TAS Editors & Reviewers Pick “The Most Significant New Product at CES ’09”
- SHOW
- by Jim Hannon
- Jan 21, 2009
What was “the most significant” new product at CES 2009? Our TAS Editors and Reviewers weigh in with their opinions. For full audio coverage of CES 2009, see the upcoming issue of “The Absolute Sound.”
ROBERT HARLEY: The Magico M5 loudspeaker might just redefine the performance possibilities of dynamic loudspeakers. A stunning achievement, at least from a first listen.
JONATHAN VALIN: The Magico M5, with the Wilson MAXX Series 3, the Vandersteen Model 7, the Perfect8 Technologies The Source,and the Da Vinci Virtù tieing for second place.
NEIL GADER: The avalanche of USB DACs cascading into the marketplace.
JIM HANNON: The SME 30/12, with its extended chassis and new 12” Series V tonearm, could raise the bar in the high-end turntable sweepstakes if it produces performance gains similar to those of the SME 20/12.
CHRIS MARTENS: Sennheiser’s new flagship HD800 headphones, which combine some of the very best qualities of great dynamic and electrostatic ’phones from the past. Nothing I heard at CES conveyed more musical information/dollar.
ALAN TAFFEL: The Vandersteen Model 7. Vaulting Vandersteen into an entirely new league, the speaker sets new standards for coherence and low-level detail retrieval. It’s priced fairly and sized for real rooms, too.
STEVEN STONE: While many new offerings, including PS Audio’s Perfect Wave Transport and DAC, were important, the Olive Opus Nº 6 grabbed high honors due to its elegant interface and impressive audio capabilities.
DICK OLSHER: TAD Home Audio’s CR-1 compact monitor. Beryllium cone technology and coaxial driver topology combine for exceptional transient speed and coherency. A sonic revelation!
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By Jim Hannon
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