Both Magnepan and Audio Research were showing off new gear in their suite at the Venetian at this year's Consumer Electronics Show, and to excellent effect, I might add. In the Audio Research room, a pair of Magnepan's new 3.7 magneplanar speaker was being driven by an Audio Research Reference Anniversary preamp, DS450 amp from a laptop source through AR's DAC8 D/A converter.
All told system price: $43,480 plus cables.
But oh, the sound! Magnepan speakers have an inherently huge sound to them. I don't mean volume, but in actual size. Because the sound is coming from a 6-foot surface in front of you, there's a level of realism that is hard to achieve with box speakers.
Male vocals sounded startlingly realistic. It could have been the room, but there wasn't a ton of bass, something a sub could easily solve. If you've never heard a set of Magnepan speakers, I highly recommend it just to hear how different they perform compared to "regular" speakers.
The Maggies alone are $5,495 a pair, so not too esoteric. Getting your spouse to sign off for speakers that size though... good luck.
Audio Research was also showing off their new phono preamp, the PH8. It will slot in above the PH7. Expect all sorts of tubey goodness for its price of $6,995.
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