Can't believe how fast the time went over in the Flamingo hotel. Glancing down at my watch it read nearly 4:00PM, which meant I had to make my way over to the Venetian in a hurry if I wanted to catch some of the other sights and sounds...

Picking up my press badge was as easy as 1-2-3. Finding the place was an entirely different story. Fortunately for me this year I finally got the hang of the Venetian's layout and found my way there with no problems.

I've become a fan of the entire range of YG Acoustics loudspeakers but the $107k Anat Reference Pro III somehow takes my breath away. In terms of sheer resolution and virtually zero cabinet colorations (by way of its aircraft aluminum exterior), it has earned my vote yet again for its Ultimate Neutrality after another extended listen in one of the bigger rooms in the Venetian. The Tenor hybrids, along with that stack of dCS digital gear, and Veloce preamp did a wonderful job filling out the midrange while keeping the bass reasonable tight for a room like this (that typically suffers from poor bass response). I also noticed the room was treated with acoustic paneling this year which may have helped tame the usual bass issues that plagued rooms such as these in previous years (GTT Audio's Bill Parrish has become rather famous for the lengths he goes through taming  showrooms such as these. And yes, he too was actively working the room this year which probably explains all the acoustic treatments).

Allen Sides owns one of the most prestigious recording studios in the world. He's won two Grammy's and obviously knows a thing or two about sound if you look at the stable of great artists he's worked with. Well, you could have fooled me by the ridiculously loud levels he played this system at. Granted, his newest HR3 horn loudspeakers is a lot of speaker for $50k and even look impressive. The trick, however was trying to get a seat far away enough so not to damage your ears. In order to do that you had to leave the room. Two years ago, I was thoroughly impressed by what I heard in a much smaller room with much bigger speakers. Go figure.