T.H.E. Newport Beach 2014 – Electronics Part II

Our concluding pass at the electronics round-up of T.H.E. Show Newport Beach 2014 shows that although there is a lot of very expensive audio in the world today, there’s still a lot at slightly more breathable atmospheric levels, many of such devices sound really, really good too. It’s easy for us all to get carried away at the yacht-sized prices, but for those of us without a gas pipeline to fund our audio habits, there’s still good things to find.

Hegel showed three very nice amplifiers in the fully Scandiwegian Antuz and Raidho room. Hegel’s $2,650 CDP2A CD player was fed into the $2,900 P20 preamp, and then to the company’s entry-level 200W H20 stereo power amplifier at $4,750.

Melody Audio was one of the first all-Chinese brands to break the mainstream. It’s easy to see why with products like the $13,599 per pair MN845 monos, that are capable of 150W in Class A

It’s one of the UK’s best-loved preamps – the Music First Audio passive magnetic Baby Reference is available for $7,790 in its standard guise, and remarkably can even come with a remote for $8,590. That’s quite a feat for a passive preamplifier.

A firm favourite on the UK audio scene, Naim Audio’s range of electronics needs no introduction, but sometimes some explanation. This black box collection included NDS streamer at the top and its 555PS power supply at the bottom of the stack, with a SuperNait 2 integrated amplifier, with its half-sized HiCap power supply, a half-sized Superline phono stage (for the Well-Tempered Amadeus GT) and its own separate half-sized HiCap power supply, and somewhere else in the room a half-sized 2TB UnitiServe hard disk server. Phew!

Pass Labs were showcasing the .8 range of power amplifiers first seen at this year’s CES. These included the stereo X-250.8 amp at $9,600 and the XA-100.8 100W class A monoblock at $19,300 per pair.

PBN is not a brand that has much of a following outside of the US, but this Californian based maker of electronics and loudspeakers deserves much applause for its sheer range of products, including its Olympia range of electronics. Noteworthy products included the LXi preamp, which features two transformers and eight chokes for $22,000

Prana Fidelity was showing its Purna range, comprising the modular Purna/ca preamplifier (which can be configured from single-ended line only pre, to fully balanced with a phono stage) and the Purna/ma power amplifiers. The system on show was $9,950 and $8,950 respectively.

PrimaLuna was at the forefront of the European design, Chinese build revolution, and it continues to make high-performance tube amps at reasonable cost, including the $3,399 DiaLogue Premium integrated amplifier

Reite Audio caused something of a stir a few years ago with its high performance line and phono stages, designed for performance not looks. The range comprises $9,200 LS-1 line stage, $3,900 phono stage, and a $1,900 power supply that can drive both, although one power supply per unit is best, of course

If the name Rogers High-Fidelity might trigger memories of the British loudspeaker brand of yore, think again. Rogers is a maker of hand-built tube amps from Warwick, New York. The range includes the $12,500 EHF-200 integrated amplifier

Another brand that seldom receives the coverage it deserves, Von Gaylord Audio was showing a complete audio chain, but our interest was piqued by the elegant 180W per channel 416,995 Uni-Earth power amps, that claim to drive any speaker load. We say ‘bring on the Apogees’!

VTL and dCS go well together, especially when played through Wilson Audio Sasha II. The TL-7.5 Series III Reference line preamp, TP-6.5 Signature phono preamp and Siegfried Series II Reference monoblocks were doing sterling work in the Audio Element room.

Zesto Audio is making a stir with its range of elegant tube amplifiers that don’t just visually hark back to a bygone age. On show where the Leto line preamp (pictured) with the Andros phono stage and the Bia 120 power amp