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JGH:
I always enjoy CES. Like the Big Apple, or the City of Angels, CES is stimulatingly frenetic and enjoyably fatiguing-things that would soon put me in the funny farm if I lived with them year 'round, but can easily cope with twice a year. In fact, attending CES is rather like visiting the city of my birth, a place whose culture is one with my own because I grew up there, and where half the pleasure lies in seeing once again those audio people-the Allisons, Marantzes, Frieds, Beveridges, Haflers, and Tuckers-whose durability as friends always reminds me of how rapidly time passes and how little of it we may have left.
But then, high-end audio is not really the city at CES; it is a suburb. The city is the Convention Center, that sprawling monument to capitalistic acquisitiveness and the sole justification for these huge bi-annual bashes. After all these years, I still feel a little like a stranger at the zoo. I have no part of, and little more than superficial curiosity about, cellular telephones, satellite reception systems, car audio, electronic watches, CBs, TVs that allow you to watch programs at once (conventional wisdom has it that the public's attention span is already taxed by single-picture TV), and radios and telephones styled to look like frogs, mushrooms, or Muppets.
Of course, the zoo is where the CES Press Room is, and I always find at least a few old, familiar faces in that exclusive haven of relative tranquility amidst the uproar.
(No amount of rustling paper can approach in revulsion value the sound of one audio system at the zoo!) But, Home is where the audio High End gathers, like a gaggle of "A" --students at a high-school prom, separate from the mainstream of jocks and druggies, and defensively proud of their isolation from the common herd.
Unlike any other, the high-end audio crowd sells sound quality. Not more convenience features, gimmicks, or lower prices, which can be appreciated visually or intellectually, but sound quality, which can only be appreciated aurally. The only way high-end people can show off their wares is through audible demonstrations- something that would be utterly impossible in the cacophonous carnival atmosphere of the convention center. So, from the first CES, audio high-enders have always had a separate venue at CES, usually in a hotel a few blocks from the Coliseum.
Somehow, though, high-enders never seem to be in the same hotel twice. CES chooses the location, and it has seemed of late that each choice has been worse than the last. This year, for example, the high end rooms had large platforms (for elevating the beds, which were of course removed for the show), thereby forcing many exhibitors to put their speakers about a foot higher than they were designed to be placed. Then there were the dividing walls between the rooms, which, when tapped with the knuckles, sounded as if they were made of corrugated cardboard. As a result, the interference between exhibits could not have been much worse if the demos had been on the open floor at the Convention Center! Low frequencies, in particular, were so efficient at permeating whole wings of the hotel that it was often impossible to tell whether that impressively deep bass came from Sheffield's new Firebird in the room I was in, or from Star Ducks, Kodo, or The Track Record in adjacent demo rooms.
The listening environment may have had something to do with my lack of enthusiasm for this show. Certainly my in ability to get excited about what I saw and heard in Las Vegas was not shared by the exhibitors, most of whom reported that this was one of their best shows. Of course, "best" for a CES exhibitor means more visiting dealers and more successfully negotiated sales contracts. While I was pleased that "the business" seemed once again to be thriving (after several years of doldrums), the generally upbeat mood among exhibitors did little to offset my own vague feeling of unease, a feeling that grew stronger as I made my rounds at the show.
Finally the reason for my unease dawned on me. The average quality of sound at this show was several notches below what it had been at the last few CES's. For the first time in as long as I could recall, high-end audio's single-minded assault on the bastions of total perfection seemed to be faltering. Among the exceptions were Dave Wilson, Audio Research, and Infinity ems, all of whom produced exemplary sound (ho-hum, so what else is new?). But some exhibitors who had demoed very good sound in Chicago six months ago did less well in that department this time around, often with exactly the same featured products-Martin Logan's little TLS (transparent loudspeaker), for one.
But even more discouraging, I felt, was the apparent reversal of a healthy trend which has characterized high-end shows for the past five years: sonic convergence.
Since we all like to believe we are striving for a common goal in audio - accuracy -it has seemed reasonable to expect that refinements in nous areas of sound reproduction would continue in definitely, resulting in a gradual dimunition of the sonic differences between competing products. After all, if accuracy is the goal, and three loudspeaker systems all sound quite different from one another, it is obvious that at least two of them, and possibly all three, are inaccurate.
The best example of this evolutionary convergence has occurred in the area of power amplifiers, where tube and solid state have grown more and more similar in sound for so long that the classic distinctions between them-the warmth and sweetness of tubes, the tautness and quickness of transistors-are no longer of great significance. Phono cartridges too have converged sonically, as the audiophile's past enthusiasm for MCs with a fiery high end, sucked-out upper middle range, and groove-bashingly low compliance has given place to a heightened appreciation for greater naturalness and the ability to trace high levels without breaking up or skipping grooves.
Not so with loudspeakers. In fact, the richly and imaginatively varied sounds of the loudspeakers I heard at this Winter's CES suggested, as never before, that the art (or science or philosophy or what have you) of speaker design has become as directionless as the proverbial decapitated chicken. How many of these differences were due to had rooms, ancillaries, pro gram sources, or just plain bad vibes is hard to guess, but the overall impression was one of indecisiveness, as though each speaker designer had been working in a vacuum to perfect an idealized sound that bore more relationship to wishful thinking than to any such criterion as an "absolute sound" of music.
