Cangshan Thomas Keller Signature Collection Knives

It is time for our taste buds to get excited! Now we can all cook like world renowned chef Thomas Keller.

Ummm…  that is probably overstating it a bit.

Take two: Now we can all slice and dice like Thomas Keller.

Not so much.

Let’s face it, the good Mr. Keller can handle a knife better than most mortal humans. We can, however,  use the new Cangshan Thomas Keller Signature Collection knives in our very own kitchen. In collaboration with award-winning knife manufacturer Cangshan Cutlery, the Thomas Keller Signature Collection blades are available to make quick work of the culinary task at hand.

A relative newcomer on the cutlery scene, owner and chief designer Henry Liu founded Cangshan in 2015. Mr. Liu’s laser focus on aesthetic form and function, along with quality and craftsmanship has garnered the company twenty-some-odd awards in these few short years, including several of the prestigious international Red Dot Design awards. A quick browse of the Cangshan product catalog confirms this artistic approach.

Their shared vision regarding the intersection of design and function makes for a perfect working relationship. As chef Keller states, “We share an understanding of the importance of premium materials and the precision of craftsmanship. Together, I am confident we can develop something truly unique in the world of cutlery.”

The knives are clean, sleek, and balanced in their design, and are truly world-class tools in the kitchen. While knife selection can be highly personal to cooks and chefs around the world, I emphatically recommend a test session with these blades. I doubt you will be disappointed.

They are, indeed, a cut above!

Cheers!

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Caorunn – Gin Diaries pt. 5

It’s time!

Time for a gin created at a Scottish Speyside whisky distillery.

Huh?

Travel back in time, if you will, to 1824 when the good Mr. James MacGregor established the Balmenach Distillery. Scotch has thrived as the primary product over the years, but the wealth of locally foraged botanicals turned thoughts toward producing a high-quality gin with a real sense of place.

Say hello to Caorunn Gin.

Simon Buley, Gin Master at the distillery proclaims: “With Caorunn we have distilled the Scottish Highlands into a glass. The foraging initiative celebrates the lengths that artisans will go to create balance and flavor.”

What precisely are these Celtic botanicals, foraged at the foot of the Haughs of Cromdale, used in Caorunn Gin (pronounced ‘ka-roon’)? Many of the traditional gin ingredients are present, including juniper, coriander, lemon and orange peel, angelica root, and cassia bark. As for the locally foraged items, how about a dash of rowan berry, heather, dandelion, coul blush apple, and bog myrtle.

Is your palate intrigued?

The results of Mr. Buley’s labor produce a crisp and rather elegant gin. Nicely balanced with citrus, earth and floral notes on the nose, a taste reveals a touch of that apple botanical, along with citrus, floral and spice notes that play well with the mellow juniper.

A hint of richness or sweetness makes this gin particularly excellent in cocktails such as a Tom Collins, but a gin and tonic (the distillery recommends a slice of apple), or a martini also consume well.

Crisp, balanced, subtly unique. Caorunn is Connoisseur recommended.

Cheers!

Marty Feldmann, The Connoisseur, is the highly sought-after consultant who assists businesses and individual clients with the acquisition of the finer things life has to offer. Whether you are planning a weekend getaway to wine country, selecting audio equipment to outfit your home, planning your dream vacation, or purchasing your ultimate transportation, Marty is your personal connection to the good life…

Marty can be contacted at:   916.952.9529    Marty@ConnoisseurCorner.com

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Mercedes-Benz 2020 GLS – The New Family Truckster

For the model year 2020, the folks from Stuttgart are updating their top of the line SUV, the GLS. Clever exterior design makes the new version appear more svelte and somewhat sportier than the previous gen, but in fact it is slightly larger in all dimensions. Standard three row power seats can now accommodate 16 people!

Would you believe 7..?

Comfort and luxury are at the fore in the new GLS. A five-zone Thermotronic climate control is optional, to ensure that all passengers maintain full temperate optimization. A panoramic roof will eliminate claustrophobia issues. Energizing comfort control utilizes ambient lighting, seat massages and musical moods for driving wellness. You may also opt for a second-row captain’s chairs option, or even an executive rear seat package, for the chauffeur in us.

