Kal Rubinson adds: I turned a corner and saw what any normal person would think was the world's largest ash-tray but, given the context and my psyche, I thought it was Mirage's all-out effort at a center-channel speaker. I grabbed Bob Gassel, Global Director of Training for the Klipsch Group, hoping to have him tell me that this was indeed the ultimate center-channel solution but he disappointed me: It's only an outsized model…
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Mirage had a 36" mock-up of their omnipolar tweeter array on the wall, photographed here by Kalman Rubinson. A lot of people (well, me) thought it was real.
What Mirage did display for real was the OM-28, their $7500/pair floorstander that boasts a real-size omnipolar titanium-dome tweeter, a 5.25" carbon-fiber midrange driver, and two 8" carbon-fiber woofers. The cabinet is ported with down-firing vents.
"This is the perfect solution for ordinary people who want great sound almost anywhere in the room" said Keith Claytor, the Klipsch Group's PR guy. "Audiophiles will be skeptical, but if they actually listen to them, they'll be amazed at how much freedom escaping from the sweet spot gives you."
Stranger things have happened.…
I stuck my head in Joseph Audio's room and asked, "What's new?"
"Nuttin'" said Jeff Joseph. "Just the same Insiders ($2500/pair) you saw last year and a MJ Acoustics Reference 112 subwoofer ($3200 each). Sit down, listen—you don't even have anything to write about."
It was a good plan, jinxed only by how captivating the sound was. The Insiders, which are designed to be in-wall speakers but were simply hanging on the cubicle's walls, sounded amazing: engrossing, balanced, focused.
"Of course," Joseph said. "Infinite Slope technology was just made for an application…
Lyngdorf was showing a $16,800 system that incorporated its RoomPerfect digital room correction system, which creates an EQ curve based on measurements taken in seven positions. The result is said to be a sweet spot that is spot-on in one position and "extremely fine" for up to eight target positions.
RoomPerfect components come with a measurement microphone and set-up is said to take 15 minutes.
The system on demo included the $2500 CD-1 CD transport/player, the TDAI-2200 control amplifier, the $1800 SDA 200Wpc power amplifier, $2600/pair DP-1 dipole loudspeakers, and $…
Thiel was showing honest-to-God production samples of its CS3.7 ($9900/pair), which has a few cosmetic flourishes I hadn't noticed the times I spotted prototypes at earlier Shows. I could be wrong, but that aluminum cowling looks better-integrated with the body than I recall.
Not that they need to, but simply because they could, Thiel was demoing the CS3.7s with a pair of SS-1 subwoofers ($5900/each). The resulting system, at $16k, was almost modest by high-end standards, but the balance and effortless musicality of the system was breath-taking.
Rumor has it that a pair…
Dynaudio actually had a "production prototype" of its $16,500 Sapphire 30 30th anniversary loudspeaker at CEDIA, seen here photographed by Kal Rubinson. All of the drivers are "Evidence-grade," Michael Manoussellis told us. The drivers are Dynaudio's 1.1" (28mm) soft-dome tweeter, 5.5" (15cm) MSP-cone midrange, and two 8" MSP-cone woofers. The cabinet is faceted, hence the jewel reference. It's pretty dramatic looking. Now we're slavering to hear it.
McIntosh has introduced a turntable. It has the classic black and blue faceplate, which looked a tad bizarre to these eyes. The platter is "polished, fully-balanced green tint," meaning glass, we presume. The tonearm and cartridge are custom-made by McIntosh. An isolated speed stabilizer drives the precision motor.
Pioneer showed a number of interesting new products in two-channel electronics and speakers. but pride of place was ceded to their new flagship A/V receiver, the SC-09TX. This is almost, but not quite, a pair of separates with the 10-channel, ICE-powered class-D amp confined to a chassis separated from the rest of the digital and line-level electronics. The main 7 channels are rated at 200W, operated simultaneously. I thought it notable that the amplifier chassis is configured to be under the main chassis and that indicates that we’ve reached a point where the efficiency of class-D…