ShowStoppers -
Series 2
All prices are quoted in US dollars unless
otherwise noted.
The price of the Unison Research Unico
integrated amp falls into the hard-to-believe category given the unit's 80Wpc output,
hybrid circuitry, radio-frequency remote control (no need to point the remote at the unit
or even be in the same room!), and overall build quality: $1295.
Also from Unison Research come the P30K
KT88-based power amp (left, $2795) and C5P tube preamp ($1995), which also uses RF remote
control.
Audio Aero's newly redesigned Capitole 24/192
CD player ($8695) debuted in Montreal. In addition to many internal upgrades, the player's
analog volume control is now remote controlled.
Phoenix Acoustics Corp. from Quebec showed its
SE-15 Revelation amp (around $10,000 USD per pair), which employs "a proprietary
polarized output transformer" to produce 15W from a single 6C33C tube. It drove
Meadowlark Shearwater speakers to high levels without strain.
The German AVM Evolution CD2 upsampling CD
player ($2495) sounded completely at home in a system with big-buck Piega speakers and
Aloia electronics.
Distributed in Canada by Foss Audio, the
Synthesis Play Cloth speakers ($1795/pair CAD), Nimis integrated amp ($1995 CAD) and And
CD player ($1795 CAD) looked mah-velous in matching crimson-and-cream finish. The tubed
integrated amp is a dual-mono design with dual stepped attenuators.
Top to bottom, the Orpheus Laboratories One
DAC ($6100), Two multichannel preamp ($6720) and Three mono amp ($8400/pair) use
sample-rate or "constant power amplification" modules from its sister company,
Anagram Technologies, which develops such technology for consumer electronics. |