MBUX (Mercedes-Benz User Experience) is also present and accounted for, with a pair of 12.3 inch display screens, not to mention a supplementary head-up display.  Four pre-programmed display styles are ready for driver selection: Modern Classic, Sport, Progressive and Discreet. “Hey Mercedes” voice control is lurking about and, according to MB, chock full of performance improvements.

For powertrains, the GLS 450 will have Mercedes’ new turbo inline six-cylinder engine with integrated 48-volt hybrid assist.  GLS 580 models add two cylinders along with the same 48-volt assist system for a total of 483 horsepower. A nine-speed automatic transmission is standard on all models.

4Matic all-wheel drive, E-Active body control suspension, Multibeam LED headlights, multiple driver assistance do-dads, I could go on for days about the gonkulators on this thing.

The GLS will be built in Tuscaloosa, Alabama with pricing set at $76,195 for the 450 and likely a 20K tariff for the 580. Overall, the exterior changes are subtle, but meet with my approval, and the interior is miles ahead of the previous generation. Nicely done, Mercedes.

Family Truckster, indeed..!

Marty Feldmann, The Connoisseur, is the highly sought-after consultant who assists businesses and individual clients with the acquisition of the finer things life has to offer. Whether you are planning a weekend getaway to wine country, selecting audio equipment to outfit your home, planning your dream vacation, or purchasing your ultimate transportation, Marty is your personal connection to the good life…

Marty can be contacted at:   916.952.9529    Marty@ConnoisseurCorner.com

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Dan D’Agostino Debuts the Progression Integrated Amplifier

Legendary audio designer Dan D’Agostino is debuting his latest gem, the Progression Integrated Amplifier, to round out the Progression series lineup.   

This beautiful beast has been designed on a modular chassis, allowing customizable functionality depending on your system needs. Need a phono stage? You can add it. How about a digital module to handle music streaming and DAC work? Can do. Said digital module also functions as a Roon endpoint and happens to handle Tidal, Qobuz and MQA. 

Nice.

Scan the full press release below for the full geek details.  The integrated amplifier will ship in mid-Q3 of this year, starting at $18,000 USD for the base model.

Cheers!

LONG BEACH, CA, JUNE 7, 2019— Dan D’Agostino Master Audio Systems chose T.H.E. Home Entertaiment Show for the US premier of the Progression Integrated Amplifier, the latest addition to the award-winning Progression Series.  The active display will be in the Pacific 2 room at the Hilton Long Beach in conjunction with Alma Music and Audio from San Diego, CA. The Progression Integrated combines the elegance and detail retrieval of the Progression Preamplifier with the power and dynamic capability of the Progression amplifier topology housed in a chassis the exudes the D’Agostino aesthetic.  Built on a modular platform, the Progression Integrated fills every need of today’s music listener and audiophile. The analog platform provides two single ended inputs and three balanced inputs including a theater pass through. Balanced preamplifier outputs make for convenient inclusion of subwoofer(s) into a system. An optional moving coil phono module adds turntable playback to the list of features. The Bluetooth Remote control connectivity, first used in the Progression and Momentum HD Preamplifiers, is included as part of the base package. Bluetooth connectivity eliminates line of sight issues and extends the usable range 5x versus conventional IR remote controls.

An optional digital module vaults the Progression Integrated into the cutting edge of today’s digital listening environment. The digital enhancement adds connectivity for legacy sources, both source and host USB functionality, and premier streaming functionality. Field upgradeable, the digital module adds two SPDIF coaxial, two Optical, USB-A, USB-B, and RJ-45 inputs.  Roon music management with Tidal, Qobuz, and MQA digital technologies are all available features.  A fully differential DAC handles PCM signals up to 24 bit/192 KHz and DSD signals up to 4xDSD (11.2 MHz).                  

