I convinced the better half to give up what I considered a mind-numbingly boring vacation get away. In exchange, we're going to Las Vegas..... conveniently at the exact same time that CES is going on in January..... and she even got on board with me attending the show during the day..... of course it's costing me in activities for her and lots of fancy hotel rooms, fancy dinners, and shows.... I'm fine with the good food. But I usually stay in a dive off the strip to save money on the hotel...
Anyways, my time is going to be very limited at the show. I have a few specific goals to accomplish at the show of what I want to see and hear, as well as some face to face time I want to get with a few individuals.
Who's going and what are your plans?
I'd like to go sometime, but not this year.
You're gonna have fun!
Quote from: hometheaterdoc on December 08, 2009, 06:46:12 AM
I convinced the better half to give up what I considered a mind-numbingly boring vacation get away. In exchange, we're going to Las Vegas..... conveniently at the exact same time that CES is going on in January..... and she even got on board with me attending the show during the day..... of course it's costing me in activities for her and lots of fancy hotel rooms, fancy dinners, and shows.... I'm fine with the good food. But I usually stay in a dive off the strip to save money on the hotel...
Anyways, my time is going to be very limited at the show. I have a few specific goals to accomplish at the show of what I want to see and hear, as well as some face to face time I want to get with a few individuals.
Who's going and what are your plans?
Shane when are going?
Those of us who want to but cannot, will have to live vicariously through you at the show. So please take it as much as possible for our sake!!
Henry
anything in particular folks are wanting to check out? A lot of folks are skipping CES this year. I have a feeling it's going to be a lightly attended show given how easy it is to get tickets and dinner reservations during my planning right now...
but I'm still making a list of manufacturers I want to visit with while I'm there. I can check out some stuff if folks want me to look in on something for them....
If I were going, I would try to hear these products - if they are there.
Pass Class A amps
Legacy Focus HD speakers
Lotus Group Grenada open baffle speaker
Channel Island D200mk2 amps
AR Ref 5 preamp
Wilson Alexandria speakers
SimAudio DAC
Wish I could go...
Shane, check out Ayre latest CD and DAC, if there.
Henry
Shane are you hitting T.H.E. Show (http://www.theshowlasvegas.com/)too?
This morning I asked Julie if could go, she said OK, but I'm not sure it's worth it to me to go this year. I will try to make the AXPONA show in March, but it will be much smaller.
Rich,
I'm planning to hit T.H.E. Show as well... it's going to be a lot of travelling back and forth... audio at the venetian, a quick zoom around the convention center for the big boys and the video stuff, then hit T.H.E. Show for more audio stuff... flights are stupid cheap at the moment. the most expensive part of it will be food and a hotel if you stay at a nice place... you can find cheap places if all you plan to do is plant your head on the pillow for a few hours... she wanted fancy, so I'm paying a lot more...
Shane
Hmmmm.... now you got me thinking. But I'm on a strict spending freeze until GodzillaOTUS is slain. As Rob S. says, anything goes as long as "no new money!" :thumb:
Don't forget a little blackjack, and you gotta see Donny and Marie?
(http://blogs.coventrytelegraph.net/passtheremote/donny.jpg)
Thank heavens she's not a Donny and Marie fan... I think she's still ticked off he won the dancing show on TV... We won't be hitting Donny and Marie's show while there... Doing "Love" at The Mirage as I haven't seen that Cirque yet. We're also hitting "Le Reve" again (at least again for me) as it's my favorite of all the cirque like shows I've seen out there. Everyone I've spoken with seems to think O is better.... I didn't think so, but I'll let her decide for herself as I think that is going to be our 3rd show we see. I think we're going to skip all the magic shows and comedy shows and just see the big production ones. The rest of the money will be spent on food.... lots of good food...
Forget about everything else... people should go to Vegas for the food. While it's not the same as travelling to France and having the real thing in the country itself, the quality of French food from a number of places is top shelf out there. Same goes for just about any genre of food you are interested in. It's not quite the same as finding that small hole in the wall place yourself, but in totality, there is so much choice and so much overall quality that it's really something else....
shep says the food in France is a myth.
I haven't been to Vegas since 84, but the food at Caesar's was awesome even back then. John Medeski started calling me Morris when he saw me picking walnuts out of my scrumpdelyicious best in the world coffee cake. Back then we saw Andy Gibb on stage, and there was a Porsche Indy Car in the lobby and I rode in the elevator by myself with Larry Holmes and his cadre. :shock:
Julie saw Love and "loved" it. Supposed to be great.
