• Home
• Forums
• Archives
• Dealers
• About

The Vinyl Anachronist: The Official CES Rulebook

By Marc Phillips

February 2007

I just flew in from the CES at Vegas, and boy, are my arms…

Actually, I just drove in, making it back home to Los Angeles in a record three-and-a-half hours. It’s 300 miles from my house to The Venetian, where this year’s High-End Audio Exhibits were held, so you do the math and try to make it all sound legal.

No, I’m not bragging about my lead foot, but rather emphasizing that this is the second or third time I’ve tried to do the Consumer Electronic Show in a single day, and the best way to do it is to get up at five in the morning, be out the door at five-thirty, and in Vegas by nine. Then you see as much as you can until the show closes at five in the evening, trick someone into buying you dinner, and then walk back through your front door by ten or eleven. Sure, you can’t see everything there is to see this way, but it’s certainly better than spending all week there, finding yourself with lots of free time, and losing $1100 at blackjack like I did two years ago. I learned my lesson.

So while I can’t tell you about all of the latest developments in technology, I can tell you about very specific things on the analog front. This is the fourth audio show I’ve attended in the last year, another personal record, and for the most part I heard the same products, met the same people, and made the same general conclusions that I did at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest in October, the Stereophile Show in June, and even the last CES. But I also found myself more annoyed and grouchy than ever before, at little things mostly, but I decided to bring them up because for the most part I dig going to these shows and I want to keep going to them whenever I can.

Avoid the hard sell

Things were easier when I used to attend CES as a civilian. Yes, Virginia, you can get into the CES if you’re not in the industry. Just say that you’re some sort of telecommunications consultant, hand them a business card when you arrive, and you’re in. Now that I’m an official member of the press, however, I get treated a little differently. I’m continually escorted, cajoled and coerced into rooms and given thorough demonstrations of products in which I have no interest. You’d think they’d see the words “Vinyl Anachronist” on my press badge and show me their latest turntable, cartridge or phono preamp. Instead, I’m given a tedious lecture on the latest wireless technologies or home theatre advances. I couldn’t be less interested. But at least I’m polite.

For instance, I was at the show no more than five minutes before I was herded into the Thiel-Bryston room, where they proceeded to fire up a very large and very noisy Tesla Coil no more than ten feet from my ears. Of course that put a nice frequency notch in my hearing, and the next five rooms I visited sounded predictably awful. Boy, was I pissed off.

Then, at the end of the day, just as I was about to make a hasty exit toward the parking garage, I was shepherded into a large room with a thousand other journalists for a keynote speech by Bob Iger, the CEO of Disney. Again, unless they’re going to show me the latest Mickey turntable, equipped with a Goofy tonearm and a Minnie cartridge, and powered by the Pluto phono preamp, I ain’t interested. (To be fair, they started trotting out a bunch of TV stars on stage, so I stayed longer than I thought I would.)

In other words, I know the purpose of the CES, as well as other audio shows, is to sell product. And I know I’ve become a little cog in the big machine. And I really do enjoy walking into a room and having the red carpet rolled out for me. But when I have a single day to find out as much as I can about the world of analog, I really hate having my time wasted. So I think the exhibitors need to dial it down a notch and let us journalists ask all the questions, you know, like in the good old days.

Let your products do the talking

I’m still waiting to be impressed by the US$100,000 Continuum Caliburn turntable, which includes the Cobra tonearm and Castellon dedicated stand. I’ve heard it three times now, and while I can tell it’s significantly better than most Music Halls, Projects and Regas (maybe), I can’t tell how much better because there’s always so much commotion and activity around the damn thing. The first time I heard it, at last year’s CES, the actual designer apologized for the room, which was too small and irregularly-shaped. Ironically, that’s the best it has ever sounded to me.

Since then, they’ve sold a couple of them and presumably have gotten more experienced at setting them up under show conditions. So imagine my disappointment when I entered their large room, with the top-of-the-line Boulder amplification and a massive, exotic pair of speakers, and sat down for a listen… to an incredibly scratchy classical LP. I watched audiophile after audiophile walk into the room excitedly, only to leave the room after being subjected to a few seconds of excruciatingly noisy sound.

