Pursuing the Ultimate Music Experiences

[It is day 3 and we have gone back to the Venetian Towers, floor 30, to visit the last 2 wings [hallways]. Then it is up to floors 34 and 35, and finally calling it a day.]

The entry to the Meridian room.

The Meridian 808.3 Signature Reference CD player in red

The Meridian DSP8000 Digital Active loudspeaker

The Meridian DSP8000 Digital Active loudspeaker in red – closeup. This 2-piece red system has been going on tour in Europe

The Meridian 808.3 Signature Reference CD player in black

The Meridian Audio ‘Media Core 200’

This monitor has a prototype user interface, presumably the interface to the Media Core 200

Meridian Audio’s M6 speakers

Meridian Audio’s M6 speaker

Done with the 1st floor of THE Show. Stopped up here for the 3rd time and this time I at least got a shot of the room – usually I was stopped at the door because I had arrived in the middle of a presentation.

Next, back to the Venetian, where we pretty much finish taking photos over there on this, the 3rd day.

This room featured the smallish Tidal ‘Piano’ speakers on the Audio Power Labs TVT-833 amplifiers with the Nova Physics ‘Memory Player’ as source.

I thought this room was pretty good, and for my money it was the best sounding room at THE Show part of CES.

It had good dynamics up and down the frequency spectrum, good harmonics, good separation, notes weren’t mushed together during complex passages – everything you are supposed to have if you want to start sounding like music. There wasn’t a ton of subtle detail, so no drug like aspects here – and of course we could wish for a larger speaker in a room this size. But still, pretty good. This was one of 3 rooms that used Audio Power Labs amps at these shows – this and another of which,with the Von Schweikert speakers I thought were in the top 10.

The Tidal ‘Piano’ loudspeaker

The Tidal ‘Piano’ loudspeaker rear

The Tidal ‘Piano’ loudspeaker rear binding posts

The Audio Power Labs’ TNT-833 amplifier

The Audio Power Labs’ TNT-833 amplifier

The Audio Power Labs’ TNT-833 amplifier

The Audio Power Labs’ TNT-833 amplifier

The Audio Power Labs’ TNT-833 amplifier close up of the 833 tube

The Audio Power Labs’ TNT-833 amplifier

The Audio Power Labs’ TNT-833 amplifier

The Audio Power Labs’ TNT-833 amplifier rear

The Audio Power Labs’ TNT-833 amplifier feet

The Nova Physics Memory Player

The 833 tube

The Audio Power Labs’ TNT-833 amplifier circuit element of some sort

The Audio Power Labs’ TNT-833 amplifier chassis without any electronics or tubes

PBN featured their statement Master Reference speakers here on their Olympia AX amps.

The PBN Audio ‘Olympia AX’ amplifier with a striking paint job

The PBN Audio ‘Master Reference’ and ‘EPS-2’ speakers.

The PBN Audio ‘Master Reference’ and ‘EPS-2’ speakers.

The equipment rack in this room

The Cary 306 CD / SACD player

Not sure which turntable

Ortofon 70 cartridge

PBN Audio’s Master Reference speaker with rainbow sparkle finish

PBN Audio’s EB-SA1 amplifier with open chassis [sorry for the fuzziness]

Quintessence Acoustics speakers on PBN amplifier and electronics.

Quintessence Acoustics Shadow V speakers

Quintessence Acoustics Shadow V speakers

Quintessence Acoustics Shadow V speaker

Not sure which turntable

PBN’s Olympia PX phono preamplifier

PBN’s Olympia 1 preamplifier

PBN’s Olympia MPS power supply

Cary 303T CD / SACD player

TASCAM UHA-HQ reel-to-reel table players

TASCAM UHA-HQ reel-to-reel table player

TASCAM UHA-HQ reel-to-reel table player

Quintessence Acoustics Shadow speakers

They had a piano back behind these large VMPS speakers, though I did not hear the back and forth demonstration.

But I didn’t really have to, these speakers did piano quite well. I was fortunate enough to hear a cut with piano in it while I was here and it was quite good. Especially the dynamic aspects of the piano keys. Even the decay was good – especially considering a real piano would have all that carpet, people and chairs to dampen the sound quite a bit.

Funny how the mind, seeing the piano, immediately jumps to the conclusion that the piano must be playing all the piano parts of the composition [so some of this is kind of a neat optical / aural illusion :-)].

Unfortunately, this system disproved that old audiophile tale that all a system has to do is get piano right and everything will follow from that. On other, modestly complex passages, the sound was uneven and confused – in harmonics, dynamics, resolution, … some notes were muddied with others, or became uncharacteristically prominent etc.

Ampzilla should make some other things.. like giant ‘powerzilla’ power cords… [or maybe call them ‘amperezilla’ .. :-)]

The VMPS Ribbon loudspeakers

The VMPS Ribbon loudspeaker ribbon, close-up

The VMPS Ribbon loudspeaker side view

The VMPS Ribbon loudspeaker rear view

The bevy of Ampzilla amps

An Ampzilla amplifier with open chassis

A Spread Spectrum ‘Trinaural Processor’ with open chassis

This is the first time we have been able to photograph the Acapella / Einstein room in about 7 years, having gotten into a spat with the previous distributor over what constitutes good business ethics [with respect to the distributor / dealer relationship – a relationship which our industry is handling badly and which you will see a good deal more about it on the blog in the future], causing us to avoid, by mutual consent, going into their exhibit rooms.

We were the largest dealer of Acapella in the U.S. for several years, and it is good to hear them again [although, it also seems like just yesterday we were listening to them all the time – middle age does have its time-scoping benefits].

The Violin VI speakers here are a good deal more efficient than the Violin II speakers were many years ago. In a room this size we would have recommended a top-of-the-line 400 watt solid state amplifier [which was about $30K, back in the good old days of 7 years ago when top solid state amps didn’t all cost upwards of $100K] .

Here in this room they used a 60 watt OTL tube amp.

Almost worked, too. But there was some struggling in the bass at the volumes they tried to play it here, however.

It *is* a really, really large room, although horn speakers like these are easily capable of filling it with sound without any muss or fuss.

The Acapella ‘Violin Mk VI’ loudspeakers and Einstein electronics

The Acapella ‘Violin Mk VI’ loudspeaker

The Acapella ‘Violin Mk VI’ loudspeaker

The Acapella ‘Violin Mk VI’ loudspeaker rear

The Acapella ‘Violin Mk VI’ loudspeaker ion tweeter rear

Einstein ‘The Final Cut’ OTL amplifiers

Einstein ‘The Final Cut’ OTL amplifiers

Einstein ‘The Final Cut’ OTL amplifiers

Einstein ‘The Final Cut’ OTL amplifiers

Einstein ‘The Final Cut’ OTL amplifier back panel

Einstein ‘The Source’ CD player

Einstein ‘Octopus’ power distributor

Einstein ‘The Tube’ linestage preamplifier

Einstein ‘The Tube’ linestage preamplifier

Einstein ‘The Tube’ Mk IV linestage preamplifier

Ugh. Finally. Day 3 is a full day. Day 4, the last day, was a lot more mellow, so we are close to being 2/3 done with this report, even though we are only 1/2 done, timewise.

The THE Show music vendor area in down on the 1st floor, where we will spend the morning. This is where most of the big systems were this year.

THE Show serves lunch down here. Have never partaken myself, so all I know ism that it beings a lot of people downstairs which the exhibitors down there appreciate – even though there was always a steady stream of people coming through all the rooms down here – the traffic being comparable to typical rooms at the Venetian [though sometimes at the Venetian you will get a mad rush where everyone wants to be in the same room at the same time]