Informal T.H.E. Show Report - Day I

Beautiful day here in 'Vegas -probably 60 degrees with nary a cloud. Plenty of C.E.S. foot traffic but car traffic nothing like New Years last week.
Parking non-existent at St. Tropez so drove to San Remo and found a space across from registration building. Caught (very frequent) shuttle back to St. Tropez (about a mile away).

T.H.E Show FREE to public including FREE lunch (beverages extra)!
The St. Tropez is a small (by 'Vegas standards) hotel/motel built around a swimming pool and grassy event area (where Bar-B-Q and eating tables set up). I didn't see any gaming facilities.

Plenty of exhibitors (escaping high-priced C.E.S. venues) including: Audio Research (met the famous "Leonard"!), Cain & Cain (awesome horn hybrids), Harbeth (first time I've heard -first rate sound...), that Laser turntable guy (classic Japanese gentleman), Gilmore audio (those new speakers that look like surfboards -no, the Hotty babe wasn't there...) and many, many others.

Of particular interest was the Almarro M50A 3-way speaker deluxe. Great sound and cabinetry that Norm Thomas would be proud of. Price not insane either. www.almarro.com.

Finished St. Tropez and headed back to San Remo.

Heard fantastic towers (similar to Pipe Dreams) in the Edge room. Design used paper cone woofers and multiple planar tweeters.

The highlight of T.H.E Show was the Halcro suite.
Guarding the front gate was T.H.E MOST beautiful woman seen in a half-year of Sundays! Totally Stepford quality brunette (apologies to my feminist sister).
As the stereo room was "in use", I sauntered down the hall to -Surprise! The multi-channel room!
Yes friends, poor old unemployed Ken had UNLIMITED ACCESS to five (count 'em) Halcro mono-blocks, two Wilson MAXes and three Wilson WATCHES (I think the surrounds were WATCHES). Talk about tall cotton!
Did I mention when I walked into the room I was greeted by T.H.E. most striking blonde? Who offered me stuff like "free water"? (right now I've got the widest Al Bundy grin...).

The guy running the show (either David Pope or Philip O'Hanlon -had an English accent) was SO NICE! He is obviously a rabid music lover (Jazzbo) who played disk-after-disk (vinyl, CD and SACD) -Satch&Ella, Ray Charles (in the stereo room on JMLab Nova Utopias) and some multi-channel gospel choral that was out-of-sight.

I'm tellin' ya, he treated ol' Ken like a long-lost rich relative. Thank you!

I've got to make it back there this weekend...