If you haven't seen the TV special on the making of "Love" do try and catch it. It was an excellent show. It is also available on DVD. With a little bit of luck you might be able to get it from your local library.
I also think the soundtrack was very well done, both from a sound and an artistic basis. I am usually not a big soundtrack nor compilation guy, but this CD is one of my top of the pile discs. It is a fresh new look at some great old music and has a very enjoyable flow to it. (Believe it or not I actually passed on the vinyl of this because I thought that having to flip the records would break the flow. Anyway, if I really wanted to hear the best vinyl sound I can always go back to the original LPs.
BTW, I heard a rumor that the entire Beatles remastered catalog would be released on vinyl thiscoming spring. (180 or 200 gram discs, I hope....) Has anyone else heard anything similar?
The CDs are out now, but I have not been following the LPs.
I googled "the making of Love" I got some interesting hits! :rofl:
It's called "All Together Now," 2006
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLPsSlpDzuY
tmazz didn't we listen to the Beatles CDs at Dennis's friday ?
charles
I'm still waffling as to whether I'll go out to the show or not. I'd love to go but it would be purely for CES and to do some networking as I literally just got back last week from 5 days in Vegas with the wife doing shows, eating way too much, etc. (Loved Emeril's at the MGM by the way).
We went to see the cirque show KA. Quite a production though a bit on the bizarre side. We also saw Penn and Teller and had great seats in the 3rd row.
Where is everyone staying? Looks like Hooters is nicely priced, close to the all day stops, and close to the monorail. Add in $3 blackjack tables and it sounds like a great place to be.
Bryan
Yes we did. Dennis played the new remastered version of Abbey Road.
Rich,
The Love 2 LP set is available from Chad Kassem if you are interested:
http://store.acousticsounds.com/d/36570/The_Beatles-Love-180_Gram_Vinyl_LP
I had a similar internet experience. I took my scout troop to West Point for their annual scout camp-o-ree and while we were there I saw another troop with this really nice screen-house. I ask the Scoutmaster where they got it and he told mer at Dick". Well. at the time there were no Dick's stores within about a 3 hour drive from Long Island. He told me "No problem you can order it from their on-line store which is www. dicks.com Little did I know that the correct site was www.dickssportinggoods.com. Imagine my surprise when I went to the like he originally gave me. You just can't be too careful on the internet these days. There's all kinds of weirdos out there (present company included, of course.) aa
Hooters has a hotel?? :shock:
Can you say "room service?" :yay2:
Thanks for the tip Bryan. I was wondering where you were.
I wish I had a video camera for the look I got when I suggested staying at Hooters... for its cheap price and convenient location of course.... We're staying at the Mirage for the first couple nights because it's across the street basically from the Venetian and it makes going to "Love" super easy :) We're then staying at the new condo place Vdara for the remaining time we're out there... cheapest of the nice hotels by quite a margin... still nowhere near like the rates I get when I stay in the crappy fleabags... but I have a feeling since it's a brand new hotel that it will be a much nicer place to sleep...
I saw Ka the last time I was out there... it was very good but I preferred "Le Reve" by quite a margin... Ka didn't wow me as much as I thought it would... the moving stage thing was cool though... We had dinner at Emeril's Fish House that night and honestly, it was the worst dining experience I've ever had in Vegas... even worse than the cheap buffets... food was bad and not cooked properly, service was beyond awful, it took almost an hour and a half after ordering to get our entree, very noisy, they lost our reservations so we had to wait a while to be seated... we almost missed Ka as a result... come to think of it... maybe that was why I'm not as high on Ka... I was still steaming over the crappy meal....
So what exactly do you mean by flea bag hotels? Bellagio? Four Seasons? I know your taste Mr Sangster.
I looked up Hooters, about $80/night for that weekend. That's cheaper than special RMAF rate at Denver Tech. Is there a bus that goes up and down the strip to get to and from the show? How close is it to CES high end audio and THE show?
If I went by myself and wanted to splurge, I'd stay at Terrible's... usually $29 a night and walkable distance up the street to the convention center to the north or to T.H.E. Show and Alexis Park... but I've stayed in some Super8 style places way off the strip as well if I was renting a car to save on cab fares and monorail prices... I just looked and Terrible's want $79 a night for the thursday, friday, etc. dates of the show... waaaaay too much for that place... it seems they got expensive... I'd rather stay at Hooters for $80...
