The Home Entertainment Show 2004
Consumer Electronics Show 2004

Report by Gigi Krop

  Page 2

A Yanni, Live at the Taj Mahal DVD catches my attention in the Spendor Room. One mono and two stereo NAIM amplifiers and processor drive the S9 front, C9 center, and S5e rear loudspeakers. The Spendor literature tells me that their S series loudspeakers feature linear flow port technology for low frequency airflow and predictable bass response. The S5e has two individual 140mm Spendor drive units; one handles midrange and upper bass, the other handles the low frequencies. Up front is the Denon 2900 DVD player. The sound is incredibly detailed, dynamic and rewarding. I watch and listen as Yanni leads his orchestra and the Spendor Speakers/Naim electronics make beautiful music. I applaud at the end of the track.

Then I stopped by the McCormack room. The news here is that the VDP-1 multi format SACD, DVD-A, DVD, CD, CDRs (including those ugly MP3 files) player has just been released and after one year in development is ready for production.

McCormack's literature says that the UDP-1's 24-bit/192kHz Burr Brown DACS extract all the information contained in DVD-Audio and SACD. A 54MHz, 10-bit video DAC assures high quality DVD picture quality. Composite, S-Video and Component Video (interlaced or progressive scan) outputs utilizes all the capabilities of your video monitor. The sound of this system is detailed, dynamic and sweet with a wide soundstage. This year the McCormack people are using the Wilson Sophia Speakers, center channel and subwoofers. Last year they displayed the Eggleston speakers. I think that the Wilson system is a better match for this equipment and although the electronics are unchanged the sound is much improved.

Walking by the P.S. Audio Room, I see a familiar face inside. It's Albert Von Schweikert. I commend him on the sound of the fabulous VR-11SE and he tells me the story of how these speakers came to be. A medical doctor heard the VS 4.0 speakers and liked them very much. He asked Albert, "Do you have a $100,000 speaker? Albert said, "I will custom build you a totally amazing system." So the doctor financed the project and Albert had fun building him a special system. Von Schweikert told me that he also designed the special PA system being used by the Misty River Band. It uses a planar speaker system instead of horns.

I walk into the Joseph Audio room. His Pearl speakers were voted #1 best sound at the 2002 and 2003 Home Entertainment Shows. Today he is showcasing the RM-25 Mark II speakers ($3500/pr). Joseph tells me that these are his best selling speakers. Also on display are the Theta Casablanca 3 preamp/processor ($12-20,000), Theta Compli SACD/CD player, Theta Citadel Amp 400 watts per channel ($18,000) and the Theta Dreadnaught Amp. We are listening to a CD of various musical cuts. There's a Chesky Recording of a female voice that's warm, natural, lush yet detailed, an opera cut with a single voice and choral accompaniment. We also listen to a Reference Recording of John Rutter's Requiem… you can hear the hall acoustics. The violas and chorus sound so beautiful -- clean and sweet. These speakers are so good, so easy to listen to; the sound is effortless. I understand why these are Joseph Audio's best selling speakers (of course, top of the line Theta electronics don's hurt).

Next on my list is the Conrad Johnson room where the brand new successor to the Art Preamp is on stagnant display, i.e. no sound. Yes, I'm sad to say that the Art Preamp has been retired. The latest masterpiece from CJ is the Act 2 preamplifier ($12,000). Lew Johnson explains that the Act 2 uses composite triode parallels and 4 small triodes that travel into 1 large output with impedance low enough to work within the capacity of the interconnects. This results in very low output impedance. The Art preamp uses 10 dual type 6922 triodes while the Act 2 uses four 6M30P triodes the equivalent of four 6922's but with more current and lower impedance. The preamp is scheduled for an early April production and I look forward to hearing it in action.

I stop by the Von Schweikert/Spectron Amp room and listen to the VS4.0 speakers, the Spectron Musician III 500 watts per channel digital amplifier, the 3D digital preamp and digital Burr Brown DAC. Tony Bennett, Bennett Sings the Blues with K.D. Lang is on the Oracle CD player. The room is busy with lots of distraction but I can hear the piano, sexy sax and K.D.'s silky voice. The sound is warm and natural with good sound stage, lots of space around the notes… an amazingly warm sound for a digital amp. It almost sounds like Tony and K.D. are in the room with me. Albert tells me that he targeted the female market when he redesigned the 4.0's with a sleek new look and small footprint.

It's getting late, so I take the bus back to the San Remo Hotel, grab a light bite in the coffee shop and up to my room to regroup and recoop. Monster Cable is sponsoring a big Carlos Santana Concert tonight and I don't want to be late.

Two hours later I take a cab over to the Paris Hotel and walk through the casino to the ballroom. I get on the wrong line for my standing room only seats; manage to get a gold bracelet for a better seat and slip into a chair at a table just behind the ropes. The people at this table are distributors for Monster Cable from Texas. We engage in chitchat as I prepare my camera and my mind. The lights dim and I ease my way by security and up to the front of the stage.

The sound system is excellent! Why do I say that? The sign of a good system at a live event is that you don't even know it's there. All you hear, all you know is the music. Well the concert is fabulous. Carlos plays his wailing, crying guitar. His band is tight, the percussion is rockin', the singers are hot and I recognize all his latest hit songs and a few old ones. In the middle of the set, Carlos gives us a spiritual message and mixes in some anti Bush politics.

The music continues with a special appearance by Herbie Hancock. He takes the piano to new levels with jazz improvisations and variations on the Santana theme. And the band plays on, and on and on for several hours until after 1:15 AM. After the concert I'm so pumped that I stop at the nearby bar for a couple of cosmopolitans and some friendly conversation. Too exhausted to gamble, I return to the San Remo for a few hours sleep.

Click here to read Part II of Gigi Krop's report.