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The X-3 driver array comprises a centrally positioned ribbon tweeter that is flanked by two pairs of relatively small-diameter ceramic mid-bass drivers, with a larger side-firing bass driver occupying the lower section of the X-3 cabinet. The end result is a speaker that is very, very special indeed—one that possesses most of the resolution, focus, and nuance of the flagship C and D-series models, but that offer, for its price, considerably deeper bass extension and the ability to—how shall I put this?—flat out boogie. For our point of view, this makes the X-3 the Raidho for all seasons and reasons, and who wouldn’t like that?

Ably abetting the X-3 in its mission is the new Aavik integrated amplifier/DAC, which offers power, subtlety, and nuance aplenty, striking an uncanny balance between the ability to dig (very) deep into recordings to capture their innermost details, while also exhibiting unfailing musicality. Our only thought is that prospective customers who already own fine electronics components are likely to demand that the Aavik DAC be sold as a separate component in its own right.

Great Sound, headphone based systems

HiFiMAN HE-100 planar magnetic headphones and EF-1000 hybrid valve/solid-state headphone/integrated amplifier

If you have ever wondered what a cost-no-object HiFiMAN headphone/amp package might be like, then the HE-1000/EF-1000 pair provides your answer. Both new components are spectacular in their own rights, but to our thinking the HE-1000 must stand as ‘first among equals’ for its ground-breaking design.

Company founder Dr. Fang Bian earned his doctorate in nano-chemistry and he brought his expertise in this field to bear in the development of the HE-1000 by creating for this headphone a true nano-material diaphragm (this in contrast to some other designs that apply nano-material coatings to much thicker diaphragm materials). The result is diaphragm that is extraordinarily light, low in mass, and incredibly responsive. Not surprisingly, then, the HE-1000 seems to offer traditional planar magnetic virtues aplenty (including powerful and nuanced bass, wide range frequency response, and vivid dynamics), plus staggering levels of resolution and detail. For the listener, the net effect is not unlike having one’s ears and brain ‘hard-wired’ to the original recording console, which affords an exceptionally intimate view of the music.

Supporting the HE-1000 is the also very impressive two-chassis EF-1000 amplifier. The amp can be used either to power headphones or full-size speaker systems, with output, in class A mode, of 50Wpc or, in class A/B mode, 150wpc. As you can imagine, the EF-1000 offers superabundant power for purposes of driving most any dynamic headphone you might care to name.

Pricing for the HE-1000 and EF-1000 has not yet been determined. Dr. Bian advises, too, that good though the HE-1000 prototypes shown at CES are, he has a few more performance tricks up his sleeve that he expects to implement before the headphones are released at some point in mid-2015. Judging by the sound of the system, we anticipate pricing to be very high (as the products are arguably worthy of premium prices).

ENIGMAcoustics Dharma hybrid electrostatic/dynamic headphones and Athena A1 valve-type (single-ended triode based) headphone amplifier.

ENIGMAcoustics is best known for its self-energised electrostatic supertweeters, but for more than a year now the firm has been working on its design for a new hybrid electrostatic/dynamic driver-equipped headphone, called the Dharma ($1,200). The Dharmas incorporate electrostatic drivers that are self-energised and thus require no outboard power supplies, unlike most other brands of the electrostats. Complementing the Dharma is the lovely Athena A1 valve-type (single-ended triode-based) headphone amplifier.

Though I had time for only a cursory introductory listen, the Dharma/Athena A1 pair well and truly blew my mind, and here’s why. This pair provided what stands out in my mind as the most spacious and compellingly three-dimensional sound I have ever heard form any headphone system to date.

At times, the Dharma/Athena A1 created the compelling (though in my experience extremely difficult to achieve) illusion that sounds were literally emanating from far, far outside the headphone’s ear cup housings. In practice, this meant the Dharma and Athena combo yielded amazingly wide soundstages with very, very precise placement of vocalists and instrumentalists within those stages. Most impressive.

