The Exact Exakt Networked Linn Speaker System
Gilad Tiefenbrun, Managing Director of Linn Products (above), along with the Scottish company's Technical Director Keith Robertson, gave me a convincing demonstration of Linn's Exakt system. According to Linn, "Exakt pushes the lossless digital signal path all the way to the speaker," turning the loudspeaker into "an intelligent, connected, software-upgradeable product. This enables a wide range of performance- and personalisation-enhancing capabilities in design, in manufacture and in your home."
The Hegel Amplifier Experience
My CES encounter with Hegel featured the 75Wpc H80 integrated amp ($2000) driving (are you ready?) the Magico S-1 loudspeakers ($12,900/pair).
The Hi-Res Power Panel
Closing three days of Hi-Res presentations at CES 2015 were (from leftright) Maureen Droney, Senior Executive Director of The Recording Academy's Producers and Engineers Wing and a recording engineer who has worked with Santana and John Hiatt; Marc Finer, whose Digital Entertainment Group (DEG) consults with Sony and other entities as he attempts to align messaging on the hi-res front; and Robert Heiblim, Vice Chair of the Consumer Electronics Association's (CEA) Audio Division.
The KEF Reference Speakers
My assignment at CES 2015 was to report on speakers costing less than $10,000/pair, so when I went into each room my first task was to see if they had any new (or at least new-to-me) speakers that met this criterion. I found one in the KEF room that appeared to fit the bill: the sign on the speaker identified it as the Reference 1, priced at $7500/pair. Johan Coorg of KEF explained to the assembled visitors how the design of this speaker utilized knowledge gained in designing the Blade.
The Manley Art Gallery
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.
The Mark Levinson No.585
Kevin Voecks showed me new products from the Mark Levinson line, including the $12,000 No.585 Integrated amplifier (above).
The Mega Magico/Soulution/BAD/Baetis /Vovox System
In the first system to which I took a serious listen at CES, Alon Wolf could have made no more major a statement than by pairing his Magico Q7 loudspeakers ($185,000/pair) and new active QSub-18 ($36,000) with Soulution 701 monoblock amplifiers ($150,000/pair), Soulution 720 preamp (discontinuedthe current 725 line stage is $50,000), Berkeley Audio Design Reference DAC ($16,000), Baetis Audio music server, Vovox cabling from Switzerland, Magico MRack ($50,000), and superb Magico QPOD equipment supports.
The Prince III Electrostatic
I first heard the King Audio Limited (also known as KingSound) Prince electrostatic loudspeaker several years ago at the Montreal show, and was impressed by the transparency of its sound, which reminded me of the KLH Nines that I used to own.
The Raidho Acoustics X-3
Danish manufacturer Raidho demonstrated its $30,000/pair, 88 lb, X3 loudspeakers at CES. The remarkable slim towers have four dedicated 4" ceramic midbass drivers and one 8" side-mounted woofer, in addition to a magnetic-planar tweeter that is crossed over at 3kHz.
The T+A CWT
T+A's lively and energetic Jochen Fabricius was eager to fill me in on the new, 3-way, 183 lb, $55,000/pair T+A CWT 1000-8 SE floorstander. This speaker uses a 25" by 2" electrostatic line tweeter that covers the frequency range from 2kHz to 40kHz.