On the conventional front of amps, sources and speakers, lots to impress from the inexpensive on up. In the cheap and cheerful category, newcomer Thonet and Vander were mining younger territory. They had a wide range of compact amplified speakers from monitors to 2.1 setups, wireless Bluetooth and quite aggressively priced to go against the established powered tabletop and bookshelf alternatives. The younger set has embraced the ultra-compact Bluetooth speaker market. Is it time to take the next step up? At around the $225 mark for the HOCH 2.0 and $200 for the RATSEL 2.1, Thonet and Vander are obviously anticipating the answer is yes.

I'll give mention here to Definitive Technology's in-wall and on-wall speakers. The product line was not very visible, tucked in the backwaters and I suspect was missed by almost everyone. That's unfortunate because it was making surprisingly civilized music, detailed and unhyped in terrible circumstances. It left the question, if it can do this here, what could it  do in a better environment?

In the SVS room, president Gary Yacoubian was beaming with pride and for good reason. His new PC-2000 subwoofer was belting the lower registers with premiere punch and power. The new Prime series speakers were also standout performers. The Prime Towers were showing to be deft and detailed, bearing a strong family resemblance to their Ultra Tower big brothers. At their $1000/pair price, they seem poised to continue SVS's high performance to price ratio. In a 5.1 setup, the Prime bookshelves and centre were kicking with astonishing musical authority and to further prove how much legitimate musical bang could be squeezed for the dollar, Mr. Yacoubian switched to the diminutive Prime Satellite 5.1 system. For a paltry $1000 including a 300-watt subwoofer, the system’s abilities were disproportionately good, articulate, muscular,and satisfying. Was this just on whiz bang effects movies? No, this was on concert material, so an impressive little powerhouse.

UK-based NEAT Acoustics had some surprising offerings. In the "I don't believe those are making that sound" category, the $1'200/pair IOTAs sounded seriously huge in comparison to their size. Combining a planarmagnetic ribbon tweeter with a tough little 100mm cone, it managed more refinement, dynamics and bass ability than the miniscule proportions would dictate. Pleasant surprise. The Motive line pushes up the financial scale to $2'000 for the SX3 bookshelf and $3'500 for the $SX1 floorstander, both offering standout dynamics and excellent extension as well as big soundstage and imaging. $4'500 brought the isobaric-loaded Momentum SX3 into the picture with all the trappings of bass authority and control that isobaric provides. Gutsy and emotionally compelling. Higher models as well. Higher prices too of course. Designer Bob Surgeoner did a fine job explaining the merits of his stable of loudspeakers. This room was a consistent standout.

Erikson Consumer's Revel and Arcam room were sporting some big gun, but in the corner they assembled a turntable-based little system with Focal speakers at the $5'000 point to show that the financially realistic audiophile need not be musically deprived. Unfortunately, Revel was holding a rapture session with their bigger fare at the time so hard to make a call.

Rachel Zhang of Grant Fidelity was proving their motto of 'High End, not high priced'. Aside from their excellent stable of highly competent and seriously built performers, the new Pure Audio Project Trio 15 TB  open baffle speaker from Israeli designer Ze’ev Schlik was a real crowd pleaser. Sporting two 15" Eminence Alpha 15a woofers and an 8" Tangband W8-1808 widebander, this passive affair proved to be a wonderful sample of the breed, intensely dynamic, with expressive mids and a decent bottom end. Imaging was big and bold. All for $3'500/pair. What’s the catch? It comes as a knockdown kit so some (relatively easy) assembly is required. Plus according to the designer, wood baffles and metal hardware are locally sourced. The display model as well as a good portion of Grant’s demo electronics were sold by Sunday. That should tell you something.