STEREOMOJO SPECIAL DUAL REPORT
Part 2
Charlie and Susan Harrison, two of the sharpest distributors in the biz, were debuting several new products in Vegas from Ayon Audio of Austria.
The Orthos II monoblocks provide true balanced or single-ended operation combined with the ability to deliver more than 200 watts per channel.
Another monoblock, the Triton II, plays in either Triode or Pentode modes and produces
either 100 or 60 watts respectively using KT88s. Using KT120's puts out even more power.
Yet another new mono, the Orthis II monoblocks provide true balanced or single-ended operation combined with the ability to deliver more than 200 watts per channel.
Ayon makes some of the best CD players on the planet and they have upped their game with the updated CD5S.
We are currently reviewing the British ECKO integrated amp (top shelf) that offers 4 different tube modes for playback.
Don't tell anyone we told you this yet, but... At $2,450 and 55 wpc pure Class A, the Ecko is a steal!
We are also going to be reviewing the excellent BASSOCONTINUO rack it's sitting on
as well as the bargain VOVOX cables.
Magnepan had already introduced their lower priced 1.7 in Denver, a Stereomojo Best of Show. In Vegas they showed the new 3.7, resplendent in glorious high-polished cherry. The sound was also glorious, though a bit over analytical, but that was more a signature of the big Brystons driving them. The 3.7 is available in new aluminum trim or our traditional wood trims of oak and cherry. Fabric options are off-white, black and dark gray. Suggested list pricing starts at $5495/pair for aluminum or oak versions, or $5895/pair for the dark cherry versions.
While not exactly S4CB - that tops out at $1,000 - like the replaced 3.6's, the new 3.7 is even more of a bargain. Wendell Diller was playing a female vocal by Kristina Beaty. Magical. We don't know how they do it, but Magneplanars have always been very high value speakers, now even moreso.
Though they look like early Timpani Magneplanars, they aren't. These are made by Kingsound in China. I was selling hi-end audio in 1969 including the original big Maggies. We were driving them with Crown amps. These aren't them. In fact, these aren't even close to the new 3.7's above. And these go for - are you ready - $60,000. They are the Emperor II if you're interested. Their smaller models we've heard before are more representative of Kingsound though.
Ray Leung is a fixture at audio shows and always has something interesting. These are the 180 watt, dual-chassis mono blocks called the Uni Earth, as opposed to the Uni Sea we featured in a previous report - it's water cooled. This one is cooled conventionally and it runs in pure triode mode. 180 watts of triode! $12,000 for all 4 pieces. Speakers are the VG-1 and VG-1+, also daul boxes that go for $13,800. Apparently Ray and Kingsound didn't get the "play your inexpensive models at the show" memo.
Computer based playback was the name of the game in almost every room. There were far more iPods, laptops, netbooks and music servers than there were anything else; CD players were scarce which means bringing your own music on CD like our Stereomojo Ultimate Evaluation Disk was useless, so we were forced to listen to whatever demo music stored on the exhibitor's computer. Amarra, the Mac program that vastly improves playback of iTunes, was in abundance. We are currently reviewing the full version that includes Amarra Vinyl. Rob Robinson, founder of Channel D and Amarra, played a demo from a recent restoration project his company is doing for a major record company. He played a recording of the original LP, then the version after it had gone through the Vinyl NoNOISE™ cleanup program. The difference was amazing. All the scratchiness, pops and surface noise was obliterated while leaving the LP's sonics unaltered, especially in the treble where most filters kill the detail and airiness of the LP. It sounded like a brand new LP. Then he played back just the crud that was removed which sounded just like playing the silent grooves between songs on a old, abused LP, even the zipper distortion that's so hard to remove. Amazing.
While crowds were thin throughout the show, there was one room that was consistently packed. The guy in the blue shirt with the harried look on his face is David Solomon, head of Peachtree Audio. Peachtree is one of the hottest companies in the high end and for good reason; they make some of the best bang-for-the-buck products in the industry.
Peachtree was debuting their new multifunction iNova that features an 80 watt per channel amplifier, class A tube preamp, high-resolution digital- to- analog converter, class A headphone amplifier and a PURE DIGITAL iPod dock.
The iNova takes the best from the award-winning Peachtree Audio Nova integrated amplifier and improves it! The upgrades are notable if you want the very best from your iPod, if you want the best resolution possible for computer audio or from streaming devices like Apple TV, Sonos and many others now on the market.
The USB input supports 24/96 without the need of loading external drivers. The coaxial and optical inputs now support bit-perfect 24/192. The amplifier is beefed up with the best capacitors and has punchier bass and better high-end extension. A Pure Digital iPod dock was added that takes the inadequate Apple circuits out of the equation and goes pure digital to the iNova's preamp.
The iNova preamplifier section employs a Class A 6N1P tube output stage that smooths the harsh digital edge. You can run a separate amplifier or subwoofer from the pre-out RCA outputs if more power or bass is needed. The preamp maintains a high level of detail while taming digital music regardless of the codec. The iNova features a 24/96 USB input for your computer, plus two coaxial and two optical inputs delivering up to 24/192 resolution for other digital sources like Squeezebox, Apple TV, Airport and Sonos. It also offers two analog inputs for docking stations, CD players, tape decks or phono preamps. They couple this with an 80 watt per channel ST MOSFET amplifier in the final stage, achieving a highly musical "analog" sound.
The heart of the iNova is the new ESS 9016, 32 bit, 24/192 D/A converter, the best available in our opinion. It’s specialized for computers or other sources that often deliver high levels of timing errors. Using the iNova with your current CD or DVD player will improve it, with higher resolution and added dynamic range. The new INova goes for $1,799, but we don't think you could assemble a comparable system for that money, and here you have it all in one
compact, cool looking unit.
The speakers driven by the iNova were the new Aerial model 7T's. They are the first example of a complete overhaul and updating of the Aerial line. From what we heard from this model, the new line should be sensational. even in the crowded Peachtree room in a very small space, maybe 10 feet deep, the soundstage was incredible. At one point, when an orchestral piece was played, we thought we were hearing music from another system in the room in back of the iNova/Aerial combo, the soundstage was that deep. Bass was also deep as was the finish of the high-polished wood cabinets. Impressive sound. We managed to secure an early review, or at least the promise of one.
7T SPECS
Frequency Response Dispersion - 28 Hz to 25 kHz ±2 dB, -6 dB at 23 Hz
Sensitivity Impedance - 89 dB for 2.83 volts at 1 meter on axis 4 ohms, 3 ohms minimum, low reactance
Power Requirements - 25 watts minimum, > 100 recommended
Price: $9,850