Las Vegas

question: I have recently visted Las Vegas this past CES show(early Jan), and frequently make trips to Vegas for play as well. I am always currious as to how easy it is to find great deals on audio/video equipment in the Vegas area, due to the obvious problems that occure for people who "need quick cash" and have to sell their stuff!?! So, do you in the Vegas area ever come across great deals on new/current higher end audio/video equip in your neck of the woods? I've always been currios about this, as the pawn shops FLOURISH there in Vegas, I know!
Any input would be appreciated

To be honest, I have yet to look into this because I figure that audiophiles are "more" balanced! I'm sure that if one would check on a constant basis, he could get lucky. What a task that would be! I will do this some day and post it.

Is there anyone out there who has 2 pair of speaker wires, of any length, to audition and/or borrow for my new Vandersteen 3a Sigs while I finalize my thinking and purchase? I need a small spade on the speaker end and a pin or banana on the monobloc end.
Thank you.

Also, Is there anyone out there who would be comfortable with replacing a hardwire with an IEC in my Sony 222es sacd player. I am told it is a tight fit but can be done.

March is under way and I am still the only member of "our" Las Vegas _____ Club!!! I would like to share favorite music as well as hardware preferences.
Paul

Paul,

Are you getting your Vandersteens from Paradise home theatre? I was there today, and they had a pair waiting to go to their "new home"!

- Eric

p.s. Sorry I can't join the "club", I am just an out-of-towner here on business.

Whoops, Paul, I meant Premiere Home Entertainment. Great place.

O.K. pmrodier, I guess I'll be the second member in Vegas, after all, this is a very elite club :). I live on the east side, Sunrise mountain area. My systems mid-fi, but I do love squeezing the most out of it for 2 channel music and 5.1 HT.

Hey guys,
Premiere Home Entertainment is a great place to shop. I bought my B&W' cdm9,cnt,snt and velodyne sub there. Kim is great to ask questions to and they have always offered to let me take home equipment and try it out. As for the Vandersteens, I believe they are used and might have been Kim's so you know they have been taken care of. Anyway, it is nice to hear from someone in Vegas who also enjoys good equipment,
See Ya, baxel

Baxel, I glad you gave PHE a thumbs up, I just found them on the internet looking for some B&W's. I've lived here for 9 years and am now just find out about the true higher end stores around here.I'm looking into getting the DM 604 S3 or the DM 603 S3. never heard B&W 's before but I like the look. Have you found any place that sells cables, other then Monster locally? The only places I looked so far are the major retail stores, which thats about all they carry. I'd love to be able to run to the store and pick up some Audioquest or Straightwire, or Nordost, anything other then Monster cable or Acoustic Research.

Dbx,
I think Abbotts? sells Audioquest or is it harmonic tech and I know PHE sells Kimber. Most places other then circut,best buy,ultimate, great indoors are installers and can get it but do not carry it so you can not see or try it before hand. If you go to PHE they will let you demo kimber and tributaries? and if you are in the military or law enf. they will give a discount, they did for me(if they are still doing it). I ended up buying jps ultraconductor i/c and speaker cables from a co. in redondo beach over the phone, Great cable. Probably your best bet is to buy here on audiogon,or sometimes audioadvisor has a good deal on audioquest. good luck,baxel

WOW, I have not checked the forum in months. I gave up thinking I would be the first and last member.
Ehart, I auditioned the Vandersteens at PHE but bought out of town. PHE seemed very fixed on their price and were ~$500 off. I bought two Kimber power cords from Kim and she gave me a very fair price.
Dbx, welcome!! I always check in with Richard at Abbotts. He is both very knowlegable and straight forward. He is an audiophile first, and a salesman second. They do deal with Aq cabling and I use Python ic's throughout. I hope to audition an Anaconda sometime soon.
Paul

A Native Las Vegan, Music Will Always Be An Escape From Reality In A Sense. A Fine Recording, And Reproduction Will Place You In Another Realm. Reality At This Point Will Become A Distraction. To Truly Appreciate A Masterpiece, You Must Be Attentive And Commit The Time To Experience What Was Conveyed By The Composer, Arranger, Performer, Producer, And Recording Engineers. Music Can Take You To A Time Or Place In Your Memories, Or Fantasys, Its Your Choice. There Are Very Few Who Actually Get To Experience A Pristine Recording, As All Commercial Broadcasts Are Altered, As Are The Compressed Formats Available For Download. Note: Any Digital Recording Is A Compromised Format.

radical:
You must live in Summerland!

