CES 2012 – Chord, Peak Consult, Van Den Hul, Jadis


We were very interested in this room because of the $110K Peak consult ‘Kepheus’ speakers.

The first time I was here they were playing something unfamiliar and I spent most of my time talking with Jay Rein, the distributor, about the state of the industry. Jay thinks that the traditional tried-and-proven approach the best dealers have used for decades will have their day once again and that dealers will once again thrive [I hope I am paraphrasing correctly, Jay]. My counter position was that there should be some way [but how? that is what I want to talk about!] for the best dealers to keep their ethics and yet at the same time they should be able to leverage the internet their benefit: specifically leverage people’s growing comfort with socializing, reading about things they want to buy, and then buying things on the internet [i.e. join the party, instead of fearing it as somehow inherently corrupting].

The second time I came here, I came with Neli and our Radiohead test CD.

Our conclusion was that this system did not show the Peak Consult at their best. With this level of speaker, one looks for the system to sound extraordinary in some way, and hopefully in many ways. But in terms of detail, dynamics, harmonics, linearity, etc. this was not the case. We’ve heard most of these components sound good in other systems – so not going to pick on anything in particular here – just will try and be patient until the next show :-).


The Peak Consult ‘Kepheus’ speaker


The Peak Consult ‘Kepheus’ speaker


The Peak Consult ‘Kepheus’ speaker


The Peak Consult ‘Kepheus’ loudspeaker


The Peak Consult ‘Kepheus’ speaker drivers up close


The Peak Consult ‘Kepheus’ speaker drivers up close and personal


The rear of the Peak Consult ‘Kepheus’ speaker. Looks to be double ported. That is Neli smiling at the front of the loudspeaker, the guy staffing the room, and my very old pair of hiking shoes. 🙂 These speakers are shorter than I had expected and quite deep.


The Peak Consult ‘Princess V’ speakers. We’ve heard these a lot at previous shows.


The equipment rack for this system.


The Jadis Orphee 1 CD player


Jadis’s Orphee 1 CD player


Jadis’s Orphee 1 CD player


The Chord CPA-5000 Reference Preamplifier


There were two of the Chord SPM-1400b amplifiers on this rack, presumably one per channel


The Van Den Hul selection of cables


This small system was in the upper landing area of the room.


The Jadis JPL preamplifier


The Jadis DA7 power amplifier


Spender A5 loudspeakers


The Chordette devices are quite small. When we came back the second time, Neli put some business cards next to the devices to show just how petite they are.


The Chord QBD76 DAC [not sure if it is the HD DAC]


The Chord QBD76 DAC very close up show of the window


Chordette Gem, Scamp and 2 High Stand. When we came back the magenta Chordettes had replaces the QBD76 DAC


More shots of the Chordette


The Chord Chordette…


The screen of the Chordette indicates some of the features it provides…

CES 2012 – Ayon, Audio Block, AVM, Legacy Audio


This room featured a couple of product lines that are new [to me]. AVM is one of them. And Block Audio [below] the other.


Legacy Whisper XD and, in black, the Focus SE


The Legacy Whisper XD speaker


Legacy Whisper XD and, in black, the Focus SE


The AVM CD 3.2 player and AVM PA 3.2 preamp


The AVM CD 3.2 player and AVM PA 3.2 preamp


The AVM eco amplifier and MA 3.2


The AVM eco amplifier


The Ayon C Player


The Ayon S3 Media Server


The cool looking Ayon Triton amplifier


Another shot of Ayon’s Triton amplifier


This system was setup on the landing. It features mostly Block Audio components.


The Block Audio CD player and tuner


The Block Audio VR 100 receiver


The Block Audio P-100 preamp


Block Audio’s PS-100 turntable


And, finally, a nice AVM monitor speaker.

CES 2012 – Sceana speakers, Silver Circle, Critical Mass Systems


When I first visited this room – the door was locked.

I did come back 3.5 days later – the last half-hour of the show…


I did not get to hear this system much. It was on for a few seconds and then there was some joke telling [not by me – I am terrible at it – and no, don’t remember the jokes, either. See, I doubly bad at this].

Neli heard this room. Neli [and I, small town boy that I am] grew up in such a way that our faces largely reveal what we are thinking. So maybe I should mention each system she heard and then QUICK take her photo. That way you can immediately recognize the Wow, or WTF, or Confusion, or Boredom, or Horr-IF-ic, or OMG or whatever she thought of the room without me having to translate for her and write something.

No, of course she would never let me do such a thing. But it entertains me just thinking about it 🙂


The Sceana subwoofers were down the landing in the main part of the room


Not sure oif the call these Sceana subwoofers ‘depth charges’ anymore. There is very little info on their website.


The back of the Sceana line-array speakers


The side-view of the Sceana speakers


A close-up of the base of the Sceana line-array speaker.


The Silver Circle Audio ‘Pure Power One 0.5’ power conditioner


The Conrad-Johnson ART amplifier


The Conrad-Johnson ART amplifier


Close-up of the Conrad-Johnson ART amplifier. A little too dusty to see the tube there clearly – and the glass might also be causing some refraction preventing us to see clearly as well.


The had 3 Nordost ‘Quantum’ boxes in this system [one was up on the equipment rack], with lots of Nordost Odin power cords, interconnects and speaker cables.


Nordost ‘Quantum’ boxes and Odin power cable, ic, and speaker cables


Nordost ‘Quantum’ boxes and Odin cables


The Veloce LS-1 preamplifier


The Veloce LS-1 preamplifier remote control


The Veloce LS-1 preamplifier (linestage)


The Veloce LS-1 preamplifier


The DCS Scarlatti. They had the whole Scarlatti stack but the other photos cam out fuzzy.


This is a … Sceana music server? Crossover?