Well, it was quite a time at CES in Las Vegas. It was the largest attendance in CES history. Here are some thumbnails on what we saw. Video: We spent an entire day at the LVCC which is dedicated to the big names in all things video (Sony, Samsung, LG, Panasonic etc). Two "walk-aways" from that day. Every manufacturer is trying to solve doing 3D without glasses. They have a ways to go yet. We saw a number of flat panels that had some version of 3D - no glasses. They all had off angle viewing problems in oru opinion. The industry will solve this but its going to be sometime yet in our view before flat panels with acceptable viewing angles hit the market. The second item is streaming. It seems that every device we saw streamed Netflix, Blockbuster, and all of the audio services. Check in that box. They have streaming down cold. We actually saw a refrigerator that streamed. I will let you decide if that is over the top.
We spent two days at the Venetian which is the CES headquarters for audio.
We heard many excellent systems during those 2 days. We remain convinced now more than ever, that we have excellent brands. PSB was showing a new mini-monitor, the Imagine mini, pictured right which was incredible. At $700, the pair, they sounded great. We will have a pair in March.NAD Introduced new A/V receivers with additional power in the upper end units. The T787 HD-2 will have 200wpc if my memory serves me. And they expanded the MDC architecture down to their classic series of 2 channel products.
Our friends at Totem introduced a complete new line of speakers, the Element series (pictured below). The Element will come in monitor and 2 floor standing versions. They sounded rich; a liquidy sound that Totem is known for.
We had a good meeting with Vince Bruzzese, the president of Totem, who stepped us through the making of the Speaker and the new torrent drivers in them. We think that these speakers will sell well.We spent Friday morning with team from Magico Loudspeakers. This included a dealer only meeting with Alon Wolf, Totems president and designer. Irv Gross, VP of Sales, stepped us through the new Q3. The Q3 is a aluminum cabinet with new drivers. We listened to the Q3's for over an hour. They're an incredible speaker. We loved them and in fact ordered a pair. Our pair will be here in late April. If you love music, you must here the Q3.
VTL showed the new MB-185III monoblock tube amps. Wow- talk about eye candy. The glow of the tubes in the dark room was very neat.
If have any questions or comments, always feel free to call us (336.340.3945) or email us bigkidmike@triad.rr.com. Great week to all
