Jason Victor Serinus

GoldenEar's New T66 Loudspeaker
Munich 2023
Jason Victor Serinus  |  May 26, 2023  |  0 comments
Welcome to the first GoldenEar loudspeaker completely redesigned by AudioQuest since the cable company bought the speaker company. Re-envisioned and realized by a US/Canadian team headed by Garth Powell, the T66 ($6900/pair in black or $7200/pair in red) will hopefully become available in either August or September. It contains a folded-ribbon AMT tweeter, two MVPP, cast-basket, passive midrange drivers, and two active long-throw, DSP-controlled oval subwoofers powered by 1200W class-D amplifiers. Passive quadratic planar radiators are located on each side of the speaker. It goes without saying that internal wiring is by AudioQuest.
Continue Reading >
Fink Team's New Highly Impressive Borg Episode 2 Loudspeaker
Munich 2023
Jason Victor Serinus  |  May 26, 2023  |  0 comments
I admit that I didn't get what the Fink Team of Essen, Germany was all about until I met the man himself, Karl-Heinz Fink, who is well known within the industry for designing many important loudspeakers marketed by other companies. Fink, who also owns the Epos loudspeaker brand, began his own engineering company 40 years ago. Then, about seven years ago, the late and revered Ken Ishiwata of Marantz asked him to build a big speaker for Marantz. Out of that came the Borg, a two-way system with an AMT tweeter that was launched five years ago. The Borg Episode 2 (€30,000/pair), which is marketed by the Fink Team, replaces the original model.
Continue Reading >
Tidal's New Contriva G3 Loudspeaker
Munich 2023
Jason Victor Serinus  |  May 26, 2023  |  0 comments
Tidal (technically pronounced "tee-dahl" rather than "tie-dull") of Germany, headed by Jörn Janczak and repped in the US by Doug White, arranged two private displays for press and distributors. Jim Austin got to hear the forthcoming Tidal for Bugatti system, which includes the company's forthcoming cost-no-object loudspeaker. For this Stereophile reviewer, however, Tidal demmed the system that included the company's new Contriva G3 loudspeakers ($79,000/pair) with the Contros Digital Controller ($60,000), Intra Stereo Amplifier ($28,000), and Tidal Reference XLR, power, and speaker cables.
Continue Reading >
Nordost's new QBase Reference (QB10), QB8 Mark III, QSine and QWave
Munich 2023
Jason Victor Serinus  |  May 26, 2023  |  0 comments
There was a lot to take in in the Nordost room at Munich High End. Building upon the upgraded QB8 Mark III AC Distribution Unit ($2300), which I described after it first appeared at AXPONA 2023 in Chicago, the company previewed the QBase Reference, aka the QB10 ($18,000), which is expected in the late summer or early fall. Equipped with 10 outlets and a 20-amp IEC, the QBase Reference includes heavy-grade wire and traces capable of supporting high-current amplifiers. Think of it as a fully maxed out, 32A-capable power distribution unit.
Continue Reading >
Innuos Releases InnuOS2.4
Munich 2023
Jason Victor Serinus  |  May 26, 2023  |  0 comments
"What's in a number?" you may ask. In the case of InnuOS2.4, the latest update to music server company Innuos' own streaming software announced at Munich High End, a lot.
Continue Reading >
Vienna Acoustics Premieres the Mozart Infinite Active Speaker
Munich 2023
Jason Victor Serinus  |  May 26, 2023  |  0 comments
If you're looking for a simple-to-set-up, active floorstander, Vienna Acoustics brand new Mozart Infinity Active (€12,000/pair and available in a few weeks) might just fit the bill. On Jason Mraz's "I Won't Give Up," the Mozart Infinity Active stuck to its guns and delivered nice, colorful, large, and solid hi-fi sound.
Continue Reading >
MBL's Extreme Journey with Concerto Köln
Munich 2023
Jason Victor Serinus  |  May 25, 2023  |  3 comments
MBL's Chief Engineer, Jürgen Reis, also records Cologne's famed period-instrument ensemble, Concerto Köln. It was thus only fitting that two musicians from the ensemble, bassist Jean-Michel Forêt and violoncellist Alexander Scherf (who is also music director of Concerto Köln), visited the MBL room at Munich High End to play some music, talk music history, and enable comparison of live vs. reproduced sound.
Continue Reading >
Zellaton's Long-Awaited Plural EVO Loudspeaker Arrives!
Munich 2023
Jason Victor Serinus  |  May 25, 2023  |  0 comments
First introduced at a show in August 2019, not long before COVID-related supply shortages put a major damper on new product releases, Zellaton's 3-way Plural Evo loudspeaker (€69,950/pair) is finally available. One main goal of the design, according to company president Michael Schwab, is to minimize the impact of the sound of the speaker's materials on the music.
Continue Reading >
Princeton's 3D BACCH-SP Adio System
Munich 2023
Jason Victor Serinus  |  May 24, 2023  |  1 comments
For years, David Chesky has kept me abreast of developments and updates to Princeton Professor Edgar Y. Choueiri's BACCH-SP Adio System. Happily, the word is out. When I entered the room, none other than Stereophile's Alex Halberstadt was sitting in the prime seat, receiving all the benefits of the fully-loaded BACCH-SP system ($37,780).
Continue Reading >
Rockport's Orion and Absolare Make Glorious Music
Munich 2023
Jason Victor Serinus  |  May 24, 2023  |  0 comments
Of the fraction of rooms and booths I was able to cover at Munich High End 2023—the "I wish I could have" list is at least as long as that of the exhibits I enjoyed—Rockport Technologies' triumphant meeting of its Orion loudspeaker ($133,000/pair–$143,000/pair with the custom finish shown) with Absolare's Altius phonostage ($52,000), Eternum preamplifier ($85,000), and Hybrid Altius monoblocks ($120,000/pair) was an unqualified triumph. There was, of course, far more in the system than those four components, but what's most important is the effect of the music on visitors. As Absolare's Kerem Küçükaslan cued up "You Look Good to Me" on a classic Oscar Peterson LP, everyone sat at rap attention. Ella and Satchmo's "Isn't it a Lovely Day" sounded about as warm, luscious, liquid, musical, and dreamy (as in "If this is a dream, please don't wake me up") as it gets.
Continue Reading >

Pages

X