Compelling Bargains

GoldenEar Technology Triton Five floorstanding loudspeakers

GoldenEar’s roughly $5000/pair Triton One floorstanders with active built-in subwoofers have garnered no small amount of critical acclaim throughout 2014, but for an encore the firm announced its purely passive Triton Five floorstander ($1998/pair)—the firm’s most ambitious passive loudspeaker to date.

The driver array of the Triton Five is deceptively simple, comprising a centrally positioned Heil-type HVFR tweeter flanked to a pair of very wide-bandwidth 6.5” mid-bass drivers. Then, to provide low-end support, the Triton Five incorporates two horizontally-opposed (and thus vibration cancelling) pairs of passive radiators.

As we have by now come to expect from GoldenEar, the sonic whole of passive Triton Five is much greater than the apparent sum of its parts. How good is it? Let’s just put it this way. First time listeners who had read our and other publications’ reviews of the Triton One walked into the GoldenEar sound room and mistakenly concluded—purely on the basis of observed sound quality—that the Triton Five was surely the more than twice as expensive Triton One (itself a stunningly good value). As you can imagine, those listeners were stunned to learn they were in fact hearing the Triton Five, a loudspeaker that will sell for a tick under $2000/pair. The value for money on offer here is clear off the charts.

Audeze

The US-based planar magnetic headphone maker Audeze had a very good year in 2014, with both the firm’s LCD-X and LCD-XC headphones ($1,699 and $1,799, respectively) garnering considerable acclaim from the high-end audio press. But for 2015 Audeze has moved in a new and unexpected direction to create two new, very high-performance, yet easy-to-drive and decidedly cost-reduced new planar magnetic headphones: namely, the open-back EL-8 and the EL-8 closed back models, both selling for $699 each. But do not be deceived by the accessible prices. Judged purely on the basis of sound quality, either of the EL-8 models could easily pass for mid-$1000 range units. They’re that good.

How did Audeze achieve this result? Well for industrial design assistance, Audeze turned to none other than the BMW Design Group, which helped create a fresh, distinctive, upscale, and up-to-the-minute look and feel for the new ‘phones. On the inside however, Audeze pulled out even more stops, leveraging three distinctive patent-pending technologies known as Fazor, Fluxor, and Uniforce technologies.

In simple terms, Fazor technologies offer a waveguide that helps smooth wave launches from the ear side of the headphone’s driver. Fluxor technology, in turn, is a proprietary magnet configuration system that focuses the lion’s share of the magnet array’s flux field toward the diaphragm side of the magnet array—thus dramatically increasing the headphone’s efficiency. The only minor catch is that Fluxor technology does tend to introduce flux field ‘hot spots’ in certain localised areas across the driver diaphragm. To address this issue, Uniforce technology is a proprietary method of widening or narrowing conductor traces on the driver diaphragm to compensate for the aforementioned flux field hot spots. As a result, the driver diaphragm experiences uniform driving for across its entire surface area. A clever solution, no?

I heard both EL-8 (pronounced ‘elate’) models driven from the new Pono player, whose electronics were developed by none other than Ayre. The results were very impressive indeed.

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Watch for more in-depth CES coverage from Hi-Fi+ over the next several days.

In the meantime, and as always, we wish our readers happy listening.

If last year could be summed up as the rise of streaming, this year it came down to a world of consolidation. Companies that last year added a streaming design to their portfolios were either integrating the technology deeper into the range, or had quietly dropped the idea. Perhaps the most ambitious system integration concept of all was that by Boulder, in its upcoming 2120 digital converter. A fully UPnP and DLNA compliant media renderer, the DAC (itself the size of most power amplifiers) is actually five separate chassis in one, with the control architecture connected to the rest of the DAC by 10GHz comms and Ethernet connection. Not only does this help keep the noisier sections of a streamer away from the ultra-sensitive 32-bit, 384kHz/Double DSD DAC stage and the dual mono outputs, but it also presages a new way of designing ‘front ends’ for Boulder equipment in general; subsequent preamps and even power amps will sport a more Ethernet-enabled front panel, not only to lower noise, but to allow a wider window on the functions of the amplifier (it’s a big screen), and allow it to act as a control point that can be driven by any Open Home device. Granted, as the 2120 is expected to cost a little under $60,000 this is grand-scale integration, but the technology is changing fast.

