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For years, I have greeted Rogue's Mark O'Brien with the question, "Anything new in digital?" fully knowing that Rogue Audio is committed to vacuum tube-based analog. This time I asked "Anything new that is not digital?" and Mark beamed. Finally, I had asked the right question and he was happy to show me Rogue's $3500 preamplifier, the P5. This all-new device includes a MM/MC phono stage with adjustable loading and gain as well as a tube-driven headphone amplifier. Modern conveniences include a 10-function remote control and a 2-line VFD display for input selection and volume.
At Musical Surroundings, the Metis line-stage preamp from Aesthetix, first seen at the 2014 RMAF, was running the big demo system. This new 4-tube preamp replaces the multi-chassis Callisto at about $25,000. Notable features include the replacement of traditional interstage coupling capacitors with proprietary circuits and a so-called "Invisible" power supply within the main chassis. The PS sits inside but, with the Metis placed on a flat surface, separate supports lift the power supple free from the chassis so that it is isolated from all the audio and control devices.
One of the trends in amplification this year is the large number of stereo integrated amplifiers with digital inputs. Among these, the Parasound Halo Integrated stands out for its impressive feature set. It is based on the successful P5 preamplifier that Art Dudley reviewed in April 2014. Indeed, it looks like a taller version of the P5 with two pairs of multiway speaker terminals added to the back panel and a front panel with a new sculpted Parasound logo, an illuminated volume control and nicely overall styling.
In addition, the entire digital input module has been re-engineered for…
Those who’ve read my reviews will already know how much musical pleasure my vintage Creek 4330 integrated amp has given me. On the first day of CES I got to relax and listen to the legendary Mike Creek show and tell about the Evolution 50CD ($1695) which is really a high-end DAC with a built in transport. It can handle a total of six digital sources, including CD, and it has two digital outputs plus a Creek RC bus.
I stood fascinated while Mike showed me every tiny component in the new EVO 100A integrated amp ($2195) which uses a clever class-G output stage to increase power to 100Wpc…
Magnepan, traditionally an exhibitor at THE Show at the Flamingo, moved over to the Venetian to demonstrate their new .7 speaker with the Conrad-Johnson MF2275 ($3850). Lew Johnson (right) chose the 135Wpc compact overachiever because he wanted to remind everyone that C-J makes great solid-state amps and it was driving the Maggies with aplomb. Clearly both Wendell Diller (left) and Lew Johnson were delighted with the sound (as was I).
BTW, Lew asked me to assure readers, that Internet posts to the contrary, he is still alive and kicking.
The main joy of returning to audio and writing for Stereophile is the pure fanboy excitement of meeting the folk-heroes of high-end and getting to talk them. In one great-sounding room I got to meet three at once: Wendell Diller of Magnepan (one of the nicest humans in the audio schema) as well as Bill Conrad and Lew Johnson of Conrad-Johnson.
Magnepan was introducing the new .7 loudspeaker ($1400/pair), which is a scaled down version of the popular 1.7. I have always found Magnepan's entry-level offerings, the Magnepan MMG ($600/pair) and the earlier SMGa, to be among the highest value,…
Synergistic Research has just introduced four levels of its new, hand-fabricated Atmosphere interconnects ($695–$2500 for a 1m/pair, depending upon level) and Atmosphere speaker cables (approx. twice the price). Non-active, which means that they don't need to be connected to an external power supply, albeit actively grounded, the cables come complete with blue and red tuning bullets specifically designed for this new "passive" cable line.
"I would put these up against any cables on the market," Synergistic Research's anything-but-passive Ted Denney (above) told me. While the cables are…
No, we're not talking alchemy, but rather AudioQuest's new line of USB to Lightning cables. Designed to facilitate transfer of music from iOS devices to computers or whatever, AQ's Cinnamon, Carbon, and Diamond models made their first appearance at CEDIA. Steve Niemi of AudioQuest (above), who introduced me to the cables, forecasts the lowest-priced Forest model by summer.
It's not every show that a cable company invites a publication's staff to breakfast to preview a power conditioner whose faceplate isn't even ready for viewing. But after a short but most impressive listen to the patent pending circuitry in AudioQuest's forthcoming Niagara 7000 Low-Z Power–AC Grounded Noise-Dissipation System ($TBD), I'm convinced that something special is coming our way.
The Niagara's designer, Garth Powell, an active jazz musician/percussionist who is now Director of Power Products, Engineering at AudioQuest, claims that differential sample tests and spectrum analysis…
Grant Samuelson of Shunyata Research introduced me to the company's new Sigma series of power cords. Designed to intercept noise at a component's power supply, the Sigmas are available in different models specifically intended for digital, analog, and high-current equipment. Each model has a different ETRON filter set that measurably reduces noise for the class of equipment for which it is designed.