CES 2016: TAD and Audio Alchemy

[amirm]

One of my fun visits was to the Audio Alchemy with my host none other than Peter Madnick, company founder/designer who also VP of engineering at Constellation Audio.

The have a joint booth with Pioneer as the company has invested in the re-incarnation of Audio Alchemy. Peter explained that Pioneer wanted to see lower cost products driving their loudspeakers which made up for odd pairing of $25,000 loudspeakers with $5K worth of electronics! The DAC+Preamp was $1799 and the power amp, $1999.

The sound was excellent. Super dynamics. Absolutely enjoyable.

Amplification is class D with discrete (?) class A front-end. Shame so many people dismiss class D as not being high fidelity. They are missing on a system with fantastic sound, lots of power yet low cost.

The man himself posing for me:

Highly recommended!

 

[Elberoth]

I wonder if the amps are nCore based ?

 

[audiohippo]

Very interesting. Shows you can get great sound from low-medium electronics.

 

[amirm]

I wonder if the amps are nCore based ?

Did a quick search and indeed they do.

 

[amirm]

From last year's CES: http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/show-report-southern-california-canjam-2015-part-1/?page=4

"The system in question featured a new-generation Audio Alchemy DDP-1 Digital Decoding digital/analogue preamp ($1,995) with outboard PS-5 power supply ($595), an Audio Alchemy DPA-1 class D power amplifier based on Hypex nCore technology ($1,595), an Aurender N100 server, and the aforementioned Wilson Sabrinas ($15,995/pair). The result was astoundingly good, highly expressive, full-bodied sound that would put many a six-figure system to shame."

 

[DaveC]

Cool, I just don't get the existence of the TAD CE-1 at nearly the same price as the E-1 towers. I can't think of any good reason to go CE-1 instead of E-1 unless you're putting $30k speakers in a closet.

 

[amirm]

Maybe they have better margins in them. I see the CE-1 *very* frequently. So they are clearly promoting it.

 

[DaveC]

Maybe they have better margins in them. I see the CE-1 *very* frequently. So they are clearly promoting it.

Sure, it's their newest speaker. I just can't figure out why they thought it was a good idea... At say $15-20k I can see it but not with pricing so close to the E-1 tower, which probably takes up slightly less floor space nad has an extra woofer.

 

[rblnr]

Any idea who makes the acoustic panels?

 

[amirm]

Any idea who makes the acoustic panels?

No, but I have Peter's card so when I get some chance, I will drop him an email and ask.

 

[rblnr]

No, but I have Peter's card so when I get some chance, I will drop him an email and ask.

Great, thanks Amir.