CES 2011 – Emm Labs

Emm Labs shared a room with Ray Kimber and IsoMike, as they usually do. Here we see Neli getting a tour of one of Ray Kimber’s CDs, as hosted by one of Ray’s helpers.

The sound here on the Sony speakers was much smoother than at previous shows – not the brash hash that I have come to expect from these speakers. Perhaps not the best vehicle for Emm Labs to show off what their gear can do, but they were able to highlight Ray Kimber’s latest recordings quite well, which we loved [more on these in a future post].

I asked Ray what had changed compared to previous shows, and all he said to me was that the Emm Labs PRE2 was sounding better than it did during its prototype phase [or words to that effect]. I do not think that is why it was sounding so much better, having heard several of their preamps over the years… and all of them sounding quite reasonable … [and no matter how great the PRE2 sounds, and no matter how well it seems to somehow straddle the knife edge between solid-state and tube sound(!), I don’t believe it could have such a significant effect] so I am at a loss. Perhaps the volume was just more moderate this year… ?

The Emm Labs PRE2 preamplifier. Much more about this later.

The Emm Labs XDS1 CD/SACD player in Titanium

The Emm Labs DAC2 in black.

The Emm Labs MA 1 DAC prototype (the faceplate is expected to be quite different in the final version). This DAC is designed to work with computer audio systems, will be in the $6500 price range, and will appear under the ‘Meitner’ brand name. Expected to ship this Spring.