Additional digital inputs include S/PDIF, AES/EBU,TOSLINK, USB, and high-quality Bluetooth. What's that, you say…
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Chord demonstrated the absolutely stunning Indigo Advanced D to A ($15,000). Yes, that's an iPod dock on top, but the Indigo isn't just another iPod dock. For one thing, you can only dock Chord modified iPods directly into it, allowing Chord to access the digital data in the iPod. The Indigo also has a A2DP radio "dongle" that can seamlessly stream digital radio ir music from anywhere in the room. Another dongle is supplied to stream analog output from unmodified iPods.
Lamm was driving the new Wilson Maxx series 3 with its 32Wpc ML3 Signature SE triode monoblocks ($139,290/pair). It was my first chance to hear either, so I can't tell you if it was the speakers or the amps that were making the magic happen, but happen it did.
The ML3 Sigs employ no overall feedback and are pure class-A. They utilize a direct-heated GM-70 and "one of the most sophisticated power supplies that have ever been used in building any audio device."
No need to state the obvious—that's a stratospheric price tag. And I'm not sure that if I could easily afford it, I…
This is what the Lamm ML3 Signature looks like under the hood. Clean layout and P2P wiring throughout.
Tenor's promised Tenor Pre preamplifier ($40,000) is a hybrid, using tubes for the input stage and MOSFETs for the output. It should be available in two months. As a whole, the Tenor system (fleshed out with Hansen Emperors and Kubala-Sosna cables) was outstanding.
Tenor is definitely ready for prime time. They have the goods, now they need to establish a market. Ironically, in this economic downturn, the market for ultra-high-end audio seems to be growing, so they may be well situated to grow.
It belonged to a tenor! (ba-dum-dum) Thank you ladies and gentlemen, I'll be here all week.
Ahem. Tenor's 350W monoblock Reference 350 ($90,000) are big and bold. They're hybrid OTLs using two ECC803/12AX7 s for the first gain stage and a JJ EC99 and six 7044 buffers in the second. Output is by MOSFETs. They're drop dead gorgeous and, driving a pair of Hansen Audio Emperors ($60,000/pair),they sounded ravishing. Effortless? Check. Detailed? Doubled check. Best of all, the music had me melting in my chair—at shows, that's high praise.
Jim Aud of Purist Audio Design has released several new products. The diminutive Digital Isolation Adapter ($300) plugs into the S/PDIF output of a CD transport or music server with then the RCA digital cable that connects the transport and DAC plugged into it. The Adapter is claimed to electrically isolate the transport to the DAC, reduce jitter via control of the 75 ohm impedances, and reduce EMI/RF noise.
The Single Point Power Conditioner ($1000), not yet in production, is an advanced multi-stage filter network designed to control and suppress EMI and RFI, lower noise floor,…
CES presented me with my first opportunity to make the acquaintance of Stephen Hill and Straight Wire. The Florida company has just released a "push prong" re-usable, solderless RCA plug that makes Straight Wire cable termination a snap. Especially appealing to custom installers, the termination actually leads to a higher level of performance by enabling quick silver-plated termination without piercing cable insulation.
Straight Wire has also recently released the Serenade II interconnect ($400/1m pair) that features locking plugs and a variety of terminations. Internal conductors…
Visiting Kara Chafee of de Havilland, whose amplifiers invariably grace music with a wonderful sense of air, enabled me to take a first listen to Cable Research Lab (CRL) cables. CRL's mid-level "Silver" line is a very recent recipient of a "Product of the Year Award" from a certain publication known for its absolutism. Another very positive publication fed CRL an award in 2007.
CRL cables were designed by Winston Ma (First Impressions Music) and Paul Weitzel in the late 1990s. Once known as FIM Cables, their name was changed in 2002, around the time Ma sold the company to Garth…
Tara Labs has so many levels of cables that factory manager Matthew Sellars, who assists designer Matthew Bond with cable design and oversees implementation, had to draw a four-tiered chart just to explain where the company's newest offerings fall in the Tara Labs hierarchy. That may be an exceedingly long opening sentence. But so is Tara Labs' product list.
Tara Labs' top-of-the-line is the Extreme Series. That includes the oft-praised Zero interconnect and Omega speaker cable. It turns out that Zero and Omega have four levels. They are, in descending order from the summit, Cobalt…
Stillpoints, a vibration-control company that has been making equipment support racks since 2003, has just introduced a 40"-wide, low mass, open-air rack that allows you to stack two components side by side on each support shelf. Each ultra long support shelf holds two 20"x16" equipment shelves, each of which can hold a separate component on the appropriate support technology. Each equipment shelf also contains six pockets of Stillpoints' multi-patented vibration damping technology, making for 12 pockets of vibration control per large support shelf. Stillpoints' Paul Wakeen claims that…