CES Preview

The annual CES in Las Vegas is a consumer electronics zoo. Tens of thousands of bloggers, TV crews, journalists and broadcasters descend on Sin City in early January every year to see what thousands of manufacturers have to offer. With all the excitement surrounding flexible phones, wearable tech and 4K cinema, audio can sometimes be overlooked. Although this year we have the push toward HDA (high-definition audio), this looks set to be all but forgotten by the mainstream media… again. But we expect exciting news from this important new trend in music replay.

However, here’s some of the other highlights we look forward to seeing next week:

Audio Research: Having concentrated on its Reference line recently, Audio Research turns its attention to its more affordable line with the announcement of the upcoming CD6 entry-level CD player/DAC.

Cambridge Audio: The low-cost, high-performance brand will be showcasing a range of new products under its Azur and Minx ranges, including a new 851E preamp, 851W and 651W power amps, 851D DAC and Minx XL satellite speakers.

Cary Audio: Tube experts Cary join the streaming club with its new DMS-500 UPnP/DNLA Network Audio Streamer. Cary will also prove it’s more than just a tube amp company with its HI-200-2 hybrid integrated amp, coupling tube front-end with 200W Class D power.

Chord Electronics: The Hugo reference grade headphone amp/DSD DAC will receive its first public outing at CES, with a press conference lined up for Tuesday afternoon. We’ve discussed the Hugo recently, and US distributor BlueBird Music will also have the new Jadis PA100 amplifier on show. Jadis replaces products in its line once in a Blue(Bird) Moon, and this replacement for the DA7 is also an exciting prospect.

Crystal Cable: Marking its tenth year, Crystal Cable is announcing its Cube integrated amplifier (using the Light Drive system seen first in sister company Siltech) and the Minissimo standmount speaker.

D’Agostino: Having wowed the audiophile world with its Momentum mono and stereo amps and more recently the line preamp, Dan D’Agostino will launch the new Momentum Integrated amplifier at the show.

Eclipse TD: The Japanese loudspeaker specialist will launch its wireless TD-M1 powered loudspeaker system at CES. The single-driver, time-domain oriented loudspeaker might be destined to be a lot more than just a desktop design

Genesis: Absolute Fidelity is a concept developed by Genesis CEO Gary Koh, moving beyond mere accuracy into a recreation of the musical event. This is an important year for the brand, now making a soup-to-nuts solution including source, amp and (what the company is best known for) loudspeakers. Don’t expect the word ‘budget’, unless it is prefaced by the word ‘big’!

Krell: The company is making big claims for this year’s launches, debuting what it claims is its “most radical and revolutionary amplifier technology in its 33-year history.” Krell suggests it has managed to deliver better than Class A performance from a rack-mountable technology.

Magico: Building on its popular S-series, the notorious speaker company will showcase its new S3 floorstander at CES, a midsize speaker designed to fill the gap between entry-level S1 and S5 big-boy.

Marten: Arguably the biggest audio launch at the show (in size terms at least), Marten will launch its new four chassis Coltrane Supreme II loudspeaker, an uncompromising design that replaces the company’s now eight year old flagship.

Naim: Teaser campaigns on the company’s website and a curious box of heatsink sent to UK journalists all point to a new über-amplifier from the Salisbury specialist. Real information remains sketchy until the official launch, but rumours abound of a product line designed to appeal to Focal Utopia Grande EM customers, with a sticker price to match…

Simaudio Moon: The Canadian specialist will showcase two new models at CES, the 720A power amplifier (a dual mono, balanced Class AB design in a slimline Evolution case) and the 820S power supply upgrade for several products in the Evolution range.

Simple Audio: The high-end, low-cost streaming solution launches its new Roomplayer HD system at CES, reputedly capable of delivering up to 24-bit performance, with all the multi-user, multi-library convenience of more mainstream network streamers.

TechDAS: The Air Force One turntable from the Japanese company has made a big splash in the top-end vinyl spinner market. This year, the company has announced a more affordable Air Force Two, said to bring the engineering of the top deck to a wider LP collector market.

Torus: The power conditioning experts will be showing its latest addition to the small TOT range, the 15A. It’s an ultracompact standalone device with claimed sag-free noise filtration.

Wilson Audio: The evergreen WATT/Puppy lives on in the guise of the new Sasha Series 2 loudspeaker system. As ever, this will be one of the off-show events at a nearby hotel .

YG: YG Acoustics has been showing a preview of its Hailey floorstanding loudspeaker on its website. The company suggests this new model brings the design criteria of the Sonja flagship to a wider audience. A smaller, more accessible model.

Zanden: The Japanese über-high-end company is well known for its top tube phono preamp. This year, however, Zanden will show its new model 120 LCR-type phono stage, the first from the brand that is completely solid-state!

There’s more. Like the new DarTZeel LHC-208 ‘danalogue’ integrated amplifier or the MartinLogan Crescendo coffee table that poses as a AirPlay/Bluetooth speaker (… or is it the other way round?). Or the first outing for the Kingdom Royal Carbon Black, Tannoy’s most powerful speaker in its 87 year history. And even muso keyboard favourite Korg has announced a high-quality USB DAC for domestic users.