Even if they aren't running buses, etc. to other stuff, the monorail runs right behind the Venetian and over to the Convention Center... I use the monorail a lot while in Vegas if I haven't rented a car...... day passes are very much worth it if you are up and down the strip a lot....
Thanks Shane. Good info!
From Hooters, you can walk across the street to the MGM and catch the monorail down to the other end where the show is. Or, you can catch the deuce bus for $7, unlimited rides for a 24 hour period. Goes to all the strip hotels.
Sorry to hear about your experience at Emerils. Our food was absolutely fabulous. I had the blue cheese encrusted strip steak. Sue had the smaller tasting menu. All of it was great. Probably the best meal we had the whole trip.
Bryan
I hope to be there and see and hear everything.
Yeah rite. :lol:
Has anybody else heard any feedback on this show yet? I have talked to a half dozen or some manufactures over the last few days and each and everyone of them is coming back saying the show is a dud.
No crowds, no big lines no nothing.
Curious as to if this is true or not? Wouldn't surprise if it was.
Registration for the main show is 113k similar to last year. But no word yet about the audio portions. Stereophile blog is eerily silent. Normally they like to brag up being there. Shane arrived yesterday, hopefully he brought his iPhone to submit his field reports... ;)
Quote from: richidoo on January 08, 2010, 01:28:56 PM
Registration for the main show is 113k similar to last year. But no word yet about the audio portions. Stereophile blog is eerily silent. Normally they like to brag up being there. Shane arrived yesterday, hopefully he brought his iPhone to submit his field reports... ;)
I was so aggravated to find the first 5 or so posts in the Stereophile show report showing a $26k Boulder CDP, $9k Bladelius CDP, $10k Ayre DX-5 DVD/CDP, $25k EMM SDX1 CDP, $26.5k TAD CDP. Geez, who can really buy this stuff? Someone must be, since it just keeps coming, but I guess I live in an alternate universe.
QuoteI was so aggravated to find the first 5 or so posts in the Stereophile show report showing a $26k Boulder CDP, $9k Bladelius CDP, $10k Ayre DX-5 DVD/CDP, $25k EMM SDX1 CDP, $26.5k TAD CDP.
Who are those guys trying to impress? Tiger Woods! :rofl:
Ken
Quote
Who are those guys trying to impress? Tiger Woods! :rofl:
Ken
God knows he has the money and from all accounts, he has some free time on his hands so maybe he will use it to get into audio versus getting into anything with two legs! :duh
(Yes...I know, my bad but I couldn't help myself.....just like Tiger couldn't) :rofl:
Hello from Las Vegas!
I only made it through the rooms at the venetian today. I'm hoping to get to the conevention center itself tomorrow. Attendance isn't too crazy, but certain rooms were always jammed. lines to go up and down elevators, etc. started a bit slow this morning but got a lot busier as the day went on.
There is a LOT of *reaaaaaaaally* bad sound here, even for a show. Some truly god awful bad sound that ran me out of the room in under a minute.
I've been looking for more reasonably priced gear... so if something was pricey, it had to really blow me away to hold my attention... most everything failed miserably at that...
Best PRAT I heard so far: Coincident Technology. I was really impressed with the room and haven't heard their speakers much in the past. Not perfect at all, but very good. I'm going to go back for another listen to this room.
NAD M2 digital amp? Not for me...
Usher introduced a new tweeter, which is a drop in replacement for the beryllium alloy tweeter. It's another alloy material. They are calling it Diamond. It's a diamond and alloy composite. They will be offering them in all their current beryllium model speakers. Existing beryllium tweeter equipped Usher owners can buy these tweeters and swap them in and out depending on your mood and preference. Initial listening was even more impressive than the current beryllium based units. A little more laid back and smoother. I really liked the Mini 1 units with this new tweeter. Not 100% sure, but the Be-718 will change crossover with the Diamond model even though not necessary since Diamond tweeter is direct drop in replacement. But they wanted to make a change to it. Prices are likely to go up a bit because these tweeters are more expensive to manufacture.
Most amazing demo that shouldn't do what it does... Acoustic Art room treatments. Insane how much it affects things. MUST be heard to be believed. Also met the biggest jackass of a press member in this room. They need a new word other than jackass for this guy.
I really liked the TAD demo room... way too much money in there, but sound was good. better than some of the other suites.
Sony speaker in IsoMike room was surprisingly good. No idea what it costs. Just poked in for a minute because I was curious they were demoing with a Sony speaker.
