June 11, 1998

New Product Daily Coverage

by the SoundStage! Coverage Team

Adding to their existing speaker line, Revel showed their new Ultima Salon floorstanding loudspeaker (Dave Duvall in between).  With exquisite styling and first rate cabinet  construction, the Salon retails for $14,200 to $15,500 depending on finish.  Unfortunately no listening could be done as these particular speakers were on silent display. We later learned, a little too late, that they were playing in the room next door.

Anthony Gallo Acoustics' new Nucleus Micro impressed many showgoers including the SoundStage! Coverage Team.   Shown above with Doug Schneider, their small size is not indicative of the huge sound they are capable of.  The trio of products including the above spheres and a subwoofer will retail for $699.   A variety of finishes are available.

While technically not a 'new' product, this is the first time the Moth m304TL single-ended, class A, monaural amplifier ($9,600 per amplifier side) was used in an active demonstration.  One thing is for sure -- nothing looks like the Moth gear! Speaker to the right is the Von Schweikert Research VR-6.

One of the most spectacular displays of the show came from Wilson Audio.   Their new loudspeaker, the MAXX, is priced at $38,900 and lies between the Watt Puppy and the X-1 in the product line.  The appearance is similar to the X-1 and according to owner and designer David Wilson, works better in some smaller rooms than the much more expensive X-1. For those with deep pockets and money ready to fly, the Maxx will be available in September.

Blue Circle Audio debuted the $6,250 BC-3000 linestage preamplifier.  Although cosmetically idential to the $3,300 BC-3, the real changes are on the inside.  While retaining the same volume controls, the internal circuitry has been changed and a new power supply, the BCG-3.1, comes standard.  BC-3 owners wishing to simply upgrade their BC-3s can do so by only purchasing the BCG-3.1 power supply with upgrade specials that the company is offering.   A BCG-3.1 is on its way to Doug Schneider's house for a future review.

Gary Welker of Black Parrot Audio Technologies is shown with their new MTM loudspeaker (left) at $4,600 per pair without stands and the Parrothead loudspeakers (right) at $8,500 per pair.

JM Labs introduced the more members of the Utopia series of loudspeakers.  From left to right, the Mini Utopia ($6,500 without stands per pair), the Mezzo Utopia ($13,500), and the Sub Utopia ($3,500) with a 15 inch driver and 250 watt internal amplifier.  These are all 'soon to be released.'

Christian Audio and Smc Audio shared a room.  Shown is the Christian Axis loudspeaker at $7,000 per pair including stands.  The Bass Cubes (shown on either side of speaker) at $2,200 per pair were also introduced.  Amplifier shown is a modified McCormack DNA-0.5 'Version A modified' by Steve McCormack, formerly of McCormack Audio now of Smc.

Jim Ricketts of tmh audio, distributor for Wavac, Kochel, and Miyabi introduced many new Wavac products including the Music Dandy MD 572 directly heated, triode, single-ended power amplifier (floor).   This 50 wpc unit retails for $8,160.  The PR-X1 linestage ($6,970) and the LCR-X1 phono stage ($12,430) were also introduced.

When DVD was first released, Sony's first player to the market, the DVP-S7000, was heralded as the"reference" for which others are compared.  That was a couple DVD player generations ago and now Sony has a new flagship on the horizon -- the DVP-S7700.  Building on the strengths of the 7000 and adding in all they currently know about DVD technology the 7700 boasts plenty of new video features and on the audio side includes 24/96 DACs and even higher build quality.  Price is yet to be determined and a release date will be later this year.

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