CES 2012 – LA Audio
LA Audio had a bunch of their equipment on display, some of it driving the Acoustic Zen ‘Adagio’ loudspeakers.
This seems like it would have been an extremely interesting system but I have no memory of the sound here. Next year I am going to bring a score card along with me – with an space for each room where I am mark whether there was either no music, the quality of the sound, and whether I should get back and make them play music / listen some more. Doh!
The Acoustic Zen Adagio loudspeaker
Acoustic Zen’s Adagio loudspeaker
Acoustic Zen’s Adagio loudspeaker
Acoustic Zen’s Adagio loudspeaker
Acoustic Zen’s Adagio loudspeaker
LA Audio’s P-845 amplifier
LA Audio integrated amp [I think]
LA Audio’s P-845 amplifier
LA Audio’s PRE-11 preamp
LA Audio’s PRO-2 CD player
LA Audio’s A-3300 integrated amplifier
LA Audio’s P-88 monoblock amplifier
LA Audio’s P-845 II monoblock amplifier over on static display
LA Audio’s M-1 integrated amplifier also on static display
“Next year I am going to bring a score card along with me – with an space for each room where I am mark whether there was either no music, the quality of the sound, and whether I should get back and make them play music / listen some more.”
I very much like the idea of using a score card and notes at future shows you and Neli attend. I think with your audio knowledge and experience the show reports should be more about listening impressions. Although “eye-candy” pictures are entertaining, they don’t provide much perspective. Personally I’m much more interested in opinions and comparisons of the equipment listened to. Even though much of the equipment may not be familiar, your daily exposure to very high end audio provides a foundation few of us possess. So I would happily accept a much narrower concentration of the equipment that most interests the pair of you.
Hi Leonard,
Thanks.
Yes, yes, everybody wants more comments about the sound… 🙂
This LA Audio room is an exception, in that the Adagio speakers are often driven with small, inexpensive tube amps, and this system represents something that is probably well worth listening to.
But…
I would say 20 – 25% of the rooms have no sound playing, or have people talking so loudly that much of the music is hard to hear, or they are talking standing in front of the speakers.
Another 20% are playing very simple audiophile music that would sound good on Bose [although one can still tell a good deal about the system if one concentrates] and they do this because about 50% of the systems just do not sound very good. Whether this is because they do not care [being there just to try and add dealers and distributors – who care about buzz not quality] or because the components are badly matched, or because their product is not very good, it doesn’t matter – It is not fun for me to spend all the time it would take to describe all the ways the sound sucked in these rooms [Some rooms are an exception – I got a lot of emails thanking me for finally describing what BAT on Wilson Maxx 2 – I think – really sounded like at the old Alexis Park CES, with all the reviewers claiming how great it was. Similarly with last year’s Sonus Faber statement speakers]. I am happy debunking something that is being over hyped [aka lied about] by shills and shady reporters in the so-called pre$$ – but otherwise I would rather not say anything at all and just hope they get a better sound in their room next year.
I also only have so much time to dedicate to each room if I am to cover the entire show. I feel it is important to try and cover the entire show. If you remember our old room at RMAF [I know you visited at least one year], we would often show state-of-the-art systems – with components that were arguably [sometimes unarguably] best in class in every category [and certainly the most expensive system at the shows] – and yet not one peep from the press. Or sometimes some garbled thing about how we were playing rock-and-roll instead of more modern music [while they were there – we play everything].
And I am sure most exhibitors feel they have something very important for some part of the audiophile community to know about – just like we did. So we try and provide at least some coverage.
Maybe the show report should not be on the blog after all, and is clogging up the works. After we add it to the Galleries, people can give us feedback about what we should do next show – blog or gallery, or both.
So I know some of this is tiresome to our regular readers. But this report is just like a real show – if you just go to the 10 to 13 rooms you already think will be great, you will miss the surprises [the statement Sonus Faber speaker system this year was WAY better than last year, and with cheaper ARC amps too] and breadth and depth of what our little hobby has to offer us. So you all get to meander though all sorts of different rooms to get to the good stuff. I am hoping some of you find it fun, or mildly entertaining anyway.
That said, the show reports on this blog need a better index and we are working on how to do that – an index by brands to their rooms as well as to the [Argh! I can’t use this word but…] ‘standout’ rooms whose sound we have something to say about
Take care,
-Mike