Gamut makes everything from source components to loudspeakers, so the Gamut room really <I>was</I> the Gamut room. Lars Goller designed the $14,800/pair l-7 three-way floorstanders and I was knocked out by how relaxed and natural acoustic music sounded though them. They looked fabulous, too.
They're so small, you'd almost have to bet they're class-D, but the $16,500/pair 300W MX-Rs are linear all the way. The tiny brutes were fed by Ayre's C-5xe universal player ($5950) and K-1x preamplifier ($8600 with phono section), and Ayre cables. The system, which included Vandersteen Quatro Wood speakers, sounded far more detailed and lithe than the MX-Rs did at CES. MAybe it's the smaller room, or maybe it's those Quatros. Heck, it could even be that Ayre's Charlie Hansen can't leave a good thing alone either.
Richard Vandersteen can't leave a good thing alone. He got to tinkering with his Quatro ($6995/pair, reviewed by Mikey Fremer in the forthcoming July issue of <I>Stereophile</I>) by replacing the fabric shells with wood, reinforcing the speaker's base with X material, and replacing the tweeter with the model from his 5 Signature. The result is a small, floorstanding loudspeaker with huge sound. The Quatro Woods run $10,000/pair.
I met Pete Roth, who owns an Ayre system, in, of all places, the Ayre/Vandersteen room, where he was checking out the MX-Rs. Pete says I'm his favorite <I>Stereophile</I> writer, so I'm now Pete's biggest fan. I posted his picture simply to prove to my wife that <I>someone</I> actually does read the stuff I'm always too busy working on to help with the chores.
Bagheera asks the question men everywhere dread. Of course I assured her she looked <I>muhvelous</I>.
Well, that's the twiddly bits inside <I>my</I> ears—a custom mold was taken by an audiologist so that Ultimate Ears could produce a pair of UE-10 Pros for me to review.
Huckleberry, locked in mortal combat with his deadly enemy, the piece of string.
Apple gets more press for products it hasn't even announced yet than most companies get for products they are actually <I>trying</I> to promote. Here's the scoop (maybe) on the gen 6 iPod.
Whether or not Matsumi Suzuki has recreated the voice of the woman who sat for the portrait we call the Mona Lisa, he has already been awarded an Ig-Nobel Prize.
HE2006's official keynote address was delivered by Gary Sasaki, president of DIGDIA, a company that helps companies understand the ways that digital entertainment creates growth opportunities for savvy businesspeople.