Sumiko, US distributor for UK-based REL, announced the release of the R-528SE subwoofer, which, according to the February 25 press release, is said to be a “Special Edition version of the current R-528 and was conceived to provide the user with reference-level sub-bass performance, but in a much smaller enclosure, and at a lower cost. Embodying many of the performance attributes of our legendary flagship model, the Gibraltar G-1 Sub-Bass System, the R-528SE delivers extraordinary performance for the space-challenged home-theater enthusiast or two-channel audiophile.”
The R-528SE is said to include improved amplification, an upgraded driver, and better cabinet bracing. According to Sumiko, the R-528SE also "features both an active front-firing and a down-firing passive radiator, but using the same custom-designed carbon-fiber 12” active drive unit employed in the G-1. The 12” ABR passive radiator is also a carbon-fiber design. Together, this driver complement produces the equivalent of a 16” driver in an even larger cabinet.”
The R-528SE is priced at $2799 in the United States and will be shipping in early March.
Pickering, Ontario-based NAD Electronics is now shipping its latest high-performance component CD player for the audiophile on a tight budget, the C 516BEE.
Like the model it replaces -- C 515BEE -- the C 516BEE offers 24-bit/192kHz DACs, playback of MP3/WMA data CD-R discs for up to ten hours of continuous playback, coaxial and optical digital outputs, and audio-specific op amps that are said to improve sound quality. The DACs in the new model are from Cirrus Logic and are said to provide greater dynamic range and lower distortion than those in the CD player’s predecessor.
The C 516BEE is targeted to music lovers who “still have collections of hundreds or even thousands of CDs,” said Greg Stidsen, technology and product planning director. “So there is still a need for a high-performance CD player,” especially for audiophiles who are cost-conscious, he said. The C 516BEE is priced at $299 USD.
Canada’s Paradigm Loudspeakers has announced the release of their new Soundtrack System, which is a clever name for an innovative new speaker system designed to optimize the movie-viewing experience in a convenient and cost-effective way. It’s part of the company’s Shift line, which is available at dealers and online. According to the company’s February 7 press release: The six-driver soundbar features two bass-midrange drivers, two passive radiators, and two high-frequency drivers. The 4-1/2˝ bass-midrange drivers and 4˝ passive radiators are a mineral-filled polypropylene delivering a low-mass, high-stiffness cone composition. The two high-frequency drivers feature 1˝ satin-anodized pure-aluminum dome tweeters for superb high-frequency performance -- a rarity at this price point. Passive radiators promote extended lower frequencies. Driver complements are physically separated within the cabinet (left and right) ensuring sonic clarity and channel separation.
“The dual-ported subwoofer features an 8˝ laminated-composite cone driver with a 1-1/2˝ high-temperature aluminum-wire voice coil. Oversized ports and the driver are arranged in a perpendicular array to achieve the low-profile design with the dual ports promoting even, articulate and well timed response. The sub’s class-D amplifier delivers 100W RMS sustained and 300W dynamic peak power. Its DSP signal processing engine uses sophisticated mathematical algorithms to shape frequency response so that even when listening at loud levels, bass is clear, musical and accurate. The subwoofer is sized to fit into a standard A/V cabinet, if desired.”
The Soundtrack comes with an IR-based learning remote and the rear panel “offers digital optical and analog stereo inputs for hook-up of Blu-ray/DVD/CD players, gaming consoles, satellite receivers and other external sources. Analog outputs are included for wired subwoofer connection.” The Soundtrack is priced at $799.99 USD in black and is available now.
The SoundStage! Network has been providing industry-leading, on-the-spot show coverage for over 15 years. In 2013, the SoundStage! Network introduced something new to further expand upon and improve the coverage: Best of Show awards for the top products and systems for each event that the SoundStage! Network team covers.
The Best of CES 2013 award winners are highlighted in a new article now online on SoundStage! Hi-Fi. It features products from Crystal Cable, Sonus Faber, Vandersteen Audio, Rogue Audio, and more. CES 2013 took place from January 8-11 in Las Vegas. The next events that the SoundStage! Network will cover are Salon Son & Image in Montreal (March 21-24) and High End in Munich (May 9-12).
At the recent NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) show in Anaheim, California, Logitech unveiled the first custom in-ear monitors engineered specifically for vocalists, the Ultimate Ears Vocal Reference Monitors. Logitech claims this new monitor as the first-ever custom in-ear monitor that focuses only on the vocal spectrum.
