CES 2010 Preview & THE Show Preview
   
Consumer Electronics Show & THE Show 2010 Preview / Pre-Show Report

XStreamHD will be at the CES 2010 in booth 20913 at the South Hall 1 announcing their plans to create the best HD entertainment experience alongside investor Michael Douglas. The company will also unveil additional features to its product. In addition, visitors will hear the concept behind XStreamHD and how XStreamHD will provide consumers with a true at home HD experience as the XStreamHD product is able to deliver movies, music, games, and more in Full HD (1080p) and 7.1 channels of lossless DTS-HD Master Audio via satellite. Jabil Circuit has begun production of XStreamHD's HD Media Server, HD Media Receiver and PRO Media Receiver in preparation for the consumer launch of XStreamHD services in 2010. XStreamHD's solution includes an HD Media Server that forms the hub its HD entertainment innovation, through which consumers have access to HD content that can be multi-streamed to any XStreamHD Media Receiver or other DNLA Certified device in the home including HDTVs, laptops, audio equipment and game consoles.

 

HiFi-Tuning will have their new Ultimateł VRO (Vinyl Resonance Optimizer, $679 and pictured here) and HiFi-Tuning "Ultimateł Cones" ($599 for set of three) at THE Show's Marketplace. The Ultimateł VRO consists of an innovative "vinyl rest" to efficiently eliminate the negative sound-affecting resonance from the record. This special complex design consists of precious metal (platinum) and a special wood-quartz-metal design. According to HiFi-Tuning, "after placing the Ultimateł VRO on a record the stage image increases in size; the sound pattern increases considerably in dynamics and plasticity; the spatial image develops nearly holographic, perceiving the individual sound nuances is considerably increased; and the musical interpretation increases in color, naturalness and expressiveness." HiFi-Tuning's new Ultimateł Cones are a set of three cone-shaped "absorber coasters", which can be used for all electronics components for efficiently eliminating negative sound-affecting resonance from devices. These also use precious metal (platinum) and a special wood-quartz-metal design, thus yielding the same benefits as their Ultimateł VRO. Enjoy the Music.com has reviewed the HiFi-Tuning Noise Destroyer, which can be seen by clicking here.

 

highend-electronics , founded in Austria and now based in California as a high-end audio retailer catering to the most discerning clientele, will be at THE Show's Flamingo room 4031 with three new products. The VALVET A3.5 monoblock amplifiers ($4990 per pair) from Germany are currently the most potent power amplifiers in VALVET's line-up with an output of 50 watts into 8 Ohms (90 watts into 4 Ohms). VALVET's A3.5 monoblocks operate in Push-Pull Class A mode with just a single pair of transistors in the output stage. A sealed and screened 300 VA torodial transformer and about 100,000 µF filtering per mono-block guarantee an extremely stable power supply even for the most demanding loads. There are no capacitor in the signal path of the amplifier and it can produces a frequency range from DC to 300 kHz. The VALVET "soulshine" tube preamplifier ($5290, pictured here) is their new top-of-the-line product. Two coupled step circuits are employed within one intelligent circuit as the soulshine provides connections for five stereo line inputs. These can be selected by means of a high-quality, mechanical ELMA dial near the sockets (all Eichmann Phonopod RCA) as all signal connections inside the housing are pure silver isolated with PTFE. In the middle of the front are two 24-pole step-switches for volume and balance adjustment. The signal runs through two double triodes, an ECC802S and ECC99, with only one high-quality MUNDORF silver/gold/oil foil condenser per channel. An external power supply uses a powerful torodial core transformer and, for the first time, a solid-state rectifier. All housing components are made of aluminum and both chassis rest on turned hardwood cones. Lastly, highend-electronics will have the Consensus Audio Lightning SE loudspeakers ($18,750) as designed by Stefan Fekete (formerly the designer of Lumen White). As the latest product is the new entry model Lightning SE, this is a premium grade speaker has a linear 5 Ohm impedance and minimal phase shifting. A llute shaped, resonance optimized cabinet is made from several layers of birch wood (not MDF) and optimized for Airflow damping. The crossover network uses only the top quality high-grade pair-matched premium capacitors, oxygen-free copper-foil coils and metal-oxide resistors made by Mundorf of Germany. The driver arrangement consists of one 1.2-inch ceramic tweeter (optional 1.2-inch black diamond tweeter) and three 7-inch ceramic mid woofer. Sensitivity is 91dB/W/m, frequency response is from 28 Hz to 35 kHz, weight is 112 lbs and dimensions are 47 x 10 x 20 (HxWxD in inches).