Perhaps much of this new directionless ness is attributable to the Compact Disc, whose consistency of signal quality (relative to analog) makes it harder to compensate for loudspeaker colorations by choosing cartridges with complementary colorations. Winter 1986 was a turning point of sorts for CD and high end. Now that small, perfectionist manufacturers like Mission, Meridian, and PS Audio have lent an air of respectability to CD by introducing their own players, other high-end exhibitors have been able to use CD for their own demos without embarrassment or the usual lame excuses (e.g.. "pressure from outside sources"). Even Wilson Audio had a Meridian Pro CD player on hand, for those who "insisted on hearing" Sheffield's latest floor-shaker, Kodo. What was even more fascinating was that, in those rooms that did have CD players, the sound from analog was not as shockingly different as in those very recent days when everyone complained about how much more "shrill" CD sound was. Here's an area where convergence is definitely the order of the day.
It would be unfair, though, and untrue to say that loudspeakers show no evidence of improvement. Certainly. HF response continues to get more extended and smooth, with genuine teeth-setters becoming the exception rather than the rule. And as much as one can tell under the unpredictable (and usually adverse) conditions of small-room demos, low-end quality continues to show less boom and more genuine LF extension. But it is in the midrange area where loudspeaker designers seem to be galloping off in all directions at once.
Judging midrange quality at this show was harder and more fatiguing than at most because of those infernal bed platforms- harder because I had to guesstimate at what height my ears should be to compensate for the platform height, and more fatiguing because this optimum height could not be attained while either standing or sitting.
(You try spending an entire day listening from an acute-indigestion bent-over position!) At the entire high-end show, I don't think I heard more than five systems that produced anything even approaching a natural (realistic, accurate) middle range.
The others were either politely laid-back and withdrawn, or had midrange colorations ranging from honky to steely. The laid-back systems often had very impressive depth and spaciousness, the colored ones often sounded impressively for ward and alive, but none managed to sound like real music.
Whether or not it is possible to apply a single set of criteria to loudspeaker performance is a philosophical matter that I'm not going to think about right now. But it is becoming increasingly clear that a complete lack of any such criteria may now have become the most important obstacle to further advancement in the state of the audio art.
Before the show. LA asked me to look for "about twelve significant new items, for in depth write-ups." I could not find twelve such items. But then, after attending shows like this for more than 30 years, it is perhaps understandable that I can longer consider a new preamplifier from Company X or a new cartridge from Company Y to he "significant." While I don't wish to minimize the importance of evolutionary improvements in the state of the art. I find it increasingly difficult to take seriously the products embodying those evolutionary advances-which will be instantly forgot ten by the audio community the moment they are superseded by further evolutionary designs six to twelve months from now. But such were the vast majority of "new" products shown at Las Vegas in January of 1986.
A few things did, however, catch my eye and ears. For example: Wilson Audio, which has led the entire high-end industry in both the cost and quality of its loudspeaker systems, has now carried its reputation a step further with the most ex pensive bookshelf system ever produced.
At an incredible $4000 a pair, the Wilson Audio Tiny Tot (WATT) combines a level of midrange and high-end performance rivaled only by their huge W'AMM, with an almost laughable lack of bass. With a low-end design limit of 65 Hz, the WATT must be used with add-on woofers, preferably of extraordinarily high quality (to match the quickness of the WATT), which means a selling price of substantially more than the already-absurd $4200. Had anyone else introduced such a system. I wouldn't have bet a Confederate bus token that they'd sell a single set. I have a feeling, though, that somehow Wilson Audio will sell a lot of them, if only as rear speakers for super surround-sound installations.
Dennesen Electrostatic's new hybrid speaker system also sounded very impressive. Its 6-inch woofer was certainly no competition for the ceiling-high sub woofer in Wilson Audio's room, hut, in the range above the midbass, the little Dennesens sounded refreshingly clean, effortless, and natural, with superb depth and soundstaging.
Dennesen also demonstrated their beautiful-looking gold-plated air-bearing SL arm, which was probably a mistake, as the arm kept getting hung-up every few minutes. (Frank D's flippant comment- that someone must have sneezed on it- would have been more reassuring if he hadn't been obliged to make it twice during the 15 minutes I was in his room.)
X-static Systems, which had shown a huge full-range curved-panel electrostatic speaker (prototype) at the last show, this time displayed a smaller hybrid system which looked like a blatant rip-off of the Martin Logan Monolith. It seemed to have none of the Monolith's lower-midrange suckout, but in other respects the sound was uninspiring. (Since the problems sounded very much like had electronics. I wondered how long the amp and preamp had been warmed up before I listened to the system.) Probably the most impressive-looking technology I saw at the high-end audio show Was Eminent Technology's Model II straight-line tonearm (reviewed by AHC in Vol. 8, No. 7), which looked more like a precision medical instrument than a record-playing device.
After having cavalierly dismissed Rogers speakers in my last show report for their "polite" sound, I decided to take a longer listen this time around. I must amend my previous judgments: only their LS-3/52 sounds "polite" these days. The other models are much more up-front and alive, although the sound in that room was other wise only very good. In fact, the most "significant" things I saw at CES this January were video items.
Among them: A prototype video printout system from Polaroid Corp.. that produces full-color prints or 35-mm slides from any video screen display, with better detail than the screen image and no scanning lines; a modular 8mm camcorder system from Kodak featuring simultaneous 8-bit stereo PCM sound; and a LaserVision disc player from Yamaha that looks as if it may provide the best, most glitch-free LV reproduction of any consumer player to date.
