Premiere Design

For the last 30 years, Ken Ishiwata has served as European Brand Director for <A href="http://www.marantz.com">Marantz</A> while designing some of the company's best high-end audio products. To celebrate this incredible legacy, Marantz has announced two limited-edition components designed by Ishiwata and dubbed the <A href="http://www.marantz.eu/kipearl/">KI Pearls</A>.

There are power amps, and there are power amps&#151;and then there's the Pivetta Opera One. Standing six feet tall and weighing over half a ton, this monster is designed by Pivetta Andrea (pictured here with his creation), built by the Italian company bearing his given name, and distributed worldwide exclusively by <A href="http://www.higherfi.com">HigherFi</A>.

CES spawns a number of satellite events, including T.H.E. (The Home Entertainment) Show, which focuses on high-end audio. Among the exhibitors this year is <A href="http://audience-av.com/main.php">Audience</A> with its new ClairAudient LSA 4+4 speaker, a mouthful of a name for a product that is said to provide an earful of great sound in a relatively small package measuring 17 x 15 x 12 inches (HxWxD).

As I wrote about the <A href="http://blog.ultimateavmag.com/ultimate-gear/more_power/">Perreaux &#233;loquence 250i</A>, it claims to be the world's most powerful stereo integrated amp, delivering up to 530 continuous watts/channel into 4&#937;. But that's nothing compared with a new monoblock power amp from <A href="http://www.goldmund.com">Goldmund</A>&#151;the Telos 5000, which delivers up to <I>5000</I> continuous watts into 2&#937; (2500W into 4&#937;, 1250W into 8&#937;).

In Greek mythology, the Titans were the children of Uranus (Heaven) and Gaia (Earth). Similarly, the flagship Titan Reference video projector from <A href="http://www.digitalprojection.com">Digital Projection International</A> (DPI) was born from the union of heavenly images and earthly concerns about service accessibility and recyclability.