The No.560 is slated for release by the end of the year for a retail price of $6k.
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Harman's Mark Levinson line is celebrating 40 years in business by announcing a completely new line of audio products, all in empty box prototype form at CES. Pictured here is the No.560 Digital Audio Processor with can function as both DAC and digital preamp. The 560 has 10(!) digital inputs on the back (though the prototype on display had only a blank panel) including two HDMI 1.3 inputs with "DSD-direct" input capability.
In 2009, when Jon Iverson reviewed T+A’s Power Plant integrated amplifier, he was impressed by its “tight, yet musical character,” noting well-controlled bass and extended treble. T+A’s E Series Power Plant and Music Player have now been updated with high-quality balanced inputs and outputs.
The Power Plant Balanced now costs $3100, a modest $400 increase over the original version. The balanced input section is located on its own circuit board. It uses a fully symmetrical construction and is direct-coupled to the preamplifier section via high-quality differential amplifiers.
Cambridge Audio introduced their new flagship 851A integrated amplifier and 851C CD player ($1999 each).
The 851A uses Cambridge’s proprietary “class-XD” design, said to combine class-A performance with class-B efficiency, to deliver 120Wpc. It uses two custom-designed toroidal transformers, one for the power amp section and one for the preamp section; offers seven RCA inputs and two XLR inputs; and features Cambridge’s attractive, easy to read “Double-Film Super-Twisted Nematic” display. With its acoustically damped metal chassis and brushed aluminum front panel, the 851A showed…
Mark O’Brien’s Rogue Audio is notable for building high-quality products right here in the United States and offering them at real-world prices. How does Rogue do it? In my brief conversation with him, O’Brien emphasized supply-line management and strong relationships with manufacturing partners. Efficiency in supply and manufacturing procedures allows more resources to be dedicated to design and development. In addition, O’Brien noted his own enthusiasm for developing products that exceed expectations: Building a product like the Cronus, a 55Wpc tubed integrated amplifier (with phono…
There were beautiful women. There were pink socks. There was loud music, expensive alcohol, shameless dancing. There might have been a tiger in the bathroom. It wasn’t like a party in the Music Hall suite—it was a party. The company’s energetic sales manager, Leland Leard, was too busy rocking out, so Roy Hall introduced me to his new A70.2 integrated amplifier ($1499). (Here we see Leland playing DJ; I will spare us the images of Leland on the dance floor.)
Rated to deliver 125Wpc, the dual-mono A70.2 is easily Music Hall’s most powerful amp to date. It uses two large…
Unlike consumer shows, live music at a CES is a rarity, so it was a treat to listen to the California Guitar Trio performing at the party Harman threw to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Mark Levinson brand. Sponsored by Guitar Aficionado magazine, the Trio ripped through a wide repertoire, including "Pipeline" from surf music pioneers The Chantays, which they were playing as I took the photo. Jon Iverson has already discussed some of the 40th Anniversary Mark Levinson products; for me the party was an opportunity to catch up with speaker engineer Mark Glazer, responsible for the system…
Traditionally, high-performance audio at CES has been on display away from the ginormous Las Vegas Convention Center, also traditionally but gently derided by audiophiles as the "Zoo." But there are still one or two high-end companies to be found and as you can see from the photo, the LVCC was packed with people checking out the new technologies on show.
Audio Technica's PR rep Frank Doris models the company's limited-edition, $1299.95, ATH3000 headphones, that feature Echizen wood frames, 53mm drivers, Spanish lamb wool cushions, and 7x9s copper wire.
UrbanEar's Andrea Miles models their new mustard-colored Platten headphones, which list at $65. This was part of the great upsurge in headphone exhibits found in the South Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center, or the "Zoo."
JL Audio's home high-end audio subwoofer engineer, Brett Hanes, proudly shows off the company's new $1700 ES-112 subwoofer (wood finish) that uses clever engineering principles to coax better performance and value from a less-expensive product. The ES-112's woofer features the company's only dual-spider driver construction, a smaller voice-coil, though the cone is designed for the same 3" peak–peak excursions found in the company's flagship f212 and Gotham models. Other construction simplifications—you change line input voltage by changing fuses in external fuse holder—make the product more…