 

Peak Consult, founded in 1996 by Per Kristoffersen with an ideology to create the best speakers as he surrounded himself with skilled Danish artisans, will exhibit with The Typhoeus large reference floorstanding loudspeaker in an exclusive room together with Purist Audio Design at THE Show within the Flamingo Hotel's Zion Room. Countless hours of measuring and critical listening by many audiophile ears has gone into making this loudspeaker that has an impedance curve and electrical phase characteristic like an electrostatic. The multifaceted enclosure of The Typhoeus is handcrafted in their facilities in Denmark by skilled Danish artisans in a 1.5 to 3.0 inch HDF specially glued sandwich material covered by 1-inch solid acrylic. At all points, resonance suppressers have been used in the construction. The tweeter is a triple magnet 1-inch soft dome with a non-resonant aluminum chamber and features a multiple camber with low compression and a machined aluminum faceplate. Dual 5-inch Audio Technology midranges are hand-built specifically for optimal behavior in Peak Consult's The Typhoeus enclosure. The driver features a cone that has been uniquely shaped for this moving system and a vented magnet system that includes Symmetric Drive, optimizing the linear directivity. A pair of 9-inch Audio Technology woofers are hand-built and specifically designed for The Typhoeus and use new and special technology in the moving systems to make them very low-loss drivers. The huge magnets and ventilation that includes Symmetric Drive systems makes the driver’s reproduce very tight and extremely low frequencies - second to none. These drivers will set new standards to bass reproduction. Every component within this overall design has been chosen for its sonic and musical behavior, with no consideration for cost. This three-way ported design has a frequency range from 28 Hz to 45 kHz and presents a linear 4 Ohm impedance. Sensitivity is 92dB/W/m and each unit weighs 385 lbs. Enjoy the Music.com has reviewed the Peak Consult Zoltan floorstanding loudspeakers, which can be seen by clicking here.

 

NAD Electronics, originally an acronym for New Acoustic Dimension that set out to create a new kind of audio company 30 years ago, will have their T 557 Blu-ray player ($599) at the CES' Venetian Hotel Suite 29-336. Boasting BD Live, 1080p resolution, fast loading and high resolution multi-channel audio, the NAD T 557 including the ability to stream audio and video from a home network. The T 557 offers onboard decoding for the latest lossless high bit rate music formats from Dolby, including TruHD and DTS MA 7.1. The T 557 sends decoded PCM via HDMI to an AV Receiver, and also supports Audio CDs and CD-Rs and CD-RWs with MP3 or WMA decoding. A USB 2.0 port on the player's rear panel allows it to play music and image files stored on a memory stick or portable MP3 player. On the video side, the T 557 delivers Blu-ray format's native resolution of 1080p with pure digital transmission via HDMI outputs. NAD's upscaling engine gives even standard-definition DVDs a boost with resolution to 1080p over HDMI, and Component video output up to 1080i.

 

Einstein Audio Components, based in Germany as a designer and manufacturer of high-end audio components, will showcase their The Tube MKII ($17,800) with other Aaudio Imports products at the Venetian Hotel Suites 30-116, 30-118 and 30-120 during CES. This stylish 19-tube preamplifier allows users to select input tubes for each audio source. This is a very unique design and the only such product to offer this type of flexibility. The Tube MKII is fully balanced is a true dual-differential dual-mono design. Part of this unit's secret is an unusually large complement of tubes, with eighteen E88CC/6922 dual triode tubes and one ECC82 dual triode. Ingeniously, only ten of the 6922 tubes operate at any given time, eight for power and two for whichever audio source happens to be playing. When the audio source is switched, the tubes for that source power down while two other tubes for the new source power up, an arrangement that conserves tube life for sources not in use. Einstein Audio's The Tube MKII preamplifier boasts a volume control outside the signal path, an ultra-low 50-Ohm output impedance, short signal paths with point-to-point wiring, wide bandwidth circuitry, a SNR under 95dB, a total harmonic distortion (THD) less than 0.05 percent at 1.5 Volts RMS, and a 98dB channel separation. The 33-pound chassis includes two large dials on the front, one for source selection and one for volume; and on the rear, three balanced inputs, two single-ended inputs, and two tape outputs. The Tube MKII also includes a remote control.

 

THIEL Audio will have a Memorial Reception honoring the life and life's work of Jim Thiel, who passed away on September 18 at the age of 62. To quote editor of The Absolute Sound Robert Harley, "Jim Thiel was one of the founding fathers of American high-end audio. His story is archetypal; he built a loudspeaker in his garage, initially for his own use, because he thought he could improve upon the commercial offerings of the time. He went on to co-found Thiel Audio in 1976 to manufacture his unique time- and phase-coherent design. Every Thiel loudspeaker, from the first garage-built model to today's flagship, is based on the principle that time- and phase-coherence is a fundamental prerequisite of a high-fidelity loudspeaker." The Memorial Reception will be held on January 7 from 6pm to 9pm at the Venetian Hotel Casanova Room 601. If you plan on attending please RSVP dfuson@thielaudio.com. Enjoy the Music.com has reviewed the THIEL SCS4 monitors with SS1 SmartSub subwoofer (click here) and the THIEL CS2.4SE limited edition floorstanders (click here).

