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Blue Light Special

I never fail to check out Jonathan Tinn's Blue Light Audio systems. He's a past master of system set-up, so his rooms always sound special. This year's was no exception.

In the middle of the room was the definitely non-UL-approved test-bench prototype of darTZeel's soon-to-come 1000W NHB-458 monoblock amps (price tbd) that have so alarmed some readers. The actual working components centered around DarTZeel's new 350Wpc CTH-8550 integrated amplifier ($20,300)—but you also get an MC phono stage for that price.

The source was Playback Designs' MPS-5 Reference SACD/CD player…

Good Vibes

Frank Cheng's Acoustic System International now produces LiveLine cabling. Combining acoustic resonator technology with super thin, solid-core wire, the cabling is composed of different segments that contain wires made from different metals that are ultimately soldered together at 850 degrees. The RCA interconnect costs $995 (length not stipulated in the press materials), XLR interconnect $1450, 1.8m power cable $995, and 2.4m speaker cable $1750. One online publication gave each of these cables a product of the year award.

These cables were displayed in the Avatar Acoustics room,…

Magic in the Midrange

Richard Vandersteen showed me the new midrange unit he designed for the Vandersteen 7. The cone is a sandwich of balsa wood between two carbon-fiber skins, the voice-coil is titanium, and most notably, there is almost nothing in the skeletal chassis that would obstruct the cone's rear-wave.

The Vandersteen Seven

A new speaker from Vandersteen Audio doesn't happen very often—Richard Vandersteen introduced his Model 2 in 1977 and the 2009 CES witnessed the debut of the Model 7, which, at $45,000/pair is the most expensive speaker ever from the frugal Mr. V.

But for that price, you get a feast of loudspeaker technology: As well as the new midrange unit described in my other Vandersteen blog entry, the new speaker offers active, equalized woofers using the same carbon-fiber/balsa-cone material, a fully balanced crossover, and an enclosure based on an carbon-fiber shell, finished in high-gloss…

Ongaku Means Ecstasy

JA caught up with me at the Blue Light Audio room and suggested we saunter down to hear the 25Wpc Audio Note Ongaku integrated amplifier ($95,000) featured in his photograph above. Yes that's a jaw-dropping price, even after four days of CES. The Ongaku has five line level inputs. It employs two NOS VT4-C (211) tubes, an original NOS Telefunken 6463, and two NOS 5R4WGB rectifiers. Audio Note builds it own silver-wired driver transformer on a double AN-Perma nickel C-core. AN tantalum resistors, Black Gate electrolytics, and another silver wired transformer (output this time) complete the…

Vivid Vivids

Although it was shown in protype form at the 2008 CES, the Giya from South African manufacturer Vivid ($58,000/pair) is now in production and was being demmed in US distributor On A Higher Note's penthouse suite at the Mirage hotel with Luxman amplification, Nordost Odin cabling, Quantum power conditioning, and open-reel tapes from The Tape Project's second batch of releases played back on a Tim de Paravicini-modified Technics deck.

The Giya's composite enclosure may look strange but it is a strict case of form following function: the twin side-firing woofers are each loaded by a…

Boulder 1021 Disc Player

I'm still amazed at the sheer number of new high-end CD players announced at this show. Either someone didn't get the memo about the disc format's impending demise, or else we've entered that phase, as with turntables, that playback advances will continue to win new customers with big collections.

Boulder's new $24,000 1021 is a case in point. An on-board computer buffers the data coming off the transport and manipulates everything in software. The large and easy-to-read front panel display has a small gray bar at the bottom to indicate how much data is ahead in the buffer ahead as…

Rappin' Up in a Down Year

At the end of every CES, we struggle to find the underlying themes that bind the show to the industry and the world at large. The overwhelming theme this year was the economy. Attendance was down—the official estimate was 10% off of last year's, but everyone I spoke with snorted in derision at that figure.

How down was it? Halls were navigable, even on Saturday, the busiest day. Taxis queues were less than 10 minutes, down from up to an hour last year. And, while restaurants were crowded, I saw one manufacturer book at table for six at the wildly popular Bouchon for Saturday night…

<i>Lights</i>

When I was younger, in my teens and early twenties, it happened all the time. On a whim, I'd go out to a small rock venue, and be absolutely shocked, ignited, devastated by some young, unknown band. Afterwards, I was always too shy to speak to the musicians, but, if I had any extra cash on me, I'd be sure to head to the merch' table and pick up a demo, maybe even buy a button or t-shirt. The feeling was as intoxicating and brilliant as New York City's snow-covered streets on a sunny winter day. This band was now yours to have and to hold, to love and to cherish, from this day…

Why New Orleans Matters

As soon as we pulled up, I knew that this was gonna be the highlight of my trip to New Orleans. When the door to Snake and Jakes Christmas Club Lounge swung open, I got tears in my eyes as I beheld the kind of unclean, unsafe booze shack that I've wasted many an hour in.

One glance told you that this place was trouble incarnate, a serious dive, which I took as a very good sign. A low slung, half–falling down concrete building with no sign and Christmas lights twinkling outside, this utterly depraved den (in a residential neighborhood no less) effortlessly radiated the kind of pure…