At a more down-to-earth level, Lenbrook is very actively pursuing integration between its NAD, Bluesound, and even its PSB platforms. So, it’s possible to stream music from a Bluesound server to a NAD Masters Series DAC, or even to an Ethernet-enabled active loudspeaker from PSB. The number of permutations and combinations of all three brands is staggering, as NAD is incorporating this kind of connectivity across the board, and even into its new blade rack amplifier system (albeit for control and monitoring), but this seems to be an ongoing trend.

And, speaking of trends, the Big Audio Thing this year was CD-grade streaming service TIDAL. The service was everywhere, to such an extent bandwidth was severely compromised throughout the halls of the Venetian Tower, preventing wi-fi access for visitors!

For all the approaches in this, though, I like the D’Agostino route for its relatively low-cost implementation… which is possibly the first time the words, “D’Agostino” and “low-cost” have been seen together. Dan D’Agostino has developed a variant on the Momentum integrated amplifier called the MLife, which replaces the Momentum’s tone controls with a fully-featured wired and wireless streaming client device, controlled by either the five-inch LCD display or the excellent new iOS or Android app. Momentum owners can choose to upgrade to the MLife variant for about $3,000, while the MLife itself costs $48,000; $3,000 more than the Momentum.

Although big-ticket items were on show throughout CES and its attendant off-piste events, perhaps the other big news was a perceptible shift away from the super-high-end. Faced with an audience of more pragmatic US distributors and dealers, products with ‘sticker shock’ prices were often met with a resounding  “I can’t sell that!”. While hardly a return to sensible prices, perhaps audio has finally reached its price ceiling, and manufacturers were mostly using CES 2015 to launch products in the middle of the range rather than the extreme top. So YG showed its excellent new Carmel 2, VTL launched its TL6.5 Series II Signature Line and its entry-level TL2.5i preamplifiers, Ayre showcased a prototype Codex headphone amp and DAC that forms the start of a new lower priced range, and PS Audio announced the new BHK-250 hybrid stereo power amplifier, which takes its name from its designer, Bascom H King.

Of course, the higher-end and even the ultra high-end were well covered, too. Magico’s new QSub18, for example, was a $36,000, 2×18” subwoofer, driven by 6kW of amplification and extensive in-house DSP. So heavy it was bending a marble floor, and so powerful (it needs two 20A sockets to drive it), it was literally dimming the lights on every bass note, but if a job’s worth doing…

We’ll be covering all of these in greater depth over the next week or so, but finally no discussion of the 2015 high-price/low-price dichotomy could be considered complete place without mentioning Wilson Audio. Why? Because it had feet in both camps, launching the new Sabrina floorstanding loudspeaker – the company’s new entry point – and announcing the rebirth of the WAMM loudspeaker at the new top-end of audio. Photos, recorders, and the rest were banned from the WAMM launch, but think of the 2015 WAMM as a taller (and from the front, more slender) version of the Wilson Alexandria XLF, with five adjustable modules for mid and treble (in place of three), above two bass units. This time though, there are no more electrostatic panels. Price was one of the many topics not open for discussion about the WAMM, but expect it to be beyond that of the current combination Alexandria XLF/Thor’s Hammer flagship both in price and performance. 

Devialet: At the end of last year, Devialet showcased its new Phantom active system. This will likely be shown alongside its existing range of electronics. And no, it’s not a vacuum cleaner!

Parasound: The company behind the excellent Halo range of electronics will very likely show its new Halo Integrated amplifier, and a new DAC. The Halo Integrated amp may very well be called the Halo Integrated amplifier and may very well look a bit like this:

We shall see.

Wilson Audio: Wilson will very definitely be showing its new Sabrina standmount loudspeaker, at the Venetian Hotel. Wilson may very well be showing something else at the Mirage Hotel, maybe something big that harks back to Wilson Audio’s earliest designs, possibly called WAMM, but we couldn’t possibly comment on that.

