WINTER	2006

It’s that time of year again. Time to head for the grand audiophile party in the desert we call the Consumer Electronics Show.
The notable event leads us to the bright lights of Las Vegas for a celebration of the best audio and video has to offer. It’s sensory overload to the max. Guaranteed to have your ears drooping and your eyes watering by the time you leave. Doesn’t that sound tempting? What, you couldn’t go? No worry, just read on and I’ll show you around.

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2006 CES Show Report
 

AUDIO PHYSIC: I’ve heard Audio Physic speakers on many occasions over the years, and each time been impressed with their speed, articulation, refinement and soundstaging. So, I’m very happy to welcome the outstanding speakers from Audio Physic into our family of quality products.

 Founded over twenty years ago, German manufacturer Audio Physic are known for their unique and innovative designs and truly outstanding performance. Add elegant appearance, solid construction and impeccable finish quality, and you've got a speaker that is a feast for all the senses.
      There are only a handful of speakers that image as well as those from Audio Physic. When properly positioned, these speakers simply cease to exist, leaving behind an almost holographic sound field. The sound is not just dimensional, it borders on enveloping. Quite addictive!

First introduced at the Rocky Mountain audio show, the all new Scorpio had folks lining up at the CES Audio Physic Suite for a listen. You could see eyes light up and a smile slowly creep across the faces of the enchanted listeners. And with good reason, the Scorpio was a knockout!
            The Scorpio features four 7” woofers (two per side) arranged in a “push-push” configuration. Bass is both extended and powerful (and is some of the fastest I’ve heard), but never looses control. Twin 6” midrange drivers are married to an incredible 1” dome tweeter. Used throughout most of the line, this tweeter offers some of the most exquisite highs I’ve heard from a cone driver. The tweeter never gets aggressive and isn’t overtly analytical, yet is still super-fast and precise with excellent detail and air. There are very few speakers with a top end as refined as these.

Bottom line, these are incredible loudspeakers and ones that should not be missed! The Audio Physic range is broad. With offerings from $1250 to $69995, there is a model to fit most every budget. Give me a ring with your questions. 

JEFF ROWLAND: Rowland’s digital amplifiers (201 and 501) have, in a very short period of time, become the best selling components in the company’s history. Their popularity is well deserved. Clean, focused and grain free, the digital offerings have made a lot of friends.

            Continuing with the digital concept, Rowland bowed the 102 basic amplifier. Like the other Rowland digital amps, the 102 is small. Measuring just 2”H x 7”D x 14”W, it’s small enough to fit into any system and at just $1400 you could say its price matches its size – diminutive. Using two ICE modules and a switching power supply, the little stereo amp produces 100 watts into 8 Ohms and makes 200 watts when driving 4 Ohm speakers. All that power and yet the 102 idles at under 10 watts!

            Deliver commences in late February or early March. Now would be a good time to pre-order!

REGA: What, a new Rega CD player? Yes, and it’s a honey! A great deal of effort poured into the development of the Apollo, and it shows. Though it looks very much like the Planet (the machine it replaces) on the outside, virtually nothing inside remains the same.

The Apollo employs a totally new disc operating system (a Rega exclusive) that optimizes itself for each CD. Load a disc and the word  “initializing” appears in the readout. During the procedure (which takes about five seconds) the machine analyzes the CD, optimizing various parameters for best performance. Exactly what’s going on during this (interesting and potentially revolutionary) process, I don’t know. But whatever it is, it works.   

The Rega press release explains it this way: “Development of (operating software for CD players) was curtailed around eight to ten years ago. All development was directed toward DVD and other formats.

Rega and other specialist hi-fi manufacturers were totally reliant on companies like Sony and Phillips to supply transports and their operating chipsets. Two years ago Sony stopped supply and sent the specialist hi-fi industry into a flurry of activity in search of feasible alternatives. Many manufacturers were able to resource their supply from the far east. Rega has been incredibly fortunate in locating a small British company who were finalizing the development of a totally new CD operating system.

Rega, along with its partners, are the only manufacturers to develop a new CD operating system within the last 10 years. Due to ever increasing computer processing power it has been possible to build an enormous increase in memory capacity which has allowed the data retrieval to meet of the original Red Book specifications without compromise to  the musical performance. All previous chipsets were unable to achieve this due to their limited memory and signal processing capacity.”

The new British-designed chip set contains over 20MB of memory along with 32 bit digital signal processing capacity. The ultra high capacity memory buffer means error correction need not affect sound quality. DACs are the very latest Wolfson WM8740 24 Bit Delta Sigma in a dual differential arrangement. The output is entirely new and uses discreet components operating in 'Class A'.

The unique drive mechanism incorporates a three-point mounting ball chuck (the disc clicks into place on the spindle), an improvement over magnetic puck designs. The new assembly insures that the disc surface is precisely aligned with the laser for more accurate data retrieval. Secondly, the mass of the puck is gone, resulting in better acceleration and braking performance.

The Apollo plays both MP3 and WMA files and the new remote features dedicated MP3 keys.

What does all this mean in sonic terms? It sounds great! Frankly, the technical tidbits are only interesting if what comes out the back is appealing. But it wouldn’t be much of a narrative if all I said was: “It sounds great, buy it.” But I should, because it does, so grab your checkbook. $995 in silver or black.

SHUNYATA: I had a great time visiting with the Shunyata crew, Caelin, Matt and Grant. In a conversation with designer, Caelin Gabriel, I learned a great deal about how the cables are constructed.

Each Shunyata product is superb in its own right, but those cables employing the Patented Helix braid are quite special indeed. It was an eye opener to learn how mind numbingly difficult the stuff is to make. These cables are completely hand braided – there is no machine available that can weave the intricate matrix. Making the process exponentially more difficult, each cable starts out with identical length strands and must finish with all the strands at the same length - there can be no trimming. In other words, there is zero margin for error. Twenty feet is the maximum length available as longer runs simply aren’t possible due to complexity of the process.

Understanding the amount of time, precision and effort poured into this product, it’s easy to see why these cables cost what they do. Indeed it makes Shunyata cables seem very reasonably priced when compared to other far less complex designs that are machine-made.

See our Featured Product section of this Newsletter for more detailed information and listening impressions of the Orion speaker cable.

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