Friday was pretty disappointing. I was annoyed at the layout of the hotel, the crowds, signage and labeling, and disappointed by the sound in most rooms. Plus, it seemed that more than half the attendees were either in the industry or with the press in some capacity, so they were busy "networking." Waiting at the elevators, I asked Jonathan Valin of TAS if heÂd heard anything good. He said, "To tell the truth, no. This is the worst show IÂve ever been to. ItÂs appalling, really." I agreed.
Fortunately, things got better for me on Saturday and Sunday, and Sunday was wonderfully uncrowded with a lot of good sound. I find that I need to visit a room several times to get a fix on it, and the first day I usually try to blast through everything quickly. By the end, I can hang out in the rooms that I really like.
Highlights: the Gershman Opera Sauvage speakers driven by the marvelous, handsome, and affordable Kora tube electronics from Toulouse, France. This was wonderful sound and the Gershman folks and the people from Kora were all delightful.
Biggest "find" for me was the TacT Audio rooms. They were showing the digital room correction and digital amplification driving the Dali Grand speakers in one room and some B&Ws in the other. I think the Dali Grands in particular sounded wonderful and the effects of room correction were obvious and significant. I think IÂm going to take the plunge and try it out, knowing full well the set of tradeoffs I may have to make (IÂll have to run analog and SACD though a D-to-A--egad!). But doing the room correction will teach me so much about whatÂs going with my system that I think it will be worth it at least as an experiment. And those Dali Grands! Not terribly detailed, but tonally very much to my liking. At $5K or less they are very promising.
I visited they Vandersteen room all three days. Vandersteens always sound overly sterile and uninvolving to me, but on the third day, all that changed. It must have been me, because they system was unchanged. I heard an enormous and focused soundstage, wonderful authority, and a sweetness and warmth that made me want to listen. Great sound.
I spent a fair a mount of time in the DiAural room, which featured speakers from Roman Audio using drivers from Cabasse. They shared certain sonic characteristics with Cabasse speakers (fat bass, soft highs), but I think thereÂs something important going on with the DiAural crossover network. These speakers were so remarkably smooth and fatigue-free through the midrange that I could have listened to them forever. The only other dynamic speaker I have heard with a similar quality is the Reference 3A, which also has a very minimal crossover, but the DiAural is doing something else. I think it has a promising future.
Other good sound: the Triangle speakers, including the amazing $495/pair Titus. The Audio Physic Spark driven the Rogue electronics. I actually preferred this to the larger Audio Physic speakers with Hovland electronics in the adjacent room.
I spent a lot of time in the Coincident room and while I liked the sound (and really liked Israel Blume), I wish I had liked it more.
Others seemed to not like the Dynaudio, but on Sunday they sounded glorious to me. This is the new scaled-down Evidence, called the Temptation and priced at $30K. The tweeters in these things sounded amazing to me. Fist time I have ever liked Dynaudio at a show.
A surprising lack of analog playback in at the show. And a shocking lack of SACDÂnot sure I heard any. Both of these in sharp contrast to CES.
Disappointments: Talon. I went twice and I just donÂt get it. Very poor demonstrationÂI think those guys from Talon donÂt know what theyÂre doing (the guys at the show, I mean). Sounded good in some respects, but not much like music (to my ears). Alas, Red Rose did not sound as good here as at their store or as they did in either of two rooms at CES. Too bad.
Biggest waste of time (besides waiting for elevators): having to endure the midlife crisis ramblings of Elliott Fishkin of Innovative Audio while waiting for the Wilson Audio demo. But I did it twice because the Watt/Puppy 6.0 sounded so good and the demo was done by the terrific Peter McGrath. I donÂt understand why that speaker is seemingly ignored in Audiogon discussions because it seems to do just about everything at a world-class level.
The Keb Mo concert Saturday night exceeded my expectations in every way. A great show. Thank you, Keb Mo and Sony. Joe Lovano was also a treat. If anybodyÂs listening, how about Gary Bartz next year?
Also, I love the flat-panel plasma displays. RuncoÂs 42 incher with Arcam electronics in a Sound by Singer room absolutely blew me away. I want it! (By the way, kudos to Sound by Singer for the great signage in their rooms and for the variety of systems they showed, including some that were truly real world.)
So in the end I had a great time. Next year the show is the same weekend (May 10-12), same hotel (yuck), but IÂll be there!
--Dan Rubin