Stenheim: The Swiss contingent will be out in force. First up, Stenheim will be showing its Reference floorstanders, which received so much high praise in Hong Kong.

Soulution – Fellow Swiss manufacturers Soulution will be showing off the company’s new 560 DAC, played through its 7-Series audio equipment.

YG: Although details are embargoed until January 6, YG’s website describes a new version of the company’s most affordable floorstanding loudspeaker, the Carmel 2. We’ve seen some teasing red curtain action going on, but details of the replacement to the popular two-way design are not forthcoming… yet.

EAT turntables will be showing its new carbon-fibre designs; the C-Sharp turntable and C-Note tonearm. These are part of a project (no pun intended) that took more than a year of experimentation and development.

There will also likely be two new products from one of the most popular audio electronics manufacturers in Kent, UK.

Moving away from the hardware side, we expect more announcements from companies signing up to the new MQA audio standard, and a number of important conferences on High-Resolution Audio as it moves further into the mainstream.

Of course, this is just the tip of a very big iceberg. There are many more brands that are either waiting for the show to unveil their latest products, or who have put us under even tighter restrictions, preventing us from discussing the products at all prior to next week. We expect to see – and report back on – a lot more.

CES is about a lot more technology than just audio, and it’s interesting to draw some parallels. I’ve been attending the annual event for more years than I’d care to remember, and have only missed two Las Vegas shows this century, so pivotal is it to our industry. One of the rare no-shows was 10 years ago, when for family reasons I stayed in the UK. I recently dug out the equipment I would typically take to a show like CES, however, and it’s interesting to see just how that equipment has changed with the times.

We don’t tend to use video here, relying instead on stills photography. In 2005, I would have typically used a Nikon D2X, with a 17-55 f/2.8 DX lens, and a SB800 flash. We still use this for studio work, because its performance at ISO 100 is still remarkable, but it needs flash for an event like CES, because it is unworkable beyond ISO 640. How things have changed. I had to beef up my Fuji X-T1 with a battery pack, just to make it seem similarly sized to the D2X, and the 18-55 f/2.8-f/4 lens is a fraction of the size and weight of its predecessor. I bring along a flash more for artistic effect than necessity, because I could confidently print images made at ISO 6400 not ISO 640 now. The whole Fuji package weighs about half that of its predecessor, with no noticeable downside, and even this is too large for some – I could get publishable results from a high performance compact without too much strain.

The change in audio recording equipment is just as marked, although I stayed loyal to the same brand. The Marantz PMD-660 is more than twice the size, twice the weight and has a higher noise floor than the PMD-620 that replaced it, and the sole reason for keeping the original is it uses XLR inputs lacking in the smaller model.

In a way, even this has been eclipsed by technology, and both camera and especially audio recorder could be effectively replaced by a smartphone.

There are parallels in audio. We’ve shrunk the audio system, ridding ourselves of disc players and moving toward streaming services. In the process, we’ve democratised audio, and made good quality available to all, not just an elite (the cost of my 2014 camera, lens, and flash was less than the cost of my 2004 camera on its own). However, in the process, we have run the risk of making a ‘good enough’ solution; recordings made on the built-in microphones of the Marantz 620 are not as good as those made by dedicated microphones plugged into the Marantz 660, but the convenience factor is considerably greater, meaning recorder and microphone stay at home. We should be mindful of oversimplifying things to their detriment.

Now… on with the show!

In our extensive first test, Hi-Fi+ regular Chris Thomas set aside his full-blown high-end audio system and investigated the joys of starter stereo. Even the design won him over, pulling in elements from Naim’s biggest and best, “On mu-so’s top is the ‘control centre’” he said, “a large sunken rotating aluminium volume control, illuminated with the switching functions and level indicators, which looks very much like the design fitted to The Statement.” This is important, because mu-so is not intended for the traditional audio market, “Given mu-so is rolling out to chic department stores and Apple Stores as well as the usual purveyors of fine audio,” said Chris, “that touchy-feely aspect of design suddenly becomes all important, and I wouldn’t be too surprised if many mu-so sell on that alone.”

