Overall I thought it was a good show. A few high level observations;
1. The music being played this year was not as good as last year. I walked away with only 3 new (to me) artists.
2. There were more good sounding rooms this year than last.
3. My most repeated comment was "Sure it sounds pretty good, but how much did you say that costs!?"
A few specific impressions
Nordost power cables, swapping a stock power cord to a Vishnu on a plasma display made the images simply come alive. Color, texture, motion capture and blacks all improved. This really makes me wonder what they could do for audio.
Continuum / Peak Consult room had really good sound, one of the better rooms at THE Show and CES. An assessment of value varies, but it should have sounded that good for what the system cost. Continuum table, Boulder phono stage, WAVAC mono block amps, WAVAC pre-amp (I think), Empress speakers (Peak Consults $25 or $30k offering) not sure what cartridge or cables. I went in this room with high expectations and was not dissappointed.
Danish (Swiss?) Statement room: For $500k this system should have rocked...and it did. Best I've ever heard a four tower speaker system integrate.
Von Schweikert V9SE / Dartzeel / EMM Labs: Awesome sound that got better on day 2 of the show (smoother mids and highs w/less bass overload). The new pre-amp is a stunning piece of gear and in my experience you'll not find better guys in the biz than the Dartzeel guys. New Grand Prix 'table seemed to be promising and I'm sure it was helped by the Dartzeel pre-amps built in phono stage. One of the best rooms at the show.
MBL room: Two years in a row now these guys cranked the volume up to 21 and its only enough for me to say...yup, awesome bass...yup they play loud...yup, big soundstage...next.
Usher room: Awesome sound and my pick for biggest surprise and one of the best sounds at the show. The big $16k Dancers and their little $7k brother are simply a stunning speaker. The (full!) line of Usher electronics also seemed to exhibit great promise. Finally a room with killer sound that is relatively affordable and simply spanked a lot of the big buck rooms.
Nuforce room: Again using Usher Dancers (the $7k ones)...ahh...now I get what everyone is raving about. This room simply rocked. One of my favorites and...GASP...its affordable!
Accappela / Chapter audio: Great sound but forget the models displayed.
Prima Luna / Upscale Audio room: If I ever were to buy a speaker based on looks it would be the Sonus Faber Amati Anniversarios (sp?) in this room. Oh and the sound was not bad either! The Prima Luna pre-amp and mono-blocks(!) sounded good. Source was the Ah! CD player.
Vandy Quattros / ARC: Good sound, can't go wrong with that combo but $3k for the wood finish! We'll see how that goes with the consumers.
BAT room: Good sound, Wilson Max 2s were a little slow and thick in the bass. Maybe a room problem?
Audio Note Japan room: Awesome sound, but I would have expected that from a $160k pair of mono blocks driven by a $85k pre-amp and a $25k (47 labs Pi tracer) CD player. The value(!?) in this room was the speakers...Art Audio (I think) 2 ways for $30k.
JAS Audio: Totally new to me company with full line of electronics and good sounding speakers using all ceramic drivers.
Boulder actually had an active display with their new (affordable) electronics and B&W 802Ds and sounded good.
Apogee's were reincarnated and being displayed in some room with good sound
Dissappointments:
Did I miss the Walker 'table anywhere!?
Never did get into the Magico room
Ok, I'm done playing reviewer for now. There was much more of course, but its escaping me at the moment Perhaps more later.
1. The music being played this year was not as good as last year. I walked away with only 3 new (to me) artists.
2. There were more good sounding rooms this year than last.
3. My most repeated comment was "Sure it sounds pretty good, but how much did you say that costs!?"
A few specific impressions
Nordost power cables, swapping a stock power cord to a Vishnu on a plasma display made the images simply come alive. Color, texture, motion capture and blacks all improved. This really makes me wonder what they could do for audio.
Continuum / Peak Consult room had really good sound, one of the better rooms at THE Show and CES. An assessment of value varies, but it should have sounded that good for what the system cost. Continuum table, Boulder phono stage, WAVAC mono block amps, WAVAC pre-amp (I think), Empress speakers (Peak Consults $25 or $30k offering) not sure what cartridge or cables. I went in this room with high expectations and was not dissappointed.
Danish (Swiss?) Statement room: For $500k this system should have rocked...and it did. Best I've ever heard a four tower speaker system integrate.
Von Schweikert V9SE / Dartzeel / EMM Labs: Awesome sound that got better on day 2 of the show (smoother mids and highs w/less bass overload). The new pre-amp is a stunning piece of gear and in my experience you'll not find better guys in the biz than the Dartzeel guys. New Grand Prix 'table seemed to be promising and I'm sure it was helped by the Dartzeel pre-amps built in phono stage. One of the best rooms at the show.
MBL room: Two years in a row now these guys cranked the volume up to 21 and its only enough for me to say...yup, awesome bass...yup they play loud...yup, big soundstage...next.
Usher room: Awesome sound and my pick for biggest surprise and one of the best sounds at the show. The big $16k Dancers and their little $7k brother are simply a stunning speaker. The (full!) line of Usher electronics also seemed to exhibit great promise. Finally a room with killer sound that is relatively affordable and simply spanked a lot of the big buck rooms.
Nuforce room: Again using Usher Dancers (the $7k ones)...ahh...now I get what everyone is raving about. This room simply rocked. One of my favorites and...GASP...its affordable!
Accappela / Chapter audio: Great sound but forget the models displayed.
Prima Luna / Upscale Audio room: If I ever were to buy a speaker based on looks it would be the Sonus Faber Amati Anniversarios (sp?) in this room. Oh and the sound was not bad either! The Prima Luna pre-amp and mono-blocks(!) sounded good. Source was the Ah! CD player.
Vandy Quattros / ARC: Good sound, can't go wrong with that combo but $3k for the wood finish! We'll see how that goes with the consumers.
BAT room: Good sound, Wilson Max 2s were a little slow and thick in the bass. Maybe a room problem?
Audio Note Japan room: Awesome sound, but I would have expected that from a $160k pair of mono blocks driven by a $85k pre-amp and a $25k (47 labs Pi tracer) CD player. The value(!?) in this room was the speakers...Art Audio (I think) 2 ways for $30k.
JAS Audio: Totally new to me company with full line of electronics and good sounding speakers using all ceramic drivers.
Boulder actually had an active display with their new (affordable) electronics and B&W 802Ds and sounded good.
Apogee's were reincarnated and being displayed in some room with good sound
Dissappointments:
Did I miss the Walker 'table anywhere!?
Never did get into the Magico room
Ok, I'm done playing reviewer for now. There was much more of course, but its escaping me at the moment Perhaps more later.