Which Show to Attend?

Not to add more confusion, but there is the HE show (often referred to as the Stereophile show). It's held in the spring. This last year it was in LA. Don mentioned the CES at Alexis Park. This is the high end segment of CES, but the Alexis Park has been torn down. The High end will be at the Venetian. The other thing to be aware of is CES, while it means "comsumer electronics show" is not for consumers. It's really for manufacturers and dealers, though more and more consumers go. CES does not really enforce what they claim to in terms of making it industry only.

i have visited the Alexis Park and St. Tropez hotels many times.

it is not that difficult to visit all of the rooms if you bring your own CDs and listen for egregious faults in the sound at each room.

the show and ces are a bit of a circus....for the money you're spending, working with a local dealer for an in-home demo is far better.

I pretty much agree with Jaybo.

Years ago, I heard what at the show was one of the best speakers. Later, I had the same speakers set up by the local dealer next to an other brand of the same price. The difference was night and day. The "show" speakers lost!

My point is that you can use your experience at a show as a guide, but don't use it as your final decision.

Richard

Regarding utilizing the services of a dealer to hear speakers, I recently wrote a bit of a personal rant on this topic in one of my speaker threads.

I'm interested in a new (or used) pair of relatively high sensitivity, easy to drive loudspeakers. There are about six possibilities on my list, none of which can be heard in Southern California for several reasons, one being the absence of local dealers.

So, while working with a dealer is a good idea, there are clearly times when it's not possible to do so, and in these circumstances shows like CES or T.H.E. Show offer the opportunity to hear speakers that are minimally distributed.