Mu-so is not just about looks, however. Chris’ biggest surprise was how good it sounded. Chris says, “Whether playing a NAS box full of music or simply armed with a Spotify Premium account, the possibilities really open up because mu-so does bop along with a sophistication and open friendliness to its sound that none of its rivals, at least none that I have heard, come close to matching.” It’s tonal balance is “punchy and has great presence”, but most of all, mu-so is “musically together and consistent over all of its inputs.” Chris feels it gets to the core of what music is all about; “This player is about fun, and good old foot-tappin’ involvement.”

There is a tendency to evaluate streamed audio with the highest quality files, but Chris Thomas noted that not everyone who buys a mu-so will play high-resolution audio files, and the way mu-so deals with more down-to-earth services was especially good, “I have to say that I am a huge admirer of both its Spotify performance and its approach with Internet radio, one of the most undervalued sources of free music”.

There’s a lot more about mu-so, as well as the latest loudspeakers from Cambridge Audio, Russell K, and Eclipse, Oppo’s high-performance HA-1 DAC/headphone amplifier and the giant-killing Hegel H160 integrated amplifier, and a whole lot more… but you’ll just have to buy the magazine in print, on PDF, or through all good tablets and smartphones. Don’t miss out!

Perversely, at the time when some of the big names in ‘background’ CD and SACD technology are pulling the plug on key components in the manufacture of physical format replay, there has been a move in some audiophile circles to reject streamed, downloaded, and ripped digital files in favour of spinning polycarbonate. In 2012, one of the representatives of an electronics brand told me privately that sales of CD players had ‘fallen off a cliff’; the same maker is now unable to make CD players fast enough. Whether this is yet another short-lived fad, or the start of CD’s comeback remains to be seen.

The alternative to physical formats has finally grown on the international market. Once the preserve of US customers (or those with proxy servers) only, high-resolution provider HDtracks began its international roll-out in late 2013, with the service arriving in the UK a few months ago. In addition, high-resolution download and streaming services such as Qobuz and Tidal have delivered real-world audiophile-grade streaming services to rival the likes of Spotify. Granted, much of this new world of audio at your fingertips seems oriented toward rock, pop, and jazz, but these services offer a great deal of promise in an online world more set on quantity than quality.

The widespread move from computer/DAC systems to network streaming predicted at CES 2014 hasn’t seemed to gain the momentum expected a year ago. Yes, the companies who were already heavily invested in networked audio systems (such as Krell, Linn, and Naim) continue to produce system solutions that point to networking as an elegant option for home audio, but a lot of January’s hopefuls remain hopeful. Part of the problem here is the investment needed to distinguish one product from another; recent networked successes such as Primare have spent a great deal of time and money creating an app interface that makes its solutions easy to use. However, a larger problem emerges when trying to introduce networking to people who have a comparatively limited understanding of the topic, and are uninterested in learning even the basics. Tales abound within the industry of retailers only selling network audio during the summer months, when the proprietor’s computer-literate son or daughter is back from university. Networked audio is an excellent way of listening to music, a valid alternative to having a computer connected to a DAC in the listening room, and is fast maturing into a system that sounds excellent, but it will only develop if people are willing to explore what it offers. It will be interesting to see if the excitement over networking shown at CES 2014 continues into this year, or whether we are back to DACs once more.

2014 was also the year the digital spec war really took off. Audiophiles moved from demanding 24/96 to insisting upon 24/192 repay in their DACs in about four years, but went from there to demanding DSD, then DSD128, and now DSD256 and DSD512 in the space of about a year and a half. This has also moved across the board; it’s virtually impossible to sell a DAC that doesn’t support DSD now, regardless of price. Some of this demand for DSD comes down to ticking a box and little more; I’m fairly sure that very few people who are about to spend $150 on a USB DAC will ever amass a collection of DSD files for replay, but that seems immaterial next to DSD’s ‘must have’ status among the cognoscenti. Although DSD512 represents the current acme, I have a sneaking suspicion 2015 will be the year people start asking for 32bit, 384kHz DACs across the board, irrespective of whether there’s music commercially available at that resolution. Personally, I’d rather see a ‘stop the insanity’ move in digital audio, but that seems unlikely at this time.

