CES 2017

First, let's list what is in the photo (left stack first, top to bottom): EVO PhonoDAC Two ($1,600), EVO Clock Two ($640), HiFace EVO Two ($640), EVO Supply Two ($500), EVO Plus DAC Two ($890), and the EVO DAC Two ($630). Common to the DAC products: 32/384 PCM and DSD 256 processing, while the EVO Plus DAC Two has an additional clock input. Go to their website to check all the other little differences, but with pricing like this, I think listeners are in for a treat. I loved the pricier M2Tech Young DAC when I reviewed it a couple years back, so I trust their ears are in the right place with these new lower priced products.

Classé premiered its new Delta 3 amplifier series at CES 2017. Rated at 350Wpc RMS, the Delta 3 Stereo ($10,000) employs lateral MOSFETs in its output stage and 234,000 microfarads of German-made 4-pole Mundorf electrolytic capacitors in its power supply.

Winner of a coveted CTA Innovation Award, Wilson Benesch's A.C.T. One Evolution loudspeaker, here shown in the P1 version with eye-catching blue carbon-fiber composite cabinet ($38,800/pair, or $36,500/pair with standard cabinet), maintains the company's use of carbon-fiber technology.

There's no connection implied between their position on the floor in the photo above and their status as Stage III Concepts' new entry-level offerings…

Virtually identical in appearance to the Niagara 7000—the only outward differences are two little lights and one button—AudioQuest's new 38-lb Niagara 5000 ($4000) "Low-Z Power/Noise-Dissipation System"(shown sitting atop the Niagara 7000) is one-half the price and 50 lbs lighter than its big brother.

Mark Levinson's engineers partnered with VPI's Mat Weisfeld (seen above) to develop the Mark Levinson No.515 turntable. The platter is belt-driven and the speed-control electronics are housed in a metal case under the 'table…

In the D'Agostino exhibit, pure AC power was fed to the Progressive monoblocks by a Stromtank independent power source ($30,000): a 276-lb enclosure in which a 16-cell Lithium phosphate battery pack stores up to 4000W, ultimately to be converted to pure-sinewave AC.