T.H.E. Show (Las Vegas) 2011 Coverage

As is usually the case, Jonathan Tinn came away with one of the best rooms of the show. Not because it sounded best - it didn’t (but it was damn close) - but because of what he brought to the table. First up is his new Evolution Acoustics MMMicroOne loudspeaker ($2000/pair, stands extra), a small, impeccably finished, MTM designed with - you guessed if - ceramic mid-woofers and a ribbon tweeter that sounds better than it has any right to. History has a way of repeating itself; a decade later we now have another 2K problem, and this one promises to turn out just as well. The dilemma? Which do I buy - the $2K Magnepan 1.7s or the $2K MMMicroOnes? Your choice of music and room size will determine your response.

Of course, it did not hurt that the new speakers were presented to the public for the first time using an $8500 CD player from Playback Designs , a $50,000 preamp/power amp combination from darTZeel, and $17,000 worth of power cords, digital interconnect, and speaker cables from Evolution Acoustics. If you are counting, that is $75,000 of ancillaries for a $2000 speaker. I think the MMMicroOne will shine even in a much less rarefied company. Entry-level becomes envy-level.

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Not to be upstaged, Andrea Koch premiered the little brother to the acclaimed MPS-5 SACD player ($15,000). The new MPS-3 ($8500) drops SACD compatibility, but still offers an array of digital inputs including AES/EBU for PCM up to 24/192kHz, S/PDIF for PCM up to 24/192kHz, USB for PCM up to 24/384kHz, and USB for DSD up to 6.1MHz. Good luck finding any PCM audio files at 24/384kHz, and if anyone releases any native DSD audio files a miracle will have occurred; nevertheless, it’s nice to know it is well over-spec’d. The DAC without CD transport is also available.

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The darTZeel NHB-18 NS Reference preamplifier with MC phono section ($30,000).

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The darTZeel NHB-108 Model B stereo power amplifier ($25,000).

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As if that were not enough, Wave Kinetics introduced its new NVS -Reference direct-drive turntable ($TBD). It is shown here with the Durand Talea II Reference tonearm ($7900) and Ortofon A90 limited edition MC cartridge ($4200).

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