LATEST ADDITIONS

Dynaudio has rethunk its midlevel Focus line, wrapping the cabinets in real veneers rather than the woodgrained vinyl of the original series. They sure is purty.

Jon Iverson ponders where he's seen that speaker shape before. He's pretty sure it wasn't in this booth, with the suspicous company name "Forgings Industry."

It was nice to see <I>Audiolab</I> products again&mdash;simple components with simple livery, not the stylish, but incomprehensible faceplates of the products manufactured after TAG Mclaren acquired the firm. Jon Iverson, Stephen Mejias, and I didn't get a chance to hear the new 8000Q preamplifier, 8000M 125W mono amplifier, 8000P 100Wpc stereo amplifier, 8000CD CD player, or 8000S 60Wps integrated amplifier ("all priced under $1000, we hope"), but we <I>wanna</I>. They ship in March. We can't wait.

RR's Keith O. Johnson and Jan Mancuso celebrate 30 years of great sound with a handful of recent releases.

I don't enjoy feeling like an <a href="http://www.wordspy.com/words/ignoranus.asp">ignoranus</a&gt;, but that's exactly how I feel after spending a day at the Convention Center during CES. The word "hate" keeps coming to mind. As in: "I hate it." But I don't think I really hate it. As I told JI, during one of my many pouts, I'm sure the experience is good for something. I just don't know what it's good for.

I finally found a dog that doesn't make me sneeze.

Shure's Christian Potts entertained Jon Iverson, Stephen Mejias, and me with his description of the company's high-end E4 ($299) ear buds, which utilize a two transducer system, but he really tantalized us with preliminary information about the E500 ($499), a <I>three</I> transducer in-ear monitor. I shamelessly begged for a demo pair, but Potts told me that John Atkinson had scheduled a session for tomorrow, so I probably won't get no sat<I>is</I>faction&mdash;but I'm (ahem) shure we'll enjoying reading about his adventures with them.

Orb's Curt Van Inwegen explains how his company's software allows you to access your music collection on your home PC from anywhere in the world. All that's required is a connected web browser or a connected device that plays audio and Orb's service. What this means is that instead of having to carry your collection of tunes on an iPod or as a batch of CDs, you store them all on your home music server and leave them there. If you are at a pal's house and want them to hear that tune you are describing, you can use your pal's computer to call it up and play it on his system. Seems like the obvious step beyond using an iPod to carry your collection around.

Tucked within the madness of the "Zoo," as the Las Vegas Convention Center is called by its inmates, Krell assembled a temple of high-end heavy metal. Jon Iverson, Stephen Mejias, and I steered Primedia's Greg Nevins over to the monoblock Evolution One 450W power amplifiers ($50,000/pair) and Evolution Two preamplifiers ($40,000/pair), assuming they were Krell's newest additions. <I>Au contraire</I>, Todd Eichenbaum assured us, Krell was introducing 10 (!) new models at the show&mdash;a new line called EVO, which replaces the CAST line with components containing trickle-down technology from the Evolution flagship products.