Ypsilon's Silver Step-Up Transformer
The most stunning Ypsilon product on display was their MC-26L-SLV silver-wire step-up transformer ($18,500), sitting next to the turntable in the room's live exhibit…
CES 2017
The Micromega M-One
The Micromega M-One has more features than any of those silver-age contraptions, but to my eye, it is the purest, most high-design-beautiful audio machine on the planet. And, of course, it's made in France.
New Loudspeakers from Czechoslovakia
The Acoustique Quality Passion loudspeakers ($20,000/pair) made their way to Las Vegas from the Czech Republic, courtesy of Vladimir Sapara. The flagship loudspeaker in the Acoustique line, it is based on 25 years of loudspeaker design, and features a cabinet by Novague Design.
Burmester Phase 3
For those of you who like all of your functions tucked away in a single shiny box, Burmester has a product for you. The main all-in-one 161 Receiver is based on the company's Music Server 151 and the system also includes the B15 speakers (not shown) and the handy empty case that sits below the active electronics. Burmester says the empty case with fold down front door (shown below) is part of the product since their customers don't like clutter and prefer to store extraneous stuff like AppleTV boxes and game consoles out of the way. I realize that probably sounds a bit pretentious to some, but it makes sense to me, since I tend to go out of my way to hide wires and power supplies.
CAT's Bold New Speaker/Sub Duo
There's nothing remotely reticent about California Audio Technology's (CAT's) new CAT MBX 900 Trinity satellite loudspeakers ($50,000/pair) and companion CAT MBX 58 Miramar subwoofers ($50,000/pair). Designed to be used together, their presentation mirrors the strong, driving energy of Brian Barr, founder and CEO of the 27-year old company.
Chord Blu MKII CD Transport
An upscaling CD Transport. Yes you read right, this CD transport upscales your discs using, according to Chord, "the power of the new Xilinx XC7A200T FPGA, which has a standout 740 DSP cores, to develop sophisticated WTA (Watts Transient Alignment) filtering and upscaling algorithms which can output digital data at 705.6kHz (16 x CD’s 44.1kHz native resolution)." Whew!
Jake Shimabukuro In The YG Acoustics/Audionet Suite At The Venetian
While the dCS and Nagra suites at the Mirage approximated the size of a typical medium sized living room, the YG suite at the top of the Venetian was something else entirely. The room was quite large, the speakers human size, and a bigger crowd was also on hand. Lori Lieberman was playing on the system as we walked in and YG's Director of Sales, Dick Diamond greeted us with a big smile and helped me get the laptop connected.
Jake was going to hear his music for the first time on a system totaling over half a million dollars.
Jake was going to hear his music for the first time on a system totaling over half a million dollars.
VTL TP-6.5 Signature Phono Preamplifier
Bea Lam (that's her hand in the photo above) demonstrated the VTL phono preamplifier's varied display options
Balanced Audio Technology's VK-56SE Amplifier
"We do have a new BAT amplifier," replied MoFi Distribution's Managing Director, Norbert Schmied, to my standard room-entry inquiry. I had drifted into the MoFi room, which was busier than most exhibit rooms at the Venetian Hotel
Chord Hugo2 DAC/Headphone Amp
Due to a scheduling conflict I missed the press conference with power point presentation (you can see the slides here), but having spent some time with Chord's Rob Watts in the past, I'm sure the new products are packed with carefully thought out tech. Pictured here is the new Chord Hugo2, which follows on the heels of the successful Hugo DAC launched three years ago.