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November 6, 2008 7:03 AM PST

All-American hi-fi for Obama's White House?

by Steve Guttenberg
  • 9 comments

America may not make world-class cars anymore, we don't build plasma TVs, or iPods, cameras, or all that much technology of any sort, but in high-end audio, we rule!

Come 2009 I'd love to see the best of the best American audio installed at the White House. The sort of system that the President could, after a hard day's work solving the world's problems, use to kick out the jams with a few James Brown or Parliament-Funkadelic tunes.

I'll volunteer my services to assemble such a system (donated by the manufacturers), with the following components:

The X-2, in all its glory.

(Credit: Wilson Audio)

For CDs I love Wadia's 781i player, its state of the art technology will shine with all kinds of music (I have a review coming up real soon in Home Entertainment magazine). It's built in Saline, Michigan. And when the President wants to spin some vinyl, he'll get groovin' with a VPI HRX turntable hand crafted in Cliffwood, New Jersey.

The 300 Series amplifier

(Credit: Jeff Rowland Design Group)

New Jersey's best turntable

(Credit: VPI)

Based in Boulder, Colorado Jeff Rowland Design Group builds stunningly beautiful electronics. I like their Criterion Preamplifier and Model 300 Series Amplifiers. A lot.

Coming out of Provo, Utah Wilson Audio may very well be the most successful high-end speaker manufacturer in the world. Its Alexandria X-2 Series 2 speaker absolutely deserves a place of honor in the White House.

Just say the word Mr. President and I'll get it done.

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About The Audiophiliac

Ex movie theater projectionist Steve Guttenberg has more or less successfully hitched his future to home theater, but he still pines for the clickity-clack of 35 MM projectors and all the stale popcorn he could eat. Between projectionist gigs he worked as a high-end audio salesman for sixteen years, and produced records for an audiophile label. Oh, and one more thing, nothing annoys Steve more than being confused with the other Steve Guttenberg, the washed-up Police Academy actor. The wordsmith Guttenberg is a frequent contributor to a number of magazines and websites including Home Entertainment, Playback, and Ultimate AV. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.

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