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Like old radios or the console hi-fis of the 1950s and '60s, desktop, countertop, bureau-top, 'wireless music systems' are quickly becoming deluxe objects of conspicuous consumption. "Oh honey—look! Isn't that beautiful!" Competition in this relatively new-old category of home music delivery is mostly driven by industrial design awesomeness. To succeed in the short haul, a wireless music system must be attractive in a way that interior designers and decorators believe will enhance their efforts. To succeed in the longer haul, these products must deliver a quality of sound that satisfies our…
Adcom introduced two new products at CES 2016: The 250Wpc, GFA-565se stereo amplifier ($1499, rear) and the Luna wireless music system ($599, front). Like the Naim Mu-so, Adcom's version of "industrial design awesomeness"—the Luna also connects in the most happening ways: WiFi, aptX Bluetooth, USB, UPNP/DLNA, 3.5mm analog input and headphone jack. It is 240/110V AC or Li-ion battery-powered. It was only on static desktop display, but it has two 3" full-range speakers driven by separate 10W amps.
I thought la Luna looked full-moon good; notice the cute round remote which I suspect fits…
It was déjà vu all over the Venetian Towers. The popularity of "all-in-one" streamer-DAC-integrateds housed in a single chassis definitely reminds me of my college days, when every professor had a Marantz receiver and some Large Advents. While those scholarly fellows of yore needed a Dual 1019 and an AM/FM tuner to access their music, today's men and women of the academy simply connect their "receivers" to the Internet.
Moon by Simaudio's new Neo ACE ($3500) looks and sounds and feels like a 21st-century version of a classic Marantz receiver. It is a 50Wpc, class-A/B integrated…
Roy Hall, the master of the "wee dram" (of single-malt Scotch) was demonstrating all this Creek wonderfulness with the Epos K3, three-way, floorstanding loudspeakers ($2395/pair) which, like the Creek gear that he distributes in the US, showcased beauty, charm, fine detail, and of course: a wee bit of drunken revelry.
Creek introduced a new CD player! Yes, a new CD player. This makes me extremely happy because I have been waiting for a new CD player to review—so I can discuss some of the important issues surrounding collecting and archiving music.
The $1995 Creek 100A DAC/CD…
More than a decade ago, I reviewed Music Hall's first turntable, and not only did it play way better than it should for its price; but it felt distinctly like what would surely become the forefather of long bloodline of musical, high-value record players; and it did. The newest, youngest, and most attractive of them all, the MMF 7.3 looks like a new stud breeding horse and a super value for it $1595 price.
It sports a carbon-fiber tonearm and comes ready to play with an Ortofon 2M Bronze moving-magnet cartridge with a nude fine-line stylus. It is a two-speed—where's my 78?—belt-driven…
Lots of all-in-one type digital music systems at CES this year, but this has to be one of the most simple and straightforward in purpose. You have a network ethernet port and a couple of USB inputs (for storage or flash drives) on the back and then left and right speaker posts. That's it, except for the power switch and plug of course.
The amplifier path is Class D all the way to the speaker posts and is rated at 60 watts/channel. Digital can handle up to 32/384 PCM and DSD128 and it includes built-in support for Tidal and Qobuz streaming services. You can use the volume control on the…
I'm not sure why my presence in some rooms inspired ballet music, but Gary Koh of Genesis Advanced Technologies' choice of The Lilac Fairy, on an LP test pressing from the Royal Gala Ballet, seemed more than apt.
Good sound was a notable achievement given that the new Genesis Forte loudspeakers ($140,000/pair) had been shipped to Las Vegas a mere two days after assembly, and had only three days of break-in on them. That's hardly long enough for all its line-source array drivers. Changes have been made to the previous model's cabinet and crossover, and are claimed to provide improved…
So new there isn't yet a firm US price (somewhere between $6-7k is the guess), the U1 is Lumin's latest high end network player with support for 32/384 PCM and DSD128. Tidal and Qobuz are built in and everything is run by the Lumin custom iOS and Android compatible music browsing app.
On the back are five types of digital output: USB, SPDIF, AES/EBU, BNC, and optical. Digital inputs include Gigabit Ethernet and USB for external or flash drives. Should arrive in the US next month.
None other than designer Terry Miles was on hand to introduce Spendor's "all-new top-of-line Spendor Classic" 3-way loudspeaker ($24,995/pair). The system, which also included Leema electronics from Wales and van den Hul cabling, delivered an excellent and impressive sense of space on a Reference Recordings CD of ballet music by Delibes. Bass had great impact, and the toned down, polite top did not prevent a triangle from resounding beautifully in space.
Miles has worked at Spendor for four decades, and began designing their latest-generation loudspeakers in 2007. Distinguishing the…
Jeff Rowland's Model 725 S2 monoblocks ($34,000/pair) have been out maybe four years, but now include new error-correction circuitry originally developed for the Jeff Rowland 625 S2. Also of import are ceramic circuit boards, 4-pole Jensen capacitors, and virtually immeasurable distortion from 20Hz–20kHz. The class-A/B amps deliver 330Wpc into 8 ohms, and have fully balanced transformer coupled inputs as well as switch-mode power supplies with power-factor correction. The display was passive, with Rowland's active system, complete with Nordost cabling, showcasing other products.