January 5 - Part 2

Advance Acoustic continued the trend of large integrated amplifiers with the MAP-407 ($1600). With output meters on the front panel and 400Wpc of power into 4 ohms, the Chinese-made MAP-407 certainly seems like an impressive piece of gear.

JPS Labs had new cables galore. From the outside in, there is the massively constructed Aluminata speaker cables ($8499 per eight-foot pair) and Aluminata interconnects ($2999 per one-meter pair). Inside of these statement-level products are both RCA and XLR versions of the Superconductor 3 interconnects ($999 with RCAs, $1099 XLRs).

Marantz introduced the PM7001 integrated amplifier ($650 USD). The attractive unit is rated to deliver 70Wpc into 8 ohms and 100Wpc into 4 ohms.

Said to be designed with Wilson Audio Alexandria X-2 loudspeakers is the MIT Oracle MA (Maximum Articulation) speaker cables ($25,000 per eight-foot pair).

You can see styling on the side of the case that matches the curve on the side of the X-2.

Need a fancy case for your custom computer? Shown above are models from MGE Company. On the left is the Viper 2 ($149.99) and on the right is the Dragon ($189.99). The chassis construction of both models is said to be all aluminum, with LCD displays, integral fan cooling, and built-in power supplies.Multiple color options are available for each model.

HiVi, Inc. displayed a dizzying array of raw drivers. Shown above is a coaxial driver that features a ribbon tweeter mounted in the center of a 2" midrange cone. Various sizes of the driver were displayed, which is said to be the first of its kind due to the ribbon element.