CES 2012 Preview & T.H.E. Show Report 2012
   
Consumer Electronics Show & T.H.E. Show 2012

Altec Lansing has announced that during the CES they will be showing their new hand-crafted, armature-based in-ear monitors for professionals and audio enthusiasts who demand only the best in audio accuracy, noise isolation, and comfort. Through a partnership with global audio specialist ACS Custom, custom fitted in-ear monitors will be available for retail consumers as well as audio professionals. These new headphones will promise an unparalleled user experience, as they are custom-built through every phase of production. Once a user purchases an Altec Lansing by ACS Custom monitor set, they will be referred to one of more than 300 local pre-qualified audiologists, who will create individual custom ear molds from which to craft the monitors. The new Custom Series In-Ear Monitors are handcrafted from advanced, medical-grade silicone that is extremely soft. The 40 Shore silicone quickly adapts to a user's body temperature, forming a flexible yet complete seal that ensures comfort for extended wear and isolates noise up to -27db. Furthermore, SteriTouch provides an antimicrobial benefit to the silicone. The three new models have a frequency response range of 16 Hz to 20 kHz. All three models are fitted with finely tuned balanced armature drivers and provide a complete seal of the ear canal that requires less volume while isolating outside noise. The cables are reinforced with Kevlar for strength and feature an innovative sheath to prevent noise transference to the earpiece. The plug is right-angled and custom-molded for resilience, and the 3.5mm connector is gold plated. Pricing for the top-line triple armature A3 is $1000 (pictured above), while the A2 and A1 models will have a suggested retail price of $750 and $500 respectively.

 

Napa Acoustic from Northern California will be exhibiting at CES 2012 for the first time; sharing space with Wharfedale loudspeakers at the Venetian. Napa Acoustics will be demonstrating two hybrid integrated amps, one all-tube integrated and their slot-loading CD player. The NA-208A hybrid integrated stereo amplifier ($399, pictured) has 25 wpc, a low-noise tube pre-amplification section, dedicated iPod input (that charges the iPod), headphone amplifier, illuminated tube cages and many more features. An iPod cradle, external source cable, speaker wire and a cleaning brush and gloves are supplied. Napa Acoustics' matching NA-208CD player ($399) will be at CES and offers impressive specs and a unique remote that controls the output level. Napa Acoustics' design and marketing approach is to build sales with consumers who love music in every format but are unaware of high-performance audio or unwilling, in today’s economy, to invest heavily in traditional high-end.

 

Bob Carver will debut their new line of "Made in the USA" vacuum tube amplifiers at CES' Venetian Hotel, Suite 30-129. Their room will be shared with Purity Audio Designs and King Sound. The Purity Audio Design Silver Statement Preamplifier will be feeding our pair of 305 Watt Bob Carver Black Beauty monoblock tube amplifiers that will be driving the "King II" loudspeakers in the King Sound Loud Speaker Suite. The VTA180M is conservatively rated at 180 WRMS into 8 Ohms, the VTA305 at 305 WRMS into 8 Ohms but were designed to drive the most demanding speakers. Each amplifier features an automatic DC restoration providing “set and forget" bias adjustment, low idle current greatly increasing outputs tube life, ultra-wide bandwidth interleaved winding output transformer with huge peak demand reserve capacity and a selectable feedback control for classical or contemporary musical preferences. The VTA108M lists for $3700 and the VTA305M for $6450.

 

Purity Audio Design will be in the Venetian Tower Suite 30-129 with their Silver Statement linestage. This is a twin chassis, dual mono Class A tube design utilizing balanced silver signal transformers, autoformer primary and secondary attenuation (adjustable gain control) and a full dual mono polypropylene power supply housed in a separate enclosure. This vacuum tube preamplifier has three balanced via XLR and unbalanced via RCA stereo inputs, while outputs are via two stereo pairs of XLR and RCA analog. Frequency response is from 10 Hz to 35 kHz with a total harmonic distortion or 0.05%. Tube lineup is two 5814/ECC82 (12AU7) and overall shipping weight is a massive 130 lbs. In a secondary system within the same Suite, Purity Audio Design will be debuting their new Purity One-i integrated hybrid amplifier utilizing a Class A tube input stage feeding a custom 125/250 watt Class D output section. The Purity One-i will be driving a pair of

At the CES' Venetian Bassano Ballroom 2601 there will be live demonstrations of the latest products from Bryston and THIEL Audio. This includes the new THIEL USS SmartSub and the highly anticipated Bryston SP-3 preamplifier/processor. The Bryston SP-3 preamplifier/processor provides ultra-high performance, ease of use and legendary build quality. Bryston's SP-3 will provide 2-channel stereo output as well as 5.1, 6.1 and 7.1 surround output modes and decoding is provided for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio as well as the more standard Dolby and DTS formats, in 5.1, 6.1 or 7.1 channels. THIEL Audio's next generation of SmartSub includes the USS and the THIEL SS2.2. Both models carry forward THIEL's patented engineering achievements in the subwoofer category that virtually eliminate unbalanced response due to room interactions as well as thermal compression distortion common to other subwoofer designs.