I don't wish for a moment to minimize the contributions of all our designer-folk whose efforts have brought us continuing improvements in components which, only five years ago, might have been considered virtually un-improvable. But the paucity of convincingly realistic sound at this show was, to me, proof enough that "fidelity" --which after all is what this whole game is supposed to be about-has somehow been overlooked in our continuing pursuit of what merely "sounds better." They are not necessarily the same. It's too long since I've experienced a sound reproduction event so close to real that I Wassbocked.
DO:
Most people know Las Vegas, Nevada, the site of the Winter CES, as a place to gamble. In recent years, however, the high-end audio crowd has viewed Las Vegas as an audio gamble, as well. Every year, high ender are "assigned" by the powers that run CES to a different venue, and whether it's a good one or a disaster seems as predictable as a spin of the roulette wheel.
This year's venue-the Sahara Hotel's bi level complex- was not good. Most of the Sahara's rooms are on the smallish side, and, to aggravate matters, a bed platform about 10 inches high dominates the interiors of many. Very few high-enders were satisfied with the accommodations, and several were sufficiently piqued to cancel out at the last minute. (Some banded together for a mini-show at the Golden Nugget, which had larger rooms with walls that were not acoustically transparent.) There was, once again, talk of holding a separate high-end show under more appre conditions; although I doubt there's enough impetus to make such a move a reality, CES organizers should take note of the growing tide of complaints. The declining manufacturer participation alone should inspire them to do better for us next year. The Sahara may be fit for the French Foreign Legion and Adult Video exhibitors,' but high-end audio exhibitors rely on their rooms to show off their wares, and deserve better than they got this year. They should strongly consider a boycott of the Winter CES if they're again put up at the Sahara next year.
Stereophile’s preferred pre-show activity in Chicago is attendance at an orchestra concert. My pre-show activity in Las Vegas was a stint at the blackjack tables. Following a prolonged run of bad luck. I managed to forfeit my previous years' winnings, ending up an additional $40 in the hole.
There's always next year. . . Neither did my luck hold out at the Sahara the following day. The odds of finding good sound at CES are no better, I concluded, than winning in a Vegas casino.
Often (as in this year's case) the room is the problem, but in some instances the manufacturer sabotages his own cause. A number of manufacturers are in the habit of borrowing whatever equipment they can round up at the show to demonstrate their own products. That's just dumb. Without ascertaining compatibility, the result can be, and often is, disastrous. At the risk of over stating the obvious, demonstrating one's product is best done by mating it with synergistic ancillary components.
For example, one speaker manufacturer, sharing a suite with an electronics manufacturer, labored vainly the entire show to tame the sound of his speakers, when it was fairly obvious that the problem was due simply to an incompatible amp and preamp. Both exhibitors were the losers here, as no product in that room was perceived favorably. Yet some manufacturers
---------- 1 For the benefit of those who have just returned from a five-year stint in Alcatraz, "Adult Video" is a euphemism for hard-core pornography on videotape.
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consistently manage to obtain excellent sound at these shows. When they feel they can't achieve good sound in a particular room, their display is purely passive-no music. The suites with the best sound are generally those in which the manufacturer has taken the trouble to bring along his personal choices of associated equipment. Examples are ARC's Bill Johnson, Michael Mussachia of Scandinavian Sounds, John Bau of Spica, and Frank Dennesen of Dennesen Electrostatic.
A highlight for me this year was the chance to chat once again with many of the personalities of audio-the designers who make this business tick. I ran into Oscar Heil in the Dennesen suite. This sprightly old gentleman was enthusiastic about a new dual air-motion transformer he had just perfected and was hoping to license.
Then there were Roger Modjeski, Mile Nestorovic, John Iverson, Stan Klyne, Roger West, Brian Cheney, Bill Reed, and so on- all of them at the Stereophile party Saturday night. Ah, what an evening to remember! While the wine and beer flowed freely, tongues were loosened sufficiently to allow some lively discourse, and gave me a chance to familiarize myself with the personae behind the facades.
Here's my rundown on some new and interesting hardware, which follows no particular order.
Audire. Julius Siksnius proudly displayed the new and improved Image I full range ribbon loudspeakers, which sounded much better than the first prototypes I heard at the 1985 Winter CES. Although the room was entirely too small to avoid nasty standing-wave problems, the speakers' ability to project realistic instrument sizes across the sound stage was amazing. Impedance is 3.8 ohms and purely resistive, so amplifier choices are not as limited as with the Apogee Scintillas (which sound their best in a 1-ohm configuration). The Image l's are large speakers-72" high by 33" wide by 3" deep-and, at 56500/pair, expensive. There are 18 ribbon drivers per side, with 144 ceramic magnets per driver. That's a lot of magnets. The speakers sounded less "ribbony" to my ears than other ribbon systems, with fewer metallic colorations in the upper midrange and treble.
The Well Tempered Lab. Sharing space with Audire was Bill Firebaugh, whose new sand-filled turntable, together with a Well Tempered Arm and a Van den Hul cartridge, played source material for the Image I speakers.
Bill calls his latest innovation the zero clearance (turntable) bearing. He claims that belt tension causes problems in belt - driven 'tables: the spindle tends to climb up out of the spindle well. The greater the tolerance in the platter bearing, the more wow and pitch instability will result With a zero-clearance bearing, a 1 / 2 -inch spindle rotates in a 1 1/4-inch oil-filled well.
The spindle is sandwiched between five nylon pads that are threaded into the wall of the well: two near the top, two near the bottom, and one at the bottom. The belt tension pulls the spindle against the top pads, and pushes it against the bottom ones, to achieve zero tolerance during rotation.