What made things worse was one of the exhibitors sitting in the front row of chairs, chatting loudly with a buddy of his through the whole demonstration. Precious few people will ever have the chance to hear what a $100,000 turntable sounds like. It should be an illuminating experience, showing the uninitiated how great LPs can sound, and exactly why people are still listening to vinyl in the 21st Century. It should make people want to go out and buy a turntable, albeit a much more affordable one. But these two guys prevented at least a dozen people from knowing the truth.

The funny thing is, I went into their second room and listened to their new turntable, the $40,000 Criterion turntable with the Copperhead tonearm, and it actually sounded much better than its big brother. That’s because the room was less frantic, more sedate. So I know these guys know how to show off the Caliburn if they really want to. Maybe it’s time for formal, controlled demonstrations, by appointment only, like Wilson used to do for their expensive speakers back in the day.

Keep it simple

As usual, the best sound at CES seemed to come from the more simple and casual setups. You know, the ones that actually looked like someone’s living room. I walked into room after room crammed with static exhibits, displaying every single piece of equipment offered by the three or four manufacturers sharing the room, and not one of those rooms caught my attention. Then, I wandered into a room with a pair of small floorstanding ProAc loudspeakers, and a Sugden integrated amp and CD player. They didn’t even have the gear placed on a rack, just sitting on a piece of hotel furniture. And I sat there for a long time and listened to music. It was an oasis.

Some of the manufacturers and distributors do get it. They’ve been exhibiting at audio shows for years, and they know how to make the music come through. One of my favorites, show after show, is Globe Marketing, a Canadian distributor who handles some of my favorite brands, including the Breuer tonearm, which has quickly become an obsession of mine. These guys always keep the mood relaxed and unhurried, and the music always comes through.

Another highlight for me was the Melody Hi-fi room. Melody is an Australian company that makes some of the finest tubes preamps and amps I’ve ever heard. The first time I heard my Zu Cable Druid mk. IV speakers was with a Melody integrated amplifier, and that’s what sold me on the Zus. Ming Chu, the president of Melody, was gracious and accommodating to me while I was in the room, but at the same time he let his system do the talking, and I listened to every word. This is what audio shows are really about.

The last CES?

I know I’m sounding like a real audiogrouch here, one of those guys who walks into an exhibitor’s room and takes over, demanding attention, and winding up generally unmoved by anything. I hate those guys, and I don’t want to be anything like them. So I smile and nod and take the brochures and the business cards and tell everyone that they have nice sound. But it’s getting harder.

The relative paucity of vinyl news at this year’s CES certainly didn’t help. There were plenty of turntables spinning the big black discs, but no more or less than last year. The big news seemed to be the introduction of the Continuum Criterion (at last, a Continuum for the masses!), but not much else. Thorens had a stunning yet static display of their growing line of turntables, as did Clearaudio and even Roksan (I can’t think of the last time I saw their Xerxes X turntable in person). I even had the pleasure of listening to an SME 20 turntable, which sported a Graham tonearm, much to my surprise, instead of the usual SME V. But for the first time in many years, it felt like things were slowing down a bit in the analog world.

In addition, all of this was exacerbated by the lack of new vinyl sales at the show. I heard a rumor that LP collectors have been complaining about the deals industry insiders can get at some of the audio shows, that all of the best titles are getting snapped up before the average vinylphile can get to them. I certainly understand that. It just felt funny to leave Las Vegas without a tote bag completely filled with LPs. I did see a few old warhorses such as Jazz at the Pawnshop sitting around, but nothing exciting. I went home a placed a big order with Acoustic Sounds, just so I’d feel a little better about everything.

When I went to my first audio show back in 1992, I was thrilled and amazed at how nice everything sounded. Now, in 2007, my Best Sound Award goes to the system that is currently residing in my living room. I know how lucky I am to say that, but then again, that’s why I got into this hobby in the first place, so I could stay at home and be thrilled and amazed. I’ve spent a lot of time at shows, at fellow audiophile’s houses, and at audio dealers. Now it’s time to stay home and listen to music. Mission accomplished.