Superspeakers at CES 2012

Elliot G. · Jan 13, 2012

I really think the future is shows that the public can attend and not "sneak" into. There is such a huge amount of gear that this seems to be the future of HE audio. I really doubt that with the current business model that many sores can continue to keep up with this.
In a major market like NYC or L.A perhaps but in small markets like mine it is truly impossible to have the capital to support this. If a person wants to hear what is out there they will have to go to shows. This is good and bad. The good is they get to see a lot of new things, the bad is that it is very difficult to really hear what something does at a show. It can only give you a glimpse. The rooms, the electricity and the time frame make it virtually impossible to creat excellent sound.

Steve Williams · Jan 13, 2012

Elliott

Have you been to RMAF? IMO that is "the" high end audio show with no other distractions.

BTW usually the AVN show goes on at the same time as CES. Not this year. I guess they now have their meeting a week after CES.

amirm · Jan 13, 2012

Jeff Fritz said:
Surprising Results:

http://www.soundstageglobal.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=210&catid=79&Itemid=246

I totally agree with you on the Engima vs Revel Performa3 M106 sound. The former looked cool. Had that techno tweeter but in five seconds you could tell they were after impressing your eyes, and not your ears. I took a few pictures and walked out.

I realize people need to apply style to high-end speakers but this is totally wrong. I was watching a documentary on BMW design and they were talking about how the styling was done so that even when the car was stopped, it looked like it was moving. In other words, style follows function. Here, the zigzag implies nothing good about the speaker sounding good. In my mind I am thinking diffraction, reflections, resonating, etc with that aluminum zigzag. The drivers looked cheap too. Even the fancy square tweeter seemed to not have been mounted cleanly to the enclosure. So they fail on styling and sound.

amirm · Jan 13, 2012

ack said:
The room appears treated, based on pictures on the TAS web site of the Q5... is it not possible even then?

With just stereo speakers flat down to 15 Hz? Nope.

Thomas.Dennehy · Jan 13, 2012

Duck!

amirm said:
Here, the zigzag implies nothing good about the speaker sounding good. In my mind I am thinking diffraction, reflections, resonating, etc with that aluminum zigzag. The drivers looked cheap too. Even the fancy square tweeter seemed to not have been mounted cleanly to the enclosure. So they fail on styling and sound.

Edward Tufte coined the term "duck" to describe irrelevant decorative elements that contribute nothing to function, named for a poultry shop on Long Island.

TGD

Elliot G. · Jan 13, 2012

Steve Williams said:
Elliott

Have you been to RMAF? IMO that is "the" high end audio show with no other distractions.

BTW usually the AVN show goes on at the same time as CES. Not this year. I guess they now have their meeting a week after CES.

This is my point Steve. This and others like it is going to be the norm and the way the ast majority of people interested in HE audio will get the opportunity to see and hear the gear. Hotels are not the best place to hear audio but this seems to be the only logical and somewhat affordable way to do it. AVN has grown way to large to be at the same time as CES. I remember it being a little thing in the basement of McCormick Place in Chicago. It was fun then !!!!!!

Steve Williams · Jan 13, 2012

Interesting about AVN. I heard a comment yesterday at the LG OLED 3D display where I heard someone beside me comment that what will really bring 3D to mainstream video is the porn industry which BTW was also a cause for the death of beta as the porn industry endorsed VHS

RBFC · Jan 13, 2012

Steve Williams said:
Interesting about AVN. I heard a comment yesterday at the LG OLED 3D display where I heard someone beside me comment that what will really bring 3D to mainstream video is the porn industry which BTW was also a cause for the death of beta as the porn industry endorsed VHS

With multi-billions of dollars in revenue, you bet that the porn industry will chart the course of media and presentation technology.

Lee

ack · Jan 13, 2012

Steve Williams said:
Still awaiting your thoughts on the Aida Jeff. Definitely my number one at the show

Post #8 above??? also here

Thomas.Dennehy · Jan 13, 2012

RBFC said:
With multi-billions of dollars in revenue, you bet that the porn industry will chart the course of media and presentation technology.

Lee

Advertising and porn -- earliest adopters of any new technology.

Ron Party · Jan 13, 2012

Steve Williams said:
Interesting about AVN. I heard a comment yesterday at the LG OLED 3D display where I heard someone beside me comment that what will really bring 3D to mainstream video is the porn industry which BTW was also a cause for the death of beta as the porn industry endorsed VHS

Very consistent with my information as well.

Elliot G. · Jan 13, 2012

Porn business is HUGE and if they go 3D then maybe it will succeed right now its BS. No one really wants it and there is little programing available. The fiures are wrong saying the sets are selling. Its becasue that is all there is to buy! Alost o one ever asks us about 3D!!!!!!!

MylesBAstor · Jan 13, 2012

Ron Party said:
Very consistent with my information as well.

That's true about the Beta vs. VHS. Do you know how much tape the AVI uses-- or used?

DEV · Jan 13, 2012

Jeff Fritz said:
The Sonus Faber Aida

http://www.soundstageglobal.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=202&catid=79&Itemid=246

Ya those are sexy, want to say thx Jeff for all the info.

Jeff Fritz · Jan 14, 2012

The Final Results:

http://www.soundstageglobal.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=215&catid=79&Itemid=246

LL21 · Jan 14, 2012

Great read, Jeff. Thanks for all the hard work!!!

marty · Jan 14, 2012

Jeff, two comments. First, having spend an inordinate amount of time at the ARC/Sonus Aida display, the front seat was not the sweet spot. It was in the second row, middle seat, as per ARC and Sonus. If you were in front seat, the sound was excellent, but the imaging was a tad high. Move back to the second row and voila!, the imaging magic is most impressive. Second, I must respectfully disagree with you about the sound of the Q7. It was a disappointing performance for me. There was a grunge at 2500-3K that I could not shake, and the top end was typically Magico flat (which for me equates to "bright" which is why I guess I always think they sound better with tubes). But 160K for this speaker? Its simply not a musical sounding speaker. In fact, by comparison, I thought the Aida made the Q7 sound almost PA-system like. I guess that's why there is vanilla, chocolate and strawberry. You pays yer money and you takes yer choice!

andromedaaudio · Jan 21, 2012

does nobody think the sound would have been very different when magico was playing with arc gear , i dont remember what magico was playing with , i m sorry.

Steve Williams · Jan 21, 2012

Magico was using an "unspecified" Class A amp under development, a Spectral preamp with a Nagra-T R2R and his custom music server

Steve Williams · Jan 21, 2012

andromedaaudio said:
does nobody think the sound would have been very different when magico was playing with arc gear , i dont remember what magico was playing with , i m sorry.

I think it would sound different for sure. But better, remains to be "heard"

It was Marty who suggested playing the Q7 with tubes. Even Alon commented that at 94 Db efficient tubes would play fine with the Q7

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