International CES 2009 & THE Show Report
   
CES & THE Show 2009 Report
Part 6 By Rick Becker

  The smaller Chario loudspeaker shown here is the Sovran ($16,000) and the larger is the Serendipity ($32,000). The woodwork is exquisite with a clear satin finish revealing the beautiful grain of the solid wood. I didn't have time to hear more than a sound bite here.

That's it. I couldn't hit every room I wanted to visit on the 29^th floor, but I had to leave. Down the elevator, through the casino, past the YG Acoustics room — no wait! I ducked in one more time to see if it sounded as good on Sunday as it had two days earlier. It did. I met Dick Diamond again and shook hands briefly with Yoav Geva, a surprisingly young man to have achieved such acclaim at the uppermost end in this industry.

One last detail to take care of — I raced to the Press Room to claim my CES journalist's computer bag — a purpose built design that had been very carefully thought out and given to members of the Press by Toshiba. Surely it will make me look far more important than I am. I fumbled through my wallet for my coupon to claim it and came up empty. Fortunately I had an honest story and the guy remembered me from when I first checked in. Justice was served; I ultimately found my ticket mixed in with my literature when I returned home. That's the good news. But now, I'm going to have to buy a laptop to put in it.

Out the door. Forget the shuttle at this time of day. I put on my best Chuck Berry, "caught a loaded taxi, paid up everybody's tab" — "Nadine, honey where are you?" (Probably the wrong question to ask in Las Vegas ). Well, that's what it felt like, anyway — until we came to a screeching halt at the Alexis Park. I almost burst into the large conference room where I wanted to get a listen to Peter Noerbaek's PBN loudspeakers when I discovered John Atkinson (of Stereophile fame) was giving his address on the State of the Industry. Oops!

Winding upstairs on the right hand side of the Alexis I found the Nawrocka room and connected with Cole and Ania Hatfield whom I had met in Montreal . Since that time I have very favorably reviewed the Aaron No.1.a integrated amplifier and I was anxious to hear the Sovereign amplifier, the higher end sister-line of the same German/Dutch manufacturer. Another familiar "face" in the room was the Neeper Acoustics Perfection 1 loudspeaker from Denmark , which I had praised in the recent past. It is an original and fresh looking contemporary design featuring a milled aluminum front baffle and base plinth, dual ports and lots of engineering to give it a very clean sound. Kim Neeper Rasmussen is another bright young talent whom I met the first time around. The Sovereign Glory stereo amplifier ($17,000) is fully balanced and much more elegant in person than the website indicates. It puts out 250 watts into 8 Ohms and is stable down to 0.5 Ohms. The music here was as elegant and pure as a marble statue, coming from a Greek Ypsilon CDT-100 player/transport ($22,000) without the use of over- or up-sampling. I wished I had more time to spend listening to this very fine system.

Stumbling into a room that had sweet sounds pouring out I discovered the A.R.T. Deco 20 Signature loudspeaker from Scotland, UK ($45,000) driven by an Audio Techne TFM-9412 tube amplifier ($31,000) and an Acoustic Plan Vadi CD player ($18,000) from Germany, an open top-loading unit with a separate power supply. I was familiar with none of this but readily acknowledge the excellence heard here. The rig was set up and distributed by Yujean Kang of Tangram Audio. I was rapidly coming to the conclusion that while Alexis Park may well be the low rent district, but it is definitely not the poor side of town.

In the next room I finally had my opportunity to listen to a PBN Montana loudspeaker. I believe it was the WAS-2 with 15-inch long throw sub-woofers at the top and bottom powered by a built-in 1kw DSP amplifier. The electronics were by Edge and their DAC and transport were being run on battery power. (AC kicks in when the voltage drops too low). The preamplifier was the 1.1 Signature, also battery powered and the power amplifier was the NL 12.1SE putting out 300 wpc into 8 Ohms. The basic npn output devices and laser biased output stage is a topology they have used for 20 years, I was told by one guy, 10 years by another. This was a powerful rig for much larger rooms than the one in which it was played. I had a feeling the room was being over powered by the music. It probably would have been right at home in one of my store's larger showrooms.

Nonetheless, both the PBN loudspeakers and Edge electronics are worthy of further investigation.

A visit I absolutely had to make was to see David Berning and hear his evolving prototype amplifiers that were getting (hopefully) closer to production. Seen here is the pre-production model of his new preamplifier that will have a ZOTL (zero output, transformerless) output and be capable of driving headphones and long interconnects without rolling off on top. It is seen on a Stillpoints Component Stand which I reviewed years ago that was nested within a Stillpoints rack. It was a pleasure to see Paul Wakeen of Stillpoints and my friend Allan once again, too. The top shelf held a Dr. Feickert Analogue turntable, a unit that has been gaining recognition recently. A couple of pieces from John Tucker's eXemplar Audio were further down on the rack and I probably should have paid more attention to them. David Berning prototype ZOTL monoblocks were driving Acoustic Systems Tango loudspeakers ($20,000 and up). They were beautiful floorstanders with a magnificent gloss finish. I listened to a few familiar cuts and then had to bolt, but I noted the sound was very good here. Hopefully we shall get together again in Montreal . 

