Searching for the sensible products at CES 2006.

CES grows each year. Despite a major renovation to the Las Vegas Convention Center that almost doubled it size a few years ago, a major percentage of CES is again off-site. With a record 120,000 people in town traveling between off-site venues and the convention center, you wind up throwing away an hour of show time in traffic back and forth, which is not a viable option given the limited show time. While 35 hours of show time might sound like plenty of time, consider that a proper visit to a vendor can run at least 15 minutes, 30 minutes if the meeting includes some listening and a discussion with the engineers. This report is thus far from comprehensive.

Our hobby is bifurcating between the consumer most concerned with home theater and the wacky world of high end audio. This is not good news for the sensible audiophile interested in two-channel reproduction. The Alexis Park is where CES says "high performance audio exhibits" are located. The hotel is composed of suites of rooms that have a size and shape that makes critical listening possible, at least when they are empty of other visitors.

Next door is the St. Tropez. Identical in layout, it is not an official CES site, but little difference exists between the two hotels for the vendors besides more traffic at the Alexis Park. In past years, the high end fringe stayed at the St. Tropez along with other companies that could not afford the tab to demonstrate at a CES-sanctioned site, but this year almost all the rooms in the Alexis Park consisted of equipment from what would have been thought of as the loony fringe a few years ago.

Giant turntables connected through some fancy cable to tube equipment and a small floorstanding cone speaker system was the norm this year. On average, three separate manufacturers would be in one room. For example, one would be supplying the speakers, another would supply the phono cartridge, and the third would be demonstrating the electronics or some cables. With 300 rooms between the two hotels, the number of manufacturers was approaching 1,000.

As far as I can tell, the smaller companies do not go out of business. I see the same names each year, but new companies keep sprouting up. Reasonably priced phono gear and electronics just do not exist at these hotels now. The better-known brands such as Bryston introduced new equipment at higher price points. Trying to find a US-made stereo amp and preamp with a phono section for a $1,000 seems to be impossible now. High performance audio exhibits, as CES puts it, have translated to high-priced audio exhibits.

I have no idea who purchases all this stuff, but I think much of the business is offshore. It is hard to imagine that most of the companies exhibiting below the top 50 could have more than 25 customers a year, but maybe that is all you need if the average selling price of your product is $50,000.

It was impossible to cover the Alexis Park and St. Tropez in four days even if you do not set foot in the main convention center. Upon entering almost all of the rooms you could smell the tube equipment before you saw it. One would think that one sniff and it would be off to the next room to save time, but it is not so simple. Since home theater has peeled away most of the rational customers from high end dealerships, everybody else walking around the Alexis Park expected to see vinyl and tubes. As a result, if you are a new speaker manufacturer with, say, a highly innovative cone design, you need high end dealers to find your room and place orders. To get high end dealers in the room, you would need to have tubes and vinyl in the room even if you thought the whole thing was baloney.

A good example would be Joseph Audio, which has gone the vinyl and tube route depite an innovative crossover network that one could hear even if the speakers were driven with a miniature executive system. With everybody using vinyl and tubes, finding the "white hats" becomes impossible. You really have to visit each room and spend at least 5 minutes to find out whether anything innovative is hiding in the room. In the past, I have always unearthed a few interesting companies, such as DEQX, which first demonstrated their prototype DSP crossover system five years ago at the Alexis Park--but not this year.

In the end, I saw nothing that could not be seen on the main CES floor, although a couple of large manufacturers were showing equipment on the main floor dry (no playing) and also demonstrating at the Alexs Park. Pioneer was an example. In the middle of the large demo area on the main floor was a series of Pioneer high end speakers (the EX Series) with coaxial units for the midrange and tweeter. Pioneer has apparently spent significant R&D dollars to develop these speakers. Much of the development was done in French R&D labs. At the Alexis Park, you could actually hear them (no tubes or vinyl in this room) and talk to the engineering staff. With zero traffic in the room (no tubes or vinyl, remember), I got to spend time with the engineering staff, which appears to be extremely competent, and take an extend listen to the speakers. I came away with the feeling that Pioneer could have a successful product, but is unclear how they will find the customers in the US given the current mindset of the high end dealers.

On the main floor I started my hunt for DSP-based loudspeakers. With the success of NHT and Phase Technology, I expected to find a bunch of DSP-based speakers. The AES convention in September gave hints that things were about to break loose with professional speakers from JBL, Dynaudio, and Focal. Unfortunately, none of these companies brought a consumer version to CES. Other companies that indicated last year they had DSP speakers in development showed no products this year. Over and over I heard that high end consumers did not want speakers with integrated amplifiers and DSP processing. That has not stopped the early adapters, though, who are now getting excellent press from many high end magazines. When the improvements are this dramatic, it is impossible to ignore them even if the speaker itself beats to a different drummer.

Phase Technology is now shipping the dARTS 5-channel DSP speaker system. This year they incorporated the professional version of the Audyssey room EQ system. The dARTS speaker requires professional installation. The actual Audyssey software is resident on a PC that the installer brings to the installation site. Once the optimal filter coefficients are computed, they are downloaded to the DSP processors that are part of the dARTS hardware. The Audyssey software then walks out the door with the installer. It sounded like a good way to keep Audyssey licensing costs down and ensure that the complex speaker system was optimally installed. I found it interesting that this company with a 50-year history under the founder was still at the vanguard of the industry, while companies that were three months old demonstrated 50-year-old technology at the Alexis Park.

