CES 2014

First seen last year at CES, the PureDAC has now been released and the company claims to have sold more than 1,000 units since August of 2013. Price is $1,690 and it handles up to 32/384 PCM, both DSD 64&128 and has a separate volume control for room and headphone listening. Designed in Germany, built in China.

Though I was in the Avatar room asking about new digital products, somehow this one was missed, so thanks to Jason Serinus for coming up with a photo for me. There was also a little confusion about the name of the product, but we're going with Scaena Mainframe for now.

The company info says that the new server plays all formats of audio and video and features an aluminum enclosure with liquid cooling, Xenon processor, "error correcting" RAM, and a custom 7" touch tablet to run everything. The Mainframe also runs off of a lithium battery power supply that can go for up to 12 hours on a charge.

No pricing or availability info yet.

Beijing's QAT Audio had their new fanless MS6i music server on display in the Venetian. NAS drives are supported via both WiFi and ethernet to supplement the user-replaceable 2.5 inch or SSD internal drives. Digital outputs include toslink, coax, BNC and AES/EBU and there are four USB ports.

All PCM formats up to 24/192 are supported and the company features a nice looking app for iOS and Android. Available mid-year for $2,990 in the US, currently available in China.

"I'm a full-time music lover and a part-time audiophile," Gary Koh declared while demming his new Genesis GRA1440, class-D, truly differentially balanced monoblock amplifiers ($22,000/pair). "Music is inherently balanced," he said, as he played the stereo LP version of Al Grey and The Basie Wing's The Last of the Big Plungers, and proved that modified Hypex class-D modules, when incorporated into amplifiers that output 1440Wpc into 4 ohms and include a full Genesis power supply, can yield totally welcoming, alive and colorful sound. There was absolutely no hard edge to be heard on this system.

Crystal Cable's Gabi Rijnveld assured me that her years of ballet training had prepared her for prolonged kneeling while yours truly struggled to snap the optimal photo. The Dutch company introduced Crystal Cable's 10th Anniversary The Cube compact stereo integrated amplifier (around $15,000). Due out around Munich show time in May, this little baby attempts to incorporate all the advanced technology of Siltech's innovative three-box SAGA amplifier ($75,000) into a single box that is more financially available, designer lifestyle-friendly, and outputs 200Wpc into 4 ohms.

Arcam used to CES to launch a “statement” integrated amplifier, the FMJ A49. Priced at $5000, the A49 offers 200Wpc into 8 ohms (with the first 50W in class-A), 400Wpc into 4 and features a class-G output stage, fully balanced topology, MM/MC phono stages, and a onboard power supply for Arcam’s rSeries of wired and wireless DACs. While Arcam’s lower-priced products are made in China, the new amplifier is the first products to be manufactured in the USA, at the parent company’s facility in Rochester, New York.

ATI (Amplifier Technologies, Inc.) of Montebello, CA, who also owns Theta Digital, were blowing minds with the nine channels of bass produced by the combination of their American Muscle AT6002 Morris Kessler Signature Limited Edition Stereo Signature Amplifier ($3995), which outputs 300Wpc into 8 ohms and is available in 2- through 7-channel versions; the finally released and revised Theta Prometheus monoblock amplifiers ($12,000/pair); the well-known, upgraded Theta Casablanca IV; and California Audio Technology loudspeakers.