CES opens...
     Day zero (the press day) ended with "The Digital Experience," a showcase of cutting edge technologies. The deal: each manufacturer pays an amount of money ($5000 is the amount we’ve heard), and CES uses free food and drink to lure in the ink-stained wretches. It works every time.
     
     The memorable parts of the experience? Inevitably, we tend to gawk at stuff we'd like to own for ourselves, such as Bluetooth attachments for our portable phones, or multi-megapixel cameras the size of canaries. Still, now and then we remember whom we're working for.
     Altec Lansing showed a set of surround speakers, meant for a computer or a game box, with a very 1948 look. "We set up a focus group of young people," said a company rep, "and they loved them." We can see why.
     The other was from Kodak: a new screen technology. It is an emissive overlay on top of the familiar TFT (thin film transistor) used in laptop computers. Unlike the TFT screen, it needs no backlight, and it doesn't shift in contrast or brightness as you change position. Kodak had actually developed the technology in the mid-80's, but had seemingly not seen a likely application. We're eager to see a full-sized video screen using this process. We'll tell you more as soon as we can find out more from Kodak.
     And then on to Alexis Park, as the high end rooms opened up.
     One of the nicest-sounding speakers--no surprise--was the Living Voice Avatar OBX-R, which we are pencilling in for a review real soon. Much more of a surprise was the Hyperion speaker (shown at left). It looks rather like a Wilson Watt/Puppy, though in fact the base is just a support. After a particularly pleasant session, we were astounded to learn that it costs less than US$2000. The amplifier of the same brand looks like good news too.
     Also nice-sounding was the U-Vola, the hanging egg-shaped speaker from Italy. It now has an optional subwoofer (with a suspension, like a turntable). The sound...well, it proves that good speakers need not be square boxes.
     We were both surprised and pleased to run across Jacques Riendeau, designer of several of the Oracle products. He is in the process of buying his company back, and he had brought a Delphi, the integrated CD player and the amplifier. For now he was using Thiel speakers.
      The strangest product yet is the Shakti Hollograph...a play on the words holograph and hall. Looking like an Indonesian Trident, it and its twin are placed in the corners of the room, to improve the image. Does it work? Amazingly enough...yes.
     Irving M. Fried’s IMF speaker company is back, though it no longer belongs to him. A pre-production speaker using a "line tunnel" (a port tube with a foam stopper) sounded quite good, with bass that was natural, though of limited depth.
     Coincident Technology was showing its biggest speaker ever, the nine-driver Total Victory. With its 97 dB sensitivity, it was easily driven to impressive dynamic levels by Manley Snapper tube amplifiers.
     Ever see a preamp/surround controller with a built-in TV? That's the Bel Canto PrePro. The TFT screen shows the video input (a video controller is built-in) and also serves as a menu screen. Price is US$7900.
     Audioprism, whose components now bear the Red Rose music label, was showing its new Model 150 monoblocks. At US$750, it puts out 50 watts. A six-pack looks good abreast.
     The Vandersteen 5 speaker has become the 5A, with a change in drivers, crossover, and amplifier (for the on-board subwoofer). Upgrades are available, starting just over US$4K. It sounded gratifyingly natural, driven by a pair of Tenor tube monoblocks. No screechiness--Richard Vandersteen is allergic to that sort of stuff.
     Spotted at the Music Hall room: the Shanling SP-80 tube monoblock amplifiers (US$2995). It was accompanied by the Shanling CD player, which we will be reviewing in UHF No. 66.
     Thee worst sound at the show? Magic Audio Systems' Ti-Fi, which supposedly uses predictive correction to eliminate distortion. It seemed wildly unbalanced, which turned out to be because there was only a faint hum coming from the left speaker. "Yes, I know," said the nice lady in the room.
     Guess which company didn't get its money’s worth from attending CES...
     See you tomorrow.

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