CES 2006 SHOW REPORT IS FINALLY….
… more or less done. Spelling and factual corrections will be added over time – but the jist is now there….
This year we have up approximately 1000 detailed pictures – with the commentary about each room that stood out in some way right there with the picture. Finally, we have our usual ‘Best of Show’ lists in the ‘Official Report’.
Enjoy!
Mike & Neli
Hello Mike & Neli,
thanks for the best show coverage on the net. It’s been a pleasure to follow your blog over the past 10 days. Would love to be there one year to experience the mayhem and catch a cold!
Can I ask?, was the outboard power supply for the Prestige shown in the Globe room?
Also, many exhibitors used the Prestige, Reimyo and Esoteric players. Would you be able to give me your impressions of these players either from the show or previous experience.?
Once again, many thanks for an enjoyable look at CES.
regards
Barry
nice job with the pictures and comments, really impressive…
one little thing…the Murata room photos showed the Murata tweeters on the top of the Fab Audio Model 1 speakers…
Thanks everybody. It was fun but I am glad its mostly over…. Time to sleeeeeeep.
The Murata section has been updated, thanks for the info.
No, I do not think they have the outboard Prestige power supply out yet (though Neli will know for sure – as I mostly run around like a kid in a candy store looking and listening to everything I can and she conducts all the business Auidio Federation needs to do at the show).
I think the “Prestige, Reimyo and Esoteric ” players are all good players and have left bad old digititus behind without sacrificing detailed renditions.
In my mind, I differentiate between them by looking at what they are seemingly trying to accomplish:
Prestige – going for that ‘analog’ sound and includes a tube-based linestage and plays SACD
Reimyo – going for a listenable yet neutral sound, is solidstate, and does not play SACD
Esoteric – I am not too familiar with them to say what they are trying to accomplish. The Esoteric sounded fine at the show, of course, but I noticed that one or two rooms used the Esoteric as a transport and fed it into an other DAC, for example the Weiss MEDEA. Not that the Esoteric is an overly expensive transport compared to the Metronome at what I hear will be $34K…
OK, now I am just poking fun at our hobby…
The only digital that ‘stood out’ from the rest of the system for me was the Zanden – and this has been true of previous shows, as well. Its musicality and harmonic content is amazing… but for some people this will be ‘too much of a good thing’!
So, as we always remind people, you have YOUR preferences and it is best for you to listen to as many players on revealing systems to both hear what the players sound like and, primarily, learn as much as possible about what you want in a player.
Hey Mike & Neli,
the eye-candy is great. i really enjoy your comments. the writting is very good, and i like your direct and unapologetic style. is there anything you have written that describes what qualities you you do preffer? can you provide some examples of what you like and why as well as some contrast.
did you listen to the tact room with the corner subs working in time alignment with the monitors? if so what is your impression. what about active speakers like pmc, atc, etc?
I used to work for a distributor of high end sound system and displaying them is the best job I ever had. Coming up with concepts of rooms is so fun and one that I miss most. Currently, I am helping with designs of rooms more than the sound system itself.
You did a good job posting those pictures! They look very defined! Thanks for sharing!