Grade-A nice guy Graemme Brown of Zen Mastering is explaining the setup in the Soundlabs / Isomike room before newphew Nate starts the proceedings. Those of you not familiar with Kimber Kable's IsoMike™ technique of recording, suffice to say it produces some uncanny result if you like image specificity and "you are there" realism. With Pass amplifiers, the Sound Lab Prostat speakers stand 8' 8" tall and project along a slight horizontal arc. It's really just two of their Majestic 945 speakers standing side by side in order to get enough horizontal coverage of the large room in which they were positioned. There were also a pair (or is that a quad, hehe) in the rear, but these weren't on for the demo when I was there.

While a outdoor drum corp recording they made with benefit of "Isomike" and a 60 foot boom was interesting, it was a Fry Street Quartet recording of Beethoven's opus 18 #4 that really sold me on the my continued adoration for all-things-electrostatic. Driven by Ed Meitner designed emmLabs electronics, the sound was impressively realistic. While some will criticize electrostatics as rolled off in the high end, they do sound more like what I hear in a well-coiffed concert hall than nearly all dynamic speakers, so hats off to Sound Lab for fighting the good fight.

When I saw the Escalante Design Fremont speaker at HE 2007, I was mightily impressed with their neutrality and precise bass. Fast forward to CES 2008, and things were different. While the midrange and upper frequencies were still sublime, the switch to KR Audio tube monoblocks, from the VTL Reference S-400 stereo amplifier were a mistake as for all of KR's other virtues, bass control was not one of them. Still, one of the better sounds at the show.

TAD has a new Compact Monitor under development, and while it's still a year or so away from commercial availability, it was on demo at this year's CES. Driven by prototypes of new TAD class A monoblock amplifiers (150Wpc into 8 ohms, 600WPC into 2 ohms), it sounded sensational, with the apparent ability to convincingly replicate the weight and power of a full symphony orchestra, an ability that escapes most loudspeakers.

I can't say it was the best sound at CES; I didn't hear all the candidates, and the program material was limited to the Reference Recordings version of Aaron Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man." But it was the best sound I heard at the show. There will also be a matching center channel.

Price? Well, since the big TAD Monitor goes for $60,000/pair, designer Andrew Jones, shown here with his baby, would only commit to between $1 and $60,000. Actually I think he said between zero and $60,000, but if they decide to give these babies away for free, sign me up!

Thiel demonstrated a system that is said to produce audiophile quality audio either through a wireless connection or "wired" via Ethernet. As demonstrated, the package consisted of five full range SCS4D speakers plus an SS1D subwoofer (all powered via class D amps—like most "wireless" systems the individual pieces still require a connection to the AC line) and a dB1 THIELnet Audio Distribution Processor.

The processor will allow three forms of transmission: Wireless, Ethernet, or Homeplug. (The latter uses your house's electrical wiring for home network communications.)

The Ethernet configuration is more flexible than a wireless one as to the number if speakers it can handle, but even a wireless setup will support a single 5.1-channel system in one room and six 2-channel systems in other locations. The demonstrated system was connected via Ethernet.

An audition proved promising, with a clean, detailed, but non-aggressive sound. It was slightly warm through the midbass, but the woofer-satellite blend is still being worked out and the room acoustics were probably not helping. The system is still about a year away from production, so no prices were announced.

Thiel's Dawn Cloyd shows off the back panel of one of the powered, wireless Thiel SCS4D speakers that will be the backbone of the THIELnet system.

This wasn't a show for major video projector launches or even major projector demonstrations. That's CEDIA. But JVC, Optoma, Panasonic, Samsung, and a few others took a crack at it.

By far the most affordable complete package was the Epson Ensemble. It comes complete with screen, projector, AV receiver with a built-in DVD player, and speakers. The left, center, and right speakers are hidden in the screen case, shown here with the screen retracted, and the subwoofer fits in a stand that also holds the receiver (not shown). The speakers were designed by Atlantic Technology.The package sells for $7000 with a 1080p projector, $5000 with a 720p unit. First shown in prototype at last year's CES, the system is undergoing final tweaking and will be available shortly.

The ceiling mount that covers the Epson projector incorporates the Surround speakers.

Fred Manteghian recently reviewed the Definitive Technology Mythos ST and had a lot of good things to say about it. Now Definitive has introduced the Mythos STS, a similar but smaller design at $2998 per pair.

Sound bars are becoming popular for flat panel displays. While we prefer a typical setup with separate left, right, and center speakers arrayed properly across the front (which will always produce a better soundstage than any single enclosure serving all channels), that type of setup doesn't work for everyone. To that end, Definitive Technology demonstrated two new sound bars, or in their words, Mythos Solo Surround Arrays: the SSA42 ($899 for panels from 30" to 46") and SSA50 ($1099, for panels 50" and up).

