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CES 2013 Coverage

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Prime Fidelity Model fifty 90, Kuzma;   these $3,500 speakers were nice on voices and acoustic instruments with plenty of bass slam and dynamics and good detail and sense of space.  In fact, given the price, these were phenomenal speakers and certainly fun listening to.

Prime Fidelity Model fifty 90, Kuzma at CES 2013

Prime Fidelity Model fifty 90, Kuzma at CES 2013

Prime Fidelity Model fifty 90, Kuzma at CES 2013

Purist Audio, Stahl-Tek Airaa D/A, Atmosphere MP-1 preamp and Novacrom amps, Classic Audio T3.4 speakers;  Jim Aud is another manufacturer who continues to advance the state-of-the-art year after year.  He seems to have a knack for putting together systems that sound great but are not stratospherically priced.  In this instance, the entire system retails for about $100k with the speakers accounting for approximately half, and all the cables and power cords costing less than half the cost of a single piece of Odin interconnect.  I was particularly taken with two components of the system, a 30-year-old Technics SP10 Mk III turntable which had been totally refurbished by Albert Porter installed in one of Porter’s custom ebony bases with the new Triplanar 12” arm with carbon fiber arm tube, and Jim’s latest creation the Stahl-Tek Airaa D/A converter designed to sell for a fraction of the cost of other Stahl-Tek digital components.

Technics SP10 Mk III at CES 2013

Atmosphere MP-1 preamp and Novacrom amps at CES 2013

Classic Audio T3.4 speakers at CES 2013

Stahl-Tek’s Opus Series DAC has garnered much praise in the ultra high-end audio arena, particularly in the Far East. It is however priced beyond the means of most of us. The Airaa represents an attempt by the engineers at Stahl~Tek to develop a new series of DAC, which offers much of the sonics of the Opus Series at a more affordable price.  The Ariaa with its design roots based on the Opus Series DAC maintains that smooth and warm analog sound with exceptional details and a defined layered sound stage, but at a much more comfortable price point still within the reach of most audiophiles.  With its refined engineered design and optimized circuit topology, the Ariaa exceeds in pure performance by sharing many of the design philosophies utilized within the Opus Series DAC without the need for an exotic chassis or a complex isolated power supply or discrete class-A output amplifier buffers.  The Ariaa DAC is a true balance signal design for maximum dynamics from the digital-to-analog converters all the way to the final output stage like that of the Opus Series DAC.  The Ariaa DAC also incorporates newly developed technologies like the multi-threaded multi-core processor for high-speed, bit-perfect USB streaming audio with current sample rates supported to 192kHz at 24-bit resolution. The Ariaa DAC also features a RISC core processor and custom proprietary software that is utilized for sample rate monitoring and master clock frequency control to ensure the highest accurate reconstruction of the digital signal back to pure analog sonic indulgence.  For flexibility in audio system integration, the Ariaa DAC features not only onboard button controls and a highly efficient Organic LED Display, but also includes remote control ability of source selection, absolute-phase (parity), volume, mute, and a power stand-by feature.
Further Thoughts

While I enjoy seeing new equipment, it is really the interaction with manufacturers and friends that makes the trip to Las Vegas worthwhile.  I spent much of the trip with a friend, Encinitas Jim, who introduced me to Joe’s at Caesar’s, a steakhouse not to be missed.  Jim has a discerning ear, knows what he likes and does not suffer any foolishness on my part easily.  In terms of manufacturers, several made impressions, certainly Hermann Winters (Acapella) for his love of music, Dan Meinwald (EAR, Marten and Jorma) for his encyclopedic knowledge of music, Franz Kuzma for his candid comments about his own products, particularly not always pushing the most expensive, Steve Dobbins (Kodo, The Beat) again for his candor, Demian Martin (Constellation), Santos Orofel (Triode) for his genial and kind demeanor, and the folks at Solution for taking the time to try to make their design understandable to a liberal arts major.

I would in conclusion like to suggest my candidates for “best at show”:

Tube Based System: Absolare;  Acapella Violoncello/ Einstein electronics (runner up)

Transistor Based System: Magico S5/ Soulution 500 series electronics; Magico/ Constellation electronis (runner up)

Digital Product: Stahl-Tek Airaa D/A; MSB stack (runner up)

Analogue Product: Techdas Airforce One turntable with Graham Phantom II Supreme 12” arm

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