Claimed to contain "the best tweeter in the world"—the Genesis Ring-…
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An evolution of the original Genesis 5, which was designed by Arnie Nudell and released in 1994, the Genesis Maestro ($30,000/pair), designed by Gary Koh (above), is a highly efficient loudspeaker that can be driven by just a few watts. This is due in part to its built-in servo-controlled bass amplifier, which powers its four long-throw 8" aluminum-cone woofers. With adjustable bass gain and low-pass control, as well as improved crossover technology, the speaker is said to work equally well in rooms small and large.
Today, it seems that no audio company delivers more natural, authentic sound and higher value than Pennsylvania-based Rogue Audio. Their $1495 Sphinx phono-line integrated amplifier was the first product I investigated for Stereophile, and it continues to wow me with its ability to play with more all-around finesse than competing units costing many times as much. It is truly the working man's amplifier.
In that spirit, Rogue now introduces their first headphone amp/preamplifier, the RH-5 ($2495), which not only looks sleek and timeless in that oval-windowed Rogue way, it features three…
Up and down the CES hallways, in line for coffee, and at every dinner, people kept asking, "Did you go to the MoFi room? Did you hear the new TAD Micro Evolution One loudspeaker?" At one dinner, I was sitting with John Atkinson, Tom Norton, and Robert Deutsch, and we all asked, simultaneously, "Did you hear the new TAD Loudspeaker?" I listened several times to that MoFi system (source and amplification components pictured above), and each time I was more impressed. TAD's new $12,495 stand-mounted speaker is arguably one of the most articulate loudspeakers I can remember hearing. But I don't…
Grand Prix Audio has two new equipment racks. The first is the four-post Monaco Nouvelle (on the left in the photo above, approx. $27,000-$30,000 for a four-shelf rack, depending upon options). Above that is the top-of-the-line four-post Silverstone 4 (on the right, $37,500 for a four-shelf rack that includes the company's superior Apex ball-bearing feet, and that offers "infinitely adjustable shelves for location and spacing" and even greater damping capacity).
The company has retooled and restructured all of its excellent carbon frames to achieve much larger damper capacity and greater…
Distributor Axiss Audio was showing the new Piega Coax 711 loudspeaker ($25,000/pair). Everything in the speaker—including its coaxial ribbon tweeter/midrange, bass drivers, and all-aluminum enclosure—is designed and manufactured by the Swiss company. Touted as producing "the finest coaxial ribbon sound"—it certainly sounded lovely and extremely musical in a relatively small space, thanks in no small part to Air Tight amplification—the speaker is actually designed for music lovers with "larger living rooms and a need for even stronger and deeper bass reproduction."
This three-way…
As Stereophile's minister without portfolio, my goal was to find something interesting that didn't quite fit into traditional categories. The prize was an introduction, at a Harman demo room in the Hard Rock Casino/Hotel, to Lexicon's SL-1 loudspeaker prototype (price TBD) and the SoundSteer technology that distinguishes it. It was emphasized that SoundSteer is "highly scalable," and visitors were treated as a focus group to generate ideas for specific products and applications.
The SL-1 prototype is shaped like an hourglass or a dress form. Each waist is belted with 12 dome tweeters…
In addition to having an awesome sounding setup in a smallish room, Simaudio's Lionel Goodfield was putting the final polish on the new Neo MiND. The Neo is a network streamer and music player that supports most PCM formats up to 24/192 and has a variety of output jacks for connection to your DAC. For networking, Bluetooth, ethernet and WiFi is included in addition to a SimLink in and out. Track sample rate and input choice are indicated on the front panel.
In addition to networking with your drives, the Neo MiND also includes support for several online music services including: Tidal,…
It's bad enough that CES makes us advertise for Sony everywhere we go with those bright yellow lanyards. Now they've added a new "feature" to our badges: how long you've been going to CES.
Everyone I asked who got one of these tags (I saw a couple that said 40+ years!) said they made them feel old, not special. I realize the organization behind CES was trying to reward our persistence, but yes, with twenty-somethings like Jana on our staff, who needs a badge telling the world that we've been here since before many in the crowd were even born. Sigh.
Note: Stereophile is rooted in…
Lindemann announced a group of four new gorgeous-looking music players all with preamp control built in: MusicBook 10:DSD (USB music player/$3,495), MusicBook 15:DSD (USB music player plus CD/$3,995), MusicBook 20:DSD (Network music player/$4,495), and the MusicBook 25:DSD (Network music player plus CD/$4,995 - pictured above). The network models support WiFi and ethernet. Also new are two models of matching Class D amplifiers.
Common to all models is the ability to convert any signal, including the optional CD and Bluetooth sources, to DSD 128 or DSD 256 which can then me sent to the DAC…
First, let's list what is in the photo (left stack first, top to bottom): EVO PhonoDAC Two ($1,600), EVO Clock Two ($640), HiFace EVO Two ($640), EVO Supply Two ($500), EVO Plus DAC Two ($890), and the EVO DAC Two ($630). Common to the DAC products: 32/384 PCM and DSD 256 processing, while the EVO Plus DAC Two has an additional clock input. Go to their website to check all the other little differences, but with pricing like this, I think listeners are in for a treat. I loved the pricier M2Tech Young DAC when I reviewed it a couple years back, so I trust their ears are in the right place with…