I am sure many will report on, there was quite a crowd in the lobby one hour before show's official opening time!
Note our large banner outside, the crowd lining up and the trumpet player that
sounded off the beginning of the show!
Since this is a combination home high-end audio/video, wine & cigar gathering plus a car show… Ok, mainly it is an audio show yet just look at these two cars here before the show began! First we have Kevin Deal of Upscale Audio brought his BMW Isetta 300. This is such a Cute little thing and according to Wikipedia, "The BMW Isetta was in 1955 the world's first mass-production 3-Liters/100km car".
Ahh yes, a car after my own newfound love affair with such
brands... Here we have a Bentley Brooklands. This is a more classic two-door Bentley versus the Continental-series with more mature refinements. Keep in mind that this vehicle has the most powerful Crewe-built V8 engine ever produced, with this 8 cylinder 6.75 liter twin-turbocharged baby having record power output of 530 bhp and a street ripping 774 ft/lb of torque!
Here we have the futuristic Viva Audio G2 Ghia speaker ($50,000). No doubt these could be great for sci-fi audiophile or home theater enthusiast.
Acoustic Sound, Reference Recordings and others were in a ballroom selling a wide variety of high end audiophile music and goodies. i went back a few hours after the show opened and asked how business was, and everyone seemed very, very pleased.
audioharma Anniversary Edition Cable Cooker version 3.0 ($1099) cable burn-in unit for those who like cookin' up their system. This cool unit has full cryogenic treatment of all connectors, switches, internal wiring, and circuit board. The Cardas binding posts can accommodate the largest and thickest spade terminations and
features the ability to simultaneously break-in interconnects, speaker cabling, and power cabling all at the same time!
Enjoy the Music.com has reviewed the
audiodharma Cable Cooker 2.5 at this link.
The line has been open for over an hour and there is still a crowd and line formed in the lobby!
Those seeking cheap thrills with their headphones can easily get a HeadRoom Total Bithead ($149) that is a USB powered DAC 16-bit/44.1 unit. Just for basic audio mind you until you swing for one of Headroom website's high-end unit that handles 24-bit/96kHz or better.
Wish I knew more about gee-tars, being a drummer/percussionist and all that… yet this here is a Breedlove 12-string C35SME12 ($849) that is made right here in the USA in Oregon.
The brand new, just released Centrance DACmini PX ($1400) is a USB/coax 24-bit/192kHz DAC with a 25 wpc stereo amplifier built right in. It has an outboard power supply, with all the grounds being isolated. They also make a DACmini CX ($799) that is the same unit minus amplification. BTW, both units have a Class A amplifier for headphones so your cans can be driven directly.
Venture Audio had their Grand Ultimates ($89,000), which just earned an award from partner magazine The Absolute Sound. The speaker has a 1" soft dome wide range tweeter, 5" graphite carbon fiber midrange and four graphite 7" woofer. Overall frequency response is an ultra-wide 20 Hz to 60 kHz with an 92dB/W/m sensitivity at 4 Ohms.
Synergistic Research's PowerCell 4 and Tesla power cable. While I could say more about these
jewels, see
our review in this month's Review Magazine by clicking here.
Click here for part 2.
High-Performance Audio Reviews