You've got to spin the platter yourself to appreciate the beauty of this design. Bill admits that his bearing is not quite as good as an air bearing, but it's a whole lot cheaper.
He's thinking of marketing the 'table, complete with his WTA, for $995 (you supply the sand)! The Japanese Heresy. Speaking of zero, while I was in the Audire/Well Tempered Lab suite, I had a chance to experiment with the latest wrinkle in phono cartridge setup: zero alignment.
Hold on to your seats, folks! You might as well throw out your alignment protractors and gauges, for, according to Michael Detmer of Stax (who was quoting a Dr.
Egawa of Japan), the correct alignment for your cartridge is one with zero offset angle and zero overhang! Straighten out the cartridge in the headshell and push it back to achieve zero alignment. And don't forget to set the anti-skate to zero as well. ,
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2. You've got to he kidding! This is another straip,ht -faced put -on a la Sommerwerck. right? -JGH
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Apparently Dr. Egawa is a respected audio reviewer in Japan, so his advice should not be taken lightly. The sonic benefits of this zero alignment are claimed to be enhanced dynamics and, surprising ly, trackability and stylus life. Of course, such an alignment very likely maximizes tracing distortion. According to Bill Firebaugh, however, the distortion would be predominantly second harmonic, which is consonant with the music.
My guess is that there may be as much as 10% harmonic distortion with the zero alignment! But then we listened to it, and, wouldn't you know, there was a dramatic "improvement" in the sound. 3 The middles were lusher and better focused, and the treble became sweeter. A day later, Bill told me that none other than Mr. Van den Hul himself had visited the suite, and did a cartoon-style double take when he noticed the zero alignment. After the initial shock, he also gave a listen and did some experimenting, and discovered that he too liked this alignment, but liked even more one about halfway between zero and the theoretical ideal. The moral of the story is, Don't be afraid to experiment. Try it, you might like it! Dennesen Electrostatic. Dennesen's latest hybrid speaker system uses a moderately sized ES panel with a total of 21 square inches of radiator area. The panel sits on top of a 0.8 cubic foot woofer box housing a 6.5-inch Bextrene cone driver.
The woofer box is ported, and Frank D. claims it's flat to 40 Hz. The crossover frequency is about 2.2 kHz.
I was very impressed with the overall integration of the drivers, and would even venture to say that it's the best blend of ES and cone drivers I've ever heard. The sound was very detailed, with a warmish balance I liked very much.
Another new item in Dennesen's room was the Gamma Loop antenna, which Dennesen distributes. A small indoor FM model featuring an omnidirectional pickup pat tern, it gives up some gain compared with
---- 3 You aren't kidding,
-JGH
---------- the popular and inexpensive dipole, but lacks the latter's directionality problems.
The price is a mere $19.95.
Belles Research. Dave Belles unveiled a new line of electronics, including two new amps priced at $600 and 8900, and a full-function preamp at $600. The model XL preamp is claimed to have smoother highs and a wider soundstage than either of the previous models-the DMM or the DMC. Unfortunately, there's no MC phono input.
The Artisan Group. Never mind the little two-way speaker on display. It sounded nice, but what caught my attention here was a new type of composite enclosure material.
This is nothing like the composite used by MCM Systems, but the objective is the same: control of loudspeaker panel resonances. The Artisan Group's patented composite uses a special pulp made for them by the Masonite company, to which is glued a thin layer of unidirectional graphite. The finish is a dead ringer for oak or mahogany.4 I applaud this trend in loudspeaker design. There really are better cabinet materials than 3 / 4 -inch chipboard or plywood.
Xstatic Systems. Now the model EC-1 -the big full-range electrostatic speaker we liked so much in Chicago last June--has a little brother. (Although at 6 feet tall and 3 feet wide, the model EC-2 is hardly "little.") This hybrid design, with its curved ES panels and the woofer section underneath, bears a very close resemblance to the Martin-Logan Monoliths. The woofer is a 10-inch impregnated paper cone from Focal (model 10001)-a very fine woofer, but I doubt its capacity, in the present en closure, to provide the bass range Xstatic claims for it. The sound here was only pretty good,' but, with a very noisy next door neighbor, judgments were difficult to make.
Projected retail price is $3850 per pair.
------------- 4 Was that pun intentional? -JGH
------------ 5 The rather rough high end may have been due to elec . - ironies which hadn't warmed up sufficiently; Xstatic’s Jason Daniels said the sound improved markedly after the first day of the show.
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Wilson Audio Specialties. I always en joy my visit to the Wilson suite. One can always look forward to a friendly welcome, a beautifully decorated room, and, of course, the charming and seemingly changeless Cheryl and Dave Wilson. (I wonder if they have a portrait of an aging couple hidden somewhere?) A prototype of the new WATT was on display. What's a WATT, you ask? WATT is an acronym for Wilson Audio Tiny Tot. It's not as expensive as the WAMMs, but at a projected retail cost of about 84000 a pair, these have got to be the world's most ex pensive mini-monitors.
The WATT is a two-way design using a Focal T120 fiberglass concave-dome tweeter and a 6½-inch woofer. The cross over is quite complex, and is full of Wondercaps and OFC air-core inductors.
Overall dimensions are 12 inches high by 14 deep by 5 wide. According to Dave, they were developed to serve as highly accurate yet portable monitors for on-location re cording work. Claimed frequency response is ± 3 dB from 58 to 16,000 Hz, and each speaker weighs an incredible 60 lbs! (Well, they're still more portable than the WAMMs.) And on a dollars-per-pound basis, they're not all that expensive, either-$33.33 per pound. The enclosure is made of mineral and ceramic-filled methacrylate polymer, and looks like marble. The lead inner lining also adds to the weight.
