Quote:
Is it just me or does it seem that there's not too many new products that really grab you this year? I should wait for the full report, but from the Stereophile coverage, I could find nothing that really incited audio-lust in me... seems kind of like that on the gadget front this year, too. Attendance-wise, too, they say '09 is an off year...

How can we get excited about stuff that grabs us when the mean price of the products being covered is approx. $40,000?

I have been a subscriber to Stereophile for awhile now. As I read reviews for products costs $10,000, $20,000 and a lot more I ask myself "is there really that much of a substantial difference in sound or is it marketing". That is, if you take a pare of $5,000 speakers and match them against a pair of $40,000 speakers can you really hear an a difference that is worth $35,000? After purchasing my Emotiva components and listening to other high end components at my audio dealer with my same speakers my answer is NO. Remember though all audio writers tell you "let your ear be your guide". But for me even though I love music and have a really big collection of music to spend that much money makes no sense even if I was making a lot more money. http://www.hifirotation.com

Right on Self! There are two threads with the "this stuff is a rip off" already going. Why try to hijack another thread who's message is distinctly different?

Personally I'm excited by the Ayre DAC with USB that they think will cost about $2,500. Ayre's digital know how could be at the end of a DIY music server?! To me that is very exciting. The CX7 and the C5 (which have both been upgraded according to the blog) are absolutely killer CD players so it stands to reason that the DAC will be a strong contender.

I think that less manufacturers are "holding" products to introduce at CES. Even though CEDIA is more about home theater, custom install, and whole home audio many of the big high end manufacturers have been starting to see that show as a great place to make a big splash with major introductions too. Add in the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest and T.H.E show and all of the sudden the announcements get a bit deluded. Many manufactures would like to see CES loose it's status as the dominant show because it's so expensive and such a hassle to attend. Many of them feel obligated to attend because their dealers will be there and their competition is there.

Threads have a way off going off in different directions, but your point is well-taken, Self. My apologies.

So, keeping with the point of your thread, the one product that I am most excited about that was covered is the Peachtree Nova. A preamp section that runs in Class A, a power amp section that puts out high amounts of current, and a world class DAC that on paper appears to be better than anything out there. And integration with HDTV with a HT bypass.

Not only am I excited about this product, but I think it's the most innovative one that debuted.

Something that seemed to be missing was virtually any coverage of any related to analog reproduction. With the resurgence in vinyl, I would have thought there would be something mentioned, but there was irtually no coverage of turntables, cartridges, etc, instead, a lot of coverage on DACs and CD related devices. And Magic Wands.

I am going to ask a really dumb question...just where are these threads from CES?

Front page (www.stereophile.com) titled "Show Report CES 2009." Sometimes I miss things on the front page too because I come directly to the forums or the blogs.

Quote:

Something that seemed to be missing was virtually any coverage of any related to analog reproduction.

Rather than blogging from CES, Michael Fremer was going room-to-room checking out analog products to discuss in forthcoming columns and reviews for the magazine.

Sorry did not mean to hijack the thread. I spent a day at CES as I used to work for Sony and spent a lot of time at the hotels with high end audio. Overall there was nothing "major" but when I asked them about business a lot of them said "right now it's bad, really bad". In fact one rep told me that he believes some of his accounts are going to shutter the doors.

However I talked to an engineer from Sony who is from Japan and we had an interesting conversation about the back end. It seems that very soon new technology will be available to to remaster old analog recordings like never before. The basic conversion process is going to be changed and recordings will sound fresh and here is a kicke, he said that digital harshness will become a trait for the past.

In the speaker area it seems that now mfgs are making a statement with new designs that go from flat out weird to something out of the museum of modern art. I made a point to listen to some Revel speakers that for the money ($20K) are damn good. Also since Levinson was sold they continue to showcase more models of integrated amps and CD players.

"It seems that very soon new technology will be available to to remaster old analog recordings like never before...and here's the kicker, digital harshness will become a trait for the past."

That's pretty ironic because digital harshness is already a" trait for the past." Has been for some time. More to the real point, the digital harshness was never in the CD itself, or in the mastering. That's the big surprise. :-)

But best of luck to him, nevertheless.

GK

Just what I need..to repurchase my CD's with new sound mastering.