
($34,500; optional X1 supply costs $21,500; reviewed by Jim Austin in Vol.47 No.11, November 2024 review)
FINALISTS (in alphabetical order)
Air Tight ATM-1 2024 Edition power amplifier
($14,975; reviewed by Ken Micallef in Vol.47 No.12, December 2024 review)
Boulder 1151 monoblock power amplifier
($47,000/pair; reviewed by Jason Victor Serinus in Vol.48 No.6, June 2025 review)
Quad 303 power amplifier
($1599; reviewed by Martin Colloms in Vol.48 No.7, July 2025 review…
Jason Victor Serinus reported on it a couple of weeks ago, but in case you still haven't seen that American Express ad featuring hi-fi retailer MusicDirect, here it is.
I could watch this ad forever and ever. All it needs is the Vincent Audio girl. I love seeing hi-fi in the mainstream. MusicDirect received Plum Card number 4350 (out of the initial 10,000), and I can't wait to see what they do with it.
Those big, white headphones are AKG K 701s, in case you're wondering, and they're awesome. I will own them someday.
Someday, I will own them.
Jason Victor Serinus got the scoop on Mistral, represented in the US by California’s Napa Acoustic, at the AXPONA show earlier this year. I was just as impressed by the looks of the little 40Wpc Mistral MM-4 SE integrated amplifier ($699). It reminded me a lot of the Shanling MC-30 Music Center.
They were playing disco in this room. My notes remind me: “If I can’t have you, I don’t want nobody, baby.” And now I’ve got that song stuck in my head again.
Next to the MM-4 is Mistral’s DT-307C CD player ($399). Speakers were Mistral’s BOW A2 ($2299/pair).
Besides dumpsters and dust, IN New York magazine left us with some profound silence. We spent much of the morning admiring it. Today, the ninth floor of 261 Madison Avenue, which can comfortably accommodate nearly 100 dedicated employees, saw only seven.
When we weren't admiring the silence, we were admiring the job done by contributing editor, Jason Victor Serinus, in covering the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest. One reader commented:
Not only has he reported on the "facts" of all these rooms, but has communicated his reaction to the sounds and music he heard in a personal and…