Goldmund's $300k Turntable
I couldn't resist posting this photo, not of a product, but of photos of a product, just to get Mikey Fremer all riled up about the fact that the Continuum Caliburn turntable, for which he forked out mucho dinero, is no longer the Big Dog of LP playback.
Heavy Metal!
Ypsilon Electronics was a new name to me, so I wasn't sure what Jon Iverson and I would see when we entered its room. Whatever we expected, it wasn't the ginormous hybrid SET-100 monoblock amplifiers ($69,000/pair).
Hybrids Are Hot
"Recent advances in solid-state output devices and other components have opened up design possibilities never previously available," Audio Research's Terry Dorn explained. "And that led to our developing the Hybrid Drive HD220 stereo power amplifier ($8995)."
iPod For Audiophiles?
That's what MSB's Larry Gullman called MSB's iLink, $2000 package that makes your iPod "better than CD."
It's Kuzmarific!
Franc Kuzma showed us his $900 VynVac record cleaner. "It's compact and, when it's not in use, it doesn't take up much space," he told us.
Jonathan Scull—Demagnetize This
Erstwhile Stereophile scribe Jonathan Scull, now firmly established in the worlds of public relations and marketing, conducted an in-room presentation of new Furutech products including an LP flattener, an LP demagnetizer and, with especial relish shown in the picture, an LP degausser. Also, shown were some beautiful AC receptacles and <$100 power cords with various connectors. Beautiful stuff.
KEF Goes WiFi
When Stereophile webmaster Jon Iverson speaks, I listen, so when, in a conversation the night before the Show opened, he mentioned that he felt wireless speakers would be big in 2007, I looked out for examples.
Klee—Another Cable Manufacturer
Since my first CES, in 1979, I have always enjoyed the chance encounters in the corridors. Some of these turn out to be with people who, unknown at the time, end up being audio superstars. I don't know whether Larry Forbes will succeed, but he certainly has the passion. His Klee Cables use flat, thin conductors of different metals and he has applied for a patent for this conductor configuration, having not found any prior art. Well yes, Larry admits, Goertz did something similar, but that didn't involve different metals. You can contact Larry at Larry_Forbes@hotmail.com.
Kubotek's Haniwa Horns
You'd think there was not much more to say when it came to horn speaker design. Yet there, in one of the Venetian's 29th-floor rooms was audible proof that progress can still be made. Designed by Japanese engineer Tetsuo Kubo (above), the Kubotekhttp://www.kubotek.com">Kubotek; Haniwa SP1W33 horn speakers ($60,000/pair) use Electrovoice drivers loaded with midrange and low-frequency horns that continue the Tractrix flare around to the rear of the horn to minimize edge reflections. A separate DSP processor, the FPIC-100 Sound Signal Controller is used to correct the horns' phase characteristics independent of the amplitude response.