I started my first day at CES at the Immedia room, where Allen Perkins had a typically (for Immedia) great-sounding system, chock full of new gear—some so new that it doesn't even exist yet, as a product anyway. Starting from the top, there was the second-generation Spiral Groove SG-1.1 turntable fitted with a "production" version of his new tonearm. In this case, "production" means either "honestly, truly the very last prototype before production" or "the genuine first production version...that only differs from what we'll be shipping in a couple of non-functional details" take your pick. Either way, Immedia will begin shipping the arm immediately after the show.

The arm resembles the RPM arm from a few years back and is a unipivot design, but that's about as far as the similarities go. A blog, even one as wordy as mine, isn't the place to go into detail on Allen's new arm, but suffice it to say that it's a very clever bit of engineering. Watch for a review by Michael Fremer in a coming issue.

The rest of the system included a Lyra Titani cartridge, the two-chassis Lehman phono preamp, prototype Spiral Groove electronics, and a pair of the second-generation Sonics Allegra speakers.