IFA 2014 - Show Report.
IFA 2014 - Show Report
Show Report: Archos - KEF

The Music Beany from Archos is exactly what it seems: A woolly hat which incorporated all the necessary to hear some music without cables including headphones and electronics that support Bluetooth streaming.

Arkas Dynamic 10 is a headphone system which includes the signal source, i.e an FM radio and an mp3 player that accept SD/SDHC cards. They can of course be used with an external source, too.

Audioblock 's MB-10 is a complete 2.1 system (with built-in speakers and sub) which can be used for wireless streaming from online sources that support Bluetooth.


Auro-3D from Auriga is a multichannel audio processor based on two 40bit ADI SHARC processors. It offers a total of 16 channels of which 13 include a power amplifier (200W/8 Ohms). It has a total of 16 inputs, including 4 HDMI.

Beyerdynamic showed their headphone amplifiers. Here, the smallest A20…

…and the A200P which is portable and intended for use with smartphones, media players and laptop computers.



Crystal Acoustics seems to work intensively on the idea of WiSound, a system that generates a spherical omnidirectional sound field in space, without the need for many individual loudspeakers.

Bluesound showed their new Duo satellites and subwoofer system.

The same company recently announced some interesting streaming products such as the media server Vault (with an 1TB hard disk).


Fischer is a company from Russia which specializes in headphone systems. Here, their top amplifier, (Kennerton Criptic) capable of 10 hours of operation with a single battery charge…

… the smaller, hybrid (tube preamp, solid state, class A power amp) Kennerton Ego, which has a built in USB DAC…

… and their top of the range headphones Kennerton Magister, with titanium diaphragms.



Flexson is a company which manufactures various accessories for systems based on Sonos technology. The VinylPlay is an analog system that can be connected directly to Sonos for steaming of vinyl records, featuring a Rega tonearm.

The Swedish Happy Plugs presented this pair of solid gold, in-ear headphones for those who like to make a rather excessive fashion statement…

… but for the rest, they showed the Unik, a version made from synthetic materials, each piece being slightly different from the rest.



House Of Marley seems to be moving quite aggressively with quite a few new products. Here, their in-ear headphones (note the finish in capsules)…

… the ANC…

… and an interesting single loudspeaker system, the One Foundation, a two-way design with two 1-inch silk dome tweeters and two 5.25-inch mid/woofers. It is an active system, with a 220W amplifier.

To our opinion, Jarre Technologies looked quite promising a few years ago with their first docking station but recently they overdone it: The Aerobull is their latest creation…

JIB is a cable manufacturing company from Germany. They displayed the Prestige range which is based on very high purity copper conductors and connectors made of a combination of gold, platinum and rhodium.

JVC introduced two new cameras with emphasis on durability in difficult conditions (cold, water exposure and falls). Both offer FullHD resolution recording, 8GB built in memory, 40x zoom lens and AVCHD codec. The top model (GZ-RX115) offers an LED light source.

The same company presented two models of headphones, the HA-SZ2000 and HA-SZ1000, both two-way designs with carbon nanotube high frequency drivers.

JVC also displayed the RV-N100, a system that includes a DAB + receiver, is compatible with iOS devices (with a Lightning connector), performs streaming via USB and Bluetooth and can be used as an “on the road” music instrument amplifier.

The known and highly likeable X300A active mini monitors from KEF. Based on a Uni-Q driver, offer wireless streaming via AirPlay and DLNA and can connect with other sources via USB.

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