The Home Entertainment Show 2006

T.H.E. Show
Thursday

  Edge Audio has a great new multi-channel amplifier configurable from 3 to 7 channels ($4,995 on up). Each channel can begin with 250 watts, up to 1,000 watts per channel depending on module. Modules for the 7 slots mix and matchable too.

 

ayon's new Spheris preamplifier/phonostage ($24,000) made my drool with exquisite construction, Mcaps, stepped attenuator, Lundahl transformer-based phono step-up... and of course an outboard power supply. There are 6 inputs, 2 pairs of outputs, and mute function. So far it is the component i most lust for!

 

Just a beauty shot of an Art Audio amplifier.

 

Ars Aures Mi floorstanding loudspeaker ($9,600/pr) has a pair of 5-inch Focal midrange/woofer and a 1-inch Revelator tweeter. They had a nice, smooth sound and something i could enjoy all day long. Oh, and the wood finish was top-notch, as you would naturally expect from an Italian manufacturer.

 

Berning's TSP-20 ($10,500 w/o phono) has 4 line inputs, optional phono stage, 2 stereo outputs, and a single knob for inputs with a center knob for volume. A wireless remote is included for volume, balance, and display brightness. Tube amplified using 6DJ8 and 12AT7 for buffer for tape loop function.

 

Studio Electric's Type One speakers ($7,995) had me flashing back to the 50's American luxury car days. The manufacturer desires selling his amp and cables with them for a total of ($14,000)

 

T.H.E. Show has a few buildings with Asian manufacturers. First up is... Wow the new Almarro M3A ($2,600/pr) with curved front was hard to photograph, though easy to listen to. This rear-ported design has a 1-inch aluminum dome tweeter, 4-inch titanium midrange, and 6.5-inch woofer produces from 30Hz to 26kHz. While they are rated at 88dB/W/m, they present a kind load so that low-wattage tube amplification can achieve good output.

 

Next we have Aijima Laboratories system. All units have a separate power supply, perhaps one or two, and point-source speakers are, rightly in my humble opinion, the flavor. The preamplifier is transformer coupled/attenuated. The amplifier device is a 2SB253 by NEC and is no longer made. So New Old Stock for solid-state is also desired here. Hmmm... and a decade or so ago mainstream American audiophiles were clueless to single-ended tube while the Asians already had a good grasp. Could NOS solid-state output be next for America?

 

Audio Note Japan had their Gakuon-II monoblocks ($160,000) and of course has a matching preamplifier, M1000 ($85,000 with phonostage). Gobs of hand-wound silver, and other ultra-esoterica that one would expect given this price point. A pair of 211 tubes in parallel single-ended produce a total of 50 watts. Think of an Ongaku as a monoblock, and then you have two for stereo...

 

Click here for Friday's T.H.E. Show coverage.