Saturday, January 11 -- Series 2
Shunyata Research debuts their Phoenix speaker
cable ($1995). The distinct design uses the same Matrix Braid geometry as the company's
less expensive Lyra speaker cable. [www.shunyata.com]
In stark contrast to their large and complex
horn speakers, Calix introduced the F-2 ($1500/pair), an 88dB sensitive minimonitor with a
1" tweeter and a 6 1/2" woofer. It's shown here in two finish options.
Shown here with different knobs, Blue Circle's
BC21.1 preamp ($1650) is now radio-frequency remote controllable -- from a keychain
remote. This feature adds $250 to the price. [www.bluecircle.com]
Lyra introduced the brand-new Titan cartridge
($4500). The .45mV-output Titan features a titanium body and is Lyra's
top-of-the-line offering. The Titan is so new that there are only two of them currently in
existence.
Putting the "loud" in loudspeaker
was the Genesis Advanced Technologies 6.1 ($9000/pair) demo. This new speaker features two
active 12" subwoofers in each enclosure powered by a 1000-watt amplifier. The 6.1 is
a dipole speaker, and it uses a round ribbon tweeter. It is also unique in that it
has a LFE input and output for daisy-chaining additional subwoofers -- not that you'd
need them.
The 75Wpc HD-1 hybrid integrated amplifier
from Margules Audio ($1900) is claimed to be capable of driving a 2-ohm load. It looked
very architectural.
Hovland introduced the exceptionally elegant
Radia solid-state stereo amplifier ($9500), a fully balanced design rated at 128 watts
into an 8-ohm load. The Radia has overbuilt protection circuitry that Hovland claims
is also in use in a rail transportation system in Japan.
In their new deluxe wood finishes, the
Meadowlark Osprey (left, $3500/pair) looked exquisite. The Kestrel 2 (right,
$1995/pair) were as visually beautiful, and sounded as good as they looked. Both speakers
are available for less money in plain wood finishes. [www.meadowlarkaudio.com]
One of the neatest new footers is the
Stillpoint ($273/set of three), which uses a series of ceramic balls inside a Delrin
housing with a stainless-steel top cap. Aluminum risers ($125/set of three) will soon be
available, so you can use Stillpoints with their "points" facing upwards.
New from -- you guessed it -- Zu Cable are the
Xaus tonearm cable (left, $240), Ibis speaker cable (second from left, $1200/ten-foot
pair), Varial interconnect (second from right, $380/meter pair), and Megular
component-video cable ($120/meter set).
Albert Von Schweikert jokingly announced that
"the world needs another two-way speaker." With this he debuted his new
$995/pair VR-1, finished in any of four wood veneers.
