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CES 2007
 This
being my ninth consecutive CES, I knew what to
expect but was still caught off guard. The
lack of legroom on the 5 ½ hour flight into
“Lost Wages,” Nevada didn't bother me that
much. I didn't even mind the tremendously long
lines at the airport. This is to be expected
year-in, year-out when a half million gadget
geeks hone in on any city at one time. What
totally caught me off guard was the new venue
for our beloved hobby -- the super-pompous
Venetian Hotel; a place bustling with more
high-rollers than high-enders, despite that
fact that this was the CES’ 40th anniversary.
Of course the fact that the Adult Video
Industry was preparing for its annual
convention at the hotel may have had something
to do with it too.
The previous CES events held at the Alexis
Park and the adjoining T.H.E. Show were the
equivalent of a safe and quiet gamble-free
zone. There were the usual distractions
associated with a hi-fi show, such as someone
who’s playing their music too loud. But that
aside, there was a singleness of purpose at
Alexis and T.H.E Show.
Not the
Venetian.
I followed a guy
hoping he was heading to my destination
because I was lost and no one from the front
desk could direct me and worse, there was no
signage. My cell phone didn't work too well
either in this hotel. Turns out this chap was
going into the convention center located
somewhere downstairs. I followed him in. I
couldn't believe how big this area was and how
many LCD and Plasma displays were lit up. I
turned to leave when I was personally escorted
into a home-security demo by some guy who
thought I looked interested. I gave him the
"Oh, I'll be right back" and was out of there
quick.
Needless to say,
I was becoming increasingly frustrated.
I stumble back
to into the casino area. Not good. I happened
to check out a nearby Blackjack table to see
what the action was about. I could not believe
my eyes: a relatively young, well-dressed man
places a whopping $12k bet and -- faster than
you can say lickety-split! -- loses it. He had
19 showing while the dealer had 14 and due to
the rules was forced to take a hit. The next
card was a six of hearts. That card was
apropos because I felt my heart sink for this
guy. In no less than five minutes he was down
about $60k! I know there's a popular
commercial airing that boasts "What Happens in
'Vegas, Stays in 'Vegas," but I don't think
he'll be too happy a chap when he leaves
'Vegas!
I attempted once
more to get to the High Performance Audio and
Home Theater exhibits (as the CES calls it),
after catching a quick dizzy spell (just the
sight of losing so much money so fast makes me
light headed). Heck, I could have shown this
guy a very nice and affordable high-end
system, say the Nova Physics Memory Player,
and some really nice gear to go with it. I bet
he'd never regret purchasing that rig, right?
Nah, to invest so much money in mere stereo
equipment? I bet he'd thought the Nut
Convention was in town.
Please show me
to the Nuts
Finally, I found
my way to something that looked like a
two-channel setup and I'm relieved. My relief
was of course short lived. The first room I
entered was the Usher Audio room (below) and
the music was notably subdued. I quickly
realized the sound was coming from THE ROOM
NEXT DOOR! The Ballrooms were all using
partitions to separate the rooms from other
exhibitors. Talk about an acoustic nightmare.
WOW! Okay, so then what do you do? Simply take
photos and hope the guy next door takes a
break.
I think the CES,
the Venetian and its managers, have a lot to
learn in order to make this show the success
it was at its previous site. From an ease of
travel standpoint, it was a near disaster with
access to the upper floors possible only
through undersized and unmanned elevators. In
terms of sheer atmosphere it will never match
the Alexis Park's ease and poolside
accommodations. This location totally lacked
the level of accommodation that you felt the
moment you walked either into the Alexis Park
or T.H.E Show. The very fact that this was the
first show away from Alexis Park, was bad
enough. To make it virtually impossible to
find your way is inexcusable. Heck, maybe
these are nothing more than the teething pains
associated with growth. My only hope is next
year will be much better. Until then ...
Usher Audio’s
ever expanding lineup of affordable high-end
products never ceases to amaze. Here, featured
with their loudspeakers are Usher electronics.
They featured the P-307 preamp ($2,280), and
R-1.5 stereo amp ($2,520). How they manage to
keep these prices is as astonishing as the
sound of these remarkably affordable
electronics. The small mini-monitor is their
BE-718 ($2,500), which is a nice slot ported
design that sounded quite big for its size.
 Consider
yourself lucky if you were a neighbor to this
static display. Italian loudspeaker builders Eventus
Audio showed their beautifully crafted designs
with newcomer Soulution
Electronics of Switzerland. Elegant and classy, the Soulution
model 710 stereo amplifier ($36k photo left) and model
720 preamplifier ($30k w/phono stage, $25k
w/o) feature sexy looks that
literally drew me into the room since there
was no sound to write about. If they sound even
remotely as good as they look, we might be in
for a sonic treat.
 Avatar
Acoustics showed the Acoustic Systems Tango S
loudspeaker ($13,500) from the “Resonator Man”
known as Franck Tchang. This, his first foray
into loudspeaker design didn't sound like a
first effort at all. The speakers feature
Tchang's Tension/Pressure Conversion
Technology. It should be interesting to see
how this product sounds in light of Tchang’s
incredible knowledge of room
resonances/acoustics. The room featured all
Karan Acoustics electronics and the new
Abbingdon Music Research (AMR) tube CD-77
CD/processor ($8,500), that features Philips'
ten year old TDA1514A DAC chip, which the
manufacturer claims is the most musical he’s
found, bar none. In addition, the drive
mechanism is actually built in-house. Overall,
the sound minus the noise coming from the
adjoining room was decent sounding and that's
saying a lot considering the space. Thorston
Loesch (photo left), a man of humble
disposition despite wearing a shirt depicting
human skulls in flames, and Pat Wayne, AMRs
principal designers seem to have created a
very fine product with tons of versatility
including the ability to up-sample from the
remote control (nice).
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