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 Level 2 (A)
CES 2008
Consumer Electronics 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.

 

 

 

 

I got to the Venetian around noon, Monday, the first day of the show after spending the morning at the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC).

CES has shuttle buses that run back and forth between the LVCC and the Venetian/Sands. On this day it was red double-decker busses, and, because it was a cool 50 degrees or so and I was only wearing a short sleeve shirt, I sat on the first deck, in the back. Phew! The diesel fumes were over-powering. But the busses do run every 5 minutes - even though it takes them a half-hour to travel the 2 miles or so to the Venetian. Traffic around the Vegas strip is quite constipated.

 
I was really looking forward to hearing some music after the cacophony of the home theater exhibits at the main conference.
 
This year, all the high-end audio exhibits in the Meeting Rooms were found on Level 2. Last year they were spread out among levels 2, 3 and 4 and many exhibitors complained about low traffic. The rooms are quite a bit bigger on this level, and they do attract more casual perusal by CES attendees - which can be a good thing for systems that try to appeal to the non-audiophile.
 
Many people commented, and I agree, that this year attendees, like me, felt more at home in the Venetian. After the tribulations of last year, we now understood the layout, limitations and length of time it would likely take to get from one place to another. The Venetian was also being more accommodating to the high-end audio exhibitors this year - last year they treated us all [rightly or wrongly :-)] like vermin.

 

 

 

 

STYLE
Impressive Sweet   Enjoyable Emotional Sophisticated   Natural Workhorse Real/Truth  Magical/Spiritual
SOUND
Separation Imaging Micro-dynamics Big Sound
 
The sound in this room was a muddy, swirling mess. This is not typical of this system's sound, and one can only assume that setup and room interactions were not being very accommodating.
 
Sure were a lot of people with suits at this show compared to, say, the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest.
 
A smaller system on static display
 
 
 
     
 
 
That is some massive amount of amplification here. Funny, to change the volume, the exhibitor has to kneel, or step on, an amp in order to reach the controls. I mean, it was really somewhat shocking, and at the same time hilarious to see, someone do this. We here at Audio Federation would never do this... at least, we never have when the amp was actually on.
 
 
 
The tweeter / midrange of one of the smaller speakers.

 

 

 

 

 

 
Oops. There was a couple of rooms dedicated to video in this section of the Meeting Rooms. I am keeping them here in order to keep all the rooms on this floor together. Besides, any innocent audiophile could have accidentally stumbled into these rooms. There experience would have been one just like mine. Horrified, but at the same time quite interested.
 
There were a few of these kind of monitors at the show this year. Not sure what they mean by 'without Discomfort' - it was hard for me to determine just how to watch these kinds of TVs. Perhaps if one keeps their head in only one position, one will not notice the 3D layering effect?
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
The other room dedicated to video. As you can see, video servers are popular. As the size of the DVD collection here [around 1500] starts to push other things out of the way - a server start becoming an interesting proposition.
 

 

 

 

STYLE
Impressive Sweet Enjoyable Emotional Sophisticated Natural Workhorse Real/Truth   Magical/Spiritual
SOUND
Life Micro-dynamics Workhorse
 
Obviously an attempt to construct a highly tuned system with what look like statement German Physiks speakers, but on the morning of the first day it was missing the subtleties of the uber high end. For example, there was little delicacy and finesse.

As far as I could tell, the McIntosh amps back in the corner were not hooked up.

 
 
 
The smaller Continuum turntable, Finite Elemente equipment rack.
 
 
 
 
 
                                       
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

STYLE
Impressive Sweet   Enjoyable Emotional Sophisticated   Natural Workhorse Real/Truth   Magical/Spiritual
SOUND
Medium-sized Mid-Fi Stereo
 
Hard to see, but people were hangin' in this room, watching a video. For me, the signature sonics of a typical DVD require quite a bit of fine detail and micro-dynamics from the playback system  - in order to make the sound enjoyable at very high volumes.

 

 

 

 
OK. Had to stop and put in new, rechargeable flash batteries. You may notice things being a little brighter for the next several dozen or so rooms. Or not.

 

 

 

 

 

STYLE
Impressive Sweet   Enjoyable Emotional Sophisticated   Natural Workhorse Real/Truth   Magical/Spiritual
SOUND
Separation Imaging Integration Micro-dynamics Workhorse
 
The sound here was OK (there were very few rooms with out and out offensive sound - funny how these are the ones to get best of show on the forums) but there seemed to be some top-to-bottom integration issues and a lack of attention to the details that make the high-end 'high'.
 
