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“I recognize those speakers,” I thought to myself as I entered Cary Audio’s room. They were ADAM Audio’s Column MK3 towers ($7500/pair), that Kalman Rubinson had very favorably reviewed in August 2012. New in the room was Cary’s promising DAC-100T tubed D/A processor ($2995), which uses an ESS Sabre 9023 DAC chip with a USB input using an XMOS USB chip running Gordon Rankin’s Streamlength asynchronous code. There are also two each coaxial and TosLink S/PDIF inputs and both balanced and single-ended analog outputs.

I was familiar with the glass-cabinet Waterfall speakers in Room 239, but not the brightly colored speakers flanking them, from Arizonan company Emme Speakers. The white speakers are the New Gamma ($30,000/pair), the red ones the New Beta ($12,000/pair). Offering “Fashion and Passion,” the Emme speakers are available in 24 designer colors from two retailers, in Arizona and Malibu, CA.

I still remember how much I enjoyed the sound of hi-rez files decoded by MSB’s DAC, when it resided briefly in my system after I performed the measurements to accompany Jon Iverson’s review last October. So MSB’s room at the Atrium was one of my first stops. A pair of YG Anat 3 Signature speakers with Billet-Core midrange units and woofers was being driven by MSB’s S200 200Wpc, zero-feedback, class-A amplifier ($17,995) and source was the Platinum Data CD IV transport. However, the bits were being converted to analog not with the Diamond DAC but MSB’s new “entry-level” Analog DAC ($6995 with standard outboard power supply, $9990 with upgraded Analog Power Supply, which shares the same form factor and is shown sitting underneath the DAC), which is said to offer “a generous percentage of MSB’s technology.”

Chicago retailer Tweak Studio has been a fixture at the 2013 shows, and proprietor Arnold Martinez was demming a system featuring Elac 249 Black Edition speakers ($8000/pair) driven by a Burmester 911 amplifier ($31,000), Esoteric C-03X preamplifier, Burmester A/D phono preamplifier ($26,500), and Music Hall MMF-11 turntable fitted with a Goldring Legacy cartridge ($600). Wiring was all WireWorld Platinum series and the racks was a Stillpoints. The L-shaped lobby-level room had problematic acoustics, which Martinez had addressed by firing the Elac speakers, with their AMT tweeter and distinctive faceted lower-frequency drivers, across a diagonal, A dub version of Bob Marley’s “Waiting In Vain,” played from LP, was musically convincing.

Because the show was too big for one person to see it all, Jason Serinus and I split our responsibilities: he would cover the Hilton and I would cover the Atrium Hotel, plus some of the rooms at the Hilton that he failed to visit. The first room I visited at the Atrium was the large ballroom on the mezzanine featuring Dynaudio’s new Evidence Platinum loudspeaker ($85,000/pair). Did I say “large”? I meant to write “enormous”! The room was way too big, but with acoustic treatment from Vicoustic, the system produced much better sound than I was anticipating. I listened to Jeff Buckley’s “Lilac Wine” (from Grace), Bill Evans in hi-rez, and a live Dutch recording from David Crosby with an electric band performing a song called “Morrison”; with all three recordings, the imaging was solid and tangible, the low frequencies rich but well-defined, and the midrange uncolored.

I welcomed the opportunity to hear M•A Recordings' very first LP, La Segunda, through Steve Norber's ear-opening PranaFidelity Model Fifty90 loudspeaker ($3950/pair). Through the symmetrical array 2-way vented design, I heard good bass, captivating depth, and plentiful air. In short, Todd Garfinkle's LP, sourced from high-resolution digital masters, sounded great.

When I entered the darkened PrimaLuna inner sanctum, I was assaulted by bombast masquerading as music. “What is this?” I asked. “The Avatar soundtrack,” was the reply.

Heaven help us all.