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Yup, they grow 'em big in Pasadena. Stage III's Leviathan power cord ($14,500/1.5m) has much larger silver-palladium conductors than the previous flagship model. Each leg has its own dedicated cabling, wrapped in a custom-made housing. The Leviathan can pass up to 80 amps of current for the biggest and most power hungry amps.
Two components in one, Isotek's Mosaic Genesis ($11,995) is, first of all, a power regenerator. Converting power to DC, and claimed to produce a perfectly clean, time-correct sinewave without sending noise back into the wall, it sends power to outlets isolated via a bus bar.
"The name Genesis signifies that it completely severs from the AC in the wall," distributor Kevin Wolff of Vana, Ltd. told Stereophile.
Strictly for source components, it includes three outlets for CD, phono, preamps, etc. The unit also contains dedicated outlets for amplifiers. Dropping the operating…
Thanks to Brian Ackerman of Aaudio Imports, Finite Elemente's equipment supports and racks have returned to the US. market. All of the company six different Cera equipment supports models ($230–$820/set of 3, depending upon model) uses ceramic bearings, and, save for the aluminum shell of the entry-level Ceraball, stainless steel housings to isolate equipment from vibrations. Far more than isolators, all products are claimed to act as mechanical diodes, drawing energy out of components.
Lower level models have a single bearing; the more costly supports have three. The size of the models…
I hope not, because it's (presumably indigestible) vibration-damping material from Scotland. Distributed by TWN Audio/Video's Santy Oropel, the Black Ravioli line includes the Big Riser ($190/each), which goes under heavy components such as amplifiers; the Big Pad ($90/each) for preamps, DACs and the like; the Small Pad (4 for $300), which either adheres to a light component's chassis or serves as a footer; and the iMac Vibration Controller ($250—not shown), a base complete with feet that goes under a tablet.
A year after they were first announced, WBT CEO Wolfgang B. Thoerner is preparing to release his organic carbon Nano Gen connectors at the 2015 Munich show. As opposed to customary metal connectors, Nano Gen's carbon is claimed to transport signals faster because it does so in only two dimensions, while metal transport transports signals in three dimensions.
"Metal has the skin effect, which sends signals up and down in an extraneous direction," Thoerner explained. "Carbon has no skin effect." The connectors, which will be available through local dealers, can be used to retrofit existing…
I first heard the King Audio Limited (also known as KingSound) Prince electrostatic loudspeaker several years ago at the Montreal show, and was impressed by the transparency of its sound, which reminded me of the KLH Nines that I used to own. I've heard it, as well as the higher-end King model, several times since then, but my impressions have been variable. I remember one time at T.H.E. Show at the Flamingo in Las Vegas, which had the Kings at one end of a large room and the Prince at the other, a setup that did neither speaker any favors.
But the Prince, which has evolved into the…
"Have you heard the Larsen speakers?" The person posing this query was one of CES attendees in the elevator with me at the Venetian, who looked at my badge and noted my affiliation. "No, I can't say I have. I don't think I've even heard of them." He then proceeded to tell me that he owned these speakers, and loved them. They were exhibiting at the Venetian. I promised to check out the Larsen room.
Well, my elevator-friend, I was true to my word: I did seek out the Larsen room, shared with Danish speaker company Gamut, and very much enjoyed listening to the speakers—so Thank You for the…
Speaker designer Paul Barton is not known for coming up with new models willy-nilly, so a new model that represents a potential advance in sound quality—rather than just meeting a particular price point—is a significant event. The new speaker is the T3 ($7500/pair), and represents collaboration with a different overseas manufacturing facility than earlier models like the T2.
All the drivers are new: a titanium-dome tweeter with ferrofluid neodymium magnet, a compressed felt/fibreglass-cone midrange unit with mastic compound coating and rubber surround, and a woofer of similar…
I have long admired the sound of the Danish-made Raidho speakers, but have found it difficult to relate to their prices—except for a small two-way, all well north of $10k/pair. I was then pleased to find out that there's a new Raidho-affiliated brand name: Scansonic HD. The speakers are made by Raidho on an OEM basis, and are generally of similar design but without all the refinements and hand-built construction of the Raidhos. The top-of-the-line MC-3.5, priced at a more modest $5000/pair, sounded very good indeed, with a clean, dynamic sound, and great imaging. A lot like the Raidhos, in…
Dynaudio, which often exhibits with Simaudio Moon electronics, this time was doing a demo (with Mick Tillman in the photo) of their Contour S 3.4 LE speaker ($7850/pair) in a system featuring the Octave V110 integrated, T+A Elektroakustik music player/CD transport/DAC, and In-Akustik cables. The V110 uses K120 tubes, and costs $11,800 including the Super Black Box capacitance upgrade module. (An optional MM/MC photo module costs $600.) I think this may be that first time I've heard Dynaudio speakers driven by tube electronics, but, in this system, they did not seem handicapped in any way.