Series 5

Without a doubt the Electronluv tube amplifiers and preamplifiers were the most visually startling products we saw at the CES. These transformer-coupled triode amplifiers are built on stainless-steel-and-copper chassis and use a variety of esoteric tubes, some of which glow a dramatic fluorescent purple. The 75TL mono amplifiers ($35,000/ pair, including preamplifier) feature mercury-vapor power supplies and produce 8-12 watts...,

...while the 2A3 mono Amplifiers ($17,000/pair) produce 3.8 watts and use an 801 tube as driver. The 10 Family line stage ($7500, center) uses a mercury-vapor power supply and a DACT attenuator.

Lots of CES attendees were showing off their MSB battery-powered DACs (free at the show with the submission of a business card). The two silvery contacts at the top and the one at the bottom edge are actually RCA connections.

Following the trend of releasing universal audio/video players, McCormack unveiled its UDP-1. This sturdy-looking player comes in at $2995 with all the features one would expect from this growing class of products.

Alón's newest speaker is the Lotus Elite Signature ($8000), which sports a coveted audiophile feature: an outboard crossover network.

Joule-Electra's Heaven's Gate monoblocks tip the price scale at $7900/pair and are the more powerful brother to the company's Stargate mono amplifiers.

Those on a budget who have lusted after Threshold can rejoice. The new Threshold S/5000e delivers 200W for just $2500. [www.threshold-audio.com]

Tall and imposing, ProAc's new Response D80 ($14,000/pair) sounded very authoritative as paired with a full complement of Audio Research electronics.

 

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