Steve's CES 2012 Picture Thread

[KeithR]

I think it says a lot that you didn't care about detail, soundstage, imaging, etc. Steve when you described the Aida experience.

That speaks volumes about what you actually heard and how I too have started to change my view of audio over the past few years.

 

[Steve Williams]

Suffice it to say I could have used all the cliches re deeper wider more open etc. For my ears it's was the best in show. Played everything wonderfully with nothing missing. It would be interesting to see if a different back end would sound the same as the ARC gear. All in all I felt it to be the best in show. I would have loved to compare the XLF vs the Aida. Both have silk dome tweeters. As I stated previously there is a dealer in Arizona who carries both lines and 2 of us are anning a trip there to hear the speakers and compare

 

[flez007]

My interest in women is perpetually climbing and directly proportional to my interest in audio. :b

Sorry to say they are mutually excludent

 

[Elliot G.]

Suffice it to say I could have used all the cliches re deeper wider more open etc. For my ears it's was the best in show. Played everything wonderfully with nothing missing. It would be interesting to see if a different back end would sound the same as the ARC gear. All in all I felt it to be the best in show. I would have loved to compare the XLF vs the Aida. Both have silk dome tweeters. As I stated previously there is a dealer in Arizona who carries both lines and 2 of us are anning a trip there to hear the speakers and compare

It's great to see someone calling it as they see/hear it rather than the same old song. I have heard so many wildly varying comments about the Q7, Wilson's etc. I can't wait to read the "experts" comments and the excuses for one room while not excusing another.
I find this so funny.
Show's are not the best place to hear something because of the rooms and the governors on the power available. I always tried to get a taste of something at the show and if it was interesting them get it in my shop or hear it someplace where it can shine. One man's opinion

 

[JackD201]

Steve, what did you think of the Estelon XADs?

This speaker is total eye candy for me.

 

[Steve Williams]

I absolutely loved the sound. IIRC the speaker was $80K

 

[egidius]

wadia news @ ces

Dear all,

could you relate here what the news on wadia was?

many thanks, egidius

 

[microstrip]

Suffice it to say I could have used all the cliches re deeper wider more open etc. For my ears it's was the best in show. Played everything wonderfully with nothing missing. It would be interesting to see if a different back end would sound the same as the ARC gear.(..)

Steve,
What was the source that was used during your auditions of the Aida? Do you remember some of the recordings?

 

[Steve Williams]

It was all classical but no explosive dynamics

All ARC

 

[microstrip]

It was all classical but no explosive dynamics

All ARC

CD8 or any music server ?

 

[Steve Williams]

CD8

The Reference DAC was only static

 

[NorthStar]

That was Caelin's intent. In fact his new ads suggest that their new Shunyata cable costing 6X less than their most expensive older cable, outperforms the older cable

That's good news.

 

[NorthStar]

I wonder if others feel the same way about being "involved emotionally with the music" that makes it their "Best of Show". Did you visit the Eventus/Audia Flight room? I thought that while the sound lacked detail and resolution, I was carried away by a live blues record I brought and sat through almost the entire side. Wondering how to measure "emotion". Eventus is also an Italian design like the Sonus.

It plays an important role I believe.

You can't measure emotion; it's like being blindfold of all your five senses.
Only vapors from the soul remain, and they never look the same or dissipate with the same intensity.

- Floating in ecsatsy at the surface of a music recording reproduced by transducers.
Emotional distortion? Perhaps; loudspeakers have lots of it.

 

[NorthStar]

Sorry to say they are mutually excludent

I was simply extrapolating.

...All in the moment. ...At that moment.

 

[JackD201]

I wonder if others feel the same way about being "involved emotionally with the music" that makes it their "Best of Show". Did you visit the Eventus/Audia Flight room? I thought that while the sound lacked detail and resolution, I was carried away by a live blues record I brought and sat through almost the entire side. Wondering how to measure "emotion". Eventus is also an Italian design like the Sonus.

I have a theory Gary. Composers know that certain chords elicit predictable responses. Probably what coined the term "struck a chord" Supposing one were to map out the spectra of the most response eliciting chords and juxtaposed the spectral response of these so called "emotional" loudspeakers. Would we find that they dip outside the envelopes or bump the envelopes of these chords, some of them anyway?

 

[garylkoh]

Like how major chords invoke awe and minor chords invoke eeriness? You might have something that. I'll investigate. Thanks.

I already do something similar - keeping crossover points and resonances away from frequencies commonly encountered in music. No loudspeaker has a flat response. Using computer simulation, we can make an ultimately flat loudspeaker, but some "bumpiness" in the frequency response inevitable makes for a more musical, involving sound. May be if we map those "bumps" with major chords instead of minor......

 

[JackD201]

Yup

 

[NorthStar]

Someone edited post #113.--- Floating ...

 

[BFlowers]

Went to the show and definitely enjoyed myself. I was in search of a new DAC to deal with high rez formats. Went to many rooms and heard some good, some great, but mostly mediocre sound. I am interested in the groups comments regarding 2 of the rooms that I found to be outstanding. The Ypsilon room and the Zanden room both were exemplary. One thing that they had in common was non oversampling DACs with tube analog sections. As many high rez DACs as I listened to at length (Weiss medea, BAlabo, DCS, Souulution, Boulder, Playback, EMMLabs, etc) none of them held a candle to these 2 even under suboptimal show conditions. My impression so far with high rez digital is that it sounds slightly better than CD (if you listen hard enough), but is not fundamentally different. These 2 units were different. What gives? Is high rez overhyped? FYI, I have listened to high end high rez vs CD in excellent conditions and still drew a similar conclusion. Final comment is that Constellation Audio's "lifestyle" system was by far one of the best I heard. Gotta wonder what the big boys do.

 

[Chizzap30]

I should post my pics from CES.. I'm glad to see a lot of the rooms using HRS Isolation systems.. easily the best hi-fi stands/racks out there.