CES 2006

You know that stuff I said about how pointless the pre-show press conferences are? Well, not always—not, for example, when Jim Thiel has been busy. At last year's CES, Thiel practically levitated when he began describing the challenges of re-designing his CS3.6 floorstander, which has been in production since 1992. He described what he'd keep in the CS3.7 (first-order crossover; three-way design; short-coil/long gap motor design; coincident tweeter and midrange, time coherence;and aluminum diaphragms) and then he began waxing rhapsodic about how completely open that left his imagination.

I've always said that cables might be the most important component in a system—after all, without 'em, you don't get much sound out of the whole schmear. Avega Systems is doing its best to make a liar out of me with its Oyster wireless loudspeaker.

Others, not so much.

To be honest, I didn't give it much of a chance. I mean, especially after Jim Thiel's captivating presentation on the new CS3.7, the Philips press conference seemed like so much noise and swirling lights and fake boobs.

As more than 100,000 visitors fly in to Las Vegas for the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show, I thought I'd post this shot of an empty Alexis Park Hotel, home of the high-end audio exhibits, on the last day of the 2005 Show. Tomorrow, this joint will be jumping!