Any Las Vegas audiophiles into new age music such as Medwyn Goodall, Oliver Shanti, Adiemus, Dagda....for listening and appreciating? I'm also into the same with anything that is sacd!!

It is CES 2004!!!!
I am having a dealer from Placerville, Ca. demo his gear in my home in Green Valley during the week of the Show!
He has an EMC-1 source with the new Belles 21a preamp, Belles 150a Ref momoblocs, Meadlowlark Blue Herron 2's, JPS Labs best wires with Aluminata and Kaptovator power cords in addition to an assortment of other leading wires.
I have both an SACDmods modified Sony 555ES and a modified 222ES source, Audible Illusions L-1 preamp with the same Belles setup, Vandersteen 3A Sigs, Audioquest DBS and non DBS wires...(Panther, Pythons, Volcano), as well as Kimber Kable PK 10 Palladian, PK 10 Gold, and PK 10 power cords.
Feel free to contact me to audition and/or listen to music!

Hey Pmrodier, How did the in home demo go? I'm sorry I couldn't make it. All work and no play makes rick a dull boy. I was lucky enough to get one day in at the CES. The only bad thing about the CES is it leaves you feeling a little depressed about your system after seeing all the really high end gear.

Pmrodier:
Medwyn Goodall: That's *real* musical brilliance.

Dbx, The demo was great! My new Belles 21A and 150A Ref are burning in and sound spectacular. These units are the "real thing". There are ppl liking the preamp better than the Bat 51SE for 1/3 the cost. The same goes for the amp. There are ppl comparing it favorably at 4x the cost.
Corona, If you like Medwyn, it might be time to visit. Be prepared to see the sun rise :-)

where would a club get together in this town anyways ?

I would ultimately prefer to get together at the various homes of our members, but we could first meet just about anywhere :-) It seems like ppl are reluctant to form clubs around the U.S. I do not know why. Sharing music, knowledge, system preferences, attracting speakers... seems like it could be rewarding!!

you know like a union meeting takes place at a union hall.

i often wondered.

anyways, the arizona audio club doesn't do much together, they just meet and then go there seperate ways mostly.

but what they do have is, a website to keep up to date.

Hey everybody, Are there any Vandersteen dealers in Vagas? I thought there was one once, but when I checked the Vandy site there was nothing for NV. :( If not has any one bought them over the internet from an e-tailer?, I'm not really looking at buying from e-bay or places like that, just locally or from a reputable e-tailer. The casino's have been good to me lately, so before I put it all back, I thought, time to upgrade my speakers. :)

Hi everyone, just checking to see how everyone's doing and to see if anyone's done any upgrades. Over the next couple of month's I'll be upgrading the TV to a Samsung DLP. Not sure what size yet. Speakers will be either the Vandy 2ce sig's or VSA VR-2'S. Alot depends on the wife. Yes, the casino god's have choosen to smile on me again after keeping me in "Can not win" purgatory. :)

Hi,

I'm an audio/video enthusiast here in Southern Highlands and have always wondered if there are any others here in Vegas who share the same hobby. I've attended the last 2 CES and bought a pair of old Maggie IIIs recently. This is audio epiphany as I realized I've been missing a lot from my old cd's with my previous system. So I got bitten by the upgrade bug and got more hardware. Nothing fancy, just Parasound Halos A23 and P1 and Lexicon/Bryston 512 Then I recently got an old pair of Maggie SMGa s and boy does this humble set up swing. They really thrive on acoustic material like Blues(Clapton, Keb Mo) and Jazz Vocals(Krall, Monheit, Bennett) or Ensembles.
I saw in the internet that there is an audiophile soceity here in town but have not yet contacted them.

Hi,

I have not checked in for awhile. I moved in June to New York in order to care for my dad, and hope to return often. I will ultimately come back. Although it is not my preference to live in Long Island once again, it is good for this hobby :-) I had three dedicated lines installed, bought a nice component rack, and use my father's formal living room for my 2-channel and the dining room for my home theater!!! I care for him all day, and although he has little short term memory, he has figured out where I spend my time :-) I am in the living room, on my "Perfect Chair", listening to music!!! Relax the Back sells this chair. Go check it out!! I have the discontinued love seat model so my wife can enjoy the hobby!!