 

KR Audio Electronics will be at THE Show with their new Kronzilla DXL dual monoblock amplifier (pictured), new Kronzilla SDi 35 stereo integrated amplifier plus the Kronzilla DX monoblock, SXI and VA340 integrated. The new Kronzilla DXL dual monoblock amplifier uses a pair of TI610 in push-pull configuration to produce 140 watts. Output impedance is 4 or 8 Ohms with a frequency response from 20 Hz to 20 kHz (-3dB) using zero feedback. Each monoblock weighs in at a hefty 81 lbs! The new Kronzilla SDi 35 stereo integrated amplifier uses a pair of TI610 tubes in triode to produce 35 wpc. Output impedance is 4 or 8 Ohms while frequency response is from 20 Hz to 20 kHz (-3dB) using zero feedback. There are four stereo inputs via RCA with an input sensitivity of 0.75VRMS. bring a friend as the unit weighs in at 110 lbs. Enjoy the Music.com has reviewed the KR Audio 300B Balloon Triode Tube (click here), KR Audio VA340 integrated amplifier (click here) and the KR Audio Kronzilla DX monoblock amplifier (click here).

 

Anthony Gallo Acoustics (AGA), formed in 1994 to raise the bar in loudspeaker design and technology by specializing in audio products that exemplify the term price-to-performance ratio with their spherical enclosure technology, will demo their latest loudspeaker called the Strada at the CES (Venetian Hotel in room 29-332). This new model features a brand new proprietary impulse correction system called OPT plus utilizes the latest version of the company's patented CDT™ 3 tweeter. Along with the Strada Center, the versatile Strada loudspeakers are the latest additions to AGA's Reference Series and are designed for high performance regardless of mounting options or room conditions. Physically, the diminutive Strada measures 6.5 x 12.5 x 5.5 (DxHxW in inches) and the Strada features the company's patented S2 Technology, which improves low-frequency extension and eliminates the standing wave that is inherent in any spherical enclosure. In addition, the loudspeaker's new CDT™ 3 tweeter boasts a new grill topology, which improves vertical dispersion. Because of the wide and accurate vertical dispersion of the new tweeter, the speakers can be used as dedicated surround channels as well. Enjoy the Music.com has reviewed the Gallo Micro speakers with subwoofer (click here) and the Gallo Acoustics Adiva Ti small orb speakers (click here).

 

Jaton, founded 25 years ago and set out to deliver high-performance audio at a reasonable price, will showcasing their Operetta AP2300AX amplifier, RC2000 pre-amplifier and new REAL A3 a floor standing 3-way loudspeakers at THE Show (Flamingo Hotel Suite 4023). The Operetta AP2300AX stereo amplifier is designed to produce 300 wpc and implements the company's unique 'Signal Enhancing Circle'. This technology presents a much wider damping factor from the higher tone to lower bass frequencies. The AP2300AX retails at $5500. Jaton's Operetta RC2000 stereo preamplifier is designed for the audiophile and offered in RC2000P and RC2000S forms. The RC2000P is a pure analog design and it has the most soft and warmth output for your vinyl and CD. They added a digital input for the RC2000S with a controllable LFE sub-woofer signal output. Pricing ranges from $1300 to $1500. The REAL A3 speaker Jaton's newest version of their "REAL" 3-way floorstanding flagship speaker. The new A3 speaker is an evolution of the A&V-803, yet is more accurate and balanced within the frequency range and will retail for $6000 each.

 

Coincident Speaker Technology, established by Israel Blume in 1993 for the sole purpose of creating a superior loudspeakers and now also offers audiophile-grade amplification, will be at the CES 2010 (Venetian Suite 29-322) with their new Super Victory speakers ($9499/pr), Statement Line Stage ($4999, pictured) and Phono Preamplifier ($5499). The Super Victory loudspeaker will sound superb in small to moderate size rooms as well being highly capable of easily filling a large space. Their high sensitivity, smooth 10 Ohm impedance modulus, simple first order crossover, phase coherency both acoustically and electrically all ensure that SET 300B, 211 or even 2A3 tube amplifiers will mate optimally. The Super Victory’s high power handling capability will mean that large power tube and solid-state amplifiers will also work well. A ribbon tweeter capable of reaching 35 kHz is mated with a 7-inch proprietary composite midrange driver plus a side-firing 12-inch woofer to extend bass down to 25 Hz. The Coincident Statement Phono Preamplifier is a high gain, all tube unit employing the highest quality MC step up transformers to accommodate virtually all moving coil cartridges. Due to employing only two all-tube gain stages, 66dB high gain is achieved with low noise. The RIAA curve is passive, zero feedback utilizing the closest tolerance resistors and polystyrene capacitors to obtain accuracy of less than 0.1dB deviation from 20 Hz to 20 kHz. The Coincident Statement Line Stage is a direct, pure approach in active pre amplification. The input signal travels from the transformer based mono volume pots to the transformer input and then to the 101D tubes for gain and lastly out through the output transformer. The 101D tubes are directly heated triodes that are the most linear amplifying devices ever invented. There are no circuit boards to deteriorate the signal transfer as everything in the Line Stage is hard wired plus there are no capacitors in the signal path. Enjoy the Music.com has reviewed the Coincident Speaker Technology Triumph Extreme Signature loudspeakers (click here), Super Victory loudspeakers (click here) and their Frankenstein Mk II monoblock amplifiers (click here).

 

Click here for page 3 of our CES 2010 / THE Show preview report.