That's a lot of green, but the DM25s are solid and drop-dead gorgeous, not to mention full of nifty technology. The transport has an adjustable suspension—"Tunable" was how David Solomon put it. It also splits the digital signal into separate left and right balanced…
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Musical Fidelity's US distributor Signal Path invited John Atkinson and me to hear the American debut of the kW DM25 Transport ($3000) and kW DM25 DAC ($3500). I didn't know the prices of the separates, so when I saw how luxe they looked I added an extra zero to the prices. But no, they really do cost just $6500 together.
We were on a mission, of sorts. A mission to find a pair of small loudspeakers, which, as it turns out, is not the easiest thing in the world to do. Especially around these parts, where, it seems, size and volume are set to impress.
So, instead of finding small loudspeakers, we found some Italian women.
"This looks right up your alley," Jon joked, pointing at a hanging banner of goddesses luring travelers to the Bolzano Villetri suite.
Honestly, I wouldn't have noticed the curves and graces had Jon not opened my eyes to them. The Italians always impress me with…
Continuing our mission to find some good-sounding, small loudspeakers, we wandered on over to the Margules Audio room, where I spotted some cute, little guys hanging out in the corner. Unfortunately, they weren't hooked up to anything that actually plays music. Only the larger speakers were prepared to rock, and after my time with the Piazettas, I really wasn't interested.
However, our attention was immediately taken by an intriguing new piece, Margules' prototype i-Fi, "an iPod high-end interface," which is scheduled to be available in about six months and will retail for…
"You mentioned Totem earlier," Jon reminded me.
"Yes, I really liked the sound of their little Rainmakers during last year's Home Entertainment Show. I'd like to visit them."
"Well, here they are."
"Yes, I really liked the sound of their little Rainmakers during last year's Home Entertainment Show. I'd like to visit them."
"Well, here they are."
Well, there they were. We walked right in, and were immediately impressed by the comfort and warmth created by the room's décor: teepee style.
I like Totem because they're fun.
I also like Totem because they don't discriminate against the little guys: their very slim and attractive, apartment friendly, Arros were on display, producing some finely…
Whatever you say about David Wilson, you have to admit he gives great show. Wilson doesn't come to CES with just a new product, he constructs a narrative structure and puts on a show. This is a good thing, since Wilson thinks long and hard about the lesson he wants to teach. He plays fair, too.
Today's demo was designed not to show that Wilson's Duette ($11,000/pair) was better than the competition—in this case B&W 800 Diamonds ($20,000/pair) or Krell LAT-2000s ($14,000/pair)—but rather to demonstrate how they might provide a solution for a common loudspeaker problem, namely…
That's a sentence I never thought I'd read. Interesting interview with Brian Walker.
John LaGrou sent me this link to a thought provoking collection of essays.
Burckhard Heim's work might actually help mankind jump into hyperspace.