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curtis
01-09-2007, 08:35 AM
Hi All,

I am here at CES, and I thought I would quickly go over some of the stuff I heard and saw.

Magico Mini - Sounds good, but not $25K good.

Devore Super 9 - Liked what I heard, but they were only playing vinyl, so I could not hear my CDs with them.

Nola - Something was wrong with these, they did not sound good/right.

Strata Mini - Very nice. For $2K, very competitive.

Audes Model 5 - Very nice....very balanced, but would like to listen to it some more as we heard something interesting in the lower mids/upper bass.

TacT Audio - Someone there needs to learn how to give demos....what they had us listen to made no sense.

DEQX - Very nice demo. If I had the cash, something I would loved to play around with.

NuForce - Their speakers sounded very nice.....carved out of a big chunk of wood. For a ported speaker, it looked like the woofers were working hard, but did not have the bass output you would expect.

TAD - New Reference 1 speaker. I may be biased, but I love these things. For $60K a pair...probably not something I will ever attain, but I will always take an offer to listen to them. We are going back today for a surround/hi-rez demo.

That's what I can quickly remember off of the top of my head.

BradJudy
01-09-2007, 08:40 AM
Curtis, will you be stopping by the VMPS room? They are debuting their new RM-60 and I'm curious how it sounds.

Also, if you stop by the Sound Art China room (Mark Schifter from AV123 and Mr Pu), tell Mark I said to give you "first cabin" treatment. :)

curtis
01-09-2007, 08:49 AM
Brad...I will put VMPS on the list for today.

Saw Mark yesterday when we heard the Mini Strata.....I will ask for "first cabin" if I see him again.

drewface
01-09-2007, 08:58 AM
wish i was at CES :(

muzz
01-09-2007, 03:38 PM
Lucky Bastage!!!!!

Hope ya having fun Curtis!!

TTYL

bikeman
01-09-2007, 03:58 PM
Lucky Bastage!!!!!
Any job offers, Curtis? :D

David

curtis
01-09-2007, 05:17 PM
Today was a lighter day.

First went to the St. Tropez to the T.H.E. Show. The notable visits were to Hsu and VMPS.

Hsu's setup was nothing new for me The bass was very well EQ'd with a BFD. Using the full HB-1 setup, with I believe a VTF-3MK3 and MBM-12. Sounded great. This month's Sensible Sound has a review of the VTF-3MK3....a great review.....they were giving the issue away at the Hsu room.

Brad...we went to the VMPS room for a listen for I think was called the V-60. A large speaker...and small room. I don't think it is a fair listening arrangement with all the reflections.

Another speaker manufacturer worth noting was Escanlante. Their bookshelf sounded very nice....dare I say, Ascend like. :) But at more than 10x the price!!!!

We also listened to Hemp Audio's concentric driver speaker. Not much ooomph in the bass, but they were running on a low power amp, and the highs were a bit soft.

Then we went back to the Venetian and stopped in at SVS. A very flashy setup compared to Hsu's setup. Ron gave us a listen to SBS-01 setup with the PB-Ultra, using their protoype bass EQ from Audessy. It sounded very good. He then switched it to the SB-12....you could barely perceive a change. I think their Audessy bass EQ device is going to fit in very well.

After all that, we went over to the Convention Center. We didn't have much of a plan, and the place is so huge, we just wandered around looking at stuff.

Now we are taking a break in our rooms.....then dinner...and then the AVS party.

Wish you were all here!

And...no...no job offers...it would be nice though...I like this stuff.

Mag_Neato
01-10-2007, 06:23 AM
Some guys just live the life of Riley, don't they!

Wish I was going to Vegas this weekend, but I will have to settle for Sacramento! :D

curtis
01-10-2007, 10:13 PM
My pictures...

Not very many...and I could swear there are some missing.

http://changpics.smugmug.com/gallery/2340088

Quinn
01-11-2007, 03:59 AM
The SVS room correction unit they they are doing with Audyssey for $750 was very nice and getting a lot of attention at CES. You can measure up to 8 spots in your room and correct for 2 subs.