Dave opted for a gradual rather than steep LF rolloff, which provides excellent transient response through the bass range.
The tradeoff, of course, is in LF weight: the balance of the WATTs is decidedly on the lean side, but the sound quality of the mids and treble is truly excellent, with great detail and clarity. This is one speaker we certainly look forward to reviewing.
KEF. I got to listen to the Model 107, the new flagship model of KEF's Reference Series. With a retail price tag of $3900 a pair, these are now the most expensive home speakers in the KEF line.
The 107 is a three-way design that comes supplied with the K-UBE active low frequency equalizer. A cross between the models 104/ 2 and the 105, the speaker combines the rounded, pivoting-head design of the 105 with the coupled-cavity bass loading of the 104/2. KEF claims bass extension to within ± 2 dB to 20 Hz, with low distortion and a maximum acoustic output of 112 dB! Very impressive for a system measuring only 46" by 13" by 17 1 / 2 ". Part of the "secret" is the bass equalization, which allows the user to fine-tune the bass to the vagaries of his room. Control of the bass rolloff frequency, Q, and rolloff contour are provided. The K-UBE connects in the tape loop of your preamp, to provide an equalized bass input to the power amp.
If you don't have a tape loop, this speaker is obviously not for you.6 Although I don't believe the 107's bass was properly adjusted in Ow KEF suite, I nevertheless found the sound quality quite to my liking.
Snell Acoustics. Snell Acoustics appears to be back on track following the shock of Peter Snell's tragic death. Bill Osgood is now in charge of business matters, while Kevin Voecks (chief designer for Mirage) handles engineering and design. I happened on the Snell people busily setting up very early the day before the show, and their extra attention to detail really paid off-I had a lot of fun listening to the Snell A/Ills.
While their sound in Chicago had been disappointing, their wonderful dynamics and thunderous bass really shone in Vegas.
Snell introduced a new electronic cross over for use with the A-III and Urpe C improved speakers. The circuitry uses FEU, a tightly regulated power supply, and poly caps. Retail cost will be around $500. Clements Audio Systems. I found Clements at the main Convention Center, but, unlike most "zoo" exhibits, located in an acoustically insulated room quite generous in size. The degree of isolation from the outside noise and hoopla was amazing.
----------------- 6 Why not between the preamp and power amp? -JGH
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When asked about the choice of locations, Phil Clements told me that he felt this to be a much better place than the rooms available in the Sahara. Maybe, Phil, but finding you wasn't easy.
At any rate, I sat through a demo of the model RT-7, and was very favorably im pressed with the speaker's imaging capabilities. The off-axis dispersion and phase coherence are so good that, standing a good 10 feet to the left side of the left speaker, I still got the vivid impression of listening to an extended soundstage. Generally, in situations like this, you only hear the left speaker; the whole soundstage disappears.
Dynamic shadings were reproduced convincingly, but I was uncertain about the ac curacy of the harmonic structure of the upper octaves. The front end included the Revox CD player, which I know to be quite bright, so what I heard may have been at least partially the fault of the ancillary equipment. On the whole, this appears to be an excellent system, and one I'd like to review. Phil, do you read me? B&W. I listened again to the Bowers Active 1 speaker system, which had not impressed me in Chicago. My opinion remains unchanged: still too many colorations, especially at the asking price of $0000. Monolithic. There's nothing monolithic in appearance about this company's model 100ti integrated amplifier. The preamp section is tubed, and can accommodate low output moving coil cartridges. The amp section is solid-state, with a MOSFET driver stage and bipolar output stage, and will put out 100 W/ch into 8 ohms.
The power supply is separate, a la PS Audio.
Retail price should be around $1500 for both units, and availability is projected for May of '86. This might turn out to be the most cost-effective electronics package on the market.
GSI Musical Electronics
In addition to the excellent electronic crossovers in its line (the models X-1 two and three-way), GSI now features two all tube preamps and a hybrid power amp. The model 5tp preamp ($1195) has 74 dB of clean gain through the phono inputs, so even low-output moving coil cartridges can be accommodated.
A brief listen convinced me that this preamp is very good. Andy Fuchs, owner and designer, used to work for Harvey Rosenberg of New York Audio Labs, and has some of that "flibe God" fervor in his designs-but none of Harvey's delightfully flaky flamboyance.
Streets Electronic Systems. The Model 950 amp has been extensively revised. One result is a power increase to 100 watts, and Streets claims the upgrades also yield better imaging and improved highs.
Even better news is that the revision is available free to all warranted owners. I was surprised to find quite a large number of LPs in the room; they turned out to be part of Barry Streets's own personal collection. That's really a nice touch at a show, where finding a familiar LP in someone's suite is rare.
Bedini Electronics. A new 145-watt (8 ohms) Class-AB amp was the center of attention here. The 150 MK II sounded very nice indeed, and, at $850, it should find a lot of friends. The output transistors, custom-built for Bedini, are filled with a crystalline material claimed to stop ultra sonic ringing and improve switching speed.
John Bedini pulled one of these transistors out of his coat pocket and proceeded to demonstrate how this crystalline material glows in the dark. Between the subdued lighting in the suite and John's mystifying account of how these devices worked, I got the feeling that I'd stepped into the twilight zone. John said he didn't mind being awarded this year's Rod Serling award; he deserves it for the science fiction with which he likes to promote his products. In any event, this may be one hell of an amp; I'd sure like to find out. How about it, John? Audio Research. The Infinity RS- 1Bs sounded marvelous here; the best sound I've ever heard from a pair of these speakers.