Happier days have arrived at NHT. They have a new owner, Vinci Labs. The old owner, Rockford Corporation, decided to exit the home market to concentrate on car audio. Vinci Labs is an engineering company responsible for the design of many of the DSP boards used in very high end AV controllers. This is the first time they have ventured into the final goods market. An AV controller under the NHT brand was shown. Unique was its ability to equalize the NHT passive speakers. One selected from a menu the NHT loudspeaker one owned and then the AV controller loaded the appropriate coefficients into its DSP processor.

NHT also showed a monitor that looks like they sliced the top of an AR 9LSi made in 1981. The AR 9LSi was the last great AR speaker. The AR 9LSi was big, with 10- and 12-inch woofers. NHT is going with a subwoofer instead. The satellites are actual acoustic suspension (the subwoofer is not). Metal

domes are used instead of the paper and cloth domes AR used. NHT put a lot effort in the satellites to make them have a high spouse acceptance factor. http://www.nhthifi.com/products/three.html

One thing I looked for at CES but could not find was digital preamp outputs from AV controllers. Today, only 7.1 analog outputs are available. The digital outputs, if they existed, could then be used to interface to digital loudspeakers and distribute surround sound to multiple rooms. Unfortunately, issues with copy protection appear to stand in the way. This points to the need for the digital loudspeaker manufacturers to incorporate Dolby and DTS encoding into their products if they are to have a fully digital system at the consumer level. NHT combined with Vinci Labs appears to have all the technology to make this happen.

The box loudspeaker is not dead in the main hall of the convention center. That was the conclusion I drew at last year's CES but apparently consumers want better sound than they can get from thin on-wall speakers. To make box speakers more room-friendly, the overall size is being reduced and significantly more attention is being paid to wood quality and finish. More speakers with curved side panels were in evidence.

DSP-based room and speaker EQ systems are becoming more advanced at the higher price points and simpler systems are making it into lower-priced AV receivers. These offer a real promise of improving sound quality, although it is not clear if the current systems are advanced enough to deliver on the promises of this technology. Most of these technology advancements were not announced at CES but instead at the CEDIA conference, which is targeted to AV installers. Indeed, most product announcements in the high end AV category happened at CEDIA. It appears that only the folks at the Alexis Park where introducing new products. The AV world has moved away from the crazy world of high end and has even pulled up stakes from CES and moved to a whole different venue. I did not do CEDIA this year, but I went last year and was blown away by the professionalism of the AV installers. I will discuss CEDIA in greater detail at another time.

Dolby was demonstrating the 8-channel loss-less coding technology to be used on the next-generation DVD. With a sampling rate that can go to 192 kHz and a 24-bit depth, one wonders what will become of SACD and DVD-A. Dolby has a DVD-A demo disc called "The Resolution Project" that reproduces a string quartet on different tracks from MPEG through the full 24-bit/192 kHz. Apparently they believe that something audible may happen at these very high sampling rates, although they have not published any scientific studies at AES yet. All I will say is that if they want to give me that level of resolution, I will take it, even if I cannot hear the difference myself. Note, however, that getting the high-resolution Dolby audio signal through an AV link is going to require a new version of the HDMI link. Nothing near shipment at CES had that link.

In the Dolby demo booth they not only demonstrated the high-resolution 8-channel technology but also a 14-channel (!?!) system. The 14-channel system appears to be destined for movie theaters and not the home.

Most of CES was all abuzz with the fact that we will again have a format war again with the high-definition video disks. I left the format wars to the video folks, since both formats support the new high-resolution Dolby audio standard. Unfortunately, it looks like the time for migration to the next generation audio standard shown at the Dolby booth will surely be delayed by the video infighting. With so many examples of format wars leading to the destruction of both formats, you would think they would have learned, but no. I heard some videophiles saying upsampled DVD might be good enough, a refrain 1 also heard in some parts of the Alexis Park with respect to CD.

XM radio ports in home audio receivers (stereo as well as AV products) as well as iPod support were among the features being added this year. What was not hot was the free digital HD Radio system. HD Radio is broadcast as a spread spectrum signal in the normal FM band of an FM station. The signal is too low in level to disturb a normal radio tuned to the signal with HD Radio encoding in the same band. This is why the technology is called in band-on channel.

I saw very few products that could receive the signal. HD Radio signal, although it holds out a great deal of promises for classical music fans. The sad trend in FM in recent times has been the number of NPR stations changing formats from classical to talk. The good news is not only can an FM station broadcast its signal digitally with HD Radio, but it can also actually offer two signals. NPR stations are now announcing that they will bring back classical music to the air on this second HD Radio channel. Since the second channel of the HD Radio signal uses highly compressed audio signals, though, it is unclear what the sound will be like. But the even bigger question is whether hardware equipment makers will be willing to commit to putting in the HD Radio demodulator. With all the buzz about satellite radio, they may choose not to add in the extra electronics with their associated costs.

