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…
search
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.
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.
Paradigm exhibited its new Prestige 1000SW, 12" Subwoofer. Priced at $2999, the subwoofer uses a single 12" brushed-aluminum, high-excursion X-PAL driver in a sealed enclosure which is driven by a class-D, 1000W RMS (1700W peak) amplifier. Paradigm employs a special woofer surround material, an overmolded Active Ridge Technology (ART), which is crafted from injection-molded thermoplastic elastomer. The surround material allows for linear motion in both directions, which is claimed to allow the subwoofer to play 3dB louder at half the distortion.
The manufacturer rates the sub's –3dB point…
PSB Speakers was exhibiting a new bass-reflex subwoofer, the SubSeries (SS) 450, which will be shipping in April 2016 at a suggested US price of $1499. The driver features a 12", woven-fiber-glass cone. The subwoofer employs a 450W class-D amplifier, a built-in 4th order, continuously variable low-pass filter. The subwoofer was on exhibit and not playing.
REL Acoustics was displaying their new S/5 SHO 12" subwoofer at CES. Like other S-Series subwoofers that came before, the S/5 has a forward-facing, 12" active driver and a 12" passive downward-firing passive driver. The S/5 can be driven wirelessly, and employs the 3-stage, low-noise "limitless" electronics for a wide-dynamic range and increased power output.
It was not playing when I visited the REL Acoustics room. Wireless use involves a receiver box, shown sitting atop the S/5 SHO in the accompanying image.
Because the total 6-pack sets one back $24,000, I asked REL Acoustics' David Schultz if there might be a "Six-Pack light" version. Yes, he replied, we have the "poor man's six-pack," the REL Acoustics 212SE. Wireless-capable, the almost-70 lb, 212-SE sealed-cabinet enclosure stands 20" tall and uses two active 12" and two passive 12" drivers, all powered by the 1000W RMS class-D internal amplifier with a new low-noise 3-stage input circuit.
Though the silver bars that run along the sides of the enclosure look like handles, they serve to reinforce the cabinet and dampen vibration. Rather…
I ran into REL Acoustics' highly eloquent John Hunter on the way to the Venetian Towers, and he suggested I come by to hear the REL Acoustics "Six Pack." As it turned out, this was not a San Francisco microbrew special, or well-developed abdominal musculature, but twin towers of 3 stacked, (84 lb each) REL Gibraltar-2 subwoofers ($4000 each) set between two full-range Rockport Avior loudspeakers.
Thiel's new Intellisub was the highest-tech new subwoofer I encountered at CES 2016. It uses wireless control with convenient SmartSub app, which allows the user to control its digitally-processed, Auto-Room correction software. Rory Buszka, Thiel's engineer, explained that the built-in SmartSubXT system automatically adjusts its output based on measurements from 1–40 locations in the room.
The new Thiel sub is a 90 lb, sealed system, housed in a medium-sized curved enclosure finished in rosewood, espresso walnut, high-gloss black, or high-gloss white. It employs a 12" aluminum-coned long…