This review page is supported in part by the sponsors whose ad banners are displayed below
Unlike during the just concluded Zürich show, ATC showed their speakers leashed up to their own electronics rather than have the latter sit on static display only.
Avantgarde Acoustic's Holger Fromme explained his company's recent expansion into new facilities which include demonstration rooms to properly accommodate particularly German customers who want to experience these hornspeakers at their best. I detected a distinct preference for the domestic direct scheme over the traditional German dealer network.
Holger believes the future will depend on state-of-the-art communication between companies and their clients. He proposed a complete overhaul of their website to feature streaming videos with designer Matthias Ruff, interactive pages for in-depth information, finish options and more. In Athens, the electronics were supplied by Esoteric of Japan.
Ayon showed their new CD5 CDP/preamp, amplifiers with their tall 52B and 62B valves and speakers as a now complete systems provider including cables.
Ayre showed with Magico and naturally used a computer source into their aysnchronous QB-9 USB DAC.
While the appearance suggests to some apparently a lidded trash bin with foot pedal—once mentioned, it's in fact not that far off—B&W's Signature Diamond is a very serious design effort which was presented here with Classé electronics.
CAV Audio from Guangzhou in mainland China showed an impressive lineup of speakers and transistor and valve gear all priced expectedly aggressive.
Cessaro is working on a small 2-way hornspeaker particularly for their Hong Kong clients who traditionally shoehorn large speakers into tiny apartments. The prototype is finalized and formal production to commence shortly.
Combak of Japan showed their complete Reimyo system replete with Dinosaur stand for the dual-concentric monitors.