 

Longstanding and highly respected Italian vacuum tube amplification company Master Sound will be showcasing their new 300 B Monoblock Plus amplifier at the Venetian floor 29 room 316. A new transformer was developed after a year of careful research and development. The result is a frequency response, plus of course there is zero negative feedback in the circuit. Hand selected components and all their positions are studied for their electromagnetic compatibility. The chassis is also upgraded and now employs non-magnetic stainless steel. Internal wiring is a mix circuit PCB and copper wire direct point to point using Swiss company Radox wires by Huber-Suhner. As is appreciated from Italians, each unit is carefully built by hand and every single detail is taken into account. Wood finishes are made in Italy by a longtime cabinetmaker and works by hand the wood 'Noce Canaletto' (walnut Italian wood). Tube compliment is two 300B triodes, a 6SN7 for driver and RCA branded tube for input. Output taps include 4 and 8 Ohms.

 

Cary Audio will be at the CES' Venetian Towers suite 29-112 with a broad presence at both CES and T.H.E. Show in Las Vegas. At the Venetian, Cary Audio will partner with Pioneer's TAD speakers in their main demonstration suite showing the CR-1 Compact Reference Monitor, the SLP-05 two-piece preamplifier that will drive a pair of new SA-500.1 solid-state monoblock power amplifiers. Source component will be Cary Audio's CD-303T CD/SACD/DAC player (pictured). Wiring will be MIT’s latest top of the line Oracle XD cables and speaker cable plus MIT's Z Powerbar power conditioner. A second system in the room will feature headphone listening using AKG K702 reference headphones through a choice of Cary Audio's CAD-300SEI single-ended triode tube integrated amplifier, the new HH-1 hybrid tube headphone amplifier or SH-1 solid-state headphone amplifier. The music will be sourced from our MS-1 music server played through Cary Audio's Xciter DAC.

 

PBN Audio will be teaming up with Cary Audio at T.H.E. Show Flamingo Hotel in the Red Rock III ballroom featuring a Cinema 12 theater processor and Model 7.250 7-channel amplifier in a large theater setting with PBN Montana XPS Signature fronts (pictured) and an SPC2 center channel, SPi rears and M2 Monitor side speakers, and a SSW subwoofer, an Epson 6010 projector and Screen Innovations Black Diamond screen. Also in the Red Rock III ballroom will be on demonstration PBN Audio's new ultra-high-efficiency monitor speakers with a Cary Audio CAD-300SEI SET tube integrated amplifier and a CD-500 player. In Red Rock II PBN Audio will offer their own high-end electronics and speakers, driven by a CD-306 Professional CD/SACD/DAC. Additionally, PBN Audio will showcase their solid-state electronics in Red Rock I driving Quintessence Shadow 5 speakers, and using Cary Audio's CD-303T CD/SACD/DAC for source component.

 

Euro Audio Team, a specialist in vacuum tube manufacturing, will be premiering their E-Flat in room 29-319 in the Venetian Towers. They will also have the Yosegi cartridge and Yosegi headshell plus of course the EAT 312 Tonearm and KT88 diamond vacuum tube. Retail price for E-Flat including the carbone tonearm is €3999, for the E-Flat including the carbone tonearm & Yosegi cartridge is €4999. Just the Yosegi cartridge is €1550 and headshell alone is €555. Those wanting the EAT 312 tonearm can have it for €2490.

 

Euro Audio Team's E-Flat turntable is a new, forward-thinking turntable supplied with a revolutionary flat tonearm. Thanks to the continued evolution of carbon fiber, Forte has been able to create an arm with the practical and aesthetic benefits of a flat form, but without the weaknesses. Ultra-light and ultra-rigid, the E-Flat tonearm measures 10 inches in length and has a unipivot bearing plus easily adjustable counterweight decoupled by energy and vibration absorbing Sorbothane. The turntable itself is belt driven and features two motors that do not run in parallel. They act as a virtual 24-pole motor. The belt encircles an inner sub-platter, which is fitted with inside bearing made out of bronze bushings. The main platter rests on an inverted bearing and a ceramic ball, with a Teflon lining on the underside of the main platter. As with the larger Forte record decks, the diameter of the platter is oversized compared to those on most competitors’ turntables. 33cm was chosen because the moving mass is twice that of a standard 30cm platter. Forte fits a vinyl mat made of recycled LP records to create a surface with properties sympathetic to the LPs it supports. The platter is filled underneath with Sorbothane to stop resonance, while Sorbothane is also used to damp the bearing housing, tonearm base and magnetic feet. In addition to the isolation provided by the magnetic feet, the bearing assembly and platter aperture are suspended. Also in common with the dearer Forte turntables, the Forte E-Flat exhibits an ideal balance between mass-loading and thoughtful subchassis design.

