The larger suites, which were located on the other side of the Venetian, had some serious sounding setups.

Standing proud besides the YG Acoustics Anat Reference II ($107k) is the newest member in the Carmel loudspeaker ($18k). Krell electronic were used through and through while digital was by way of dCS. All wire and AC were by way of Kimber Select. I am not taking anything away from the sound of these loudspeakers because I know they sound wonderfully open and ultra-neutral. Problem is, and I've shared this with Yoav, is once you hear these loudspeakers with Soulution or FM Acoustics, well, you don't want to hear them with anything else. In the end, the sound of this room was still very respectable and the Carmel could easily become a hit based on its very high price/performance ratio.

Nope, this isn't a mock skeletal frame of T-Rex or anything out of Jurassic Park. It's an entirely new loudspeaker concept designed to attenuate internal standing waves. Made in Barcelona, Spain, the company ADN Acoustics, sounded quite natural and sweet (as does the Mastersound amp they were using). I'm looking forward to hearing more about this product as the company makes their way to Munich later this year.

I remember seeing the Jones Audio mono amplifiers ($20k) at Rocky Mountain and thought this product showed promise. Here at CES, I got the chance to hear them in a rather large space (though front and rear walls are nothing more than dividers), and boasting 300-watts per side, they sounded utterly effortless and musical.  There's been a lot of talk about the newer and highly efficient Class-D circuits so I find it refreshing to see Jones Audio holding keeping old tradition alive and sounding good. Bravo!