Ready for CES 2013!

Today was set-up day for 2013, and like last year we were finished before noon in the Unison Research/Opera Loudspeakers/Cardas Audio/CCI room. In our main system we have the Unison Research Simply Italy integrated amplifier, Unison Research Unico Upower booster amplifier, Unico CDE CD player, Opera Mezza and Opera Grand Mezza loudspeakers. This is the US debut of the Upower, which can quadruple the output power of low-powered tube amplification without significantly changing the sonic signature of the original amp. So the 12wpc Simply Italy now becomes a 48wpc powerhouse that can work with most speakers.

CES starts tomorrow at 10am at the Venetian in Las Vegas, and I'll be taking more photographs and posting them later. The Unison/Opera room is 29-117, and the My Audio Design (MAD) room (which is sharing with Viola Audio and ZenSATI cables) is located on the next floor in room 30-228. Please stop by and say hellow to me, Colleen Cardas, Bartolomeo Nasta of Unison/Opera and Timothy Jung of MAD.

My Audio Design 1920S Loudspeakers

Does this speaker look familiar? Well, it should look like the My Audio Design 1920 loudspeaker I reviewed earlier this year, but in a gloss white finish. Same exact size, same drivers, same everything. Except this isn't the MAD 1920, it's the MAD 1920S, and it's slightly different than its little brother. As the MAD website says: "The 1920S is the signature version of our renowned 'World Standard' 1920 monitor. We have reconstructed the cabinet with a more advanced version of our proprietary DRC (Damping Resonance Control) and SWC technology. You can expect a sound that is smooth, open, natural, clear, detailed and unexaggerated. It all adds up to a package that is involving and coherent — like the original 1920 — but with more accuracy, clarity and even better bass."

In high-end audio, a "signature" version usually implies better parts, or a few tweaks here and there that lead to subtle yet noticeable improvements in the sound. But the difference between the 1920 and the 1920S is far from subtle. I don't want to take anything away from the 1920--it is a superb mini-monitor and an outstanding value--but I absolutely love the 1920S. It sounds so much bigger than the 1920 that it's hard to believe it only goes about 3 Hz deeper (55 Hz vs. 58 Hz). The price for this improvement is substantial--the 1920 is sold direct in the US from the MAD website for about $2575 (the price will vary slightly with the exchange rates), while the 1920S will retail in the US for $3450/pair. But it's worth it.

Of the three MAD speakers I've played with this week--the $48,000 Duke Royal Limiteds, the $11,000 Grand MS Maestro Supreme and now the 1920S--the latter pair is by far the most surprising. It's hard to listen to a $48K pair of loudspeakers without having extraordinarily high expectations. But these tiny little speakers shocked me at first listen. They sounded great right out of the box. They retain the smoothness and the refinement of all the other MAD speakers, but they excel at disappearing into the room and creating the type of soundstage that seems to expand well beyond the boundaries of my listening room. With an efficiency of 90dB, they also seemed to be the perfect match for the 12wpc Unison Research Simply Italy integrated amplifier. (Today I also plugged in the Unison Upower, a booster amp that quadruples the power to 48wpc.)

This is the last MAD speaker I get to play with before we head off to CES next week. I've had a lot of fun playing with all these goodies, and it will be tough to pack them up and send them on their way.

My Audio Design Duke Royal Limited Edition Speakers

It's been a long time since I've had a pair of $48,000 speakers to play with...okay, I've never had a chance to play with speakers anywhere near this price point. I used a pair of $13,000 Harbeth 40.1s for a few weeks, and that's probably it. No, these are the My Audio Design (MAD) Duke Royal Limited Edition speakers, and I get to break them in for a few days on their way to CES.

I apologize for the troublesome pics--these babies are so glossy and dark that it's hard to capture the absolutely breathtaking finish on them. Turn on the lights and they become virtual mirrors, and I'm pretty much taking a pic of myself standing in awe of the MADs while holding my iPhone. Turn down the lights and they look pure black. But they're not gloss black. This is a very dark-stained wood that appears translucent up close. Yes, that is the Union Jack on the side panels (these are made in the UK), lovingly assembled with different shades of veneer. It takes a month to make these cabinets. I believe it.

They're also much more compact than they look in the photos. They're only about waist-high, and I can easily pick them up and move them around. Despite their modest dimensions, they produce a GIANT sound with deep, powerful bass that shakes the room. $48K is a lot of money--I could have purchased that BMW 1-series M I really wanted for around the same amount of money--but once you see, feel and hear the Dukes you'll have no doubt that they are serious world-class loudspeakers.

I've listened extensively to a MAD speaker once before--I reviewed the entry-level 1920 a few months ago and found them to be the perfect mini-monitor for those who want a modern, updated and improved version of the classic BBC LS3/5a. I spent a few weeks with them before sending them off to TONEAudio, where they received a very favorable review in Issue #49.

The Royal Dukes share that same sense of refinement, and that same smooooth midrange, but with almost unlimited dynamics. Can it get any better than this? It's possible, since MAD has an addition line called the Royal Salute that has models ranging from $96,000 to $150,000. Colleen and I are helping the designer and founder of MAD, Timothy Jung, get a foothold into the US. MAD is already huge in places like Hong Kong, Singapore and their home base in England, and after my review of the 1920s I received several emails from people who wanted to know where they could hear them in the US. After CES in a couple of weeks, I may have an answer.