The show continued with some unusual design from Scaena, the iso-linear array speaker. They are available in a variety of multiple drivers, all stacked, including digital subwoofers. They were driven by Behold amplifiers, and I was taken back by the impressive demonstration. Great looking in red, the package as shown was about $44,000.

Never one to be anything but theatrical, Totem filled their room with impressed listeners when they featured among their lineup, the new Tribe III, on-wall speaker to compliment the Tribe I and II. Playing in mono, a Tribe III sitting lazily in the corner sounded spatial and full - it had the room gasping in fact.

At 36" tall, 6" wide, and 3.5" deep, the Tribe III features an exclusive "Torrent" performance woofer. Beautifully machined in-house driver chassis costing several hundred dollars each, Totem went all out with this speaker, and it's priced at $1,500 each.

Cayin had a room full of equipment and a number of new pieces. The H-80A tube Hybrid Class A integrated amplifier is shown below. The remote controlled integrated tube amplifier - the A-100T with 100wpc is in the second photo. They are priced at $2,995 each.

From VAS (Valve Audio System), the Citation Sound 2 monoblock amplifiers at $2,750 per pair, are based on the old Harman/Kardon Citation II design. The VAS Stereo Control Center Sound I preamp lists for $4,995.

With VAS was the Aurum Cantus V3M speaker at $4,500 per pair with the stands. They are a two-way design, featuring an aluminum ribbon tweeter and 5" woofer.

Lipinski Sound not only set up a full surround package, it also bundled the entire room including Lipinski L-707 loudspeakers and L-240 stands, the L-150 subwoofer, the L-301 monoblock amplifiers, and last but not least, a JVC 70" flat panel display, all for $45,000. The Polish-made speaker package alone is $30,000 and frankly sounded well worth it.

Logitech showed a fine piece of gear, the $2,000 Slim Devices' Transporter, considered an "audiophile" quality music server. Very beautiful and intuitively designed, the unit features AKM AK4396 DAC, digital inputs and outputs, and network true wireless Ethernet.

Great on the eyes and the ears, from Gershman Acoustics, this is the beautiful Black Swan loudspeaker with a frequency response down to 18 Hz. The 48" tall 8 ohm Swan retails for $30,000/Pair.

- Piero Gabucci -

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