Consumer Electronics Show 2004

Sunday Page 1

  Turntable lovers rejoice as Music Hall introduced the MMF-5SE with 1022GX cartridge ($850) with upgraded suspension, carbon fiber tonearm, and the legendary Music Hall quality.

 

My vote for sound everywhere is the Sikkim ($2,300 per pair including equalizer) by Solid Acoustics with twelve 3-inch paper cone drivers. The stainless steel enclosure polishes off the retro futuristic look.

 

Genesis' 1.1 ultra high-end six-piece loudspeaker ($135,000) consists of a midrange/tweeter panel, woofer tower, and external crossover.

 

Alón, winner of the Enjoy the Music.com Best of 2003 Award, were showing the Proteus ($45,000 per pair) has a pair each of 1-inch aluminum done tweeter, 4.5-inch tri-laminate cone midrange, and a grand total of seven 8-inch bass drivers employs in three different ways. The three ways are deep bass below 40Hz in the lowermost section, midbass via the forward-firing drivers, and a unique upper firing bass driver. All drivers in the Proteus use Alnico magnet structure.

 

Clearaudio's new Balanced Reference Phonostage ($4,500) feature a true dual mono design including two external power supplies. MM and MC plus an adjustable volume control so if you only have a turntable there is no need for an additional pre-amplifier. Both balanced (XLR) and single ended (RCA) outputs and inputs are provided.

 

Joseph Audio introduces the Insider in-wall loudspeaker ($1,999 per pair) that Jeff claims finally claims "there's finally an in-wall speaker with nothing to hide." Their infinite slope crossover technology is said to permit a very level of clarity that no other in-wall loudspeaker can match.

 

Silverline Audio SR 17 monitor ($2,500) and Sonata III ($6,500) were proudly being demonstrated for the CES crowd.

 

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