The 84 lb, dual-mono PA 3000 HV power amp ($18,500) can be used as a stereo or mono amp with output rated at 300Wpc (8 ohms) and 500Wpc (4 ohms) with mono operation bumping those numbers by more than 20%. More interesting is the power bandwidth of 1Hz…
search
T+A's entire HV range was the epitome of sleek and sexy. I was particularly impressed with physical architecture, even beneath the skin, as there is a casework frame of solid aluminum plates, screwed together. The plates form sealed chambers to de-couple and shield all sub-assemblies from each other. External case parts are up to 40mm thick!
Dynaudio North America's Michael Manousselis was proudly demonstrating the Danish parent company's Contour S 3.4 LE speakers with the new Octave V 110 integrated amplifier ($8000), a fixed-bias pentode design that has been optimized specifically for the KT120 tube. Features include wideband output transformers while utilizing soft-start circuitry, extensive monitoring and protection circuitry, as well as an energy-saving EcoMode feature.
Tube biasing is done manually straight from the front panel via four trim pots with corresponding LED indicators. A Power Selector switch on the rear…
I visited the Burson room because I retain a strange interest in this Australian company’s innovative discrete op-amp modules even though I am long past my DIY years. (JA has a pair of Burson's op-amp modules in for evaluation.)
What I found were some compact and well-thought-out audio components that, judging from a casual audition, deserve more attention. There was the preamplifier that, literally, glowed from within because of LEDs that let us appreciate its precise construction. New, however, was the Timekeeper Virtuoso power amplifier (est. $3450). The class-AB amp with a tailor-made…
Kevin Deal was so proud of his new DiaLogue Premium HP power amplifier ($3899 stereo or monoblock) that he insisted on showing off its underside so that we can all appreciate the quality of the components and the fastidious wiring. Output power ranges from 42Wpc (triode stereo with EL34s) to 175Wpc (ultralinear mono with KT120s). He was also proud to emphasize that the adaptive autobias circuitry can handle any suitable tube (EL-34, KT88, KT120 or, even, KT150) optimally and, to prove its capability, he was happily playing one in which every tube pair was mismatched!
Manley Labs' Evanna Manley was deeply involved in discussion so I asked around about what new amps/preamps are showing. The answer was that, since there were no new products being introduced, they decided to present their current offerings to emphasize their aesthetics by having them framed and hung. Point taken. Picture taken.
While his multipurpose integrated amp lurked in the background, I took immediate notice of Dan D'Agostino's hulky 6U form-factor multichannel amplifier, the Cinema Standard. Available with two ($12,000) and three ($15,000) channels, it offers 250Wpc into 8ohms and doubles down to 500 into 4 and 1000 into 2, at 0.1% total harmonic distortion! Now that's dynamic headroom.
Any input can be bused to any/all channels and there are switchable HP and LP filters (18dB/octave, 80Hz) which, while somewhat inflexible, will implement useful bass management when using a stereo system for home theater…
Wharfedale—which now bills itself "Britain's Most Famous Loudspeaker. . .Since 1932"—introduced the Diamond 200 series at CES 2015. The series includes the model 210 and 220 bookshelf monitors, model 230, 240 and 250 floorstanders, model 220C center-channel speaker, and model WH-D8 and WH-D10 subwoofer.
There are significant upgrades from the previous Diamond 10 series, including a more rigid enclosure construction, improved woofers, and more refined crossover networks. The new design speakers are more room-friendly, and can be placed closer to the rear wall for optimal performance and…
Epos and Creek have long been associated—Epos loudspeakers seemed to work particularly well with Creek electronics—but the connection became more solidified in 2014, when Mike Creek acquired total control of Epos and appointed his son, Luke, to be the Epos brand director. The first result of this change of ownership is the new Epos K-Series, which importer Roy Hall describes as being more "lifestyle-oriented."
The series includes the stand-mounted K1, the K2 floorstander, and—introduced at CES 2015—another floorstander: the K3 ($2395/pair), shown in the photo. Active models are in the…
Like many (most?) audiophiles, I've tended to turn up my nose at in-wall and on-wall loudspeakers. I normally assume that there must be major sonic compromises in designing speakers that fade into the background. I was then most pleasantly surprised by the sound of the Totem Tribe V ($6000/pair) at CES 2015. This is an on-wall speaker, but that sort of mounting is not possible in a hotel environment, so the speakers were stand-mounted, as close to the wall as possible. The sound was clean, open, and dynamic, with a firm bass foundation that was hard to credit to Totem's small (maybe 5")…
What a difference a tweeter makes! Elac makes a small bookshelf speaker, the BS 73, which costs $850/pair. They make another, even smaller, bookshelf speaker, the BS 312, which costs $2800/pair. The BS 312 is shown in the center of the photo, with the BS 73 flanking it (I'm not sure which one). There are some obvious differences in construction (the BS 312 has a metal cabinet), but the greatest difference is probably the tweeter: the BS 73 uses a dome tweeter, whereas the BS 312 uses what they call a JET tweeter.
This is Elac's version of what is otherwise known as the Heil Air Motion…