by Michael

CES 2012 goes green(er)

[Some interesting factoids in this email. Sure do produce a lot of trash at these shows. Usually we keep our badge-holders and they start to pile up here after several years – so if they do make it easy for us to return them, it might make for a somewhat more spacious office here ;-/]

“New this year, attendee badge holders are made from repurposed vinyl show banners from last year’s show, and CEA will collect those badge holders at the end of the 2012 CES to recycle them again. Furthermore, CES general services contractor Global Experience Specialists (GES) will produce signs using a reusable, recyclable kraft paper honeycomb material. CEA will also seek to collect even more magnetic, vinyl and cardboard show signs for repurposing through a partnership with Repurpose America, a local nonprofit focusing on tradeshow recycling.

Last Year, Repurpose America collected roughly 18,000 pounds of magnetic signs from the 2011 CES, nearly 15,000 square feet of vinyl banners and more than 150 foam boards. In addition, CEA worked with contractors to recycle 289.6 tons of the solid waste generated at CES and increased the event’s recycle rate from 68 percent to 77 percent, several points higher than the average recycle rate of trade shows held at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

“Our green and recycling efforts at the 2012 International CES are unprecedented for the largest annual event in the western hemisphere, covering more than 1.8 million square feet and welcoming more than140,000 attendees,” said Gary Shapiro, CEA president and CEO. “We’ve worked hard to ensure that we are using the latest and greatest sustainability practices in producing CES.”

Along with the greening of the International CES, CEA also supports local green nonprofits. Last year, CEA gave $75,000 to Green Chips, a local Las Vegas charity supporting solar power installations. That money was used to install solar panels at a Las Vegas non-profit facility, resulting in substantial savings that allowed the organization to devote more money to serve those in need. CEA plans to make another donation benefiting Las Vegas and the environment at the 2012 International CES.

The International CES also allows attendees to reduce their carbon footprint by gathering in one location. With each attendee reporting an average of 12 business meetings per CES, CES participants collectively avoid more than 960 million miles in business trips that they otherwise would have to take. As a result of attending CES and consolidating trips, the estimated net savings in travel is more than 549 million miles.

For more information on sustainable materials used at the 2012 International CES and other information on the greening of CES, please go to: www.CESweb.org/green.”

in CES 2012 / High-end Audio HiFi and Stereo / Show Reports 0 comments
 by Michael

Extreme Avantgarde / Burmester System Sighting

Another cool sighting, this time on Avantgarde’s website where users can post photos of their systems.


Avantagarde Trio Classico systems

I think what makes this especially cool is the Clearaudio Statement turntable and how it is positioned right out there in front.

It looks really accessible and awesome there, and one can hope that the basshorn is a side-firing horn so that it is not blasting directly at the table itself.

Considering how dynamic the horns are combined with how extremely dynamic that table is… whoa boy, this must be something … quite dynamic… to hear [even though the electronics, Burmester, is somewhat [much] quite civilized, dynamically, compared to, I think, most other electronics out there – we had a nice Burmester pre here for many years before we decided to go nuts. But, on the other hand, the size of those girnormous Burmie amps might remove any semblance of this being in any way a civilized presentation.]

Yep, love to hear this system [reggae must be AWESOME]. But I would make sure I was holding onto something… 🙂

in High-end Audio HiFi and Stereo / Sightings 0 comments
 by Michael

ZSHifi: Marten Coltrane Supreme / Bladelius

And here is another entry in our continual pursuit of cool Sightings, in the wild, as it were. People often point us to extreme high-end systems they run across. And here is another written up by a dealer in Taiwan [thanks to Florian for finding this].


ZS HiFi: The world’s first pair of users Marten Coltrane Supreme

Apparently the this Taiwan dealer was one of the first, if not the first, to sell a pair [or is that quad?] of Coltrane Supreme speakers.

Their customer’s system, that we see here, is running a Bladelius CD player and amp. Bladelius makes the subwoofer amp that the Supremes use and is another Swedish company.

I note how that have a video screen mounted in the ceiling behind/between the speakers. We have been wanting to do this for forever but for some husband/wife arguing about precise positioning and size issues [take that however you want :-)].

They also have a little Marten Duke monitor speaker on their equipment rack. And B&O speakers in the ceiling corners.

I love the look of the highly polished floor [wood or bamboo] and the speaker’s reflection but wonder at the sonic consequences.

I used the Google Chrome browser to translate the page, and I have to tell you, even translated it is not easy to understand much of what is being said. They run Karaoke through the Marten Dukes… OK…. but movies too? Seems like such a waste… 🙂

in High-end Audio HiFi and Stereo / Marten Design / Sightings 0 comments