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PBN's Peter Noerback had emailed me back in December about his new Montana KAS2 tower. The 300lb, 6'-tall speaker has twin 12" woofers top and bottom powered by a 1kW amplifier, with what appear to be top-of-the line 9" lower and 5" upper midrange units from SEAS flanking a 1.125" tweeter. An active, line-level bass extender, the Olympia EX, pushes the low-frequency extension below the resonance point of the woofers. Sensitivity is specified as a very high 93dB/W/m. The sealed cabinet features a solid-maple front baffle and is an asymmetrical hexagon in shape to minimize internal…
After days filled with wildly-shaped loudspeakers constructed from all sorts of fantastic materials, I must say it was refreshing to see a familiar face—the DeVore Fidelity Gibbon 3, a speaker that looks like a speaker.
Bananas!
For this show, John DeVore dressed up his littlest monkey in a fine mahogany stain. The price remains the same: $2000/pair.
You wouldn't tell by looking at him, but Martin Tremblay is camera-shy. He's modest, though he has every reason to be proud. Triangle's new Genese Series continues the French firm's tradition of sophisticated styling. With its slender, elegant cabinet and smooth, glossy finish, the $4900/pair Quartet descends from Triangle's Magellan Series and is just as lovely.
It uses a TZ2500 titanium-dome tweeter which is semi-pod mounted for "increased spatialization and reduced directivity," said Tremblay. Triangle's "Twin/Vent" system is said to reduce distortion and limit decay, while…
The totally new-to-me Indiana Line, imported by VMAX Services, was a great surprise. VMAX Service's Richard Kohlruss tells me the company's been around for 30 years. Their Arbour Series of loudspeakers are finished in an attractive real-wood cherry veneer with nicely rounded front panel edges. At just about 37" high and only 25lbs, the 5.02 is not only easy on the eyes, it's also practical for small listening rooms like mine.
Matched with Tangent Audio's budget-priced CD50 and AMP50 ($259 each), the Indiana Line 5.02 provided stable, appropriately-sized images spread across a…
Both the GT 1 bookshelf and GT 2 floorstander loudspeakers offer a handy tweeter control for "precise adjustment of the frequency response in relation to the listening room and associated equipment," said Thierry Comte.
The tonal shifts from "soft" to "medium" and from "medium" to "bright" were subtle, but noticeable.
The Atohm Grand Thrill Series made its world premiere at CES 2008. Designer Thierry Comte is pictured here with the very handsome GT 1 bookshelf speaker which exhibited an almost uncanny ability to fill the room with deep, powerful bass. Highs were also impressive: crisp, clean, and fast. Overall, I felt the presentation was tightly focused and lively, without being overly sharp.
I met Hegel's Bent Holter at HE 2007, and I was instantly attracted to his combination of tech-talk and passion for music. Bent is at once serious and strangely wacky.
When I asked if he'd please pose with his top-of-the-line CDP4A CD player ("Sorry about all the numbers and letters," he said), P4A preamp, and 2 x 300W H4A power amp—all making their US debuts—he immediately jumped down onto the floor and gave me a big smile.
The CDP4A ($4500) uses Hegel's own server board and offers 24-bit/352kHz synchronized upsampling. The P4A ($4500) is a fully-…
It was late. I was exhausted. After a delicious dinner, I stopped at the Venetian with the intention of picking up my laptop, camera, and other heavy things before returning to my hotel room and passing out. When I reached the 29th floor, however, I ran into Richard Vandersteen and his family. They were also coming from a dinner, also looking exhausted.
"Stephen Mejias," announced Richard’s daughter, Jaclyn Gooding.
"Hello, Stephen," said Richard.
"Hello. How are you?"
"Doing good. Why haven't you been to our room?"
"I have been. Every time I…
As usual, Totem did a wonderful job of transforming their booth to provide a fun and distinct listening environment. The company was also playing their Tribe wall-mount, which provided a surprisingly robust sound.