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I had gone into the Koetsu USA room at the Venetian to catch up on the latest developments to the Italian Blacknote DSS30 media server, which I hope to be reviewing later in the year. But I was very taken by the sound of the three-way Odeon Elektra loudspeakers ($19,100/pair), which, driven either by the DSS30,a Goldennote Stibbert CD player, or a Montegiro LP player, via a Goldennote 75Wpc, solid-state integrated amplifier, didn't sound at all like what I expect from horn speakers. Strings had a natural sheen, brass winds a natural "blattiness." Whether solo voice, classical…
I know, center-channel speakers are the bailiwick of our sister magazine Home Theater. But as Wilson Audio Specialties' Peter McGrath told me when he explained the speaker's technology to me in the Utah company's suite at the Mirage, two Polarises work magically as a stereo pair. (Unfortunately, the speaker was only being shown, not demonstrated.)
Nothing I had read in the press release for the Polaris had prepared me for just how big the speaker was in the flesh. It has to be low, of course, to fit under a screen, but is wide and deep. Two 10" woofers flank a vertical array of two…
Pianist Fred Hersch plays at the Village Vanguard this week, joined by bassist Drew Gress and drummer Paul Motian. I was at last night’s early set, and it was one of the most bracing I’ve seen in a long while.
I’ve dropped my jaw enough times in this space about Motian’s magicianship. Many drummers accent the beat by playing around it, but Motian—who’s nearly 79 and more agile than ever—stretches and squeezes time a half-dozen ways in every 8-bar phrase, always startling but never out of place, like nobody since Tony Williams.
Gress, a regular in Hersch’s early bands who hangs…
When you’re old, you begin to read obits and relate to the ages of the dead. Like this from this morning: the great Teddy Pendergrass dead at 59 of colon cancer.
If you are of a certain age, it also gives you mortality rumbles because Teddy was once the GO–TO music for bumbling seductions. Ask anyone of the much maligned 70’s generation who was/is at an elevated level of A) musical knowledge and taste and B) interest in the fairer sex, and "Turn Off The Lights,” (a Gamble/Huff tune) and “Love T.K.O.”(a tune Leon Huff co-wrote) were the gold standard. They were so sexy that even the…
I still remember seeing the first two HRT Streamers at CES last year, when Kevin Halverson held them out in his hand, thinking what a great idea to improve the lot of cash-strapped PC Audiophiles. One year and thousands of sales later, version two of the original DACs are out as the $149.95 Music Streamer II and $349.95 Music Streamer II+. Joining them is the Music Streamer Pro at $499.95 which sports balanced +4 voltage outputs and other goodies for the pro-audio set.
Michael Hobson and Kevin Halverson were quick to explain that the new versions feature several design enhancements…
"It's really red" I exclaimed, "bright, give-me-a-speeding-ticket red." Simaudio's Lionel Goodfield and distributor Michael Baskin were both quick to respond with "is there really any other color when it comes to special cars? So it is with special audio components."
The company is celebrating 30 years in business with red and chrome 30th Anniversary editions of both the both the MOON 600i Integrated Amp and 750D CD/DAC. Production numbers will be limited and prices have only been approximately set: $15,000 for the 600i and around $20,000 for the 750D which Simaudio claims includes…
Peachtree scored a hit last year with their Decco desktop DAC/Amp combo. They've returned with an updated version of the original Decco called the Decco2 which is available now for $799 and sports a 40 watts per channel tube hybrid integrated amp and ESS Sabre DAC.
New to the mix is the $999 iDecco (pictured above) that includes a "pure digital" iPod dock up top. The rest of the specifications are similar to the Decco2, and the size and form factor for both products is the same as with the original Decco. Peachtree's David Solomon points out that their iPod dock connects your…
I was surprised at how ambitious the new Maestro from Electrocompaniet looked on paper: Blu-ray drive, both audio and video streaming, internet radio, FM tuner, options including iPod dock and DAB/HD radio, integrated amplifier delivering 120 Watts into three channels, and optional 75 Watts times two amplifier for surround that can be wirelessly driven using a RF link. All this for between $8,000-10,000 depending on options.
Alas, when I arrived at the room it wasn't running (this being a prototype with some heat issues I was told) but what I did see looked promising. The Maestro…
A clever USB to Ethernet bridge (Pont Neuf—get it?) to allow your computer USB out to serve the Cantata over long cable runs. In striking case to match the Cantata aesthetics and available in February for $400.
Close-up of the retro-futuristic display graphics. Yes, they did line up an entire string of alphanumeric LED displays to match the holes carefully machined in the chassis.