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In the D'Agostino exhibit, pure AC power was fed to the Progressive monoblocks by a Stromtank independent power source ($30,000): a 276-lb enclosure in which a 16-cell Lithium phosphate battery pack stores up to 4000W, ultimately to be converted to pure-sinewave AC. Four hospital-grade AC outlets are provided for source components and an additional two outlets serve to support power amplifiers. Stromtank claims that their power source can provide between 5 and 8 hours of pure AC power between charges.
The Heisenberg—Audionet's largest and most powerful monoblock amplifier—was on display in a portion of the suite shared with YG Acoustics. The $105,000/pair, 150-lb amplifier is rated at 530W into 8 ohms, 1050W into 4 ohms, and 2100W into 2 ohms. Its frequency response is specified as 0Hz–700kHz, –3dB. The floating panels of the chassis are resonance-optimized by massive brass pads on an aluminum frame. Like the Audionet Max monoblock ($30,500 per pair)—a pair of which drove the four-tower YG Acoustics Sonja XV loudspeaker system with impressive soundstaging and dynamics—the Heisenberg uses…
In the YG Acoustics-Audionet suite, the sound on playback of Jake Shimabukuro's ukulele wizardry came closer to matching his live performance than in most rooms, perhaps as a result of the excellent match between the Audionet Max monoblock amplifiers and YG Acoustics Sonja XV loudspeakers. After Jake finished playing, YG lead designer Yoav Geva (holding the uke with Jake) and others gathered around for a group photograph.
For most audiophiles, the name that has been associated with the design of TAD loudspeakers is Andrew Jones. Jones is now with Elac,
and TAD's current offerings have had no design input from him. However, the CES 2017 demo of the TAD Micro Evolution One ($12,495/pair)—shown here with Jonathan Derda of MoFi Distribution, the importer—provided convincing proof of the engineering skill of TAD's current Japanese designers. The sound (with all TAD electronics) was simply superb: clean and dynamic, with precise imaging. The recording being played was by Prince, One Nite Alone
, released by NPG…
Based in the Czech Republic, Acoustique Quality is a highly sophisticated loudspeaker design and manufacturing facility that uses the latest technologies, including 3D modeling, five-axis machining, high-precision cutter saws, etc. The top of their line is the AQ Passion ($20,000/pair), a very substantial floorstander. What I found surprising was the fact that they have two stand-mounted speakers at the same price: Designer Vladimir Sapara is shown in the photo with the Passion Teen (left, $6000/pair) and the Orca (right, $6000/pair). Asked to explain the reason for having these identically…
CES 2017 was the occasion for the North American debut of Dynaudio's Contour series of loudspeakers. There are four models in this range, all manufactured at Dynaudio's newly expanded R&D and manufacturing facility in Skanderborg, Denmark. According to Dynaudio's Michael Manousselis, the new Contour models utilize a new Finite Element Method-optimized woofer construction, and have completely redesigned midrange and bass drivers, with the tweeter representing a further development of the famed Esotar2 soft dome. The model being demonstrated was the Contour 60 ($10,000/pair), the flagship…
A 2017 CES Innovation Awards honoree, the HiVi Swan MS-10 ($4000/ pair) is a wireless active stereo system that resembles no loudspeaker that I've seen. (I kept thinking that it looks like one of those "ergonomic" office chairs.) But the separation of the woofer and mid/tweeter modules actually makes sense, and the speaker (on static display) certainly attracted a lot of attention in the Innovation Awards section of CES.
Dennis Bonotto, new International Sales Manager for Nordost, joined the company's Michael Taylor to introduce Nordost's new top USB cable, the Valhalla 2 USB ($3500/1m). The new cable—so new that it's not even listed on the sign behind Dennis—departs from the company's Heimdall 2 and Tyr 2 USB cables by using silver-plated solid-core conductors in a twin-axial configuration, and terminating them with Nordost's proprietary Holo:Plug connectors. Such a design reduces jitter and, thanks to a faster velocity of propagation, also increases bandwidth. In fact, the cables are so fast that Nordost…
At CES 2017, Japanese manufacturer A&M Ltd. announced the expansion of their Air Tight amplifier line with the ATM-3211 all-triode, 120W monoblock ($72,000/pair). The circuit employs a pair of 211 triode tubes running in class-AB, driven by a 12AX7 differential amplifier, itself followed by three 12BH7s arranged in a cathode-follower circuit. Tamura builds the amplifier's power transformer, and WBT supplies the speaker terminals. The amplifier's load-impedance matching can be switched by the owner from the factory default (6 ohms) to 16 ohms. Art Manzano of distributor Axiss Audio said he…
Naim Audio first displayed their monolithic flagship Statement amplification system at the 2014 CES; this year it was present in a static display. The 222-lb Statement consists of three adjacent towers, comprising the NAC S1 preamplifier and two NAP S1 monoblock amplifiers. Each monoblock amplifier is rated at 746W into 8 ohms (one horsepower), 1465W into 4 ohms, and a 9kW burst output into 1 ohm. Each power amp has a 55-lb, 4000VA power transformer in the base, and its output circuit is a bridged design with zero overall feedback.