With so much phono being shown at the Alexis Park, I got to wondering what might be a sensible replacement for my 20-year-old Thorens TD 125 turntable and the associated SME arm. As it turned out, nothing with a floating suspension was affordable. Thorens wanted $3,600 for the current TD 350. Lower-priced Thorens models had no suspensions. I recall the AR turntable, with floating suspension, that sold for less than $100. Again we are seeing the trend to push prices way up in the high end. You may not sell many products, but your revenue will be higher if you can just get 25 people to pay 5 figures, and I saw a lot of turntables well into the 5 figures.

Affordable cartridges that would track well at 1.5 grams or less were also not to be found at the Alexis Park. At the Alexis Park, low-end cartridges appeared to be unable to keep your precious vinyl free from mistracking that could permanent damage your irreplaceable vinyl. With Shure no longer producing the V 15 V, the good news was again to be found on the main floor, not at the Alexis Park. Audio Technica is still producing the AT440Mla, which has a street price of $90 (this is the cartridge I am currently using) and has actually added a higher-end model, the AT150MLX, which unfortunately sells for about $300 on the street (list $500). Grado never does CES so I do not know what new cartridges they are introducing.

One of the most innovative phono products was not to be found at the Alexis Park but was at the B&K suite in the Hilton. The Phono 10 is fully discrete, with the ability to set cartridge loading (resistance and capacitance) optimally. But the really good part is a built-in ADC. The thing outputs SPDIF. The input signal level of the ADC is optimized so the cartridge does not overload the ADC or at the other extreme fail to wiggle the upper 6 bits when the cartridge is playing a loud passage on the vinyl record. Add in very accurate RIAA EQ and very low noise and this thing has vinyl archive to CD-R written all over it.

In the believe it or not category, JVC issued a press release saying that they had developed a solid wood cone speaker. "Wood cones produce few resonant point because of the grain ... forming wood sheets into a speaker proved daunting--they would crack or split when stamped." JVC's solution was to soak the wood in Japanese rice wine (sake). According to the press release, an engineer was inspired by the way dried squid were made chewy by using sake.

AR, which was claimed to have over 50% of the market share in the early '60s, and was one of the most innovative companies ever (acoustic suspension and the dome tweeter) is no longer a company producing speaker in the audiophile space. It has had three owners since the late '60s. They are now emphasizing home decor speakers to be sold in furniture stores. From their press release: "Most speakers are designed to produce great sound, but do very little to help the consumer fit them into specific decors that give a home a special look ... The entire line is designed to mate with a wide variety of custom-designed optional speaker covers that include mantel clocks, candle holders, faux books, planters, wall sconces, vases, floor stand baskets as well as vases and trunks to hold the subwoofers." That's AR in the 21st century, ladies and gentlemen ...

Tymphany is in production with its Linear Array Transducer (LAT). The device is best seen on the web site. The small woofer made a big enough noise to make it virtually impossible to enter the huge Alpine room, which had the LAT mounted in a convertible.

A final believe it or not was in the Alexis Park in the hotel room of the ultra-high-end phono company Van Den Hul. What amplifiers and speakers did they use? Not what the rest of the crowd was using; instead, they used the top-of-the-line professional Focal SM11 speakers shown at AES. These are the DSP-based speakers with integrated solid state power supplies--the ones the Focal consumer division thought would not fly with high end folks at the consumer level. Maybe there is hope for the Alexis Park ...

Postcript: In my review of the review of the Infinity Beta 40 I wrote, "The configuration of the [Revel] Concerta F12 looks similar to the Beta 50." The Beta 50 is a larger version of the Beta 40, which replaces the two 6.5-inch woofers with 8-inch woofers. In fact, I learned just before CES that the Concerta F12 is significantly different on the inside. The Concerta F12 woofer and midrange have die-cast frames in contrast to the stamped steel ones in the Infinity Beta products. The material for the surround of the woofer and midrange is also changed.

More significant are the changes in the crossover. First of all, a capacitor has been added. As I stated in Issue 106, the more expensive reactive elements used in the crossover, the better it will perform. The added capacitor is a polypropylene film capacitor, and another polypropylene replaces a less-expensive capacitor in the tweeter network. As I explained in issue 106, the type of reactive elements in a crossover can make a difference, owing to the large current flowing through the reactive elements and the large voltage swings they can see.

An even bigger change in the crossover is the one you cannot see at all; it involves an issue that had not occurred to me before. The targeted minimum impedance for the F12 has been reduced from the target for the Beta 50. The assumption is that Revel speakers will be connected to power amplifiers that can deal with lower impedance loads. With these new optimization targets, the crossover was completely redesigned and its ability to limit interaction between the drivers is significantly improved. Revel supplied me with a frequency response curve set for the F12 that was made under the same conditions as figure 1 in the T$S Beta 40 review, and the curves set has been improved.

With the crossover and driver improvements the Concerta F12 should be added to the short list of speakers to consider at $1200. At $800, the Infinity Beta 40 continues to earn my highest recommendation if your budget is more constrained.

--DAR