They were not quite stock units, how ever, having been rewired with oxygen-free Litz wire. The associated equipment consisted of a pair of D-250 Mark II amps, an SP- II preamp, an Alpha-2 cartridge in a WTA, and an Oracle 'table. Audio Research gets my vote for Best Sound at the Show.
Ohm Acoustics. The one and only existing prototype pair of Ohm's model 5 impressed me with its cohesiveness, focus, and wonderful imaging. It may not be an entirely accurate speaker, but it is very musical.
Ohm claims that the 5 is superior in every respect to any of their previous designs. I can at least attest to the fact that they are much better than the model 4.
And with a sensitivity of 90 dB, they should not be as power-hungry as some Ohm's models have been.
The projected retail price is about $4000 a pair; Yes, I think they may be worth it! Kindel Audio. An intriguing line-source speaker made decent sounds in the Kindel suite. The model PLS-A features no less than six 8-inch woofers and sixteen 1-inch dome tweeters per side! This large speaker, standing 63 inches tall, weighs in at 85 pounds per side. Even in prototype form, the PLS-A showed great sonic promise. Bill Kindel still has some tweaking to do to get the bass damping right, though; it was decidedly overdamped. Price: $1700 a pair.
Music Reference. Although his RAM Tube Works was not officially exhibiting at the show, a prototype of Roger Modjeski's new power amp made the rounds at a few suites.
The RM-9 is a 100-watt stereo amp using a very high-quality output transformer of Roger's design-the result of two years of research. EL34 tubes are supplied, but 6550s and KT88s may also be used. Changing requires only a single adjustment, using the amp's front panel meter.
The RM-9 sounded very clean, with very good bass and slightly soft, sweet highs.
Retail price should be around 51750. Counterpoint Electronic Systems.
Two new tube/MOSFET hybrid amps were displayed here. The SA-20 is a stereo amp ...
So what rise is new? -JGH
... capable of 350 watts RMS into 8 ohms, and 1000 watts into 2 ohms! Peak current capability is a whopping 45 amperes.
The SA-20/20 is a dual mono pair of bridged SA-20s. The output stage consists of eight 100-watt low-resistance MOSFETs operated in class AB. Gate drive for the MOSFETs is a "constant current source cathode follower" stage, claimed to offer a tenth of the distortion of the usual resistance-loaded cathode follower. Retail prices are $1995 for the SA-20, and $3995 for the 20/20. Fanfare Acoustics. I finally got to listen to the revised Tempo speaker. (You may recall my review of the original; it was not overly favorable.) The Mark II version is an entirely new design that impressed me more than any other speaker in its price class at the show. The Mark IIs have all the midrange focus and detail that the older Tempos lacked, and, at $495 a pair, appear to be a great value.
Polydax Speakers. Polydax, a subsidiary of Audax (France), has acquired the now-defunct Siare Loudspeaker Co. Siare, also located in France, has been known for its innovative driver designs using fiber glass and carbon fiber cones. Siare products will be available in the U.S. through Audax dealers.
New from Audax in 1986 is the long awaited midrange using the TPX cone. TPX is lighter and more rigid than polypropylene, and promises to be the next-generation plastic material for speaker drivers.
Paulson Enterprises. Mr. Paulson and son showed off a straight-line tracking turntable. Not a tonearm, a turntable. The platter moves in a straight line, while the tonearm remains stationary. A servo mechanism and motor controls the platter's rate of travel, and a mechanical pinch clutch allows manual repositioning of the platter to any point along its path.
This appears to be an original design, and, in fact, a U.S. patent has been granted.
But why do it? I asked the Paulsons. They feel that moving the platter linearly is less complicated than moving the arm. I'm still not convinced, but the 'table does appear to work nicely.
The Paulsons are not personally interested in manufacturing, but would like to license their design; I'm sure they'll be glad to hear from you. Their motto is quite appropriate: Bringing the groove to the stylus.
That's all, folks! Addresses For the benefit of those who may wish to contact any of the exhibitors mentioned above, here is a list of addresses.
The Artisan Group, 12277 SW, Miami, FL 33186 Audire, 9576 El Tambor Ave., Fountain Valley, CA 92708 Audio Research, 6801 Shingle Creek Parkway, Minneapolis, MN 55430 B&W Loudspeakers, PO Box 653, Buffalo, NY 14240 Bedini Electronics, 13410 Sayre St., Sylmar, CA 91342 Belles Research, PO Box 307, E Rochester, NY 14445 Clements Audio Systems,4354 Spring Valley Rd., Dallas, TX 75244 Dennesen Electrostatic, 715 Hale St., Beverly, MA 01915 GSI, 622 Bloomfield Ave, Bloomfield, NJ 07003 KEF Electronics of America, 14120-K Sullyfield Circle, Chantilly. VA 22021 Kindel Audio, 3615 Presley Ave., Riverside, CA 92507 Monolithic Sound,515 Sandy Dale, Nipomo, CA 93444 Music Reference, 126 East Haley, Suite A 15, Santa Barbara, CA 93101 Ohm Acoustics, 241 Taaffe Pl., Brooklyn, NY 11205 Paulson Enterprises, 6119 9th Ave. S, Gulf port, FL 33707 Polydax Speakers, 2 Park Ave., New York, NY 10016 Snell Acoustics, 143 Essex St., Haverhill, MA 01830 Streets Electronics, PO Box 2797, Liver more, CA 94550 The Well Tempered Lab, 3108 McKinley Way, Costa Mesa, CA 92626 Wilson Audio Specialties, 2 Sinaloa Ct., Novato, CA 94947 Xstatic Systems, 2057 15th St., San Francisco, CA 94114
TJN:
Publisher's note:
With this issue we introduce a new writer: Thomas J. Norton, former Editor and Publisher of the Audio Thing, and some times contributor to The Sensible Sound. Tom strikes us as an eminently sensible audio evaluator able to both respond to excellence and make effective value-for-dollar judgments.
