Italian designer Mauro Mauri (bottom left) of Omicron Group showed an exquisitely designed loudspeaker in the M. Acoustics Coherence Reference loudspeaker ($45,000).  Employing the seldom seen Heil ESS Air Motion Transfer tweeter built on an open baffle design this very elegantly designed four-way transducer is based on stackable enclosures. What I like most about this dipole tweeter is its boxless, open and airy sound. This room was one of the few that proved most musically engaging for these ears. Driven by the  50-watt per channel pure Class-A Pi Greco amplifier ($10,000) feeding an Omicron CDIX 16/44.1 CD player ($11,000) the sound was much more alive, dynamic and full-bodied than one would have expected with considering the amplifiers rated specs. My hunch is: for this level sound Mauro Mauri, a tweakerholic of the third kind, had his rig tweaked to the nth degree using his own products no less. More surprising was the demonstration where he took his Omicron Magic Dream Sticks in and out of the system much to shock of many show attendees in the room...including yours truly.

Sort of reminiscent of these guys...               

Photo from left to right features Ron Hedrich of Marigo Audio, Ben Piazza of Shakti, Mike Vans Evers of VansEvers Audio and Franck Tchang of Acoustic Systems. Each of these gents, through their many hours of R&D, have taken my understanding and enjoyment of music to an entirely new level. Each specify in the art of transforming - the listening rooms we more times than not overlook as well as the audio equipment we often take for granted - to new heights. All mentioned are still very active though Vans Evers was not present at this year's CES. Marigo's Ron Hedrich gave me one of this Marigo CD/DVD 3-D Mats ($200) at the show to try upon arriving home. It was among the first things I did when I got home after hearing a demo of it in the Dynamic Design room in the St. Tropez. And of course the results were positive. Could not believe all the improved high-frequency resolution this product brought to bear on my beloved CDs via a ref caliber Reimyo CD player. Right next door Ben Piazza was performing his magic act with respect to his Shakti Hallograph Soundfield Optimizers (right $900/pair). Our own Don Shaulis came to me after a demo so impressed he likened them to being the equivalent of changing out loudspeakers had he been blindfolded. I would have to agree.  Franck Tchang, well what else is there to say about this guy who appears to quite content living in obscurity. Tchang doesn't boast or run about room to room demanding to make one hear his product. He knows they work and is content with those who've adapted early to his Acoustic Resonators. He did get the chance to convince a few more skeptics at this year's event that his products really work and aren't some figment of the imagination. Got me two years ago and I haven't looked back!

And of course Combak's tuning guru Kiuchi San has a lot to smile about these days. He's one of the hottest CD players in the business with the Reimyo CDP777. His arsenal of both passive tuning devices along with his superior lineage of electronics coupled with his association to JVC and their XRCD recordings gives him an advantage few designers can dream of.

Globe Audio put on an exhibition of their own with this setup which featured the new Audio Aero Prestige SACD Player/Preamp ($12,990). A tandem set of Audio Aero Prestige SE mono amps ($23,000) were bi-amp'd to drive the highly efficient (98 dB) WLM Viola loudspeakers finished in a gorgeous Santos Rosewood ($10,750).  Finished in the same Rosewood were a pair of WLM passive subwoofers ($6,415 ea) attached to a WLM external crossover ($4,750). This system performed in a way that was simply marvelous and way beyond what I expected considering the small stature of these loudspeakers. And I apparently wasn't the only one to hear this as the room was packed while I had to wait my turn in getting to the sweet spot. While awaiting the best seat in the room audio journalist extraordinaire Clark Johnson (photo right above) entered the room with Digital Systems & Solutions' Bob Prinz (right). Both Clark and Prinz are bigs fan of DS&S and for good reason: they make copies of good CDs into really good sounding ones. The process appears to be in several steps but for those like me who don't have the patience to sit through making copies of each CD you own, there's the easy first- step which you simply apply a certain cleansing liquid to your beloved disc. Prinz is seen in the photo actually doing this simple procedure where he simply applies the right formula to my disc, throw in a little elbow grease and presto! Well, with respect to a pretty decent memory the DS&S's disc sounded much better than it did before Prinz applied his magic formula. I was so impressed I went the whole nine and had my CD copied in the VMPS room the following day and can hereby vouch that whatever they're doing to make CDs sound better...they do!

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