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CES 2007
 Once again, it’s
one of my favorite times of the year. Yes,
I’ve recently returned from the CES 2007. The
venue for high-end audio for this year’s CES
was changed from Alexis Park to the Venetian.
This caused no small amount of confusion
because the high-end exhibits were held in two
different locations within the Venetian: the
tower and the convention center. As CP wrote,
I too got lost a number of times trying to
find my way around those two locations. I
guess it could’ve been worse but T.H.E. Show
remained at the St. Tropez Hotel, which was a
good thing. In the end, in spite of the hustle
and bustle (and there was plenty believe me),
I successfully navigated the Venetian. So let
the show begin!
Zanden/Ascendo
 This
room produced absolutely wonderful sound: the
best sound I have heard from the Ascendo
System Z (my previous reference). The System Z
sang like a canary, it was pure, natural and
musical at the same time. All the electronics
were from Zanden Audio; the prototype CD
player (photo left $15-20,000) handled the CDs
beautifully. I was told by Zanden’s Yamada san
that I was the very first one to listen to the
player. I enjoyed the sound of the player
immensely and it was stunningly good looking
as was the 2000P CD transport. The model 9500
mono block amplifier with KR 845 (prototype
about $45,000) drove the System Z
effortlessly. The preamplifier was none other
than the model 3000 preamplifier ($14,970)
and, lastly, Zanden’s line of cables were
utilized through out the system.
Marten/Bladelius Design Group/Jorma Designs
All the products in this room were from Sweden
and they worked beautifully together. The
sound was open, transparent and exceptionally
detailed, yet never aggressive. Marten’s
newest loudspeaker, the Bird ($30K), was of
outstanding quality and the piano lacquer
finish was particularly beautiful. The
speakers employ a recently developed
custom-made 26mm diamond tweeter with a 7”
midrange and two 9” bass drivers. There are
ceramic drivers which also use a Jorma Design
for internal wiring. All the electronics were
from Bladelius Design Group, the Bird was
powered by the Ymer ($15,000, 300watt in 8
ohm) stereo amplifier which is an offspring of
the great Beowulf reference amp and the Gondul
mkII M ($15,000) which plays all standard
formats, CD/SACD/DVD-Audio/MP3 and with the
optional analogue board adds the full
functional pre amp with balanced and
unbalanced inputs as well as a digital input.
Cablings were Jorma Design’s Prima speaker
cables ($12,400/2 meters) and Jorma N0.1
interconnects ($3,100/meter).
Argento Audio/Tidal Audio/ASR/Orpheus
This was another stellar sounding room with
true reference goodies. The well regarded ASR
Emitter II Exclusive ($24,900) drove the Tidal
Contriva Diacera loudspeakers ($50K) and the
incredibly designed Swiss built Orpheus Labs
Heritage DAC ($30K) and Zero transport ($9K).
Cabling were complements of Denmark’s Argento
Audio (review samples in the works). The
custom made Argentos cables are crafted to
such high standards they reminded me of
something from Cartier. They use specially
designed extremely high purity silver
conductors (99.997%) with exclusive
proprietary designed Vibration Damping
Material(VDM).
Focus Audio/ Vitus Audio
 It
was great to see Focus Audio and Vitus Audio
working together and sounding fabulous. The
Focus Audio Master 2.5 ($18,590) was being
shown along with all electronics from Vitus
Audio; the SM-101 True Balanced Monoblock
($57K) and SL-100 preamplifier ($31,500).
Vitus was introducing their first CD player
the SCD-010, a true balanced integrated CD
player ($15K). Finally, Vitus’ Andromeda
cables and Foundation Audio’s component rack
rounded out the system. The quality of both
Focus Audio and the Vitus Audio’s gear were
impeccable and stunning to look at. A great
sounding room!
Oracle Audio Technologies/Usher
The Oracle Audio room must be mentioned. This
room was very inviting with good sound and the
design alone was a work of art for the eyes
and the ears. The futuristic Oracle CD 2500
player ($9,380) was beautifully built and
produced a sound to match its superb design.
The SI 1000 Integrated amplifier ($9,250) at
175 Watts with preamplifier stage is pure
Class-A driving the beautifully finished Usher
Audio Dancer 8571 loudspeakers ($8,500). All
cabling was by Analysis Plus.
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