------------- Snell Acoustics
There once was a time, not long ago in audio (now audio-video) land, when the Winter CES was the "baby" CES, a place where Christmas shopping-weary manufacturers and dealers went to give and receive (for a small remuneration) all the stuff they had left over from the December consumer frenzy. No more.
Now the January Las Vegas show rivals the June Chicago show in size (over 100.000 attendees), if not in new product introductions. The show sprawls over the Las Vegas Convention Center, spills out into the ad joining Hilton Hotel exhibition pavilion, meanders over to the nearby Sahara Hotel, and breaks out here and there at other hotels all over town. Las Vegas survived the onslaught, but most attendees were not so lucky, especially those who spent more than a day at the zoo-the convention center itself.
The Big Show: The Las Vegas Convention Center Little ink need he spilled on what went on at the Convention Center. That's where Crazy Eddie does his buying, and he probably feels right at home. Spend a couple of hours wandering around there and all the receivers start sounding alike, the digital watches start looking alike, and the receivers start looking like computers and digital watches.
But the Convention Center wasn't a total loss for the audio semi-literate. A few rooms were set apart from the din, and Snell Acoustics had one of the better ones-a large space that did reasonable justice to the superb Type A Mk Ill. Kevin Voecks, in case you haven't heard, is augmenting his work as Mirage's chief designer to perform similar duties with Snell.
Things have been rather quiet at Snell Acoustics since last year's tragic loss, but I have a suspicion that they may liven up shortly. Kevin's first project was to redesign the Type C. Although a pair were set up in the room along with the other Snell de signs, Kevin politely declined to demo them; he wasn't happy with the way they sounded in that room. Disappointed. I nevertheless found his honesty refreshing amid all the Convention Center hype. I plan to hear them under better conditions.
Onkyo was on hand with the latest in techno overkill: a new CD player with separately-housed A/D converter, connected to the main unit by fiber-optic cables. Onkyo claimed reduced noise which, at this stage, seems the least of digital's problems. Advance publicity also indicated that Onkyo would demonstrate their digital cassette deck, but I didn't see it! KEF has a new top-of-the-line speaker, the 107. The LF part uses a larger version of the bass-loading technique used in the 104/2; the mid and treble drivers were perched on top, in what looked to be a duplication of the 105.4 design. I couldn't form any significant sonic impressions at the show-the room was far larger than any reasonable domestic listening room, and any subjective observations would be meaningless. But the system, even at $ 3900/pair, appears to be a serious design worth further investigation. Also announced was the K-UBE, an equalizer de signed to alter the system's bass characteristics, including Q. (The device may also be usable with the 104/2, though probably not optimally.) Adcom has altered the cosmetics of their GFA -555 power amp to be more domes tically "pleasing." I always get antsy when I see such changes in a well- reviewed pro duct, and asked if anything inside the amp had altered. The Adcom rep told me nothing. Two smaller versions of the amp will
[1.The deck was there but was not functional. –LA ]
soon be available, at 100 W/ch and 60 W/ch.
I'll only say a few words on the video demos, primarily concerning video sound.
Most of the audio-video setups were a bit less impressive than last year's, but the SSI demo in the Convention Center seemed the best of the lot. Using their new SSI-720 Dolby processor, a rack of Adcom amps, super ProAc EBTS (the dual-woofer Tablettes), and a Velodyne subwoofer, the sound was spacious and reasonably open.
Unfortunately, they used a projection screen-am I the only one who still prefers a good, though smaller, CRT monitor? For me, the flat, slightly washed-out look of all projection TVs is a more jarring contrast to a vivid, Dolby-surround sound track than the smaller picture of a monitor. (For those with the bucks to have the best of both worlds, a 35-inch CRT will soon be available in a number of new monitors from Japan. Price will probably be around 53000-no more than a good projection system.) I could comment on the car stereos blaring away at ear-battering levels in a parking lot adjoining the Convention Center, but I won't-except to say that you haven't seen fanaticism until you've seen three 18-inch woofers mounted in a converted hearse; the entire rear end was sealed off to form a mobile speaker enclosure for three jumbo drivers mounted right behind the front seats. Just the thing to drown out traffic noise
The Real Show: High End at the Sahara
Despite mediocre rooms in the Sahara Hotel, several manufacturers managed to get very decent sound out of their setups.
Audio Research, with a full complement of their electronics driving the Infinity RS-1B loudspeakers, fronted by a Monster Alpha 2 in the Well Tempered Arm, was clearly a contender for Best Sound at the Show. unfortunately, I did not get to hear their system at length, but a friend (whose impressions often closely parallel my own) was bowled over by its sound. It also should be noted that no exhibit at the show using Audio Research electronics sounded less than good, including the large Polk Signatures. These sounded less than mind blowing at the Chicago CES last year, and, while they're still not my cup of tea, I can now at least understand their appeal.
