Consumer Electronics Show 2006

Craigy G Fitzpatrick

It’s been a number of years since I’ve been to CES but the 2006 edition at Alexis Park along with neighboring T.H.E Show at St. Tropez was certainly worth the trip from Chicago to Denver and then on to Las Vegas. I knew it was meant for me to go when I waited six days before my departure and received a round trip airfare of $234.00. I also received added confirmation when I flew into Denver without any snow and departed less than a half hour after I landed.

Upon landing in Las Vegas on Thursday morning I met up with Dave Thomas and Bill Wells and the three of us jumped in a cab and headed for what I described as the Audiophile’s version of Disney Land. In a panic I left my memory card for my digital camera back in Chicago, so on Thursday I just went around with discs and notepad in hand. As you will probably read in other show reports it is virtually impossible to visit all of the rooms even if you stopped in for a minute or two.

So this is not a comprehensive report but some of the rooms that I had an opportunity to visit and I felt sounded very good. If I didn’t make to a room doesn’t mean that I didn’t sound good it just means that I didn’t have enough time. Maybe next year. Well now it’s Showtime!!

                

One of the rooms that did not need much introduction is the Halcro room over at T.H.E Show. Four years ago they were considered one of the best amplifiers in the world. Seems like they’ll be talking to they’re ironsmith again because the sound coming from the new dm88 was simply exquisite and the legend continues!

Leaving my dream room behind and onto the more affordable, the Almarro room caught my ear from the hallway. When I walked in I was greeted with a wonderful presentation, excellent detail, with a spacious and open soundstage. Tonal balance was slightly shifted upward but that was due to some brand new cables that weren’t broken in because they forgot they’re demo pair. As a system the A5070A integrated amp ($2400.00) and the M3A loudspeaker ($2600.00) produced wonderful music without breaking the bank and if you have a dealer in your area you should certainly demand an audition.

Another room that I felt produced a surprisingly good sound and can be considered one of the better bargains in high-end, is the Thiphi Audio room. They were using a satellite and subwoofer system. The Mojo’s retail for $600.00 and the David active subwoofer list for $700.00. There was also the edition of a passive sub and along with an average HK receiver and inexpensive Sony DVD player I was surprised to hear a very musical and involving system when I played one of my test CD’s. This is a compact system with the satellites no bigger than two yellow pages placed back to back. But paired with both the active and the passive subs the system was well integrated and an excellent starting point for the audiophile on a budget.

                       

Always a fan of Cary Audio and what he can do with a 300b tube, the music was big, bold and beautiful. I came back to this room twice and each time the imaging and midrange presence was first rate. There was a new tube preamp the SLP-05 Reference ($7500.00) partnered with the 306 CD/SACD player ($6,000.00) and the CAD-211 Anniversary Edition tube amps and the CAD 500 MB monoblocks ($7,000.00) were also on display.

For years I owned a Jeff Rowland Coherence One preamp and was extremely pleased with the performance. Fast forward to Alexis Park and I was again pleased with the products in this room. Using the Rowland Model 302 stereo amplifier ($14,800.00), along with the Rowland Synergy IIi preamplifier w/battery power supply ($6200.00), and the Magico Mini loudspeakers, the presentation was dynamic with the vocals having a life like quality. After hearing a couple of selections in this room I thinks its time to get reacquainted.

There were a number of rooms that had vinyl presentations but without a doubt the two best in what I would consider a showdown that I nicknamed ‘The Battle of the Eighties’ were the Continuum Audio Labs room and the Acoustic Dreams room. Each one of these rooms had vinyl playback systems that retail in excess of $80,000.00! Yes that’s right.

In the Continuum Audio Labs room the Caliburn system ($89,999.99) consisted of the Caliburn Turntable, Cobra Tonearm, and Castellon Isolation Rack. Paired with the Peak Consult Zoltan speakers ($36,999.99), Wavac He-833 v 1.3 amplifiers and Boulder 2008 phono preamplifier this room could be considered the Lamborghini’s of audio, fast and furious.

On the other hand the Acoustic Dreams is easily seen as a worthy competitor but having the traits of a Ferrari super car, quick and powerful. The Blue Pearl Audio turntable ($82,000.00) with Graham Phantom tonearm, Ayon amplification ($29,500.00) Messenger preamp with Lumen White loudspeakers ($27,750.00) sounded fabulous. Each room exhibited great transparency, wide soundstages, and outstanding portrayal of piano pieces, with excellent decay characteristics. As you would expect, performance at this level was exemplary and on any given day one or the other can be the victor. But since this is not a contest if you owned either system you would definitely be at the top of the class and the talk of the audio community.

Still on the subject of analog, one product that should receive a lot of buzz in the near future is the strain gauge cartridge developed by Peter Ledermann of The Soundsmith. For those of you who are familiar with the strain gauges of yesteryear they exhibited great bass, neutral midrange presentations, and crisp high frequency information. Peter has been in the industry for over 25 years and promises to produce a solid state and tube version. Demoed in both the Rowland and the Joseph Audio rooms I can’t wait for his products to reach development stage because based on what I heard in the Joseph Audio room sounds like the strain gauge is back.

Speaking of Jospeh Audio, this was another great sounding room. Not to over the top in price the RM25xl loudspeaker ($4199.00) wired with Cardas Golden Cross, powered by the Manley 250 and Shrimp preamp, Audio Aero Prestige CD player and VPI scoutmaster turntable confirmed my theory that you don’t have to take out a second mortgage to have great sound.

Helping to wire up and power up the rooms, I noticed a number of my favorite rooms were either using the reference series of Nordost, Nirvana, or Kubala Cables. Given the performance of these wonderful sounding components it’s not hard to say money well spent. However one cable manufactures at the show that I still think is a well kept secret is Soundstring Cable Technologies. This is one manufacturer that will allow you to get the most of your components without the lofty price.

One of the rooms that I did encounter that had a lofty price but also produced a sound that was commensurate with the asking price was the Focus Audio loudspeaker co. and Vitus Audio electronics. The piano black Master 3 loudspeakers ($20,870.00) with two 9” inch woofers, two 5 ½” inch midranges and two Revelator tweeters produced a musical presentation that allowed me to get immersed in the music. Well over five feet tall and demoed with Vitus Audio Sl-100 true balanced linestage preamp ($28,000.00) and SM-101 true balanced mono amplifiers ($49,000.00), I recalled a very clean, and transparent sound with excellent dynamics that didn’t overpower the room but was bold and dynamic when they needed to be.
                                               

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