I hadn't heard a high-efficiency paper cone single-driver loudspeaker prior to this show. The Second Rethm loudspeakers ($7,500 with Lowther DX drivers) made listening to "Most of the Time" from the soundtrack to Masked and Anonymous an ultra-suave experience, featuring a lovely midrange just like the voice of Sophie Zelmani! I did catch a glimpse of the Fifth Rethm loudspeakers ($1,500 with custom Peerless 6" drivers). If the Fifth comes at all close to the performance of the Second, it is severely underpriced! Both speakers look splendid.


In the Audio Note UK room, Peter Qvortrup was delivering his business manifesto to an interviewer while an LP of solo piano music played in the background. Peter clearly knows his customer base and intends to keep a steady course in difficult economic times. I tried to listen to the conversation but kept getting pulled into listening to the piano. Because of this, the Audio Note room gets my vote for best musical representation of a piano at the show!

I was very excited by what I saw in the Electrocompaniet/Talon audio room. Actually, what caught my eye was off to the side and in the back away from the Electrocompaniet and Talon system but I was still excited. Apparently MJ Acoustics has found a distributor in the States. I have only read about these subwoofers in UK magazines so far. I hope that their prices are competitive with other subwoofer manufacturers because I would love to hear what these subs can do. The new Reference 200 subwoofer (for about $1,600) includes a microphone (to set and adjust the sub) and a remote control. The sub can be programmed with up to four bass settings. Do you want to use your sub with movies, classical music, jazz and spoken word recordings without having to spend a lot of time changing settings? This sub has you covered.


Being around so many different people at the CES and T.H.E. show was inspiring to me. I was tempted to walk along the central walkway with my voice recorder, capturing the ambient sounds of raindrops and many different human voices speaking Chinese, Dutch, Russian, French and other languages I have not heard before.


Exhibition Blues
Observing the exhibitors taught me how much effort, timing and careful planning go into each exhibit. I learned about some of the challenges of show conditions. It starts with carefully coordinating the shipment (or driving) of equipment to the hotel, gutting a hotel room of all furnishings except for any sofas or chairs and setting up one room for listening and another room (with a second music/HT system) for clinching deals with distributors/dealers. Many exhibitors set up brochure displays and a comfortable space to sit and work in (usually the kitchenette area). All equipment must be tested to ensure that nothing was damaged during shipment, and some components are so new that they need time to settle in to their new environments (hopefully before the show ends).


Also, speaker manufacturers must coordinate with electronics manufacturers and cable manufacturers to have all of everyone's equipment displayed properly. If they are lucky, these components will actually sound musical together. The equipment must be arranged to maximize the sonic effect within the limited acoustic space. Some of the larger speakers looked ridiculously constrained in the smaller rooms. Imagine how tough John Wayne would look driving a Mazda Miata! Not only is stray noise from the nearby airport a potential threat but it is also tough to listen for musical refinement in one room while the room next door is crunching decibels with a drum track. Adding acoustic room treatments takes time and care. However, because multiple people are responsible for each room, the sound system will never be tweaked the same way twice.


Making the room look nice takes even more planning. Not everyone appreciates looking at those permanent headboards attached to hotel walls! Thankfully, many exhibitors brought their own plants, lighting and decorative screens for their displays and others hung black material from the ceiling to cover the walls.


Because the weather was chilly and damp (which I'm told is rare for Las Vegas), I noticed that different rooms were set to completely different temperatures, from South American rainforest to Arctic tundra. Add to this a steady flow of visitors and nosy reviewers shambling between rooms without wiping their feet.


In my opinion, the cigar and cigarette smokers are also a hazard. Nothing sounds good when you have a second-hand smoke headache. These conditions make it extremely challenging for exhibitors to present the unique audio perspective of their components. It is amazing that so many of the rooms were able to sound musical.


CES addendum
Paul Candy asked me how CES was and I told him it was huge! The main halls of the CES Convention Center exhibition were filled with spotlights, TV screens, tinny sounding speakers and speakers that go "boo!' I say "boo" because I didn't hear a single properly enunciated bass tone on the entire CES floor. Even the testosterone-injected car audio exhibits sounded slightly emasculated in this fiercely competitive acoustical space. Aside from the audible noise, the visual noise of display screens filled almost every available space of the hall. Apparently, if you add a TV to whatever you're selling, people will buy it.