The Ultimate Ears Vocal Reference Monitors have been designed with two different sound signatures to accommodate male and female voice frequencies. These unique signatures allow singers to concentrate only on what they need to hear. “Most concert attendees don’t realize just how loud it is on stage,” said Philippe Depallens, vice president and general manager of the Ultimate Ears custom line of products. “Often, singers exhaust their voices in an effort just to hear themselves above the instruments and amplifiers. It puts a tremendous strain on their voice.”
The Ultimate Ears Vocal Reference Monitors address this problem in two ways. First, they act as an earplug and reduce overall stage volume by up to 26 decibels through passive noise cancellation. This brings the sound-pressure levels down so that vocalists can hear their own voice more clearly. Second, instead of hearing a full-frequency mix like most other monitors, the three balanced armatures in each ear are engineered to emphasize the general voice band, with frequency response between 90Hz and 8kHz, so that singers can hear what’s most important to their performance.
The Ultimate Ears Vocal Reference Monitors are available directly through Ultimate Ears or through any authorized dealer. The retail price is $999.99 USD.
Wharfedale founder Gilbert Briggs built his first loudspeaker in 1932. Some 80 years later the speaker brand he founded in the little market town of Wharfe in the UK is owned by International Audio Group (IAG), who bought them in 1996. IAG also owns the Mission, Luxman, Quad, and Audio Lab brands.
Sound Solutions is a new distribution company founded by Walter Schofield, the audio-industry veteran who was one of the two principals in Sound Imports, the company that previously imported Wharfedale. The new company, which we were told Schofield founded with a new partner, is better capitalized and will be better able to provide dealers with inventory on a timelier basis while growing the brand in the US. Sound Import had been marketing Wharfedale since 2007. Schofield has been in the industry for over three decades and was formerly employed at Mark Levinson and Meridian.
At the 2013 International CES, Wharfedale introduced its latest product line, the Ultra Power Cube subwoofers. These models are priced at a suggested retail ranging from $1200 to $1600 USD. Other new products are planned for later in the year.
Hegel of Norway has redesigned their website at Hegel.com to be more user-friendly and informative for customers, and to better reflect the company’s image. According to Hegel’s marketing director, Anders Ertzeid, “Quite simply, we wanted a modern and dynamic website. Not in terms of fancy flash stuff, but a living website. We wanted to address normal people with a sense of quality. We took inspiration from brands like, for instance, BMW, which we feel has many of the same virtues and type of customers as we do. We did not look too much to other audio manufacturers as we think our industry is too often out of tune with modern people. Hegel is not a turntable nor a USD $300,000 Swiss watch. We are nice gear with race-car performance that can be used with modern sources.”
Hegel’s products have been reviewed often in the various sites that make up the SoundStage! Network. Most recently, their H300 integrated amplifier-DAC was reviewed on GoodSound! in December and earned a 2012 Product of the Year award. A review of their HD25 DAC will appear on SoundStage! Hi-Fi soon.
Conceived to be partnered with the Gryphon Pandora preamplifier and Mephisto (stereo) or Mephisto Solo (monoblock) power amplifiers, the three-way Gryphon Pendragon system employs a bass tower (eight 8” bass drivers per channel driven by a custom-designed 1000W Gryphon class-A/B power amp) and an open baffle mounted with a 2m-long dipolar, planar-magnetic, thin-film ribbon (covering the frequency range of 200Hz to 18kHz, with no crossover in its operating range). Alongside this is a vertical array of four dipolar Air Motion Transformer supertweeters specified to operate beyond 32kHz.
Gryphon's founder and CEO, Flemming E. Rasmussen, elaborates: “We had committed considerable resources over the past decades to solving the many inherent problems of crossover networks, but it has always been in the back of our minds that eliminating a problem altogether is a far more elegant solution. By coming up with a single, broadband drive unit with ideal sound reproduction and mechanical behavior across more than seven octaves, the Gryphon Pendragon eliminates crossover components in the critical mid frequency range, preserving spectral and temporal integrity.”
Regarding the Pendragon driver array, the Gryphon press release states that the "ribbon generates a continuous, perfectly coupled, cylindrical wavefront across its entire frequency range for a coherent, wide and deep soundfield. Because of their large surface area and pleated diaphragm, the Air Motion Transformers move a large air volume with minimal motion for lightning-fast transients with flat frequency response well beyond the audible range with negligible distortion and a total absence of compression. To keep pace with the extraordinary speed and openness of the dipolar drivers and to eliminate the discontinuity that typically plagues 'hybrid' speakers, the Gryphon Pendragon low-frequency system is a further refinement of the innovative Poseidon bass tower with eight custom-designed 8” drive units."
We were told that the Pendragon is available in what Gryphon describes as “virtually unlimited custom finish options.” The Pendragon is shipping now at a price of 150,000 euros/pr.