 

WyWires, producer of hand-made high-end audio interfaces, announces the addition of two new product lines to debut in a few weeks at both CES and THE Show in Las Vegas 2012. The company is aligning with a record number of partners. "We are honored and very excited that Jack ByBee has offered WyWires this opportunity" said President & Chief Technology Officer Alex Sventitsky. "We are now the exclusive US-based cable partner using ByBee Tech's Slipstream and Quantum Purifiers as an OEM option for our Gold line of hi-fi cables. We join global audio companies Jorma Design and Marten Loudspeakers, in this distinguished group of manufacturers in the high-performance audio space." Classic WyWires Silver can be heard at Room 29-112 with Cary Audio Design. WyWIres Blue will be at Room 4035 at THE Show with Fritz, Electra-Fidelity and Resolution Audio.

 

Pass Labs will finally be showing their full production versions of the Xs-150 monoblock amplifier and Xs-300 monoblocks ($65,000 per pair and $85,000 per pair respectively). Producing 150 watts, the Xs-150 features Pass Labs SuperSymmetry design. The Xs-300 (pictured here) employs the same technology yet with more output devices can produce 300 watts per unit. As seen in the photo, there is a separate chassis for the power supply to keep such noise away from the critical amplification stages. The power supply features very large capability and has parallel high speed, soft recovery rectifiers. More info possibly coming as i receive more data from Pass Labs. Enjoy the Music.com features a Pass Labs special edition within Superior Audio, which can be seen by clicking here.

 

Precision Transducer Engineering (PTE) will have their Phoenix ($5700) powered audiophile monitor and the MMMC-R ($1595) high resolution state-of-the-art phono preamplifier on display at T.H.E. Show room 4019. The Phoenix active monitor has a frequency response from 32 Hz to 20 kHz (+-2dB) with a very flat overall frequency response across the range. This in a package that is 28" high 12" wide and 15" deep. The built-in amplifiers (three total) operate in Class AB with a total of 130 watts per driver. There is also an electronic crossover and active equalization in all analog implementation. There are three user adjustments for low frequency trim settings for room placement and high frequency trim adjustable up to +- 2dB in 0.5dB increments. PTE's Phoenix also has unbalanced and balanced inputs. The MMMC-R phono preamplifier has electronics with very low noise and features separate MM and MC amplifier sections. Each section is optimized for the application whilst a high-end power supply ensures clean electricity reaching the amplification stages. Hand selected components are chosen in matched pairs for channel matching of 0.1dB, and user adjustable cartridge loading for both the MM and MC inputs.

 

Divergent Technology will have their award winning Reference 3A Veena MK II ($3990 per pair, original version as reviewed by Enjoy the Music.com) yet with slightly taller cabinets and newly upgraded further improved drivers. Also of note is the better internal wiring and component parts within the crossover for more refined performance. It is available in premium multiple layer dense high-gloss clear epoxy finishes including red-cherry, natural American maple and black piano. Divergent will also showcase the new Copland CTA506 ($6490, pictured) amplifier, which is based on the KT120 power valves. These valves are a new variant of the legendary 6550 / KT88 power valves that have been the foundation of numerous of high quality amplifiers The KT120 is one of the most powerful dedicated audio tube in production and produces 30% more power than a KT88. With a plate dissipation rating of 60W, a pair of KT120 tubes in push-pull configuration can deliver nearly 200W of audio power. Copland's CTA506 uses four Kt120, two 6550, four 12BH7 and two ECC81 tubes. Rated output power is 90W per channel, stereo, with less than 0.1% THD. Frequency response is from 5 Hz to 100 kHz (-3dB) and the unit has output taps for 4, 8 and 18 Ohm speaker loads.

 

Electrocompaniet will be launching their new multi-format player the EMP-2 ($2995). The EMP 2 is a fully fledged and versatile player with support for all modern audio and video formats and media including USB 24-bit/192khz. Included Blu-ray in 2D and 3D, CD, SACD, DVD and DVD Audio. Modern video and audio processing in both stereo and multi-channel gives excellent picture quality and high-end sonics. Electrocompaniet's EMP 2 offers both 7.1 unbalanced via RCA outputs and balanced via XLR stereo outputs. Digital inputs include two HDMI, optical TosLink and coax S/PDIF plus USB and E-SATA. Qdeo video processor from Marvell for optimal Blu-ray playback gives a natural picture without noise and artifacts. DVD movies are upscale to HD-format. SACD playback is possible in both stereo and multi-channel using the standard DSD format. The DSD data-stream is sent directly from the disk to the DACs for direct transmission to analogue audio. Filters on the output removes high frequency noise and amplitude and phase characteristics of the signal is maintained. A separate balanced stereo output offers high quality two-channel playback to you existing stereo set-up. Discrete Class A output circuits and the best DAC available ensure very high sound quality. The unit is DLNA certified and also handles Ethernet and Wi-Fi. Dimensions are 18.3 x 12.4 x 3.6 (WxDxH in inches) and the unit weighs 22 lbs.

