CES 2004 Best of Show

What happened to Final Labs with their battery powered gear?

PS: I am also interested in checking out some pics of the fine models that complemented the shows. Is there such a site for that exclusively? >:)

By far, for me, it was the Halcro/Wilson room that impressed me. I don't think it was the equipment so much as the multi-channel recordings of classical music that was recorded by, and presented by Peter McGrath. I have never heard a recording of a singer that sounded so much like an unmiked, live recording (tenor from La Traviata). The solo piano recordings played at exquisitely soft levels was also breathtaking.

For something closer to the real world, I liked the sound from the Gershman loudspeaker ($14k), the JM Reynaud Trentes, a Triangle speaker ($6k), the smaller, non-monitor Alons, and a speaker with a Heil AMT driver. Although the upper bass seemed a bit lightweight, I really liked the Gradient speaker (open, airy sound of a dipole) and it is also compact and nice to look at.

On the pricier side, the TAD speaker was very interesting: explosive dynamics and very natural tone, BUT, extremely hard and metallic sounding on top (not nearly as bad as at CEDIA). The Overkill Audio speaker with a Manger driver was also interesting (dynamic and coherent), but it did suffer from being very directional from the upper midrange on up.

I liked the Mantra speakers a lot, but then I own Trios and am somewhat horn biased. The Pearls were very nice, I see why they get lots of votes. The TADS were maybe the most impressive box speakers I have ever heard, but they should be for the price. The Acapella violins were the sweetest highs as usual.

I too liked the Halcro/Wilson room. Although some of the recordings had voices comming from behind us, most of the multi-channel recordings were good. The system was in a great room which helped a lot. I also liked the Ascendant speaker by Avalon. They gave a deep spacious sound for chump-change (10k) compared to the Wilson/Halcro 250k system and was a welcome price tag. The CD Duevel speaker was very interesting and I would like to hear more. It was an omnidirectional 2-way-fullrangehorn. They had a 91db sensit., 40-20khz response, and are made in Germany. They had a wide sweet spot and were fast and dynamic. A bit of bite in the upper midrange was the only flaw I heard. Digital was playing so I don't know where the bite was comming from. Analog is a better source for me to hear systems with. The Vandersteen 5 was also good. The Lamm system was also very warm, spacious and great sounding ( solid state system). The Gilmore system was there in the flesh minus the ad flesh...I had to see if she made it there. No luck this year, maybe next year. O yes, the system driven by Atmasphere sounded pretty good, but not as good as the Audio Artistry system several years ago with the open baffle design. A good year, I will be back. How about an Audiogon dinner one night so those Audiogon members who attend can compare notes at the show? Jallen

Jls3, I too thought the TADs were impressive, but I did not think they played music. I very much sought them out for a listen and left thinking I no longer needed to find the money for them.

I always loved the tweeter on the Acapellas.