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"Start spreading the news
I'm leaving today
I want to be a part of it, New York, New York
These vagabond shoes
Are longing to stray
And make a brand new start of it
New York, New York"
Sung by Frank Sinatra
Simply Stunning!
 I
stand guilty of attending Home Entertainment
2007 with little anticipation. Personally, I
wasn't looking forward to the overcrowded
elevators and hallways as in previous shows
again. Rumor had
it the previous HE Show, held in LA back in
'05, was
a disappointment due to poor attendance and
room acoustics. Further, I was in deep
anticipation of the upcoming annual High End
show, held in Munich - Europe's largest - the
following weekend. With the success
of the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest held in
Denver each fall, along with the annual winter
CES pilgrimage, I felt the folks that ran the
Home Entertainment show had somehow squandered their audience
- at this, the most beautiful time of the year.
Surprisingly,
from the looks of this event, they have not!
Location!
Location! Location! This show was simply
wonderful in every regard I might add. Moving
the locale from the Hilton on Avenue of the
Americas to the Grand Hyatt, was a welcome
surprise because this hotel actually
supported this larger than usual crowd of
audiophiles. They most certainly had better
elevator services. Located on 42nd street;
smack in the heart of midtown Manhattan on a
weekend blessed with sunny skies and warm summer-like
weather, this was the place to be. Audiophiles came out in droves with
their favorite CDs in hand hoping to get a
glimpse of all the newest gear that's been
showing up on the Internet and print rags.
In addition to
all the audiophiles who were in attendance (photo
above left to right: Ross, Lew, Arnie and
Brett), I saw faces that I haven't seen since
the mid '90's shopping for second-hand
goods at David Chang's or HiFi Exchange out on
Queens Blvd. It was nice catching up and
reminiscing on all the old times. Makes a chap like me grateful
because I'm constantly reminded of my humble
beginnings: like when I had to place a down
payment on an 5-year old Krell KST100
amplifier that took eight weeks. Oh, I didn't
have to be reminded. Those were days I could
never forget even if I tried.
Now even my neighbor is a well-known dealer!
Native New
Yorker David Lalin, otherwise known as The
Audio Doctor (photo above) showed an
impressively affordable line that featured the
Audio Aero Prestige preamp/dac/SACD player
($14k), NuForce Ref 9SE ($5k), Usher Audio
BE10 loudspeakers ($14,400 top photo), and
lastly the Nova Physics Memory Player ($11k).
Cables were Synergistic Apex speaker cable
($4200) and interconnects ($3000). Tweaks were
Franck Tchang's Acoustic Systems Resonators
and Top Line feet while the Shakti Innovations Hallographs
($1000) took good care of corner reflections.
AC conditioning was by way of the Audience
Adept Response ($3800), while the electronics
rested on the superb Solid Tech rack ($1800).
For the record, Lalin is finally the new proud
owner of the Nova Physics Memory
Player/Transport. For all of you who still
doubt the capabilities of this machine, please
note that Lalin too was skeptical but called
me within hours after getting his up and
running. Basically, he was thrown into fits
attempting to describe the sonic improvements
the MP made over any and everything he's EVER
heard! And this from a guy who spent nearly 20
years in retail working at Sound By Singer.
 With
all that experience in his pocket, Lalin
decided to start his own high-end retail
business in New Jersey, and directly across
the street from my home! Thus far, Lalin appears to be doing
fairly well with his sophisticated style of
expertise and service. Running a high-end
business directly adjacent to where I work and
play has
certain advantages... for me that is. After
this year's CES, I was sent two 250 lbs
Sunny Cable monster subwoofers and was
forced to seek the help of The Audio Doctor
and his sophisticated heavy lift gear.
(Not only did he pick them up from the
shipper's warehouse, he helped me get them
through my front door).
GamuT Audio put
on a sonic display reminiscent of what I heard
back at the last Denver show. Here
the sound could have been even more intimate
thanks to their new loudspeaker in the Phi7.
Sporting five mid-bass drivers driven by
proprietary specialized circuits called
Coupled Midrange technology. Our own Mike
Wright has had the rare opportunity to review
their electronics along with their
loudspeakers. Stay tuned for his upcoming
review....
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