CES 2019

"They expect 180,000 people this year," the Lyft driver told me as we headed to the Strip shortly after sunset. "That's 10,000 more than last year!"

Does that mean there will be 10,000 more gadgets on display?

One thing's for certain: there will be far less to see on the floors of the Venetian Hotel, which "high performance audio" once called home. The last time I glanced at a site map, there were only 25–27 high performance exhibit rooms scattered over three floors. In addition, I know of only two companies that are exhibiting off-site, and no High Resolution Pavilion where multiple companies will display in the main convention center. This is an even poorer showing than in 2018—and a sure sign that even the most diehard CES loyalists may not return in 2020.

To a show that much of the audio press has decided is not worth covering, Stereophile has sent but one blogger—me. No suite where we present our annual awards and give out free magazines, no hanging around with John Atkinson, Jon Iverson, and others. Given that I intend to cover everything in three days, and that there's not much more to cover than at the smallest of regional audio shows, there's no need for anything more.

Whether or not CES is dead—a mantra that many repeated over and over on Facebook—it sure looks as though, for high-end audio, it's on its last legs.

More to come…