October 3, 2009: Part 2
All prices in US dollars unless otherwise noted.
Crystal Cable's Gabi van der Kley made the trip from The
Netherlands to RMAF to show that her company is now offering their cables with Furutech
connectors (prices vary according to connector and cable type, so consult with the company
for details). Furutech's connectors are made using carbon fiber and pure silver that's
coated with rhodium. [www.crystalcable.com]
Denmarks Vitus Audio displayed the compact but
densely populated SS-050 power amplifier ($25,000). This powerhouse will deliver 100Wpc
into 8 ohms, the first 10 of which are said to be true class A. If you look closely you
can see the new Vitus-badged power transformer in the center of the chassis. [www.vitusaudio.com]
Blue Circle Audio's Gilbert Yeung pulls back the curtain to
reveal two solar panels used to fully power his company's BC705 phono stage that's
priced from $2995 depending on options. Gilbert stated that the solar panels used to power
the BC705 could be found on eBay for as little as $90. Will Gilbert be changing his
company's name to Green Circle soon?
Joseph Audio introduced an updated version of his Pearl
loudspeaker, aptly named the Pearl2 ($28,500 per pair). Jeff Joseph described the Pearl as
an "evolution" of the previous design and cited crossover changes as being most
relevant. So, although the Pearl2 is not a brand-new speaker per se, Joseph was also
showing the new Pulsar
monitor priced at $7000 per pair. The Pulsar uses trickle-down technology from the
Pearl2 design.
Monarchy Audio continued their tradition of offering large
sound in small packages. Shown here is the compact SE100 Deluxe Mark 2 monoblock amplifier
that retails for $1179 each and will produce 100W into 8 ohms.
Veloce Audio played their new V6 monoblock power amplifiers
($12,500 per pair) with a pair of Gemme Audio VFlex Katana loudspeakers. Outputting a
reported 180W each, the V6 features a tube input stage and a class-D output stage. We were
told the V6s cosmetics would change before the production models ship.
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