The Absolute Sound 2009 Product of the Year Awards
2010-01-28

Accessory of the Year: SHUNYATA RESEARCH Dark Field Cable Elevators
Tonearm of the Year: GRAHAM ENGINEERING The Phantom II
Phonostage of the Year: AUDIO RESEARCH Ref Phono 2
Tube Amplifier of the Year: PRIMALUNA Dialogue Seven
Cost-No-Object Loudspeaker of the Year: WILSON AUDIO MAXX 3
Overall Product of the Year: MAGICO M5
AC Power Conditioner of the Year: SYNERGISTIC RESEARCH PowerCell 10

Acoustic ART
2009-04-06

The Synergistic Research specializing in cable products and power condicioning introducerd Acoustic ART (Analogue Room Treatment) system, which improves room acoustics.

The inspiration for the Acoustic ART system came to the lead designer Ted Denney four years ago while sailing the South Pacific. During his sabbatical, Ted visited Buddhist Temples and observed how Tibetan Prayer bowls altered temple acoustics. These singing bowls affected a sudden shift in acoustics whenever they were activated, and when additional bowls of varying tone were also activated, the acoustics continued to change. Ted reasoned that a system of resonating bowls could be developed to discreetly treat room acoustics without the need for large unsightly tuning devices.

The Acoustic ART is available for audition. The price of full set of 5 resonators ( Vibratron, Bass Station i 3 satelity Magnetron) is arround 3990 USD..

Wilson Audio MAXX 3
2009-03-16

Wilson Audio is shipping the new MAXX 3 speaker system.

The original MAXX arrived with a clear design objective: create a loudspeaker endowed with similar authority and dynamic range as Wilson`s flagship speaker, but in a less complex and demanding package.

In the intervening years, Dave Wilson and his design team discovered ways to improve the MAXX, hence the Series 2. But they also came to realize that, as good as it is, by one important benchmark-Propagation Delay-the existing platform was incapable of further improvement.

Propagation Delay refers to the alignment of all of a loudspeaker`s drivers in the time domain. Imagine a transient pulse generated by those multiple drivers: one can manipulate the signal via both crossover and the physical alignment of the drivers to overlay the pulse from each driver as precisely as possible.

Most speaker designers simply ignore this measurement. But, in fact, driver misalignment as little as one-quarter inch proves clearly audible to the listener. Time-domain distortion is heard as grain, ringing, and compressed dynamics. It even alters the perceived tonality of the speaker.

Achieving near perfect alignment at the listening position requires controlling both the rotational angle of the head (for proper dispersion) and the time alignment of the driver (its relative distance to the listener). With Alexandria X-2, Wilson introduced Aspherical Group Delay-heretofore the only speaker in the world with driver modules capable of both rotational and forward-to-back adjustment.

While Alexandria, with its three independent upper modules, provides the sine qua non of Group Delay precision, even WATT/Puppy, with its two-driver head, can achieve impressive scores in time-domain alignment. Although it is far more accurate than competing designs, the single, three-driver head of both MAXX Series 1 and 2 runs into the laws of geometry and physics. It is simply impossible to align three drivers in one module for ideal Propagation Delay.

The solution? Divide MAXX`s dual midrange drivers and tweeter into two upper modules and introduce Aspherical Group Delay.

But at Wislon Audio they could not stop there. They also added a slightly simplified version of the astonishing new midrange driver developed for Alexandria Series. The midrange crossover was relocated to the bass cabinet (a là Alexandria), and the entire enclosure is now constructed from the proprietary X material, making the enclosure even more sonically inert. Then they housed it all in a strikingly evolved new cabinet design.

Velodyne CHT-Q
2009-03-16

Velodyne introduced the new CHT-Q subwoofer series.

CHT-Q subwoofers allow automated, one-button, 5-band EQ room correction, remote control with front-panel feedback, four one-touch listening presets and superior DSP digital performance. New series is available in black and cherry finish for 8,10 and 12 inch models, and black only for 15 inch model.

AYRE News
2009-02-27

Ayre Acoustics announces a new generation of CD players.

Ayre Acoustics is pleased to announce two new disc players, the CX-7eMP compact disc player and the C-5xeMP universal disc player.  The new MP series disc players incorporate Ayre’s exclusive Minimum-Phase digital filter and single-pass 16x oversampling system.

According to Charles Hansen -- founder and designer, “The MP filter provides a significant step ahead in digital audio reproduction”.  The technological improvements translate into a more vivid and spatial soundstage, a richer and more complex tonal presentation and the sense of ease of a live acoustic event.

To learn more about the MP series disc players visit AYRE at:

http://www.ayre.com/pdf/Ayre_MP_White_Paper.pdf

AYRE
2009-02-27

We are very proud to inform that AYRE Acoustics, specializing in manufacturing of high-end audio components, established us as a exclusive distributor for Poland.

AYRE components are well known and appreciated for their emotional, tube like, free of any aggression natural sound, and produce open and detailed soundstage. AYRE products won a lot of awards in Stereophile, The Absolute Sound, HiFi +, Enjoy The Music, Soundstage, The Perfect Vision, Audio Perfectionist and other well known high-end audio magazines.