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Flight setups at CES 2010
Hans Ole
Vitus put on another outstanding demo that
this year featured the Bergmann tone-arm and
'table and the $165k Marten Design Momento
loudspeakers. As expected, this setup was
among the Best of Show, and shows what a
great synergy can immediately do. I loved
the ease, tonality and presence this system
produced.
The
super-fast Scaena Model 3 line-array
loudspeakers ($55k) did a magnificent job of
allowing this listener to just sit back and
relax while the music just massaged my soul.
This was easily accomplished with a set pair
of McIntosh mono amps. Of course, dCS was
the source while all cabling was by way of
Nordost.
Now, down
to Best of Show (for these ears)...The
3-tier stacked modules that make up the
German-made Tidal Sunray loudspeaker ($176k
incl diamond tweeter) using Bridge Audio
Laboratories (BAlabo) electronics -including
their new DAC - really had this room singing
by the 2nd day (last minute burn-in assisted
in a hardness that went away after the first
day). BAlabo electronics is manufactured and
designed in Japan and imported here by Fred
Nadel of Pure Audio. Kerem Küçükaslan's
Echole Obsession line of interconnects
graced this system as well. Sonic-wise, the
sound was impressively fast and dynamic,
with a sense of harmonic rightness that
easily put me at ease. Bass energy was a bit
on the full-side considering the smallish
size of the room, but all in all, I would
nominate this as being my second most
favorite sounding setup at this year's CES!
Best Sound
AGAIN for me at this year's show turned out
to be the Perfect 8 loudspeaker. This year
Perfect 8 showed with Ypsilon electronics
namely their model SET-100 hybrid amplifier
and produced what I would qualify as the
most breathtaking sound I heard at CES.
Don't know much about these electronics
except that their imported by AA Audio
Imports and sound. The only thing I
found disappointing was the price increase.
The Perfect 8 folks seem to increase the
price on this loudspeaker with each show and
this year's $375k asking price makes this
the most expensive loudspeaker to show at
this year's show... but not the most
expensive I've heard. That title goes to....
(l to r) Jack Bybee, Dr. Jim and Abby
Langham)
A
Day in the Life With Dr. Jim and Abigail
Langham, Behold electronics and The Magical
Magico Ultima loudspeakers
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