New
company, new website (as oh... an hour ago) and world premiere of the
Montegiro brand Lusso turntable (30,000€ on up). They also offer cartridges
with generators made by EMT in titanium body or wood body.
More live music.
What i find
truly enjoyable is the quantity of rooms that not only have equipment; the
manufacturer also has live musicians playing! Here in the B&M (Backes Und
Muller) room they have a live musicians playing through their loudspeakers!
Products at the show includes their MBline 35, BMLine 25, and BM2S
(108,000€, 39,0000€, and 7800€ respectively). This world premiere of the
BMLine 25 hallmarks their innovation, as this model includes a T-Ribbon
tweeter flanked top and bottom with a 17cm carbon fiber midrange and pair of
rear-mounted 25cm woofers. Amplification is included, with over 1000 watts
total between the three amplifiers built in. Digital input (SPDIF and AES/EBU)
handles upwards of 24-bit/192kHz, plus of course the more normal analog. Also
interesting is that the crossover is digital, so can be computer controlled
plus you can purchase a microphone for room correction.
Denon's DL103SA
Limited Edition (649€) MC cartridge outputs 0.25mV and has a frequency
response from 20Hz to 45kHz. Naturally
a major show such as this draws in Pioneer, Panasonic and other mainstream
brands. As such, they seemed to be focusing on video more than audio. What is
truly great about the High End 2008 event is that everything from major
electronics firms to small niche manufacturers attend, so there is something
for everyone no matter what your preference and financial income.
As my mind
drifts off to the music to the 007 movie Goldfinger, Ascendo was showing their
ZF3Limited Gold Edition (non-gold version is 17,000€). It includes a ribbon
tweeter and long-throw 20cm paper cone woofer. There is also another 20cm
driver inside the unit, with its output going out of the front port. Frequency
response is 26Hz to 30kHz, 87.5dB/W/m sensitive at 6 Ohms. The wood cabinet
has layers of 23.5-karat gold, which is specially done with various layers to
ensure the gold stays on. Other
cabinet options are gold/designs as seen above.
Of course
B&W had a very large suit, including a live music stage and a quintet of
their 801s, yet was curious as to how their Zeppelin (599$) sounded because
Meridian's iPod Ferrari model sounds imo dreadful to my ears. Thank goodness
B&W has very good sound and could be a viable option for a stylish iPod
amplified opinion. The top line B&W
800D Loudspeaker is reviewed here.
More world
premieres as Duevel’s prototype of their Sirius (around 18,000€) should be
available in a month or so. It has a 12-inch paper cone for bass, with
neodymium magnet. The tweeter/midrange is pure titanium compression driver
with special plating to make the driver stiffer. Frequency response is from
30Hz to 20kHz with a high 93dB/W/m sensitivity. Notice the full 360-degree
dispersion, as found in the Bella Luna I reviewed years ago. The loudspeaker
comes in various wood finishes or virtually any custom color to match your
home’s décor. i have personally reviewed their Duevel
Bella Luna.
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High-Performance Audio Reviews
