Vandersteen's new affordable mono blocks at the CES 18


Just got an email that his new amps will be unveiled at the CES.  Here is what I got.  I can't wait.  He has adjustable crossovers so you can use them on any speaker that doesn't go down to 20HZ, which is 99% of teh speakers on the market.  Here is what they said:

Vandersteen Audio Introduces the Next GREAT Amplifier at CES 2018!Venetian Suite 29-203
Vandersteen Audio shook up the audio world with its liquid-cooled M7-HPA monoblocks, a radical advance in power amplifier design and loudspeaker performance that is Stereophile Class-A rated as a true reference.Vandersteen is doing it again at CES 2018 in Las Vegas, where you can get the first look and listen at a pre-production pair of the upcoming M5-HPA (High-Pass Amplifier) monoblocks! The M5-HPA is a solid-state design descended directly from the flagship monoblocks. It will be substantially less expensive, but will offer an astonishing amount of the flagship's sonic magic. While the M7-HPA is designed specifically for Vandersteen's Model Seven Mk II speakers, the M5-HPA will work with a much wider variety of loudspeakers and Vandersteen powered subwoofers. To accomplish this goal, while the M7-HPA's high-pass is fixed at 100Hz, the M5-HPA's internal high-pass filtering is adjustable to any of the following five settings: 20Hz, 40Hz, 80Hz, 100Hz, 200Hz.Vandersteen for years has employed high-pass filtering with powered subwoofers for the ultimate in powered-bass performance. When paired with a Vandersteen powered-bass speaker like the Quatro Wood CT the M5-HPA forms a complete powered-bass speaker system in which the amplification is perfectly optimized over the entire frequency range.
Richard Vandersteen is responsible for the M5-HPA’s overall design and architecture; the amplifier was developed and is built in partnership between Vandersteen Audio and Dean Klinefelter, a talented designer and engineer in his own right. 
Vandersteen powered-bass speaker systems are the ultimate expression of Richard Vandersteen’s philosophies on design and performance, formed over decades of industry-leading design & research & innovation.
M5-HPA's technical attributes:
  • Zero-Feedback Solid-State Design With Dual Single-Ended Circuits Connected By The Speaker Load
  • All Signal Transistors N-Channel Bipolars 
  • No Emitter Resistors
  • Minimal Circuit Path- Only 5 Parts In Signal Path Per Phase
  • 10 Separate Power Supplies
  • Adjustable High-Pass Filter (20Hz, 40Hz, 80Hz, 100Hz, 200Hz)
  • 300-Watts Into 4 Ohms / 150-Watts Into 8 Ohms
  • Made In The USA


ctsooner
By the way-just went to the newstand to get Stereophile to read that review-what month is it in? Is it November??
@stewart0722 why consider Vandersteen speakers using your logic ? Lots of db available for a whole lot less $$$ with a set of Peavy PA speakers. Bryston is high $ per watt vs Crown , etc.... 
quality per $ = value is the point.
bryston has economic scale for ampliers Vandersteen will never have. Also Vandersteen hand solder because they believe it sounds better than wave solder or SMD.... lots of subtle design and execution differences.
btw my mobile recording rack has a pair of Bryston monoblocks, fine amplifier for it’s intended purpose.
OK let’s cover liquid cooling in some detail.... and frankly the reviewers are iMO a bit remiss in missing MANY of the hyper unique innovations in the amps... but the performance of many circuits and devices is temperature dependent and in particular drives the amount of bias needed. IF you look at my virtual system page ( poverty bay sound ) you will see a rare under the hood photo of the M7 and the cooling collar - physical heat sinking is SLOW and results in the heat sink lagging or leading the device or sinking BACK to the device. Hence coolant/pump/radiator solution and bias is rock steady independent of load so the amp sounds the same at any volume or transient...... complex , ya, for a purpose, yes!!!! Now let’s talk attention to details that matter .. if you own an Aesthetix or ARC product you know you can defeat the display for better sound due to the digital chips causing hash.. the M7 and M5 have a complex analog regulator circuit to manage pump speed for coolant and bias. Would been easy to buy an off the shelf chip to do that and SQ would suffer...

enjoy the music and the journey 

jim