Boy, those speakers are really toed in, aren't they?
 
       
A Parasound stack for the front-end.
 
Check this out - there are little hanging chimes in their tweeter. There is ringing and then there is Ringing.
 
The next few photos are of the Pi electronics. Interesting, the choosing of an irrational number [my favorite irrational number by the way] for the logo....
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
             
 
This other 'Eclipse' speaker was sitting on the side-lines. An incredible slope for the front baffle. Looks cool to me, though one's spouse may not agree.

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

STYLE
Impressive Sweet   Enjoyable Emotional Sophisticated   Natural Workhorse Real/Truth   Magical/Spiritual
SOUND
Separation Imaging Micro-dynamics Big Mid-Fi Stereo
 
My impression of this room was that it sounded like a super-sized version of a typical mid-fi system, for example, say, one with Definition speakers and Adcom amplification. Probably perfect for someone transitioning to the high-end, or someone who just may not wish for anything better - kind of like someone who buys a big American SUV. [I think I'll exit this paragraph quietly before I get into real trouble :-)],

I use “Mid-Fi” as an abbreviation for a system that has so many problems I grow weary of describing them.

In this case, the notes were attenuated more quickly [dampened] than what I consider high-end [and some died out more quickly than others], the dynamics was more uneven top to bottom than what one might expect from the high-end [the upper-mids had more midi-dynamics than the rest of the frequencies, which had little to none], there was no micro-dynamics to speak of, harmonic color was almost non-existent, separation was problematic and uneven across the dynamic and frequency band more so than is standard… and I didn’t listen to check the imaging, soundstaging, air, emotion, etc.

We are starting something new - offering opinions on how to make under-performing show systems sound better next year. Not like the Mixibitors, which move compoentns from room to room, but things an audiophile might try if this was their system.

As we look at the system here to try to determine how to optimize it, it already looks pretty darn well optimized. They got Finite Elemente stands under the amps [looks like the big amp in the middle is not being used - if it is then THAT needs to be on a vibration control stand too]. Good source equipment, also on a rack with some amount of vibration control. Not sure what cables they are using, put presumably with all the work they put into everything else, they are decent cables.

We have to at least congratulate them on doing the right things here - and either the VTL + Wilson combo is just irredeemably bad [as this room sounds like all other, un-optimized systems like this we have heard at other shows], or, unfortunate for us all who might have got to hear an optimized VTL + Wilson system, this room was causing real problems [but unlike the MBL room, these speakers are of common size and positionability - so that should not be the case].

 
 
 
 
 
The top of the component we just saw the innards of.
 
 
 
 
These seem like quite complicated circuits.
 
 
The smaller Continuum turntable.
 
 
 
The newish DCS Scarlatti transport.
 
 
 
The newish Scarlatti DAC and... clock.
 

 

 

 

Like last year, there was one very big room filled with smaller vendors.
 
 
   
Looks like a CD cutter [to make them perfectly round, which makes them more balanced, which makes them easier to play in a CD player, which makes the CD sound better] on the left and Newport Audio's CAT speakers on the right.
 
 
 
Interesting looking Davone speakers. Don't they remind you of the little guys on the old Space Ghost cartoons?
 
 
The large Lotus Group booth.
 
The Concord Music booth. Notice those prices: $20 a SACD. After spending the last year buying almost exclusively used albums (and a couple of $12 CDs from Amazon) - these prices look obscene.
 
I have no idea. Guess I will go to their website and see, when I get the chance.

 

 

 

 
I have been wanting to get photos of these equipment racks for several years. They are in the Audiophile's Guide to the Galaxy in the ... equipment rack section... as you may imagine and I always missed their room at previous shows. Not this time.
 
                       
 
  
 
 
 
                          
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

STYLE
Impressive Sweet   Enjoyable Emotional Sophisticated   Natural Workhorse Real/Truth  Magical/Spiritual
SOUND
Separation Micro-dynamics Enjoyable Workhorse
 
All-in-all this room probably met the goal of its owners, as do most Usher rooms. Enjoyable and impressive, but with few of the capabilities required to do complex music like classical or, say, Radiohead, all that well.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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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