Robert Deutsch

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Ask the Editors
SSI 2011
Robert Deutsch  |  Apr 06, 2011  |  2 comments
John Atkinson (right), Art Dudley (center), and I had a good time at Stereophile's "Ask the Editors" session on Saturday afternoon, and, judging by the response, so did the people who asked the questions. The questions ranged from the general/philosophical, like whether it makes sense to use the "absolute sound" of unamplified music as the only reference in evaluating audio components, and the specific/technical, like the advantages/disadvantages of USB connections for high-performance audio.
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Legacy Whispers
SSI 2011
Robert Deutsch  |  Apr 06, 2011  |  0 comments
Are you in the market for a giant-sized speaker but your wallet is not correspondingly giant-sized? Then check out the Legacy Whisper XD. Weighing 210 lbs, 63"x17"x13", the Whisper XD is for large spaces, and the somewhat bass-heavy sound at SSI suggested that it was not feeling quite at home in the small hotel room. The price is $20,000/pair—not exactly spare change, but you get a lot for your money: a 10-driver system with four 15" subwoofers, four 7" Rohacell-reinforced midwoofers, a 3" ribbon midrange, and a ribbon tweeter. The system includes a DSP crossover with room correction.
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LSA Makes a Statement
SSI 2011
Robert Deutsch  |  Apr 06, 2011  |  0 comments
For big speakers, like the Legacy Whisper XD in the story below, the problem in setting up an effective demo in a show environment is that the room may be too small for the speaker. And then for speakers that are more modestly sized, if they're demonstrated in a big room, the speaker may not be able to play loud enough and the bass response may not be sufficiently powerful for the big space. The LSA (Living Sounds Audio) Group's demo featured the LSA2 Statement ($5999/pair) speakers driven by their own LSA Standard tube hybrid integrated amp ($6200) . . .
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Essential Espresso
SSI 2011
Robert Deutsch  |  Apr 06, 2011  |  0 comments
What comes next after Son and Image? Café, of course. SSI had the Nespresso line of espresso makers on demo, complete with free samples of espresso. Essential fuel for the weary show blogger!
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Dynaudio's Esotar tweeter
SSI 2011
Robert Deutsch  |  Apr 06, 2011  |  2 comments
I have a lot of respect for Dynaudio speakers, and have enjoyed listening to them at various shows, but I've never been as taken with one of their speakers as I was with the new Confidence C1 Mk.II ($8200/pair). With Naim amplification and digital source (including a Squeezebox Touch), the sound was simply exquisite, with highs that were revealing and yet not clinical. The legendary Esotar2 tweeter (shown in the photo) has apparently undergone some evolutionary development, and continues to maintain its status as the best dome tweeter in the world.
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Naim
SSI 2011
Robert Deutsch  |  Apr 06, 2011  |  0 comments
Venerable British audio manufacturer, Naim, has an almost-equally-venerable new Canadian distributor, Plurison. Headed by the genial Daniel Jacques—on the right in the photo, with Doug Graham, Naim's International Export Manager on the left—Plurison's list of distributed brands includes Focal, Mordaunt-Short, MartinLogan, Pathos, YBA, Micromega, and a host of others. It must put Jacques in a quandary when he has to decide what product to take home to listen to on the weekend!
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Caroline St-Louis
SSI 2011
Robert Deutsch  |  Apr 06, 2011  |  1 comments
The Give Band's Caroline St-Louis at last Thursday night's concert.
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SSI's Blue-Haired Staff
SSI 2011
Robert Deutsch  |  Apr 05, 2011  |  0 comments
I don't know who came up with the idea of having the female SSI staff wear blue wigs—as they have been doing for the past two years—but I think the idea was a brilliant one. The blue wigs not only make the staff instantly identifiable, but they communicate a sense of fun, and that's just what the show is. It also helps that the staff are unfailingly pleasant and cheerful.
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Record Buyers Aux 33 Tours
SSI 2011
Robert Deutsch  |  Apr 05, 2011  |  0 comments
Although many (maybe most) of the demos at the 2011 SSI were computer-based, vinyl continued to have a presence, notably in the Aux 33 Tours room, which had an excellent assortment of LPs for sale. And not all the people showing an interest in LPs were old fogeys, as the photo illustrates.
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Audio Sensibility
SSI 2011
Robert Deutsch  |  Apr 05, 2011  |  0 comments
To exhibit at CES, you'd better have deep pockets, and while, to a lesser extent, the same is true about exhibiting in the large rooms at SSI, the venue also permits small companies to set up displays in the nooks and crannies of the hotel corridor, with correspondingly lower price tags. Audio Sensibility offers a line of high-end audio and video cables that use Ohno Continuous Cast (OCC) copper and silver wire, Furutech connectors, cryogenic treatment of all wire and connectors, Mundorf silver-gold and supreme silver-gold solder, and their own custom-manufactured stainless-steel connector bodies.
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