Report

 

Venetian:   2 A B    29 A1 A2 B1 B2 C1 C2 C3   30 A1 A2 B1 B2 C1 C2   34  35  

  Alexis Park A B   St. Tropez A B C

 

 

Venetian Floor 29
(Wing C Part 3)

CES 2008
T.H.E. Show
Las Vegas

January 2008

* Denotes a product carried by Audio Federation
 

Copyright © Audio Federation, Inc.. All rights reserved.
All pictures in this report are freely copyable and distributable
if attribution is given but may not be included in multi-room show reports without written permission.

 

 

 

 

 

Previously, on the Audio Federation high-end audio CES 2008 Show Report that will never die, it is now Thursday morning, the last day, and we are finishing up the first of the last two Venetian hallways (Wings).

 

 

 

 

 
Rogue Audio electronics, Eggleston Works loudspeakers, Pathos CD player
 
          
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
Viva electronics, Basis turntable. Kind of excised a slice from the photo, as the host was chatting with this fellow and - well, you know how it is when you get caught in the middle of a word on film.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
Final Sound loudspeakers.
 
 
                        
 

 

 

 

 

 
Final Sound loudspeakers. Cary amplifier.
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
AMR CD player, Karan electronics, Acoustic Systems International accessories / tweaks.
 
 
           
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Notice those Acoustic Systems International things stuck to the window at various places.
 
And on the ceiling and walls.
 
Kind of kooky and fun. Well, kooky, anyway. They do 'do' something, to my ears they increase midi- and macro-dynamics somewhat and lower micro-dynamics, something lots of people like because they use power conditioners and this is the generic effect of such things, but your mileage may vary as we have only heard this in a couple of demos.

 

 

 

 

 
      
The entry way into the Pass Labs suite has their traditional totem erected to the amplifier gods.
 
Pass Labs makes speakers now [ and have for a few years I guess. As a show goers, we see things in prototype phase, and then next as an established product... or a different prototype.]
 
             
 
 
 
 
 
OK. End of Wing 'C' of floor 29, but no time to get falling down drunk, we have another Wing to do on floor 30.

Oh! There are a couple of rooms that aren't in any wing, but in the center, the hub if one thinks of the wings as spokes, ...across from the elevators.

 

 

 

STYLE
Impressive Sweet   Enjoyable Emotional Sophisticated   Natural Workhorse Real/Truth   Magical/Spiritual
SOUND
See text.
 
Vandersteen V loudspeakers, Joule Electra amplification, Aesthetix electronics, Ayre digital, Clearaudio turntable, and HRS* MXR and SXR equipment racks.

I liked the sound here this year. I am still in shock. I must have heard the Vandy 5 in 10 different systems - and always the bass was slow and undefined and disconnected from the rest of the music - not to mention that the midrange is usually too laid back and colorless.  This was always depressing because we liked our old Vandy 2ce speakers - and had high hopes for the five when it came out [we would have bought them and perhaps avoided becoming the ultra-obsessed audiophiles that you see before you today]. But noooooo.

We have never heard them with Joule amps before, and perhaps that is what made the midrange come alive, adding color and happier, more exuberant, more convincing note envelopes. As far as the bass, it was tight and seemed to be part of the music. Since these are self-powered speakers... I can only think that it was the setup - the placement and adjusting of the speakers - was 'spot on' in this room.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
       
 
 

 

 

 

 
OK. There wasn't a system in this room, so we just feature many photos of the new SXR equipment rack, that you see in this photo, and the new S1 Isolation Base, which is less expensive than their mainstay M3 Isolation base.
 
 
 
 
 
These two photos show the new S1 Isolation Base close-up. Compared to the M3, the feet are the same, but instead of granite for the top there is two pieces of special Aluminum. Also, as you can see, the edges of the bass are composed of multiple pieces of steel, instead of just one piece as in the M3.
 
 
A few photos on the MXR equipment rack in birds-eye maple.
 
 
 
Finally, a new feature for Harmonic Resolution System's MXR, what looks like a cable organizer. The square ones are for digital and the oblong ones are for analog.... just kidding, I am sure you can organize your cables anyway you want to - if there really were cable routing police, we'd all be in jail.

Those big ones do look big enough for the big Elrod power cords. Excellent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Copyright © Audio Federation, Inc.. All rights reserved.
All pictures in this report are freely copyable and distributable
if attribution is given but may not be included in multi-room show reports without written permission.

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