CES 2011 – The Plan – Venetian Towers

Wherein we examine the floor maps in detail to get a kind of feel for what this year will be like.

[New. the rooms in the 200s]

[Please pardon us while we get this all to work…] [Yyyyy… OK. We wanted this to work like it does on Amazon… and it turns out that the electronics store and the DVD store at Amazon do it different ways. So, here, we are going to make it so you can popup a single window so people can see the larger photo(s) in one window and read whatever comments we have in this one. Like the Amazon Electronics store.]

This is the map of floor 29.

Looking at the 100’s hallway… StraightWire AudioQuest, Cardas, … these are mainly about their cable displays. Avatar Acoustics is an importer, been showing with Rethm speakers lately.

Let’s see, Engstrom & Engrstrom make the Lars amps and will be showing with the Marten Coltrane 2 speakers, I believe. So 2 reasons to go there and spend some time. [I’m skipping rooms that are new and/or unknown to me – or I just don’t have much to say about].

Next we have Vitus audio – hope to hear something here that helps me figure those amps out in greater detail – i.e. they do microdynamics, but what are their other signature strengths and limitations?

[Yes, I am going down just one side of the hallway, just like in real life ;-)]

Next is Basis turntables. Not usually much to listen to here. Could stop and argue some more about whether Acrylic platters are the ‘best’ material for platters or not [me: there is no ‘best’ material]… but that gets boring quick.

Finally we have Pass Labs in a big room with a pile of their cool looking amps in the main vestibule. Lots of suits doing business and nicely setup but the sound has never impressed.

Across the hall now we have AXISS, an importer of many things: some years they have the statement Transroter turntable [on static display. love to hear it one of these years]. They also have Accuphase and a few other lines.

Always check out dCS. They are always nice and they keep busy making new things all the time – so usually something is new here. Hard, though, to get a sense of what they going for here – usually it is better to hear their stuff elsewhere at the show.

Nordost is next. 3 rooms! They will be doing some scheduled presentations as always, no doubt. Usually they have a strange mix of electronics and an under-performing rack, but with small speakers that are quite detailed and dynamic [often Eben / Raidho]. This is more a room to learn things about how to listen and hear differences in cables than to listen to music in.

Silverline is more cables…

Opera loudspeakers with Unison… this will be interesting. Not expecting greatness as much as an opportunity to learn more about Unison Research [which we hear is basic good-sounding gear].

Esoteric usually sets up a room that is a little too much Esotericness for my taste – being 100% Esoteric equipment and cables [not that they are not high-quality gear by themselves, they are]. Also hard to see what is new because they have so MUCH gear on display and/or in the equipment racks.

And then Cary at the end. The last 2 years they have had Marten Coltrane speakers in there. I forget [bad me] if they are to do so again this year.

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OK, still 2 more hallways to do on this floor, and at least one major floor left to do. This might be faster to actually be there walking thru the rooms than write about them … 😉

To be continued…. OK, we’re back. The 200’s hallway:

We have Kimber Kable (and WBT, distributed by Kimber) which are just rooms with cables and parts displays up front and maybe some kind of business meeting in the rear of the room.

Westlake Audio makes big, hulky box speakers although their rooms are rarely setup for boy toy-like sound. Not sure what kind of sound these guys are going for.

The BATs in the Bat room will often be driving a pair of Wilson’s, probably a Sasha or something. They rarely do something bold here – they’re probably just focused on business and trying to cement the connection between Wilson and BAT in people’s minds.

Musical Surroundings, an importer, has 3 rooms. One is usually dedicated to the static display of a dozen or so Clearaudio turntables. Sometimes they pick up a new line, or pair their stuff with an interesting speaker, say [now that they no longer distribute Vivid speakers], so one of these rooms is often interesting to me from a “it’s not likely to be the exact same thing as last year” point of view.

Volent makes speakers that are somewhat expensive yet still has a following as I understand it on Audio Circle.

Another room I listened to intently at RMAF, using the little YG Acoustics speakers, and feel less of a need to listen here now.

On a Higher Note is an importer, of things like the Brinkmann and, lately, Audio Aero. So I will take more photos here just in case there is something that we are supposed to know and don;t know it – looking at the detailed photos later helps answer a lot of questions about gear we do not have right here right now.

QUAD… always check out the QUAD room… SOMETIMES they have good sound, though recently they use only QUAD electronics to drive their famous, somewhat newly redesigned, speakers.

Wharfdale has usually just a token system, if any, and a lot of static displays of their speakers – and lots of people in suits.

Kubala-Sosna usually has their name on a room with an interesting system. Says nothing on their website, so I guess it’ll be a surprise. These kinds of surprises are fun.

Hansen… last year they brought their statement speakers – which didn’t go over all that well. Hopefully this year they bring something else, and pair it with something decent. Now that Wes is not their distributor, their setups have been disappointing the last several shows. We like these speakers, but they need a decent amount of high-quality power, and a decent front end. Unless there is a miracle. Miracles just do not happen at shows.

Usher. Decent speakers at an affordable price. They might have a potential for drug-like sound, and they do sometimes put decent [commensurate] equipment on their speakers at shows.

Bluebird imports Chord and usually sets up a nice sounding small system, and musical for a solid-state system, too. But they are really going for a Practical Sound, not a drug-like sound here.

Synergistic Research – no doubt with their stupid ball on a post tweak [stupid because if you listen to the system there during their demo – the tweaks make things sound worse, and brighter, and edgier. This is the demo that sparked the discussion a few years ago about just what are we as audience members supposed to do in a case like this – and how we all behave so nicely and nod our hears along with the presenter’s. ]

Spiral Groove. Nice medium expensive turntable and speakers. This room can be quite decent – though it usually lacks… something. Enough to not make it on my best of show lists.

One year Rogue Audio did have their new statement amp, which was decent. Otherwise, this room takes an approach to low cost tube amp sound that perpetuates the stereotype of tube map sound as being very veiled as compared to solid state, but without the warm glow that is usually the reward for such a sacrifice in clarity.

MSB… Cool looking gear… more focused on making Gee Whiz system components than Drug-like or Practical sound.

Avantgarde… now selling direct from Germany to their customers… guess they NEED to be at this show. Will be very interesting in hearing what they do here – no doubt with their horn speakers and amps but who knows what else.

Vandersteen in the middle of the Triskelian. One room will be just for HRS and I’ll say hello to Mike Latvis and take photos here [yes, some of this is entirely too predictable after all these shows]. The other room is different each year. Probably Vandy 7 speakers. Probably Aesthetix electronics. Sometimes a different amp. Sometimes a cool turntable – one year it was the Clearaudio Statement [which allowed me to understand much more about both the table and the Aesthetix gear sounds].

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OK. Taking a break before we go on to the 300’s rooms