New HiFi Launched at CES 2010

[Ajani]

Figured I'd start a thread to show new HiFi gear launched at CES 2010... I'll update as I see new announcements (feel free to do the same)...

Here goes:

B&W - 800 Diamond Range (replaces the existing 800 series, all models now have diamond tweeters and price has gone up significantly):

http://whathifi.com/News/BandW-reinv...Diamond-range/

Naim - UnitiQute (All in one streaming/dac/amp/radio - essentially, a smaller, lower powered NaimUniti without the CD player)

http://whathifi.com/News/CES-2010-Na...ble-UnitiQute/

Martin Logan - Motion Series (entry level range using cones and Folded Motion Tweeters)

http://www.avrev.com/home-theater-ne...on-series.html

Anthem - BLX 200 BluRay/CD/DVD Player

http://www.anthemav.com/NewSitev2.0/...X/BLXHome.html

[Ajani]

Creek - Evolution 5350 Integrated Amp and Destiny Tuner

http://www.creekaudio.co.uk/news.php#53

Bel Canto - A wide range of cheaper to more expensive Dacs and Amps (nice to see a brand expanding their product range into cheaper territory)

http://www.belcantodesign.com/Belcan...10_Press2.html

http://www.belcantodesign.com/Belcan...010_Press.html

Also, a good place for CES product updates is:

http://blog.stereophile.com/ces2010/

[Mr Peabody]

Thanks Ajani. I tried to give you a greenie for your effort but I must have done that not long ago, it told me to spread it around

[Mr Peabody]

Looks like from the Stereophile blog there is no shortage of ultra expensive and high end gear at CES. Of course, every one always brings the first string to the Super Bowl.

Notice Krell has a Blu-ray player now, only $15k, supposed to be the benchmark for Blu.

[Ajani]

The only other item not covered in my other links is the B&W P5 Headphones:

http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/CE...adphones.shtml

http://www.trustedreviews.com/mp3/ne...es-Hands-On/p1

They're expected to retail at $300 around the end of this month... I'll be interested to see how they stack up compared to other approx $300 phones from Denon, Grado, AKG, Beyerdynamic and Sennheiser... Since that is essentially the price point at which you start getting high-end headphones....

I'd also like to see how they fare against 'i-pod' cans such as the Monster Beats by Dr Dre and the various in-ear options from Shure etc...

[frenchmon]

I was shocked years ago to find out about Pioneers other high end line....the reference speakers known as TAD. But now we find out they do amps aswell....The M600 amplifiers ($26,500 each). Apparently there is more to Pioneers engineering department other than the Elite series...I wonder what else Pioneer has up their sleeve



heres their D600 disc player, which will retail for $26,500 and appear next month in the US. In typical TAD fashion, this is a tour de force design sporting Burr-Brown PCM1794 DACs, an external power supply and the ability to play both CD and SACD (2 channel only).



frenchmon

[frenchmon]

Must be a heck of a DAC...its so small for $650 claims,




frenchmon

[frenchmon]

Heres the new Diamond 800.



But I like this one better...its only $5,000 a pair




frenchmon

[hifitommy]

by the looks of this martin logan driver, thats EXACTLY what it is. did oskar heil's patent run out? check out the link from ML :

http://www.martinlogan.com/motionSer...p#foldedmotion

if this brings good sounding speakers into the affordable arena, that would be sweet.

[Mr Peabody]

Funny you should mention Heil, did you see ESS is bringing back to market their speakers with AMT?

I'd like to hear the B&W cans. There's enough dealers it shouldn't be hard to do.

Frenchmon, let me know when you get your TAD set up, I'd like to come hear it.

[frenchmon]

I only wish. Thats what dreams are for.

frenchmon

[Mr Peabody]

I'd like to hear it. Again, I'm biased, wondering if something from Pioneer could be worth that much.

[frenchmon]

duplicate

[frenchmon]

I'd love to hear it as well. I think the company is seperate form Pioneer while being owned by Pioneer.

I heard some Wilson Watt Puppies down in Carolina at one of my audio hang outs...www.Audioadvice.com and while they sounded good, I think they where so expensive because of the way they looked more so than the sound they produced. I dont think thats the idea with those amps

[Ajani]

From Arcam - The Solo Neo - A WiFi/Ethernet/USB Streaming version of the Solo:

http://www.arcam.co.uk/news,ces-news....htm?news_pg=0

[Ajani]

QED - uPlay - Bluetooth Music Streamer (Allows you to stream music from your bluetooth equipped cellphone/MP3 player to your HiFi setup)....

http://whathifi.com/News/CES-2010-QE...al-music-free/

[frahengeo]

IThe M600 amplifiers ($26,500 each). Apparently there is more to Pioneers engineering department other than the Elite series...I wonder what else Pioneer has up their sleeve

Wow. That's ~200lbs/channel (and I do mean 200lbs). Minimally, I would need 5 of those bad boys, so 5@$26,500 = $132,500.