It was the first time I've heard the SVS sealed sub, SB12-Plus, and it changes the old saw, "SVS can't do musical subs" IMO.

bikeman
01-11-2007, 07:59 AM
It was the first time I've heard the SVS sealed sub, SB12-Plus, and it changes the old saw, "SVS can't do musical subs" IMO.
Thanks, Quinn. If Ascend takes on SVS, this will become a real possibility. I'm waiting till Ascend makes an announcement before I commit.

David

Mag_Neato
01-11-2007, 08:08 AM
Considering SVS has entered the speaker market, why would Ascend choose to sell their subs when they will be competing in the speaker arena? Seems odd, but what the heck do I know!

An Ascend branded sub would certainly stir up the industry.

bikeman
01-11-2007, 08:49 AM
Considering SVS has entered the speaker market, why would Ascend choose to sell their subs when they will be competing in the speaker arena? Seems odd, but what the heck do I know!

An Ascend branded sub would certainly stir up the industry.
Dave's philosophy about subs and the state of the industry don't seem to be in agreement right now so I'm not optimistic about Ascend offering their own sub this year. Hope I'm wrong but I'm betting Ascend will partner with an ID sub manufacturer in the near term.

David

BradJudy
01-11-2007, 09:05 AM
Well, Hsu entered the speaker market too, so I don't see much difference between going with Hsu or SVS in that regard. There really aren't any sub-only companies left.

While an Ascend sub would certainly get my interest, it wouldn't "stir up the industry". All of these ID companies are still small and little known in the general audio industry. They get occasional recognition in magazines, but to the average consumer their still 'some random company I've never heard of that got reviewed'.

The ID sub market is pretty competitive at the moment with new/upcoming models from SVS, Hsu, Onix/AV123 and ACI, so I expect Ascend would think really hard about product viability before bringing something to market.

Quinn
01-11-2007, 06:18 PM
Add TC Sounds to the sub companies. Now that TC Sounds is no longer doing SVS' subs for them they are jumping into the fray. http://www.tcsounds.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=577

BradJudy
01-11-2007, 06:41 PM
Interesting. It looks like they are jumping into the speaker market at the same time too.

Did you see their price range? "covering price points from under $1k to 10x that"

Eddie Horton
01-12-2007, 02:32 PM
Who knows, maybe it will be in partnership with Schifter to sell Onix/AV123 subs and get pretty cabs for Ascends at the same time??? Stranger things have happened.

curtis
01-12-2007, 06:56 PM
The best speaker(IMO) that I heard at CES...the TAD Reference One.

Dave...do you think you could make something to compete at, oh say, 1/60,000 the price? :D

http://changpics.smugmug.com/photos/122451310-M.jpg
http://changpics.smugmug.com/photos/122451357-M.jpg

Quinn
01-12-2007, 09:09 PM
Did you mean 1/60 of the price?

I'd be ecstatic if Dave could come close at 1/30 of the price.

Quinn
01-12-2007, 09:13 PM
Curtis-You haven't reported on the cool stuff like the sooloos music server or the dumb stuff like those laser pointers you attach to the speakers so you can see where you are aiming the speakers.

curtis
01-12-2007, 09:22 PM
Did you mean 1/60 of the price?

I'd be ecstatic if Dave could come close at 1/30 of the price.
oh yeah.....1/60th......still, I can be hopeful.

curtis
01-12-2007, 09:35 PM
Curtis-You haven't reported on the cool stuff like the sooloos music server or the dumb stuff like those laser pointers you attach to the speakers so you can see where you are aiming the speakers.
Oh yeah.....

I am a fan of storing music on a harddrive and streaming it to the audio system. I love what the Squeezebox and Sonos do for music access.

Well....the Sooloos is another system that has much more capabilities as far as instant search is concerned and the interface. It has some pretty high powered hardware behind it compared to the Squeezebox and Sonos, and costs a lot more as well. I was very impressed with the interface and speed, although I wish you didn't have to buy the storage from them.
http://www.sooloos.com/www/index.html

The laser pointer was pretty funny.....didn't know what it was at first, so I had to ask the rep. Something you could do with laser level from the hardware store.