I ducked back into the Sanders Sound Systems room to grab an earful on my way back to the lobby. The system included not only the electrostatic 10b loudspeaker ($13,000) with a magnetically dampened 10-inch bass driver with a dedicated crossover and 600 watt amplifier, but Sanders pre and power amplifiers designed for electrostatic loudspeakers as well. The listening chairs were lined up one behind the other as this highly focused loudspeaker works superbly when you're centered between the loudspeakers, but is considerably less effective when off axis. I recalled this fact from the earlier Innersound loudspeakers and I leaned into the axis line to verify this phenomenon during a familiar Stevie Ray Vaughan number. Considerable improvements have been made since the Innersound days, and the loudspeakers are visually less intrusive and have much more refined woodwork — a big plus for your décor. They have just come out with a new Magtech amplifier designed specifically for conventional magnetic loudspeakers. I gave Roger a nod of approval as I disappeared out the door.

I then realized I had left my coveted CES laptop bag somewhere here at Alexis Park. In a panic, I doubled back to several rooms, finally locating it in the Tangram Audio room — Thank you, kind sir! At the front desk the valet retrieved my bags and went outside with me to hail a cab. Catching me unaware, he nearly blew out my right eardrum with a blast of his whistle. In my line of duty this is considered assault, but figuring I would have a hard time explaining that to a judge, not to mention missing my plane, I let it go. Check-in at the airport went smoothly, but boarding the plane was halted when one of the stewardesses became ill. It was still daylight when we finally took off and watching the Utah landscape fade to black was a beautiful experience. Flipping through the Sunday New York times on the non-stop flight to Buffalo , NY , brought me gently back to reality. Linda met me at the airport on cue and an hour later I was home with 12 pounds of literature, two hours of video notes and three hundred seventy five photos.

As inevitably happens I missed rooms, didn't pick up literature, and forgot to take photos or make video notes. At the end of the day now, there are still a few pieces of literature that don't correlate to anything — the Proac Response D1 loudspeaker ($2500/pr) that replaces the 1SC, a price sheet for Ntt Audiolab loudspeakers that look a lot like the Wilson Maxx, handsome Trigon amplifiers from Germany, UniwaveTek amplifiers from Utah, the Quad 9L Active monitors with remote control, a Cary Audio price list, Paramount Technology speaker and component stands, Berkeley Audio Design Alpha DAC ($5000), and ARC Virtual Bass Technology to be coming out in Bel Canto gear, soon, Blue Smoke Entertainment Systems and more. My apology if you've been slighted or overlooked. I'll draw the line here as I have a loudspeaker review to write, followed by the Montreal Festival Son Image in early April when I get to do the dance all over again. After that, perhaps I will write a commentary on both shows. In spite of the economic recession, there is a lot happening, and a lot of different ways to enjoy the music.

Best of Show?

With so many rooms seen over four days, it seems absurd to attempt to name or rank the best sounding rooms. Rather, here's a bunch of rooms that made attending CES fun, educational, or worthwhile in some way or other. Starting from the top of the report, more or less....

I enjoyed getting a first hand explanation of two of the world's best tonearms from Tri Mai of Triplanar and Franc Kuzma of Kuzma. I'm not a tonearm guy, so this was very enlightening for me. Thanks, guys.

Virtue Audio'

Tash Goka offered an interesting glimpse of where Reference 3A loudspeakers may be going with a new Faraday ring tweeter in the near future. Look for them at Montreal .

Hearing an incredible demonstration of Ray Kimber's surround sound IsoMike recordings.

Hearing Avalon Acoustic's new Aspect loudspeaker. Possibly the best value in their line.

Hearing the new Gemme Audio Green Gem loudspeaker driven by an extraordinary new company from Italy , Angelis Labor. Look for a review of the Green Gem, soon.

Hearing a bit-perfect copy of an unreleased Beatles song on Manger loudspeakers driven by a Delta Sigma amplifier. It was like being in the Apple Records studio with them.

The colorful J-corder reel-to-reel tape deck restoration service. Beautiful machines.

Wisdom Audio's home theater demonstration…almost made me want to give up stereo.

YG Acoustics Anat Reference loudspeaker driven by Krell electronics, a wonderful hour at CES for me.

Walking down the Strip at night from the Venetian to Alexis Park…was nothing at all like hiking in the Adirondacks .

Having dinner with my good, but distant friend Art Shapiro and his wife Joan.
(We see each other once every three or four years).

Totem's new Wind loudspeaker driven by Ayre electronics. A big step forward for Vince Bruzzese.

Scaena loudspeaker in a beautiful pearlescent paint job, driven by VTL tube amplification. Much better with tubes.

Hearing Bruce Springsteen singing "Thunder Road" from Live at the London Hammersmith in the Convergent Audio Technology room on Hansen Prince V2 loudspeakers.

Hearing the Peachtree Nova DAC/amp used as a DAC only with Boulder electronics and Aerial 20T Mk2 loudspeakers. Welterweight champion?

Avantgarde'Better than the Uno…a sign of things to come from avantgarde?

Getting a good listen to Zu Audio's Essence loudspeaker…this company is headed in the right direction.

Hearing the Prima Luna and Mystere gear and talking with Kevin Deal. This gear sounds as good as it looks.

Hearing the Musical Interpretations room with their tube gear driving their MI 15-inch coaxial loudspeaker. Wow! Please contact me, gentlemen.

The Pass Laboratories room with new preamplifier and loudspeaker... luring me toward solid state?

Acoustic Technologies with their incredible (and affordable) single driver loudspeaker. I hope to have more to say about this one!

The new Joule Electra preamplifier and Cardas Clear wire revealed an even greater loudspeaker in the Merlin VSM MXe.

The very affordable little Silverline Minuet loudspeaker.

Hearing the new Vandersteen Model Seven loudspeaker with a totally new cabinet construction.

Seeing and hearing the prototypes of the David Berning amplifiers with old friends.

Until we meet again in Montreal... safe journey.

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