The NAD room was populated by a lot of tall men in suits—all of whom seemed dedicated to preserving and enhancing NAD's tradition of offering exceptionally high-value amplification, à la the legendary NAD 3020 integrated amp…

Wireworld introduced two new cables at CES: its Helicon 16 speaker cables (available in two versions), and Category 8 Ethernet cables (three models)…

It's safe to say our experiment bringing Jake Shimabukuro to CES this year as a live music reference worked out pretty well. Response was overwhelmingly positive and we're sifting through the comments and will start filing reports on each of the seven rooms we visited over the next week or so.

NAD's new music server and network player features WiFi and ethernet networking, 2 USB inputs, Bluetooth AptX along with a CD slot on the front for either ripping or simply playing a disc. Inside are two 2TB hard drives--one for storing music and the other for automatic backup in case the first one fails. There is no DAC inside, so outputs include SPDIF, AES/EBU and optical along with HDMI.

But where things get interesting...

When asked what was new this year, Nagra's Rene LaFlamme motioned me over to the company's HD DAC and noted that there are now two power supply options along with some other smaller changes. LaFlamme stressed that this is not a MKII version, but "just an evolution" of the product and that another update is coming.

Classé was keeping information about their "in development" Delta Preamp/DAC close to their vest. But I was able to pry a few tidbits: price will be below $10,000, it will replace the CP-800, and it should appear sometime around May or June.

Who knows why somebody decided to put a mattress company between Aaudio Imports and AudioQuest. Their door was closed each time I passed by. Maybe they were napping.

French manufacturer Metronome has created a new music server that General Manager Jean Marie Clauzel says is intended for people transitioning from CD to high resolution files. The Music Center is built around a custom built computer and operating system that can handle all PCM data rates and up to double DSD.

SweetVinyl is a new company from Mountain View, California and was displaying their first two digital products: Sugarcube SC-1 and SC-2.

The SC-1 is a simple 24/192 ADC and DAC that removes clicks and pops from your records, and can be inserted between your phono stage and preamp (or through a monitor loop) and uses an "artificial intelligence" rule-based system to find and eliminate clicks. The company stresses that this is not simply some kind of digital filter, and the SC-1 will not alter the tonal characteristics of the recording.

Harmonic Resolution Systems (HRS) showed its new top-of-the-line VXR Audio Stand ($25,000-$31,000 for a four-shelf stand). The VXR, which sports a new frame system, lets the user adjust the amount of space between each component shelf…