The Linebacker XE, which weighs 30 lbs, can treat either individual components or an entire system. The ground plane is a massive plate of pure…
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I'm referring to the company's new PranaWire Linebacker XE ($12,500), an in-line passive power filter with what it's designer, Joe Cohen of The Lotus Group, calls two stages of passive filtering materials and a "super enhanced" ground plane. The "massively damped" unit plugs directly into your device's power cable via a custom-treated Oyaide FI IEC inlet, and connects to your power source via an integral 1.5 meter PranaWire Cosmos power cable.
Quadraspire's forthcoming reference rack, so new that it has neither name nor price, is due this summer. A modular system, with heights of columns adjustable, it uses a non-coated, non-oxidizing phosphor-bronze alloy for hardware, and relatively light bamboo shelves that weigh around 20 lbs. each. Each shelf sits on a bamboo "X" that draws resonant energy away from components, and whose underside is coated with Nextel to reduce resonance and RF transmission.
The Sound Organisation's Barnaby Fry (left), David Carr (center), and Sally Goff (right) had ever reason to smile as they showed off…
I visited the Kevro room to get another listen to the Monitor Audio Silver 8 speakers that I reviewed in January. However, I found that Kevro was bringing Cyrus electronics back to the US. The offerings were all in the tidy and familiar half-shoebox format that permits Cyrus devices to stack so neatly.
In the back room, I was introduced to Jeremy Brown, who showed me the new Stereo 200 class-D power amplifier ($3499). This 200Wpc amp has a linear power supply (revealed by the hefty toroidal power transformer in our upside-down view of the internals) and a unique class-D output stage. Most…
In addition to the Steinway Lyngdorf components which are designed to work as a system, Lyngdorf showed components which can integrate with other brands. Included were the SDA-2400 power amp (400Wpc, $2400) and the TDAI-2170 stereo digital integrated amplifier (170Wpc, $4000).
The latter offers digital and analog inputs, RoomPerfect room correction software, and a completely digital signal path right up to the speaker terminals with its PWM amplification. Additional modules are offered for HDMI input/output, USB streaming and/or a "premiere" ADC.
The new Jadis JA120 monoblock amplifierss ($27,900/pair) were driving a pair of Estelon XA speakers to lusty levels at the Bluebird Music room. The design uses the newish KT120 output tubes, six per amp, and, with an additional front-end tube and a higher-gain driver stage, each JA-120 is claimed to be capable of 100W of pure class-A output.
Possibly, the most beautiful design I saw CES was the new Absolare Passion 845 push-pull amplifier ($40,000/pair) and they were handily driving a pair of Rockport Avior speakers. As with the earlier Passion 845 single-ended amp, the push-pull amp sports a pair of glowing 845 power tubes but by adding a pair of EL-34 drivers after the input 12AT7, Absolare is able to increase the output palpably from 45W to 85W of zero-feedback power while remaining substantially in class-A operating mode.
Nelson Pass's introductory claim was modest: "Pass simply added some input selection and level control to the front end to turn these amplifiers into new integrated models." What I saw were two impressive integrated amps that are clearly derived from the larger Point 8 amps as evidenced by the same distinctive meters. Both the 60Wpc INT-60 ($9000) and the 250Wpc INT-250 ($12,000) are said to deliver the same low distortion and outstanding speaker control as their larger predecessors. They also have a volume stage with gain, direct access to four line-level inputs and add a two-line digital…
All the Harman boys were over at the Hard Rock Hotel rather than the official CES sites, but I was able to swing by on my way to the airport to see the new statement amp from Mark Levinson.
The No.536 monophonic power amplifier ($15,000) clearly signals a rebirth of the ML spirit with its black and silver design as well as its impressive engineering and construction. Specified at 400W into 8 ohms and 800W into 4 ohms, this elegant behemoth has a fully discrete class-AB topology with class-A voltage-gain and driver stages. There are no integrated circuits in the circuit path.
Mark Mason, Vice President, Engineering of Thiel Audio, presented the new Thiel Subwoofer, with a suggested retail of $3000. The small, sealed and powered sub has a sophisticated limiter circuit that allows one to set the sub for "party mode," using maximum output, or for extended mode. Neither setting allows the internal amplifier to clip or the woofer to be overdriven.
It uses a 1000W class-D amplifier and a 12" driver with a 3" peak-to-peak excursion. The sub specifically doesn't use a high-pass filter to roll off below 20Hz, preferring to use a sealed enclosure to minimize the group…
"This is our new top-of-the-line subwoofer," said James Tanner, as he proudly showed a non-playing Byrston Model T subwoofer that will retail at $4795 each. He described why Bryston built a 110' tower to confirm that sub's anechoic response does actually reach down to 12Hz.
This depth of response was achieved by a thorough vibration analysis, crossover refinement, and new driver design. Three 8" long-throw cone drivers, powered by an internal class-D 600W amplifier, are used to generate the sub's 18Hz–150Hz (±3dB) response with a maximum SPL of 108dB measured at 1 meter. The sub's…