T.H.E. Newport Beach 2014 – Loudspeakers Part I

Newport Beach is fast becoming an important audio destination, challenging Rocky Mountain Audio Fest and AXPONA for the top slot in the US audio show circuit. And, as befits a good audio show, there are loudspeakers everywhere. Here’s just a selection:

The $99,000 Acapella Atlas speakers are imposing and, truth be told, unmistakable.

The Angel City Audio Trinity is a 2-way, ported LCR monitor designed to share duty between Home Theatre and 2-channel use.

Anthony Gallo Strada 2 is the latest incarnation of the acclaimed Strada loudspeaker. Impressive power handling, 90dB sensitivity, 68Hz-20Khz frequency response and textbook perfect dispersion enable this magnetically shielded speaker to shine in any room, and with any system.

Astell&Kern showed their first loudspeaker, the two-way Castor. It uses Accuton drivers (a diamond-dome tweeter and a ceramic-cone mid-woofer) housed within a cabinet that combines aluminum alloy with six layers of carbon fibre

The AudioEngine P4 is beautiful, small, and affordable. It is  ideal for your living room, bedroom or office and a steal at $325

AudioNote – The AN-E Lexus HE (with Silver voice coils), $8772/pair

Gauder Akustiks Berlina RC 7 – Drivers consist of three 173 mm woofers, one 173 mm midrange, and one 25 mm Ceramic or 20 mm Diamond tweeter. $35,000 a pair

BMC Purevox B.M.C. PureVox ($6400 per pair) entire cabinet and stand are made from extruded aluminum,

Burmester’s B10 loudspeaker shows what happens if you have near field monitors in your home studio. Of course, you also need to have your own hi-fi company and you name needs to be Dieter Burmester…

CEntrance’s new ‘MasterClass 2504’ near field loudspeakers claim ‘mastering-quality’ sound for the listener’s immediate environment, and are ideal for desktop use.

Perhaps naming the company after a three-engined aircraft with an (admittedly somewhat undeserved) reputation for falling out of the sky is not the best idea around, but dc10audio’s horn speakers have a strong following and the new Kabuki sounds as elegant as it looks.

Endeavor Audio Engineering’s E-3 loudspeaker system sports non parallel cabinet walls, and a claim of best-in-class low distortion, for a none-too-unreasonable $6,995 per pair.

No stranger to Hi-Fi+, the AIR-x 407 wireless audio and powered speaker system sports ELAC’s excellent JET 5 folded ribbon tweeter and 150mm AS XR cone woofer.

Focal’s Grande Utopia EM remains the flagship of the French brand. This $180,000 tall, adjustable floorstander with its electromagnetic woofer is as imposing as it is outstanding, and in Ferrari’s favourite colour scheme, looks great too.

Grimm Audio – LS1 Two-way System – incorporated High resolution AD/DA’s,CC1 Clocking circuit, 4 NCore Amplifiers, DSP Processor, USB interface, preamp/switcher/control unit, cables, everything for a complete system, just add source. Supports DSD128 and DXD 32-384 $29000.

Alongside the well-known Janszen Audio Za2.1, the company showed its new Za1.1 – 17″ tall, 30 Hz – 40 kHz, unique deep bass woofer at rear, now in production at $4495/pair

One of the stars of any show, the little $7,000 Jospeh Audio Pulsars show what a good standmount loudspeaker is capable of in the hands of the right designer.

KEF was taking a break from showing off its flagship designs, preferring instead to showcase its more affordable R900 floorstander in ice white gloss livery. It sounded good all the same.

The $6,999 Larsen 8 is rare in US markets as it is designed as a boundary loudspeaker, intended for close to wall use. Nevertheless, it can reach down to a healthy 23Hz.  These are fine music makers, with a wide sonic stage and a good bass.

The $18,000 Cello by LaurenceAudio is a five-driver, 3.5-way floorstander, with an air-motion transducer tweeter and (rarest of rare) an AMT mid-treble unit, coupled to carbon-fibre bass and subwoofer drivers.

LRE (Low Residual Energy) Audio features a unique design that fires an out-of-phase back-wave, to limit the front-wave reflections causing room mode excitement. A clever take on room treatment for $4,999 per pair

Just to prove the audio business isn’t just for gazillionaires, Magnepan’s excellent 1.7 loudspeaker offers a lot of US-made panel from $1,995 per pair.

Magico is always a draw for audiophiles, and this year the company was showing its $22,600/pair S3 full-range floorstander