CES 2016

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CES 2016

Ubiq: Made in Slovenia

Robert Deutsch Jan 12, 2016 First Published: Jan 12, 2016 0 comments

Made in Slovenia, the Ubiq One ($13,750/pair) is a striking-looking speaker, whose sound (in a system with the Absolare Passion integrated amplifier and Memory Player 64) had a horn-like quickness. I looked up Ubiq Audio on the internet, and was interested to note that Igor Kante, Ubiq's CEO and project leader, is a big fan of Avantgarde horns, as am I.

CES 2016

Active Speakers from ATC

Robert Deutsch Jan 12, 2016 First Published: Jan 12, 2016 0 comments

Coming from the pro market, where active loudspeakers have been the norm, ATC is a major advocate of the active approach. According to ATC, the advantages include more accurate crossovers, lower intermodulation distortion, improved frequency response and stereo matching, and better low-frequency control. The active speaker from ATC being demoed at CES was the SCM40A, ($12,999/pair; $6999/pair in the passive version).

CES 2016

EAT's E-Flat turntable

Robert Deutsch Jan 12, 2016 First Published: Jan 12, 2016 0 comments

Not having been actively involved in the turntable scene until recently, I found out for the first time about European Audio Team (EAT) at this year's CES. I was intrigued by the look of the various EAT turntables and arms, especially the E-Flat turntable with its flat arm ($4475). My guess was that the turntable was direct-drive, but the charming Jozefina Lichtenegger, the company's CEO (above), told me that the turntable was belt-driven, with a 35 lb platter.

CES 2016

LH Labs VI DAC

Jon Iverson Jan 12, 2016 First Published: Jan 12, 2016 0 comments

Also on display in the LH Labs room was the long awaited VI DAC, also started as an Indiegogo project, and available shortly via normal retail for $4999 in solid state version, or $6999 with tubes sporting both single-ended or balanced outputs as shown here. Interestingly the tube version still contains the complete solid-state output stage, so you can switch between them.

CES 2016

LH Labs Geek Source Server/Streamer

Jon Iverson Jan 12, 2016 First Published: Jan 12, 2016 0 comments

Proprietor Gavin Fish was on hand to show off LH Lab's latest prototype, the Geek Source (initially started as an Indiegogo project), slated for release this spring at a retail price of around $5,000. There are optional Femto clocks and the Source will handle pretty much all PCM and DSD formats.

CES 2016

Mark Levinson No. 519 Audio Player Digital Streamer/Player/CD/DAC/Preamp

Jon Iverson, Larry Greenhill Jan 12, 2016 First Published: Jan 12, 2016 0 comments

The new No. 519 is intended to be an all-encompassing source for digital playback and will include not only a CD transport, but also Bluetooth, streaming, network playback, DAC, digital volume control and headphone amp. On the back are AES/EBU, SPDIF, optical and USB inputs as well as ethernet networking jacks. There are both balanced and unbalanced analog outputs as well AES/EBU, SPDIF and optical digital outputs.

CES 2016

AVM MP 3.2 and 6.2 Media/CD Player

Jon Iverson Jan 12, 2016 First Published: Jan 12, 2016 0 comments

AVM has three lines of products ascending in quality and price: Inspiration, Evolution, and Ovation. Pictured above is the Evolution MP3.2 Media Player with built-in Teac CD transport that handles PCM up to 24/192 and DSD64. There are six digital inputs, digital volume control, iOS and Android apps and Tidal integration.

CES 2016 Graham Nash CES 2016

Graham Nash's Second Stop: dCS/Wilson Audio/Dan D'Agostino Suite at the Mirage

Jon Iverson Jan 12, 2016 First Published: Jan 12, 2016 0 comments

We were clearly off to a good start, so I was wondering what Graham Nash's reaction would be to an all out audiophile assault.

I explained to Nash that the Vivid speakers and Luxman system we just heard were relatively compact, by audiophile standards (though by no means modest), and that the next room would be more typical of the cost-no-object approach. Judged by Graham's "impact of the music" criteria, would bigger necessarily be better, or might it detract from the musical intent he was looking for?

CES 2016

dCS Updates Filters & Mapping Firmware

Jason Victor Serinus Jan 11, 2016 First Published: Jan 11, 2016 0 comments

While I left coverage of the newly upgraded dCS Vivaldi stack and the recently released Rossini player (which John Atkinson will review) for Jon Iverson's time in the dCS suite with Graham Nash, I will note that its new filters and upgraded Ring DAC software algorithm (which includes the ability of the original dCS mapper to run at two different speeds), together with advanced word-clock management and signal processing, produce a readily noticeable improvement in sound.

CES 2016

D'Agostino Promises More Momentum

Jason Victor Serinus Jan 11, 2016 First Published: Jan 11, 2016 0 comments

Dan D'Agostino Master Audio Systems' newly upgraded Momentum monoblocks, now called the Momentum M400 monoblocks ($65,000/pair, and shipping now), sounded fantastic in the dCS Suite in the Mirage. The photo is slightly deceptive, because this early-issue pair is housed in the slightly different, original Momentum chassis, but who cares? The mating of D'Agostino Momentum400 monoblocks with Wilson Audio Alexia loudspeakers, Transparent Audio Generation V cabling, HRS SXR isolation system with new Vortex isolators, Meletzsky Stromtank power supply system, and the newly upgraded dCS Vivaldi DAC system delivered the most color-saturated, full-range, impactful, emotionally satisfying and frankly wondrous sound of any room I visited at CES.