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Wandering around HE 2007 with my camera, I'm always watching for interesting-looking products to take pictures of. As soon as I caught a glimpse of the Scaena Iso-Linear Array speakers, I knew I had another subject. It’s available in several colors, including pewter/titanium (real metal), but, personally, I wouldn’t consider anything but the red that was on display. And it's not all just looks, either: this is a serious design, with multiple mid-tweeter modules and subwoofers with digitally controlled active bass management. The speaker is available in various heights, the price for…
Krell’s new Krell IPOD Dock (KID) only costs $1200, but offers balanced outputs, signal conditioning with bass and treble adjustments, all digital control lines, diverse outputs (2 balanced, 2 RCA, and S Video) with optical isolation. The auxillary input allows one to attach a Zune or Creative Digital Zen MP3 player. The Krell KID received much attention from press and public alike.
Andrew Watson proudly discussed the latest iteration of KEF's reference floorstanding speaker, the $20,000/pair 207 Mark 2. This new version features a new UNI-Q array that no longer needs the hypertweeter found in the Mark 1 version. The new tweeter has a vented magnetic assembly to provide more air volume behind the dome to smooth the sonic response. The manufacturer has to drill through the magnet assembly, thereby reducing its sensitivity. As a result, two additional neodymium rings were added to the usal magnet. The new tweeter's design has the voice-coil former touching the dome…
"Now that's real room lock," I exclaimed, listening to the deep pedal organ notes from John Mark’s recording of James Bustard playing Herbert Howell’s Master Tallis’ Testament, recorded at the Church of St. Stevens in Providence, Rhode Island. Tierry Budge's new loudspeaker, the floorstanding, two-way, Pearlized White, $18,990/pair speaker played the pipe organ pedal chords with thunder and power when driven by the VTL S-400 amplifier and the new dCS digital front-end on one of the Sound By Singer rooms. The speaker's large enclosure holds both an external 12" woofer and an internal 12…
AIX Records' Mark Waldrep, see here with Mona Waldrep, was promoting their latest DVD-Video and DVD-Audio, surround-sound release, Ernest Ranglin, Order of Distinction. Featured performers included Robbie Krieger from the Doors, Phil Chen and Laurence Juber from Paul McCartney's Wings group, and Elan Atias from the Caars. Mark reminded me that his website, Itrax.com, will go operational in June, providing one of the only sites where high-quality, lossless-compressed, surround-sound music files will be available for purchase and downloading.
George Kaye was showing not one, but two new products: the Moscode 402P!
Okay, that requires some explanation. The 402P is a refinement of the 200Wpc 401, "with better power regulation and some parts changes for a more refined sound," according to Kaye. That'll set you back $6500. But you can also buy the 402 with a Placette Audio remote controlled Vishay technology resistor ladder package, which not only delivers volume control, but a front panel display as well. That'll cost $7900. Both will be available in the Fall.
With a prototype 402P driving Joseph Audio RM2XLs ($…
I'd seen the Bolzano Villetri TorreBV HF 3005 ($11,400/pair) at last year's CEDIA Expo, but I was felled by bugs in the spinach and BV was hobbled by a display area in the corridor in front of the convention center's main space.
But I was intrigued by the company's "counter aperture Round Stream Technology," which aims drivers in the speakers' top and bottom modules at one another to create "monopoles of pressure," which generate omnidirectional sound.
A short audition demonstrated they did that pretty well. The room was so packed late Saturday afternoon, I had to listen…
Some of the sweetest sound I heard in the whole show was delivered by the Jadis Symphonia CD player ($3500), Jadis E-50 50Wpc integrated amplifier ($8000), and Proac 3.8s ($7500/pair).
I sat down entranced by the soundtrack to The Forbidden Games and the disc's owner leaned over and whispered in my ear, "You used to recommend records to me when I worked at Tower."
Shwing!
But for clarity, grace, and just locked in musical rightness, the Jadis/Proac combo just rocked my world.
That's pronounced sheeYEUfn (like that helps) and it's from Norse mythology—Sjöfn inspired passion through her singing. Guru Pro Audio head of R & D, Ingvar Öhman is clearly passionate about his loudspeaker, which he likened to "VWs that perform like Ferraris." The Gurus($1800/pair) are small, designed to be placed near the room boundaries, and were pretty impressive.
I say "pretty impressive" because Sam Tellig had pride of place in the room—he's awfully good at discovering the good-sounding cheap stuff—and I was sitting near two boundaries myself.
But Öhman was…