[Ajani]

Mini Maggies are ready to be shipped...

Stereophile mentions them at the end of their MG1.7 Blog:

http://blog.stereophile.com/ces2010/...ting_a_legend/

They initially appeared at last year's CES:

http://www.avguide.com/blog/the-magg...speaker-part-2

They are a pair of sats and a woofer module (not subwoofer as it only hits about 40hz)...

Expected to be priced the same as the 1.7... So $2K.....

[hifitommy]

mr peabody,

i dont know the condition of the ESS company but the diagram in the martin logan link sure suggests the heil driver to me. if i am not mistaken, burmester also uses a heil driver in one of the pricey speakers.

[Mr Peabody]

It could be. I've been following so many links lately I can't remember where I read it but they are supposed to be bringing some of the classic ESS back to market. Not very good timing for it and you have to wonder what drove them out of business in the firt place.

[hifitommy]

it seems to have existed until about 2006, here are some reviews of their $11k speaker.

http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue20/ess450.htm

http://www.avguide.com/review/ess-co...50-loudspeaker

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ESS_speakers

[ears4hire]

Yes, Oskar Heil's (from Germany) patent ran out several years ago. An assoc. of mine (Stanly from No. CA) was the guy who started ESS about 40yrs. ago, and licensed Dr. Oskar Heil's AMT designs. I have heard several of Stan's delightful stories about starting and operating ESS so long ago; before the stereo store I worked at offered them as their best speaker systems (in the 70s).

There are over two dozen speaker system makers using variations on (Heil's) AMT-type tweeter designs. Several of these speaker makers are or control the OEM makers of the AMT-type drivers they use.

I have a working relationship with a few of these AMT driver OEMs. Most of the current AMT driver OEMs are in Asia, selling to at least a few of the German speaker system brands that include AMT-type tweeters. The most highly regarded AMT driver OEMs are still designed in Germany (& most costly made there).

I have a written an overview/paper on the subject of AMT, ribbons and planar-mag. drivers; if you contact me with your email address, I will send it to you.

regards, D.Kennedy
Audio Engineer

by the looks of this martin logan driver, thats EXACTLY what it is. did oskar heil's patent run out? check out the link from ML :

http://www.martinlogan.com/motionSer...p#foldedmotion

if this brings good sounding speakers into the affordable arena, that would be sweet.

[ears4hire]

An assoc. of mine (Stanly from No. CA) was the guy who started ESS about 40yrs. ago, and licensed Dr. Oskar Heil's AMT designs. After more than a decade of success building the ESS brand of speakers, Stanly sold the very profitable ESS brand to Henry Ross Perot; (from wikipedia) an American businessman from Texas best known for running for President of the United States in 1992 and 1996. Perot founded Electronic Data Systems (EDS) in 1962, sold the company to General Motors in 1984 and founded Perot Systems in 1988. Perot Systems was bought by Dell for $3.9 billion in 2009.

I have asked Stanly who currently owns the ESS trademark, he does not know. After Stanly sold ESS he was a professor at a couple No. CA univ. and recently came out of retirement, filing more patents for speaker systems and wind power generators. regards, D.Kennedy

It could be. I've been following so many links lately I can't remember where I read it but they are supposed to be bringing some of the classic ESS back to market. Not very good timing for it and you have to wonder what drove them out of business in the firt place.

[ears4hire]

TAD had a very impressive sounding demo. system at CES. I was a dealer for the TAD pro/studio drivers (in the 70s - still unsurpassed PM compression drivers). I met with TAD at CES about becoming a dealer for the co-axial TAD home stereo speaker systems. D.Kennedy

I was shocked years ago to find out about Pioneers other high end line....the reference speakers known as TAD. But now we find out they do amps aswell....The M600 amplifiers ($26,500 each). Apparently there is more to Pioneers engineering department other than the Elite series...I wonder what else Pioneer has up their sleeve ...

frenchmon

[hifitommy]

the sig would be for SIGNATURE. well, enough of the politically incorrect humor.

yes i would like a copy of the paper about the AMTs.

my email is: hifitommy@gmail.com

thanks for the offer.

...regards...tom roy