Premiere Design

Even though hotel rooms are not the best environment to show off high-end audio products, some companies managed to achieve a mighty impressive sound at T.H.E. Show in Newport Beach, CA. Among them was MBL, which set up two systems in adjoining rooms. My first stop was the room with the flagship Reference system, including two 101E MkII speakers ($70,500/pair, profiled here) and two 9011 monoblock power amps, which generate 750 watts per channel and cost a staggering $53,000 each.

Last week at T.H.E. Show in Newport Beach, CA, I heard the G2 Giya speaker from Vivid Audio for the first time. This is the newer, smaller sibling to the original G1 Giya, both of which I profiled here.

With the rise of digital-audio servers, the role of digital-to-analog converters (DACs) is becoming ever more important. Those who want the very best DAC might do well to consider the DaVinci from Light Harmonic.

As I was researching my response to Xavier Beard's question about speakers from Aerial Acoustics, I came across the company's System 1 TheaterWall. This artfully designed, decidedly high-end speaker system surrounds a screen of just about any size with speakers for the left, right, center, and subwoofer channels.

Since 1985, Danish Gryphon Audio Designs has been well-regarded for its high-end audio electronics. But in the last decade, the company has expanded its portfolio to include speakers as well, foremost among which is the mighty Poseidon.

Founded in 1978, German maker T+A is well-known for high-performance, high-value audio products. New to the company's E-Series is the Music Receiver, which combines the other two products in that series—the Power Plant integrated amp and Music Player CD/digital-file source—into one chassis.

These days, earbuds are as important as speakers for delivering music to consumers, but most are woefully lacking in the sound-quality department. Japan's Final Audio Design intends to correct this shortcoming with its Piano Forte X-VIII series.