Optional are Westlake Audio "speaker muffs," which increase the area of the front baffle and reduce diffraction effects due to cabinet edge reflections.
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"Our goal is to build a reference monitor, rather than to produce the new flavor of the day," Westlake Audio's Glenn R. Phoenix told Stereophile. "Rather than boosting the bass or using multiple tweeters, we strive for reference neutrality." Hence the LC8.1 speaker system, which includes two top modules ($8000/pair) and two Lc8.1sw subwoofers with polypropylene drivers ($12,699/pair).
If my title lacks poetry, my notes are worse: they inexplicably lack any record of the sound in this room! With apologies to all, what I can tell you is that the Soulution 755 phono preamplifier ($72,000) is now available. Complete with an analog, passive volume/balance control that uses low-noise, metal-foil resistors, the 755 can be connected to an amplifier without need of a separate line stage. If a line stage is employed, however, the 755's volume control may be switched out of the signal path.
The unit's three phono inputs allow virtually infinite loading from 10 ohms to 1000 ohms.…
The tube warmth of the aluminum-chassis, leather-clad Absolare Passion integrated amplifier ($24,750), a hybrid SET design with a tube preamplifier section and solid-state dual mono amplifier section that aims for a "tube sound," was a touch of heaven amidst a limbo of grayness. How lovely, after encountering a number of gray-tinged presentations in other rooms, to again hear lots of enjoyable, warm color.
Having the same sonic footprint as the Absolare power amplifier, the integrated includes gold/silver-plated tellurium signal connectors, silver-plated copper binding posts with…
Roger Gibboni of Rogers High Fidelity unveiled the Rogers 34S-1 integrated amplifier ($19,900, top on rack in photo). A dual-mono class-A amplifier with eight EL-34 power tubes, this baby, set to ship in March, has a unique, dedicated iOS platform (visible on Gibboni's iPad) which allows for complete functionality including bad tube indicators. Apple and Android smartphone operation via Bluetooth is included, and auto-bias circuitry and a lifetime warranty are other pluses. On a scale of 1 to 10, this product's cool factor is very, very high.
The sound, on the other hand, was anything but…
GamuT designer Benno Baun Meldgaard, whose 41 years give the lie to those who suggest that the High End is populated solely by old fart engineers, joined Audio Skies distributor Michael Vamos (left in photo) for the press launch of GamuT's new "no-compromise" loudspeaker, the Zodiac ($139,000/pair). Featuring a cabinet composed of 27 layers of wood of different thicknesses, a new tweeter and companion drivers, and phase alignment between the crucial frequencies of 200 Hz—15 kHz, the Zodiac comes with a massive spiked stand adjustable according to listening distance. It is designed to have the…
Amplifier Technology Incorporated's John Baloff showed me their new 4007 class-D amplifier during a brief visit to their room. "Baby brother" to the company's 6000 amplifier, the 4007 ($2995 for the 2-channel version; the amplifier is available in 4-, 8- or 12 channel versions) delivers 180Wpc into 8 ohms, using new "extremely quiet" NCore class-D modules.
MoFi Distribution now distributes the Balanced Audio Technology product line, and were demonstrating the new BAT VK-76SE stereo tubed amplifier. Output is specified as 75Wpc into 8 ohms and 150Wpc into 4 ohms.
Bryston also showed, for the first time, value-oriented phono stages for moving-coil and moving-magnet phono cartridges, as well as a power supply for these two units.
I was most interested in the $1500 Bryston Moving Magnet (BMM) phono stage, with built-in TF-2 step-up transformers. It offers four capacitative loading options to match any cartridge. The modularlity of this package was evident, because one can get just the $1200 TF-2 step up transformer with its 20dB or 31dB noise-free boost, just the $800 BMM moving-magnet phono preamplifier or the $1500 combination in the same chassis.…
Bryston had sent me emails announcing a new amplifier series but gave little detail. Arriving at the exhibit in the Venetian Towers, I was greeted by ever-upbeat James Tanner, Bryston's Director of Marketing. He pointed to the new Bryston 7B3 monoblock amplifier ($11,000/pair), and explained that the "cubed" name arose as naturally following the previous Bryston amplifier SST2 series.
The "SST" title had referred to Stewart Taylor, the designer of the earlier line of amplifiers. A brand-new, patented input circuit, designed by Dr. Alexandru Salomie, results in improved distortion and…
The 2016 CES was the North American Debut of the BSC's L5 Reference multi-chassis remote controlled class A line stage ($15,900). Brett D'Agostino explained the clever layout of this unusually fashioned preamplifier. Its curved surfaces give the line stage a retro look and, for reasons I can't explain, reminded me of Gaudi's La Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona. The circuitry is fully discrete, differential, and complimentary class-A from input to output. The main parts of the preamplifier—the control and processing module, the audio module, and the power supply—are all isolated and…