Currently available in a natural wood and gold finish, black and silver are coming soon. The player sells for $9,500.
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Richard Rives, famous for tuning rooms around the world is now distributing audiophile products. Among those is the new Navison Audio Reference 228 CD Player which sports the latest Philips CD-Pro2M transport and 24 bit Delta Sigma DAC technology.
Luxman is another old-school, technology-driven Japanese company. Looking at the 250Wpc B-100F (80th Anniversary Commemoration) ($55,000/pair) is a reminder of the days when the great Asian manufacturers fought for the title "best." The B100F is huge and can deliver 2000W into 1 ohm.
It's packed with unique tech, too. Luxman believes that undyed circuit boards sound better, so they use uncolored Teflon boards and coats the copper traces with gold to deter corrosion. Luxman engineers also assert that 90-degree turns sound audibly inferior to gentle curves, so they perform "feng shui…
Ypsilon was showing a monster of an amplifier—the 120W SE-100 Mk. II($70,000/each). A single-ended hybrid, it uses a 5842 input tube and a row of MOSFET output devices. It's entirely wired point-to-point and sports custom power transformers. Of course, it's stuffed with boutique components.
I've never subscribed to the "too much power is almost enough" school of thought—and, truth to tell, 100w isn't all that much—but the Ypsilons had more of that effortless imperturbablity that I heard from other massive amplifiers this week. It's not overwhelming, simply a sense that everything…
Nagra's new 60Wpc MSA stereo power amp ($8000) is loosely based on its older "pyramid" PSA amp. This MOSFET stereo amplifier (geddit?) sounds far better than the older one, IMHO. Verity's John Quick played some tracks from Manu Katches stunning Neighborhood and the new guy had better pacing and, more importantly, far better timbre. I heard deeper into the soundstage, especially hearing more of Katche's superlative stick work.
And I have to admit, I'm a sucker for Nagra's grittier industrial design, having never really liked the way the PSA looked. Superficial, I know, but there…
Due to a horrible traffic jam in the bowels of the Sands/Venetian Show venue, I was only able to catch the tail end of Greenpeace's January 9 press conference. The good news is that the greenest consumer electronics products on the market today have a smaller environmental footprint than those sold a year ago. The sad news is that there is considerable room for improvement.
"Green Electronics: The Search Continues," available online here, details the results of a survey of 18 top manufacturers of personal computers, mobile phones, TV, and game consoles. It assesses toxic chemicals…
There are always live concerts at CES and the 2009 Show was no exception. Cable manufacturer Ultralink/XLO brought Showgoers virtuoso bass guitarist Dean Peer Friday evening. Dean, whose audiophile sound-quality CDs Ucross and Travelogue are being reissued by Ultralink/XLO, used artificial harmonics, flamenco right-hand techniques, and a battery of effects pedals to create complex yet funky soundscapes. Thanks for the sonic treat, Ultralink/XLO.—JA
Roger Skoff's long-established line of XLO cables joined the Ultralink family of cables in 2002 to form Ultralink/XLO. Since then, much…
Want to hear silver turn to platinum? Check out Wireworld's new line of Platinum Eclipse Reference audio cables, whose interconnects are composed of four flat conductors made of Ohno continuous cast solid silver of 99.99997% purity.
Some years back, Wireworld's David Salz realized that, due to the limitations of insulation technology, he was unable to fully achieve his goal of a neutral cable that was as transparent as a direct connection. He sought a quieter background, and a more liquid sound that would not compromise the texture of music in any way. He also wanted his power…
I love this stuff. Ultra System's Robert Stein (pictured right with Bernd Alne of HiFi-Tuning left) greeted me with an entire array of 12 audio enhancement products, a host of which are just entering the US market. One that will surely attract Michael Fremer's attention is the Audio Desk Systeme Vinyl Cleaner. This German wonder, which retails for $3495, delivers the world's first, fully automatic ultrasonic as well as mechanical LP cleaning bath. The baby treats both sides of an LP to an ultrasonic cleaning, then to a liquid bath, and finally to a blow dry. The only services it doesn'…
Soundstring designer Leonard Miller, whose eight years in business has garnered a host of positive reviews and product awards, manufactures reasonably priced cables that boast a progressive geometric, multi-gauge/multi-conductor design. Rather than 75 models at 95 different price points, the company has one line, of cables, all of comparable quality, all manufactured in Connecticut. The power cables and speaker cables have three conductors each, the equivalent of 10.5 gauge copper. Interconnects have eight individual conductors, the equivalent of composite 22 gauge. A specific…
"Do you have a low-cost amplifier that Stereophile hasn't reviewed that you'd like people to know about?" I asked VTL's glamorous Bea Lam. With a grace and surety usually reserved for Vannah White, the incomparable Ms. Lam glided over to the diminutive VTL ST-85 Performance Amplifier ($2750).
Initially issued in 1996—see Lonnie Brownell's February 1999 review—and last upgraded with new circuitry and cosmetics in 2006, the ST-85 has two EL34s per channel. Boasting 30Wpc in triode and up to 60Wpc in tetrode, Bea says it is especially sweet-sounding with monitor speakers. Retaining…