[darthlaker]

I wonder what it is??? Dying to know!

Any guesses?

A Vandy Pre-Amp with tone controls?!!

Link below (scroll down to Rumors section) - reprinted below:

Finally while listening casually to the Vandersteen Model 7 driven by ARC Reference gear Richard Vandersteen, at my urging, mentioned there could be some surprises at next year’s CES. Something he described as nothing less than “shocking.” An active-powered loudspeaker? A hybrid? Vandersteen just grinned.

http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/the-show-newport-beach/

[jebe1]

Carbon-2's with no price increase -- that would be shocking!

[C17FXR]

Shocking would be a Music Server and external DAC with room correction . Totally out of left field. But have heard he was working on adding the 11 band Eq to the 2Wq's not too shocking there.

[jeffreybehr]

.

[jebe1]

Not "Shocking", but I think RV introduced a new M7 crossover at RMAF  to go with the Model 7.

[rodge827]

Shocking would be a Music Server and external DAC with room correction . Totally out of left field. But have heard he was working on adding the 11 band Eq to the 2Wq's not too shocking there.

There is a product already on the market that does all of this except the music server, you will need to supply one.

http://www.dspeaker.com/en/products/20-dual-core.shtml

[darthlaker]

The M7's have been out for a while....looks like we have to wait until Jan for the CES....

[darthlaker]

CES isn't too far away......can't wait to hear what this shocking product is!!!

[darthlaker]

I have heard the shocking new Vandy product is an external amp made for the Vandy Sevens!!!!

This is all I know at this stage....will post more later based on what I hear/read online.....

[darthlaker]

Finally, a story about Vandersteen news at 2013 CES!

Click link below, then scroll through using the buttons on the webpage to see the story/pictures....

http://www.soundstageglobal.com/index.php?option=com_igallery&view=igcategory&id=72&Itemid=365

[WGH]

"Vandersteen Audio is now in the amplifier business, or at least it will be soon. The M7-HPA is made to drive, specifically, the mid and high range of a pair of loudspeakers as it has a built-in high-pass crossover. This mono amplifier has  a liquid-cooled tube input stage and a solid-state output stage. The circuitry is suspended inside the chassis, decoupling it from the vibration-prone outside environment. As for application, the company’s Model Sevens would rely on their built-in subwoofer amplifier for the bass and a pair of M7-HPAs would drive the mids and highs. The price is expected to be between $30k and $40k per pair when they become available in about six months."

[darthlaker]

Thanks WGH for posting it all on this thread....

[WGH]

The Vandy 7's are consistently one of the best sounding rooms at RMAF,  always driven by high end ARC electronics. The photo below has the 7's driven by $26k Audio Research Corp Reference 250 monoblock amplifiers.



Obviously Richard thinks his amps work better than the ARC, I can't even imagine how it could get any better. This should be fun.

[darthlaker]

WGH,

At this years CES there were Sevens with Aesthetix amps and I think I have seen them with Aesthetix amps before (as well as Audio Research).

Richard had the Ayre MX-R monoblock amps at home:

http://db.audioasylum.com/mhtml/m.html?forum=amp&n=161649&highlight=MX-R+vandersteen+charles+hansen&r=&search_url=%2Fcgi%2Fsearch.mpl%3Fsearchtext%3DRidge%2BStreet%26b%3DAND%26topic%3D%26topics_only%3DN%26author%3D%26date1%3D%26date2%3D%26slowmessage%3D%26sort%3Ddate%26sortOrder%3DDESC%26forum%3DALL

I agree, it will be fun to hear how good these amps are.

Don't think I have seen or heard of a liquid cooled amp before!

[jebe1]

Stereophile also covered the new M7-HPA amp in their CES report:
http://www.stereophile.com/content/vandersteens-new-amplifier

"My photograph doesn't do justice to the lustrous blue finish or the immaculate interior construction, but Vandersteen's new M7-HPA power amplifier looks as gorgeous as the Vandersteen Model Seven and 5A loudspeakers with which it is intended to be used. As the HPA in its name implies, the M7-HPA provides a high-pass filtered output (>100Hz) to the upper-frequency drive-units of these two speakers, which have integral powered subwoofers. The amplifier uses a tube input stage and a two single-ended solid-state output amplifier stages operating in what Richard Vandersteen calls "push-push," all mounted with a sprung suspension and kept cool with a liquid cooling system. Price is projected to be between $30,000 and $40,000/pair."