Make way for the future....

..and now for something completely different ....

That’s no moon: veteran Apple designer unveils $1,799 Cell Alpha speaker - The Verge

These are the kinds of clear new innovative products  FBOFW that interest me and I would want to audition. Not the latest nebulous/magic tweak product of the month that is always being shilled around here that nobody should even care about in most cases if you just do things right to start with. You know, the things most anybody can come up with that are pitched to neurotic consumers that cost a fortune to solve what are otherwise the simplest and most mundane issues out there that knowledgeable people resolve easily and cost effectively, like fuses, wires, contacts, isolation, etc.

Was not familiar with that Boulder unit. I bet it is the bomb!

NAD m33 gets similar rave reviews supposedly upping the ante from prior models. I wonder how the two compare? Or the CA evo if anyone has heard one yet. Same league at least?


FWIW I own and concurrently run BEl Canto c5i integrated in my second system and the much beefier ref1000m monoblock amps in my main system. Both are very good, in the same league I would say, but the 60w/ch c5i cannot match the ref1000ms in terms of overall muscle and authority, at least in larger rooms.

Also the c5i is a true digital integrated amp like the NAD I believe whereas I run an Audio Research tube pre-amp with the ref1000m’s. The two do not sound radically different but the tube pre-amp with the Class D amps is a good pairing I would say and many agree. There is a difference, but not night and day, and both sound very good and hard to fault on their own. I am happy listening to either though the c5i and its 60 w/ch does impose some limits in terms of spl in a larger room but nothing that would matter most likely for many.

No doubt advancements in technology has greatly boosted what can be done in an integrated amp in regards to overall performance compared to years past.  I am a believer these days.   Not always the case in years past. 

A useful product but one step up from a table radio. A good integrated and a great pair of speakers will do so much more.

It is an integrated amp.   A modern integrated amp with modern features.  Do you know that it is not good?  The article thinks otherwise.

Has anyone attempted to replace an existing system with a one box solution like this? The NAD M33 perhaps, which has been out longer, or others? Just wondering if anyone has tried and what was the result.

I am always interested in downsizing so a device like this has some appeal to me.

I have a Bel Canto C5i in my second system currently. Wonderful device! Only sixty watts/ch though which gets you a long but not quite all the way with most speakers.  It has most everything including phono stage but needs an external streamer.