Each of these designs incorporates three coaxial drivers for the main left-, center-, and right-channel information, plus additional drivers that are wired in mystical ways to generate a semblance of real surround information. The bigger SSA50 is said to have higher power handling capacity for greater dynamic range. (As with most such designs, the SSA speakers are not self-powered but must be driven by an external AV receiver or separates.)

The One, a limited edition speaker from Totem Acoustics, has been released to celebrate that Canadian company's 20th anniversary. A 2-channel pair produced a sound that defied their size, and the dynamics of the speaker suggested that five or seven of them would not be out of place in a home theater system, mated to a suitable subwoofer. For music, the bass of the subwoofer-free pair in the demo was also surprisingly solid. $3495/pair.

Only 2000 pairs will be built, though a company rep assured me that dealers would sell singles if you need them for a 5.1- or 7.1-channel system.

Music Hall is distributing the Bellari VP530 ($399), a tube phono preamp (moving magnet only) that offers both conventional L/R analog outputs and a USB output for sending the contents of your vinyl to a computer for processing and storage. There's also a rumble filter, and the RIAA phono equalization may be switched off if you are equipped (and wish) to perform the equalization in the digital domain.

The Davone Rithm, from a Danish speaker maker new to the U.S., utilizes a 5" coaxial driver in one of the oddest shapes ever for a product category (loudspeakers) known for inspiring odd shapes. $5000/pair.

Monitor Audio introduced its flagship Platinum loudspeaker to the US at CES. The lineup includes the floor-standing PL300 ($8999/pair), the PL100 bookshelf ($4299/pair), the PL350 center ($4299), and the PLW-15 600W subwoofer ($4299). Stands are optional. The big system was not in use while I was there, but the smaller PL100's sounded clean and natural, with fine imaging, an uncolored midrange, and sparkling but not exaggerated highs from the ribbon tweeter—a first for Monitor Audio.

Dome in this case doesn't mean a tweeter diaphragm, but rather Focal's new "Lifestyle Luxury" speaker package, consisting of small, two-way satellite speakers in a rounded enclosure together with a small, separate sub. The satellite is shown here. It's used for every channel, including the center. The tab is $1475 for a 2.1 channels and $2495 for a 5.1-channel system. The "Dome" satellite speakers themselves are available separately for $750/pair. Available in April.

The photo here shows the original image on SIM2's LCD local dimming prototype (the quality of the image on the LCD screen, by the way, was far better than this shot). The photo in the next entry shows the backlighting for the same image (I asked SIM2 to freeze the source so you can see what is happening.) More details follow in the next entry.

In addition to its line of projectors (which was heavily featured at the 2007 CEDIA Expo), SIM2 has begun working with Dolby to incorporate new Dolby video technology into its LCD flat panel displays. This technology involves LED backlighting with local dimming to improve black levels. The demo in the SIM2 room (and also in the Dolby booth) was set up to show not only the original image (in the previous post), but, with the flick of a switch, the lighting pattern of the LED backlights (shown here). According to SIM2, their prototype uses 1300 LEDs.

Focal redesigned its Electra series a year or so ago to incorporate the beryllium tweeter originally found in the Utopia series. That revised Electra line remains available, but a new Electra S range makes for a more affordable (though not cheap) Electra package. The prices start at $3495/pair for the bookshelf 1007 S all the way up to $5995/pair for the floor-standing 1027 S. The CC 1000 S center will run you $2295, the SR 1000 S surrounds $3495/pair, and the SW 1000 S sub $2995. The big savings in the S series come from a somewhat less elaborate and expensive cabinet construction and finish, and the substitution of an Aluminum/Magnesium tweeter in place of the beryllium design in the Be range.

Focal's XS 2.1 system is designed to match the look of the latest iMac computer, right down to the metal trim. There is an iPOD dock on one of the satellite bases and a small, separate sub. $749 for the package shown, including the sub (not visible) but excluding the iMac!

The Harmon Specialty Group was demonstrating Levinson's new $30,000 No.502 surround processor together with Lexicon amps and a complete Revel Ultima2 speaker system, the latter anchored by the big Revel Ultima2 Salon2s on the right and left front channels. It sounded outstanding, but this did not surprise me after my recent review of an Ultima2 Studio2 system.

The system also included the new Samsung 1080p projector on which Joe Kane consulted extensively. On a 100" wide screen, it looked superb, with plenty of light output, great detail on Blu-ray discs, and good blacks.

Outside the demo room, Levinson had the new No.53 digital amp on static display (shown). A Levinson rep took great pains to emphasize that this monoblock amp, at $25,000 a copy, is not Class D, but rather a proprietary Mark Levinson company design.

KEF's flagship speaker, the Muon, looks to be over 6 feet tall, is fashioned from 6mm thick, super formed aluminum. Only 100 pairs will be built for worldwide sales, and a pair will run you $140,000. Surround sound? No problem, just buy six. Add five Mark Levinson No.53 amps and you're good to go.