NY HE show comments and reviews  

I had a great time there, but I couldn't help but get the feeling that looks were more important than sound. After listening to one great setup after another, it took something really special to standout. My favorites speakers were the Avant Gardes, the new "baby" Dynaudio Evidences, and the JM Labs Utopias.

There was a lot of analog gear being displayed, and to be totally honest, I am now convinced more than ever that I would never go back to turntables and tube amps again. Even the best setups were full of the disturbing sounds of surface noise, scratches, and defects that reminded me of my college days.

I really enjoyed watching demos on a couple of Sony G90's and a Vidikron Vision One, and now I am obsessed with owning an Electrohome Marquee 9500LC Ultra (a Vision One without the pretty case), as my Marquee 8000 seems so pale in comparison.

The good news for me was to discover that my DIY subwoofers that I recently built using the HE 15 drivers are as good as any sub that was at the show! The best subs I heard were the Krell Master Reference subs (2 of them) which sell for $30,000 each. A pair of DIY HE 15 subs and a Crown K2 cost less than $3000, but take up slightly more space than the Krell, and are every bit as good http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

I also was impressed by Sony's SACD demo, though I still won't buy either SACD or DVDA until the manufacturers provide digital outputs, as opposed to the silly analog outs that are currently implemented. Both formats certainly do sound great, though!



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STOP DVI/HDCP/5C/DFAST!

One of the best sound came from Harry Pearson's home equipment setup, which included many analog records cut in the 1950s.

AvantGarde was too mid-bass emphasized, and 90% of their demo was video based sound, which does not have a concept of soundspace.

SACD demo was not very convincing, some instruments floated in 3-D space, while others were strictly in the speaker. rear channel ambiance was barely perceivable(maybe that is how it should be.)

1080p was amazing in the Krell/Faroudja demo, puts 480p to shame. Killer bass w/o over emphasis of it in that demo, it shake a giant room when asked to, but otherwise stayed out of the way, but with 2 $26K subs, it better do all that.

The best was the 5 X Maggie 20.1 demo in Lyrics at uptown w/5 Revel subs.

My pick would be mbl set. I think they finally got it right. Vocals were so real it was spooky. I NEVER heard so invloving sound in my life. The whole setup is >$100K, but if someone does have many to spend, thins things will send him to heaven.
My second choice would be YBA+Utopia, third Niko+B&W and
honorable mention Red Rose Music - stuff which we may actually (one day) afford.

Nobody has mentioned yet the sound in the Tact Audio room, through their Room Correction System and digital power amps, feeding a pair of Danish speakers not available in the US. Most Excellent!

Also, the Airfoil speakers from Impact Technologies offered a very musical experience, quite different from some of the other high-end gear which strikes me as more designed to elicit a superficial wow than to be easy to live with over the long-term.

Tube lovers were not disappointed by the Art Audio/Soliloquy room.

I saw terrific video in the Krell/Faroudja room, and also in Harvey Sound's room featuring Martin-Logan, REL, and McIntosh electronics.

Finally, I concur with all who like the Red Rose mini-system, which seemed very well matched to the tiny hotel room.

Glad I went!

-- Rob

my favorite setup for HT was the Krell/Faroudja, awesome demo

for 2 ch i give the thumbs up to the Talon room. Amazing.

90% 2 channel and 10% home theater. In this regard i am very dissapointed. Had fun but would like to see more HT done right. Countless manufacturers weren't even there, i could name off a huge list....Oh well, maybe at CES.

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Serge

<FONT size="1">Parasound AVC 1800
B&K AV 5000 II
Monitor Audio Silver 5's
HSU VTF 2
Toshiba DVD/CD
Mitsubishi X70 FPTV
Dalite High Contrast Da-mat 16:9 grey screen
RCA DTC 100
HTPC consisting of Duron 750, AOpen motherboard, Radeon LE video and Turtle Beach Santa Cruz sound</FONT s>

I also have to vote for the Nearfield's and the Impacts.
Unfortunately one of the first rooms that I heard was the Nearfields ($9500.00). After that everything else sounded short. The Mac room sounded muddy in the bass.

PS:Heard the real Pipedreams Sunday (WOW!!!!!).

Brent McCall
Tsunami HT
(800) 221-0932 #230