Hello Gabbea007, Welcome to the Las vegas Audiogon chapeter.:) As you can see we don't post here much, but it's always good to hear from from some one. An audiophile society here in Vegas? I can't even find a really high end audio shop here, :( Not that I could afford them., but it would be nice to here some really high end rig's to at least have a sound reference to. PM, Sorry to hear you had to leave, hope everythings going ok with your dad. Just thinking about living in NY this time of year made me go put on a coat:) The good thing I guess is there are alot more high end dealers in NY then in vegas. Drop a line every now and then to let us know what you've found.

Is there a place to take tubes and have them tested in the Vegas Valley?

I think vincent stereo on charelston can do it. There are two used stores there. One is Vincent the other I do not know the name. They look cluttered inside but, Bobby is the person you want to talk to,he probably can do it or tell you where to go. Hope this helps. Baxel

Hi Everybody,

Life is not much fun taking care of dad in Long Island:-(
I either cook or listen to music :-)! I did get to go to my first audio club meeting last night. There were ~ 20 ppl ranging from 40 to 80 yrs. old. I had a lot of fun. It was the president's house and he was showing Pipedreams with an Italian tube cdp, and an ARC amp. Of course, I heard a bunch of new music. Making new friends to exchange ideas and discovering new music is what its all about:-) I hope you guys get a club rolling before my return. I told dad that I needed one week ~ New Year's to visit Las Vegas. Well, maybe 10 days :-) Catch y'all at CES!!

Baxel is correct, there are two stores there on charleston. Audio Experts is owned by Bobby, while Vincent stereo is owned by vincent.They split up a while ago and just split the store in half. Bobby always has some high end tube gear in his store, so I'm pretty sure he would be able to test them.

Thanks Guys.

Greetings from the LV audio wasteland!!! I'm a Green Valley resident, long time into audio...

Just stumbled into this part of A'gon. I'm in the process of changing my set-up (again), sold my Totem Forest / Cinenova rig and I'm setting up a HT with Krell / RBH equipment. Perhaps could host a meet when all is done. I have attended gatherings in other cities; it can be fun to meet others into this consuming hobby.

Regards,

John

has anything transpired since the last post ?

Lunna,

Sad to say that nothing has transpired :-( My wife and I are temporarily caring for my dad in Long Island and will eventually return. There are a handful of clubs in the metro area and it is a lot of fun. All Las Vegas needs is a good push to get started :-)

Paul

Hello again! Attended the '06 CES with a small group of locals. I have an email list of about 25 LV audiophiles culled from AVS and A'gon, just need help in getting something started. I can be contacted at f1stserve@yahoo.com. Regards,

John

are we ready for an audio club of some kind yet ?

how do we begin such an endeavor ?

meet at a local library first or music store ?

I will be moving back to Las Vegas in 2007!!! My father has finally agreed. I have constantly upgraded my system and have finally reached a level that my father actually looks forward to daily listening sessions.
A good way to start is to share this list and begin by posting on this forum. Talk about system goals and music preferences. With duplicators advancing to the levels of superior copies on redbook cd's, we can easily share our software.
I will assist in any way I can until I arrive. I will be vacationing there some time in the next few weeks :-)
Good luck.

Paul

where do we start ?

anyone thought about this lately ?

Yes, but I don't know where to start. Well maybe. Where does everyone shop for used vinyl? The only place I have found is ZIA Record Exchange which is on Eastern near Flamingo.

do they have a place where everyone can meet and talk ?

the tower wow store used to be a good place, but it has changed inside .

i know of no other home audio stores where we can get together.

i used to check the for sale items at a store on west charleston and the items on the bulletin board there.

no shops around like that anymore.

how about a large coffee house or some place ?

i used to buy records at a place on rainbow and westcliff, but it has since moved down to sahara and paradise.

Does anyone have a place and a system for ppl to get together and listen to music. In New York, there are six differnet clubs that meet monthly at a member's house. It is a lot of fun.

premiere home theatre does.

they used to host some cable seminars

is it better to try and meet at a library

or a coffee shop or record store ?

in terms of getting things started

John, F1stserve I sent you an email last week and hear back. you may want to check your spam/junk folder.

i don't have any thing in my email if you meant me.

i have met with 1 person and so far everyone is so busy

it was hard to meet again and talk audio.

everyone must still be very busy here ?

Hi Y'all. I am in the Cenntenial Hills area and I am into tube audio equipment. If any one needs some tubes tested I would be happy to do it. My musical preference is rock and jazz but I am willing to give anything a try. Hopefully we can get a club started.