Moving away from digital, analogue continues to go from strength to strength. These things are relative – new vinyl sales continue to increase, but still represent less than a two per cent share of total music sales – but refreshing. Granted most of these LPs are being played on relatively low-end turntables, but the high-end turntable market has also increased in sales and value year-on-year-on-year. And this shows no signs of slowing; in fact, we are seeing increased interest in bringing 21^st Century technology to turntable design, with technologies like VPI’s 3D printed arm, a return to direct drive from a number of manufacturers (sometimes well executed direct drive, too!), and Kronos’ counter-rotating platters all point to continued development long past LP’s supposed End of Life.

Developments in amplifiers and loudspeakers move at a relatively slow pace, in part because much of the fundamental development in these technologies requires big budgets and was performed decades ago. Nevertheless, changes are taking place even in these mature sectors. Audiophiles traditionally discounted active loudspeakers and digital signal processing, but inroads are being made here. In part, this comes down to improvements in processing power, meaning the speed of DSP systems can keep up with the material. Acceptance is still low, but gaining ground, especially as a new generation weaned on tiny loudspeakers corrected by DSP begin to move up the audio ladder.

A recent development in this is Devialet’s SAM technology, which maps the sub-200Hz region of a loudspeaker and provides an optimal passive amplifier output for that design. In smaller loudspeakers in particular, this form of correction works wonders, and the list of loudspeakers that have been mapped by Devialet grows week by week. Whether variations on this idea begin to appear in other amplifier designs remains to be seen, but this seems to offer a valid way to help improve the performance of systems in the home.

The headphone market has cooled somewhat since its significant expansion five years ago, but ‘cooled’ is a relative term. While it’s true that certain sectors of the in-ear world are over-subscribed, key parts of the headphone and CIEM market appear to continue to grow. Those people who went from $20 earbuds to $200 Beats are now increasingly looking toward high-performance headphone and CIEM solutions costing hundreds or even thousands of dollars. This is accompanied by improved DAC and amp systems, and – more recently – high grade cable systems, too. While it seems the loudspeaker brands turning to headphones are no longer growing in number, there are a number of high-end cable brands now delivering high-end headphone and in-ear systems, as a result of discovering the headphone market is open to such opportunities.

There are also changes (good and bad) happening outside the world of audio technology that have their influence on our little world. We lost one of the industry’s greats in the passing of Harry Pearson. We have seen small indicators that some of the worst excesses of ‘the loudness war’ are behind us, with tracks even from mainstream artists having more dynamic range than previous years examples. There is still a long way back, though, but it seems music companies are beginning to return to considering sound quality, at last. Pragmatism rules here; labels are motivated by financial considerations, and if people buy more albums if they sound good, but only listen for free on YouTube if they don’t, the record labels will make better sounding material, and that is beginning to take effect. This can be placed firmly at the rise in interest in vinyl, but we are buoyed by record company interest expressed in Tidal and MQA as an indicator that things might be swinging back in our favour.

On a geopolitical level, sanctions imposed on Russia, the fall in the price of oil, and the value of the Rouble have all caused a fairly significant drop in the sales of high-end audio to the important Russian market. Meanwhile, Xi Jinping’s anti-graft drive in China is taking its toll in the audio business, but is more directed at Rolex-wearing Communist Party functionaries than the country’s burgeoning middle class and its aspirations. Nevertheless, there’s a very real concern that two of the most important markets for audio in recent years have suffered a ‘wobble’ and that this may continue. This may prove a benefit for those seeking more value-driven audio products, if the focus moves away from the demands of the super-rich in Russia and China.  

Next time, what we hope to see at CES 2015 and what a difference a decade can make!