If your connection's not to slow,
Click the thumbnail, make it grow.

One thing I now know for sure, I'm not a Vegas kinda' guy. Excluding the odd CES I will attend, I doubt I'll be back any time soon. First and foremost, I just don't get the gambling experience. Lord knows I tried but, I don't find it fun, and I don't find it entertaining in the least. I was even up a little one night in my winnings and I still didn't get it. If I had been able to make the time, all I really wanted to do was rent a car and go up into the foothills and watch a sunset. This may be a party town but, it is not an "up" party town. There doesn't seem to be a friendly mood to the place at all. People are either drunk or far to busy losing their money to be jovial. I'm that way, I'll talk and laugh with strangers at the drop of a hat, or a funny line. And don't even think about crossing the street against a light! You will get run down, consider this a warning. Once you have taken in the architecture, which is wonderful, but so over the top in execution that it all just seems to run together in a wild blur, you will find little value in the place if you are at all like me. Other than the actual CES and T.H.E. Show presentations, one thing stands out as world class...People Watching. Nowhere on Earth will you find such outrageous styles in clothing and behavior. It's all here for the eye to see. From tourists wearing what they think is really out there and sexy, to the tastefully moneyed that are out there and sexy. If only for this fact alone it is worth at least one visit in your life. (And NEVER underestimate the value of a really good cabbie! Thanks Raja Diva, you da woman!)

 

But enough of my biased rant. The actual CES and simultaneous T.H.E. Show convention was wonderful. Exquisitely planned and executed, these were very slickly run shows with seemingly every  t crossed and i dotted. (And being from Detroit, I'm spoiled by the huge Auto Show and SME conventions). To both factions of organizers I say well done and thank you! 

Starting off, my absolute best sound of show, (actually, outside of a concert hall, the best sound I've experienced to date), was the off site Spectral, MIT, Wilson display. (I'm sooo sorry I have no pictures!). This performance most assuredly displayed the advantages of a holistic approach to hi-fi playback. IE- from encoding to decoding, it was a Reference Recording/Spectral affair. Speakers were a Hybrid Wilson Watt/Puppy. Demonstrated was a Watt 5 accompanied by a Puppy 6. The Watt/Puppy is one of those products that I have technically respected from afar, never connecting in a soul satisfying way. Not anymore. This was the real deal. Some of the most resolving but un-hifi playback I have ever heard. (And the new Spectral DMA 360 amps were simply stunning). Well done guys.

 

In every show, there seems to be one room where, over and above superlative sound, the room just "feels" right. I attribute this to the people running the exhibit. The "room of respite" this show was the Tyler Acoustics/MSB/Naked Truth Audio room, one in which I returned to at the end of each day to just....relax. Both the sound and people were warm and inviting. (A special, albeit horribly sexist, mention must go to the beautiful Petrina Robbins, Technical Applications Specialist for MSB. Guys, ever turn to Jell-O just shaking a woman's hand? Oh to be just a few years younger...) 

Richard Vandersteen was showing his newest creation, the Reference Monitor. This speaker also incorporates a downward firing 6" driver, so the stand it sits on must be clear of the bottom. No word yet on the stand shown here. 

The sound, in a room devoid of acoustical treatment, was considerably punchy and smooth. Wonderful imaging with a very inviting midrange. Said to be essentially the top half of the Model 5, this could be just the ticket for a smaller room.

 


Please allow me to blow my own horn here for a moment. The Anthony Gallo Acoustics booth was looking particularly sharp. (I confess, I generated some of his signage). The HT set-up on display sounded far larger than you would think. Being that I made some of the artwork for the display, I can't comment any further on the performance. But lookin' good man!

An intriguing new flat panel from Acoustic Sciences was spotted in a couple of rooms. The Planar Trap stands maybe a little over five feet tall and incorporates a resonator which also acts as an integral stand. Priced at a reasonable $150.00US, I'll try and get more info on this new product.

 

B&W had some wares on static display. looks as 
though they are moving into home theater in a
big way.

One of my favorite personalities, Bruce Thigpen, (he of the gentle soul variety), of Eminent Technology, was showing his new baby, the LFT-14R.

 

MIT was showing the hair raisingly priced Oracle V1 and V2 network cables. These feature detachable main cables and huge finely finished boxes.
A personal highlight of the show was a breakfast date with Bruce Brisson himself along with Joe Abrahms from Equus Audio. Over breakfast Mr. Brisson walked me most of the way through his white paper on the MIT philosophy. He graciously stopped when my eyes began rolling back in my head. After that it was on to the aforementioned private demo with Rick Fryer of Spectral. Walking on air that day I was...

The Meadowlark/Pluto exhibit. This Pluto 12a special series 2 turntable looks the biz. Sited on one of the most gorgeous stands I have ever seen. The bulge at the top of the pillars are lined with helium filled bladders.
The familiar Swans name is back with an array of incredibly priced goods. With construction sourced off shore, these prices are absolutely mind boggling. The top two models also come with the Perpetual Technologies P-1A loudspeaker correction system with the appropriate software loaded!