Shahinian Acoustics. Despite the small, live room causing a high-end glare at the stentorian levels favored by their de signer, the Obelisk/Double Eagle sub woofer system put out some of the most impressive dynamics of the show, easily outpointing the B&W 808s that nestled un comfortably nearby. This was technically the Bedini room, but when Richard Shahinian demonstrates his favorite (invariably large-scale classical) music over his favorite loudspeakers, the room belongs to him. I never fail to hear unfamiliar recordings at a Shahinian demonstration that I can't wait to rush out and buy afterwards, and if that isn't the name of the game. I don't know what is.
MCM Loudspeakers. Though they seem best suited to more intimate, small scale music, these speakers do a respectable job with all types of program material.
Already reviewed in Stereophile, they sounded quite clean and open, despite room resonance problems which compromised the clarity of which I know they're capable (having heard them on three other occasions, including in my own home). Martin Logan. I still have some reservations about the ultimate bass and dynamic range capabilities of the new Martin Logan CLS, but there wasn't a demo at the show with a more transparent, open, "live" sound. The room helped-both Martin Logan and Threshold were ensconced in The Golden Nugget in downtown las Vegas--the old "strip"- -with far more space and better acoustics than most of the exhibitors at the Sahara had available.
Threshold. I spent only a brief time here, but the sound was very satisfying, MCM Loudspeaker despite an obvious defect in one of the Thiel CS-3 loudspeakers (sounded like a rattle in the midrange driver). The real news was a prototype of Threshold's new switching amplifier driving the system, available later in the year. We wish them better luck than past developers of this type of amplifier have had.
Fried. Meanwhile, back at the Sahara, Bud Fried demonstrated his whole line of speakers, including the very interesting new top-of-the-line satellite, the C/3-L. The sound was very good, though a bit hard to judge due to Fried's penchant for switching rapidly between his systems.
$1550/pair seemed a bit steep, but the small transmission-line cabinets were very solid.
More interesting, however, is the fact that they will be available in kit form for $430. Gentlemen, start your table saws.
Rogers. Despite a disarmingly basic setup, with a Revox CD player and an Audio Design amp, Rogers new LS 5/9 created a real stir. A clearly different speaker from the LS 5/8 reviewed in Stereophile a few years back, the new BBC monitor is a bit smaller, has a 10-inch woofer (though the same tweeter), and does not have its own amplifiers. It will set you back a bundle- about 52500/pair-but in every respect save the lowest bass and (perhaps) highest treble, it fully justifies the term "monitor." You'll certainly be hearing more about this system.
Fanfare. The new Tempo was reviewed in a recent issue of Stereophile. Based on what I briefly heard at the Fanfare suite, I can only say "agreed." The new, smaller Prelude was also on demonstration, and could be a real winner at 5275/pair.
GNP. The GNP Valkyrie gets my vote as Most Improved Loudspeaker of Show. It's been completely reworked, and sounds it.
Open, transparent, and electrostatic-like are descriptive adjectives which came to mind. So did laid-back, which some will like and some will not. I liked, even though the balance was very different from my own ProAc Studio 3s. I hadn't been overly impressed with this speaker in earlier in carnations; now I'm anxious to give it a closer listen.
Wilson Audio. There were no WAMMs at this show, though one subwoofer from that incredible system (now up to $52,0009 did its best to demolish the Sahara Hotel.
WATT was there was the WATT. The Wilson Audio Tiny Tot (honest), about 1 cubic foot in size, and will cost about 54400/pair! Most of the expense is not in the drivers, which are good but not excessively priced, but in the lead lined synthetic marble/epoxy enclosure that is de signed with extreme rigidity in mind. Each WATT weighs 60 pounds-as much as a Thiel CS-2! Though one reels at the cost, the sound was right up there with anything else I heard at the show. Imaging, depth, and detail were all first rate. Bass was tight but not overly extended, but this was clearly the design intent. A subwoofer will be almost mandatory with this system. Another pair of WATTs were being used in the Row land Research room, this time with an Enigma subwoofer (which appeared better suited to this system than the giant WAMM subwoofer in Wilson's own room). Overall, the sound in Wilson's room was better, probably a function of a more stable setup; Rowland had been experimenting off and on with a new Sound Lab loudspeaker (which I did not hear), necessitating moving the WATTs in and out of position.
Wilson apparently designed the WATTs to use in his own on-location recording, which will soon include sessions in Europe with the Luxembourg Radio Symphony (watch these pages). Miscellaneous Musings and Ruminations Every CES has a few surprises. This one didn't have anything to set the audio world on its, ah, ear, but there were some significant developments. If I had to pick the top news stories, I'd go with my reports above on the Threshold, Snell, Rogers, and Wilson Audio products. The last two gave food for serious thought concerning lightweight but heavily damped speaker enclosures (the Rogers LS 5/9) versus all-out attempts at rigidity (the WATT). Wouldn't I love to hear the more refined woofer of the Rogers in a rigid cabinet-just for comparison! A fellow named Crosby, in New Mexico, is doing just that with the Spica TC-50 - putting the drivers in an identically-sized, but much more rigid, cabinet. I haven't heard the results, but I get positive feed back from a trusted source.
Yes, every CES has its surprises, big and little-like the gentleman demonstrating for an importer of various Japanese high end turntables, arms, cartridges, and accessories. Informed on day two of the show that his speakers were out of phase, said importer listened a bit, scratched his head, reversed one pair of wires, listened some more. As we watched the faint glow of revelation spread across his face, he ex claimed, "Well, I'm a turntable man, not a speaker man!" CES can he a mind-boggling experience.
--
[based on a March 1986, Stereophile review article]
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