CES

[curtis]

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]

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]

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]

wish i was at CES

[muzz]

Lucky Bastage!!!!!

Hope ya having fun Curtis!!

TTYL

[bikeman]

Lucky Bastage!!!!!

Any job offers, Curtis?

David

[curtis]

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]

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!

[curtis]

My pictures...

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

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

[Quinn]

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.