Munich Germany High End Society 2005 Show

  Based in Hong Kong, Sun Union Audio Dragon Prince (€21,600) has a specialized ribbon tweeter by the same designer as the critically acclaimed Raven. A 16cm ribbon tweeter is mated with 18cm polypropylene midrange and a pair of 20.5cm polypropylene woofers. All drivers are by Audio Technology, and in whole the Dragon Prince reproduces music from 32Hz to 40kKz with a high 92dB/W/m sensitivity at 4 ohms.

 

T+A's new D10 SACD/CD player (€5,500) naturally plays the two formats, has four DACs by Burr Brown with special oversampling algorithm. The analog signal is amplified via tubes. See Enjoy the Music.com™'s review of the company's V10 integrated amplifier and G10R record player by clicking here.

 

As mentioned last week within the Enjoy the Music.com™ PRIMEDIA (Stereophile) New York audiophile show is the new Music Hall A-25.2 (€600) amplifier and matching CD 25.2 CD player (€600). See our PRIMEDIA show coverage for more details on this dynamic duo.

 

Tivoli continues their cool and campy line of consumer products such as their SongBook AM/FM radio alarm clock with aux input. See our critical assessment of Tivoli's Model Two Radio and Tivoli Model CD Player by clicking here.

 

The Italians may be the undisputed artisans and lovers of wood for the products, here in Germany chrome and glass are usually King. Schroders & Schroders of Berlin make a wide array of stands for audio and video featuring, what else, glass and chrome.

 

Ok, this looks to be a really interesting gadget so pay attention! Behold of Germany makes their PSD192M (€2100, or without motor control €1,800) that, now are you sitting down... is the answer for certain vinyl junkies. Why, you ask? Well, you can hook up the output of your MM or MC cable directly to it and the RIAA is done digitally at 24-bit/192kHz. Heresy you cry! Rubbish as please read on. You can then output the signal digitally via coax or Toslink to an external DAC or USB for computer. There is an analog out yet it has A to D, then back to D to A conversion for RIAA equalization. So yes, the RIAA conversion is always conducted within the digital domain at 24-bit/192kHz. The M version adds motor control so you can insure perfect speed (+-0.1%) or speed up/slow down the 33/45/78 to +-50 percent. Now stay with me here. Play the vinyl back at minus 50 percent; record it, then use 32-bit or the like software to normalize the speed for your high resolution digital recording (DVD-Audio or the like). In a sense it is like digital remastering vinyl at half speed. Phew! Ok, for normal replay it is a cool gadget as well and makes life easy for making CDs of your vinyl.

 

With that said, you could have Behold's Moving Coil Adapter (€5,000, needs APU for €15,000) that is a headshell with MC input and samples the cartridge's analog signal to 24-bit/768kHz. That, in turn, feeds a receiver that, in turn, feeds the company's APU digital preamplifier. The APU boasts bi-directional software for adjustments and other goodies and possibilities too numerous to mention here.

 

Acoustic Solid's WTB 213 tonearm (€1600) was in-house designed with aluminum tube, dual bearing (top and bottom), adjustable headshell and counterweight, yet does not need anti-skate (like the Ortophon tonearm for example). The tonearm includes Cardas cable with WBT nextgen connector for direct connection from the cartridge to your MM/MC stage's RCA input. See Enjoy the Music.com™'s review of Acoustic Solid's by clicking here.

 

Munich show report Part 2.