Visiting the Chinese/Taiwanese exhibition booths was a little disconcerting. I saw what looked like cheap knockoffs of loudspeakers by Gallo (except the housings on stalks were cone-shaped rather than ball-shaped) and Usher (simulated wood grain cheeks are no substitute for the real thing). I have absolutely no idea how these knockoffs sound because I arrived in the late afternoon on Sunday when all of the exhibitors had to clear out. Instead I got to hear (and smell) freshly peeled shipping tape while an entire show floor was torn down, boxed up and rolled out. I took the hint and promptly headed the "freaking right way" back to the shuttle and, eventually, my room.

What you gamble in Vegas stays in Vegas.
As mentioned earlier, I reserved Monday for sightseeing. Since my hotel was across from the MGM, I decided to

focus on as much of the strip as I could visit from the Monorail. I saw the flamingoes at the Flamingo, the white tiger at the Mirage, the incredible excess of Caesar's Palace (which must be seen to be believed) and took the elevator up the Eiffel tower to watch the fountains at the Bellagio. At the Mirage, I gambled $60 and lost $5 and later gambled $40 and lost $20 at Harrah's. When in doubt, stop. So I stopped. So much for my career as a professional gambler!


My return flight was rough. By the time I boarded my last plane to Raleigh, I was so hungry that I contemplated starting a revolt. You see, the people in first class got hot dinners that smelled exactly like the in-flight meals everyone used to get in the early 1980s. Everyone packed in Coach only got a 4-ounce cup of soda and a ½ ounce bag of pretzels. I also had to endure the in-flight movie without sound (I didn't bring headphones) and two episodes of Everybody Loves Reruns. Of course my experience was significantly less harrowing and uncomfortable than the trial by Tiger described in Life of Pi but Pi Patel never had to confront a ½ ounce bag of pretzels!


As the plane flew through the evening sky over North Carolina, I could see the city where I live through the small window. I tried not to laugh. It was pitch dark with only a few orange or green streetlights peeking through the abyss. It looked so primitive compared to the fantastic lights of Las Vegas. When I walked into work the next day, I half expected to see people wearing animal skins and wielding stone axes.


Pearls of wisdom
I was very happy to return home to my wife and daughter and share hugs, kisses, gifts, pictures and stories. Thanks to Srajan for the fun meal at P.F. Chang's, the 6moons golf shirt and the M.A. recordings CD! Thanks to the writers who comprise a unique group of highly creative talent! And finally, thanks to my wife for her encouragement.


This trip was a worthwhile experience for me and I learned many things about the universe and my place in it. Because my wife told me to bet on eleven, here are eleven pearls of wisdom that specifically relate to my journey through the CES and T.H.E. shows.

  • Pearl #1: No matter how good you think the system will sound, avoid playing low-level recordings when the room next door is demonstrating dynamic range.
  • Pearl #2: Making reviewers deaf will not guarantee a sparkling review although it may thin the herd.
  • Pearl #3: Everyone complains about one-note bass in car audio. No one complains about annoying recordings of drum solos played during hi-end demonstrations. I don't know why.
  • Pearl #4: There is no such thing as a free lunch but there are plenty of audiophiles ready to enjoy one. A big thank you to the show organizers of T.H.E. Show!
  • Pearl #5: There are some really nice people in the home audio business. They are usually surrounded by people who respect and genuinely care about them. Anthony Gallo and Dr. Hsu come to mind. There are others.
  • Pearl #6: Know your business market. Peter Qvortrup of Audio Note certainly does. Power to him!
  • Pearl #7: Buy and break in a new pair of comfortable shoes before the show. There's a reason that showgirls in Las Vegas have great legs.
  • Pearl #8: There's no place like home. Seeing a huge show like CES will make you appreciate the merits of your music system and inspire you to continue tweaking. The show reassured me that they system I have built is audibly headed in the right direction.
  • Pearl #9: Frank Sinatra on an Ampex reel-to-reel player sounds really good (no pun intended).
  • Pearl #10: A closed door will not open by itself. This applies to both exhibitors and attendees.
  • Pearl #11: There are many different ways to achieve musical satisfaction. Setting up your stereo in a hotel room is not one of them.