 

The Lotus Group will be at the Valley of Fire Ballroom within the main floor at T.H.E. Show with a pairing with Wavac, Lotus Group's all-new loudspeakers along with PranaWire cabling, Steve McCormack's VRE-1c Preamplifier, Hanss Acoustic T-60 turntable with Durand Talea arm and Ortofon Anna cartridge. The Wavac HE-833MkII (pictured) with 150 watts of pure Class A single ended, directly heated triode power will power the mid-range and the MD-805 MKII with 60 watts of pure Class A single ended, directly heated triode power will power the tweeters. Steve McCormack's latest version of the remarkable VRE Virtual Reality Engine Preamplifier the VRE-1C includes Remote Volume Control, an upgraded Power Supply and a new upgraded umbilical chord. We expect to be shipping just after CES. All prior units will be upgradeable to 1C status. PranaWire MicroCosmos speaker cable has a new slimmer profile, thus making it less visually imposing and easy to route and install. According to The Lotus Group, "The MicroCosmos sets a new standard for focus and richness of detail with a pronounced ability to render the most subtle ambient cues, making this cable especially adept at delivering everything that high resolution files can deliver."

 

Wolfgang Meletzky of MC Music Culture Technology will be at the Venetian Suite 30-119 at CES featuring the first two Reference line products from MC -- the mc 331 loudspeaker and mc 811 monoblock power amplifiers. The mc 331 is a three-way, floor standing speaker consisting of two stacked enclosures. They feel this new speaker will set a new standard in musical quality at anywhere near its retail price of $11,995/pair. The mc 811 is the company's new monoblock amplifier. This fully balanced solid-state design is capable of delivering in excess of 300 watts at 8 Ohms. The mc 811’s unique "Alpha & Beta drive" technology allows the owner to tailor the voicing of the amplifier to insure maximum system symmetry. Like all MC products, the mc 811 has exceptional build quality ($9,195 each). In addition to these new products, MC will be showing the complete Elegance line of affordable high-performance components."

 

Newer Technology (NewerTech) eliminates the need to have unsightly USB powerbricks lying around the house or office with the unveiling of the Power2U, the industry’s first UL-listed AC/USB in-wall outlet. Demonstrated at CES North Hall Booth #2531, the Power2U outlet simultaneously charges and/or powering two USB devices as well as two traditional AC-powered 'plug in' units. The Power2U is the first home-safe, fully UL-Listed in-wall product on the market. It incorporates two traditional three-prong AC wall sockets in addition to two USB 3.0/2.0/1.1 ports. The unit significantly enhances living and working spaces by eliminating the clutter caused by having multiple cables and unsightly, bulky power adapters connected to conventional wall outlets. NewerTech designed the unit to be used in any home as well as corporate, hospital, and lodging environments. The Power2U AC/USB Wall Outlet can be easily installed on any 15 Ampere circuit. A Smart Power feature only outputs enough charging power required by the attached device whilst an energy efficient, spring-loaded Safety Shutter is design to turn power off to USB ports when connecting cable is removed. Priced at $39.95, the Newer Technology Power2U AC/USB Wall Outlet is available immediately for $29.99 from NewerTech’s exclusive distributor Other World Computing (OWC). OWC is also offering an additional instant rebate of $5 per unit when two or more Power2U outlets are purchased at the same time.

 

Triode Corporation Japan will have their TRX-M845SE parallel single-ended monoblock power amplifiers ($20,000) at the CES. This fully balanced design amplifier is claimed to be able to drive virtually every speaker in the market. The Triode TRX-M845SE can handle 845 or 211 tubes that drive 845 triodes in parallel single-ended Class A to produce 50 watts at 8 Ohms. Output impedance can be 4, 6, 8 or 16 Ohms. Frequency response is from 10 Hz to 50 kHz (0,-3dB) with a total distortion of < 0.1% (1kHz). SNR is 89dB and input sensitivity is 0.8 Volts. Full tube compliment consists of three 845, a 6SN7 and 12AU7. Inputs include unbalanced via RCA and balanced via XLR. Dimension are 580 x 300 x 440 (WxHxD in mm) and weight is 120 lbs.

 

Click here for main CES 2012 / THE Show 2012 show report page.