 “The Progression Integrated adds another level of performance, feature set, and pricing to our product lineup. It provides our customers an opportunity to experience a fully featured offering within the D’Agostino product line at a more attainable price point”, said D’Agostino Audio President, Bill McKiegan.

Robust enough to drive virtually any loudspeaker, the Progression Integrated outputs 200W into 8 Ohms and 400W into 4 Ohms. A unique toroidal winding technology, first employed in the Momentum M400 amplifier, delivers greater power output from a similarly sized conventional transformer keeping the Progression Integrated surprisingly small for its capability. Internal circuitry filters RF noise from the AC powerline and compensates for asymmetric power waveforms and DC on the mains.

Two analog meters, inspired by Swiss watch faces, function as signal level meters during music playback. When volume is adjusted, the meter needles change to volume setting indicators. After adjustments are made, the meters revert back to signal level operation. The meters also function as balance, phase, and mute indicators.  

The Progression Integrated will begin shipping in August, 2019 with estimated MSRPs of $18,000 USD for the analog base model, $20,000 for the analog model with optional phono stage, and $25,000 USD for the unit equipped with the optional phono stage and digital module. The optional module may also be added at a later date.  Standard finishes include silver or black with custom painted finishes available upon request.

Marty Feldmann, The Connoisseur, is the highly sought-after consultant who assists businesses and individual clients with the acquisition of the finer things life has to offer.  Whether you are planning a weekend getaway to wine country, selecting audio equipment to outfit your home, planning your dream vacation, or purchasing your ultimate transportation, Marty is your personal connection to the good life…

Marty can be contacted at:   916.952.9529    Marty@ConnoisseurCorner.com

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AXPONA 2019 – Sights, Sounds, and Snow!

Another successful year is in the books for Audio Expo North America, but I am horribly depressed.

Huh?

It is a rather simple matter of remedial math. An ear gear expo, a record fair, nightly concerts, a daily raft of industry seminars, and over one million listening rooms (Would you believe 200?) spell doom for any attempt at truly comprehensive coverage by a single human.

With that in mind, I’ll venture into a 30,000 ft view of the weekend and provide a few observations, takeaways, and miscellaneous ramblings.

The last few years, through concerted effort, the industry has been chipping away at the age barrier and attracting more youth to this wonderful hobby. The trend continued in Chicago with plenty of sub “old guy” audiophiles wandering about, impressively including sightings of several parents with their offspring. This old guy even tripped over a stroller or two. Go figure!

Product debuts at AXPONA seemed to outnumber years past. It is a pleasure to speak with the designers and hear firsthand the design philosophy, engineering, and passion behind these products. Note: Stay tuned in the coming weeks for more targeted articles on some of these products.

Music genre variety continues to expand. Despite every third room playing Ella and Louis, the stereotype of “classical and jazz only” continues to fade away. Folk, R & B, Rock, Blues, and Electronica emanated from various listening rooms, all of it sounding damned good!

Which brings me to my next point. I realize that my aural faculty is fading, courtesy of father time, but I will put hand on heart and swear that the great majority of the rooms sounded consistently top shelf this year. Sure, there was a room or three where the piano was too veiled, or maybe imaging lacked proper specificity, or the bass was…wrong, but these are hotel rooms after all. A thumbs up to all involved!

Before I sign off, kudos to the folks at JD Events who continue to set the bar high for audio shows, and the industry and general public are the beneficiaries.  Heck, they even arranged for several inches of snow on Sunday. *wink* 

There will be more in-depth notes in the coming days, but now, for your viewing pleasure, a few pictures from that million-room audio onslaught:

Cheers!

Marty Feldmann, The Connoisseur, is the highly sought after consultant who assists businesses and individual clients with the acquisition of the finer things life has to offer.  Whether you are planning a weekend getaway to wine country, selecting audio equipment to outfit your home, planning your dream vacation or purchasing your ultimate transportation, Marty is your personal connection to the good life…

Marty can be contacted at:   916.952.9529    Marty@ConnoisseurCorner.com

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