Bladelius, is a Swedish company who manufactures high-end audio products. Immediately that should tell you that they make thoughtfully designed, gorgeously finished components with clean lines, and state-of-the-art technologies. Though they may not yet be audiophile household names that may soon end with the arrival of a few new products that combine all of the above attributes. One of their latest products is a completely silent music server called the Embla, shown here atop a shelf with another new Bladelius amp the Ymer on the floor. The system also featured the excellent Marten Design Bird loudspeaker.

 

A few companies preferred to get away from the madness over at the Venetian and opted for more subdued surroundings. One of those companies was Classé Audio. Classé showed off their new CTM600 600W monoblock amplifiers ($6,500 each). They were driving B&W's new diamond-tweeter 802 loudspeakers in Classé's suite over at the Mirage. Classé never fails to put on a good demo and this time was no exception, though things were so subdued in their room that I almost felt as though I was interrupting the folks who seemed to be just chillin’ in the room.

The good news though, was that the CTM600s seemed to possess the power and finesse to get excellent results out of the 802s. At their price, they could be world-beaters.

                          

Matt Waldron of Escalante Design, makers of my current fave loudspeaker, the wonderful Fremont, was hanging out at the Flamingo Hotel, site of this year’s T.H.E Show. Though Escalante was not demoing this year Matt was kind enough to share with me some of the exciting new products that they plan to have ready to roll later in the year. Here’s a hint: the Fremont will get an extreme makeover and there will be a new floorstanding speaker from the folks from Provo, Utah. Could be exciting times in their future.
 

 

The Clarity Cable room was the first room that I visited on Friday and it was a great way to start the day. The demo system was comprised of Abbingdon Music Research electronics, some nicely finished speakers using Focal drivers from a company called Orca Design, and the fabulous Dr. Feickert Analogue Twin turntable. The system was wired using Clarity Cable’s Organic interconnects ($1,400/1m pr) and speaker cables ($1,800/2m pr) and Vortex Power Cords ($750/2m). Power conditioning was provided by the company’s own 3D Power Conditioner. They even had some nifty little tweaks called “Audio Pillows” which are just that, little pillows that rest on top of your components to help tame component resonance. They come in two sizes, small ($40/ea) and large ($80/ea).

 

It’s great to see Electrocompaniet back in such a big way. This company produced my first true reference system about ten years ago and now, under new ownership, is back with a whole new slate of excellent sounding products. The most intriguing may be the Nordic Tone loudspeakers. They resembled a scaled down version of a Rockport speaker but their sound was anything but scaled down. This was the one room that I wanted to spend more time in than my schedule allowed. I hope to learn more about these products in the coming months.
 

 

The best sound at T.H.E. Show came from the darTZeel electronics and Evolution Acoustics room. Just like seemingly everything else at the shows this year, the components in this room were drop-dead gorgeous but monstrously expensive. But darTZeel was also one of the few companies to demonstrate that their gear was actually worth every penny. The system featured the new 1,000 Wpc NHB-458 monoblocks ($135,000/pr), and NHB-18 NS reference preamplifier ($29,000). But the speakers in this system are what struck me the most. They were the new Evolution Acoustics MMtwo. These breathtakingly beautiful 375 lb monsters, had every right to claim a six figure price tag compared to most of the speakers I saw that cost that much. But priced at only(?!) $35,000/pr, they would have to qualify as a definite bargain. They feature two 7” ceramic midrange drivers, one 5” ribbon tweeter, and a 15” treated paper woofer. They have a frequency response of 10Hz–40kHz and are 93dB efficient. They also have one of the most beautiful finishes I’ve seen on a pair of big speakers in quite a while. Oh, I forgot to mention the most important part, they sound fantastic.

The system was fronted by the Playback Systems MPS-5 Reference SACD/CD player ($15,000) and the Music Servers Direct MSD-1 Reference Music Server ($1995). Evolution Acoustics cabling was used throughout and an Audience Adept Response aR6-T ($4,600) provided the power conditioning.

 

One of the best times I had all weekend was hanging out with Joe Roberts, the U.S. Distributor for Silbatone Acoustics. Listening to a system anchored by Silbatone’s gigantic Aporia Iris Special Edition horn loudspeakers ($60,000/pr) we jammed to some “real” music, All Day Music by War. Fronted by a dCS digital rig and Silbatone T1 turntable, the system also included the Silbatone Reference 300 Amplifier ($38,000), C105 Control Preamp w/PQ105 Phono ($60,000). The sound was of course large with realistic image spacing and very detailed. Very musically satisfying from top to bottom.

 

Another candidate for “Best of Show” would have to be the Tidal and BAlabo room. I probably played more of my discs in this room than in any other. I’ve listened to a number of Tidal products over the last couple of years but their second from the top-of-the-line loudspeaker, the Sun Ray ($178,600/pr), is something special. It uses (4) 9” side firing black-ceramic diaphragm woofers, (2) 7” midrange-woofers, and (1) 1.2” tweeter. The soundstage dominated the room but it wasn’t hard to imagine just how extraordinarily satisfying these speakers can be when paired with high-quality amplification like the BAlabo BP-1 Mk II amplifier ($77,500) and in a larger listening space like, oh, say my listening room for instance (hint, hint). The system was fronted by a Zanden 2000P CD transport ($30,250), BAlabo BD-1 32-bit DAC ($37,500), and a BC-1 Mk II preamp ($59,500). Also in the room was the new Blue Smoke Entertainment Systems “Black Box” music server ($7,000). Connecting this system were cables from another new company called Echole out of Nashua, New Hampshire. Their gorgeous looking Obsession interconnects and speaker cables were used throughout and contributed to the deep and ultra quiet background of this system’s musical presentation.

Here’s some food for thought. The adult film industry makes its show open to the public and High-End Audio exhibits at CES do not. Guess which one is a growth industry?       

Once again the Adult Video Expo took place at the Sands Convention Center adjacent to the Venetian. Somehow I took a wrong turn and ended up waiting in line for an hour and paying an $80 admission fee before this young lady was kind enough to point me back in the direction of the audio exhibits. Only took two hours for me to finally make my way out of that madhouse.

 

I was assaulted and emotionally traumatized at CES. Since the incident, I've been having hot and cold sweats and haven't slept a wink. It all started when this young attractive blonde sporting a Hustler jersey approached me and asked "did you seem me on HBO's Cathouse last week?" "No, I never heard of that show" I replied. She then pulled up her jersey and asked the same question saying "maybe you'll recognize me now." Please believe me when I tell you, I ran as fast as I could for the nearest exit. I've since pressed charges with the Las Vegas police and local authorities. Fortunately for me, as evidence, I caught the actual assault as it occurred with my cell-phone camera. If you know this person, please tell her to turn herself in immediately...or better, notify me directly. I'm only seeking an apology.