PrimaLuna... meh... not offensive, but not wow worthy. I thought I would be more impressed given all the ravings of the press. I was going to buy some of these even if I wasn't a dealer if they wow'ed me. I satisfied my curiousity. It would likely be better in non-show conditions and they are built extremely well. Oh well...
PS Audio... new prototype amp playing... was surprisingly good. First time I've actually liked Maggies. They were using 3.6s. It had good diffusion treatments in the room. One of the better sounds I heard. I liked the DAC.
Vandersteen 7s.... not impressed at all. Heard them in two rooms and left both wondering what the heck the big deal is? I wouldn't own them based on those two demos. It had to be issues with the room or other equipment
lots more... just stopping by before heading out for dinner and shows...
Thanks for the update! Sounds like fun.. :)
I think Tiger is safer sticking with what he knows. :yay2: Audio would push a perfectionist like him over the edge.
Thanks for the report Shane!!!
A couple more random thoughts from CES:
3D video was everywhere.... and it's awful..... it's going to fail and I will NEVER own a single product. JVCs version of it was the least offensive. Panasonics version gave me a headache in under 30 seconds. It actually made Melissa vomit she got so sick trying to watch it. None of it was good. I'm sooooo glad we haven't gone to Avatar in 3D yet. I'm not seeing it that way.
I spent time in the greatest massage chair I've ever used at this show... stupid expensive, but I just may have to get one. I'll be doing more exploration on this one as I'm not convinced about the company yet without more research.... but wow was it really, really, really good.
LG of all people were introducing new high end speakers and subwoofer using Vifa dual ring tweeter and Scanspeak revelator midrange and midbass drivers, along with kevlar bass drivers. They were powering it out in their huge booth with their budget all in one blu-ray player/receiver combo. They looked interesting and the sound really wasn't bad.
All the new 2010 plasmas with the infinite black filter were very nice. People were going nuts over the ultra thin LED LCD units... but they still weren't as good as plasma. The 480Hz refresh LCD they were showing did finally address the motion blur issues that drive me batty with LCD and cause me to bad mouth LCD to anyone that will listen :)
The JVC 4K projector was very nice...as well it should be for $175K MSRP.
I had multiple very long conversations with the Perreaux guys about their DAC card in the Eloquence integrated amplifiers as well as where they are heading with regard to distributed digital media. Their 250i integrated powering the Harbeth Monitor 40.1s was very nice. Alan Shaw from Harbeth did a number of changes throughout the show when I stopped into the room on my way somewhere else. He stuffed the ports, played with positioning, etc. etc. Really changed the character of the speaker.
I spent a little more time in the Usher room and played my test disc on the Mini 2 speaker with the new Diamond tweeters. It was a very familiar sound: All JPS Labs cabling, Belles VT-01 preamp, MB-01 class A monoblocks, and the Ushers. The new tweeters are going to be interesting. I'll talk to you local guys more about this when I get back. I will say this: My test disc was filled with some audiophile approved tracks, and then a bunch of stuff that I like to listen to where the audio quality is not up to snuff at all. But I love the music. One of those tracks is from The Tragically Hip off their second album Up to Here. Track 3 - New Orleans is Sinking. Recording quality is awful, but it's got such a great driving beat and rhythm that I love to hear what other systems do with it. Anyways, I learned that the US distributors are huge Hip fans when I played that cut. Stan's seen them 5 times in concert. He had to come sit next to me and listen when this came on. We cleared the room of a few pretentious people, but by the end of the song it got filled up by passer-bys who stopped in to hear rock played at a bit too elevated level. On this setup of gear, it was the best sounding of any system that let me play my disc. It reminded me of why I like the Usher sound so much.
I stopped back to the Coincident Speaker room. I really liked the Super Victory speaker they had playing with their amps and preamp. Really great detail and the ribbon they used was not a typical ribbon that has all the detail but none of the drive and impact. One of the better rooms I heard all show.
more later... someone is claiming we need to go get breakfast....
Shane:
I have seen Avatar in 3D twice and it it totally awesome. Both times I was there the theater was full of folks and the 3D seemed to have no negative effect on anyone. Over on AC many guys have seen the movie and all claim it is the best 3D they have ever seen.
I do find your comments about the upcoming 3D home products to be interesting. These gadgets are supposed the be the big must have items for the Christmas Season of 2010. I, for one, will not purchase any of these first edition products because I have been burnt in the past. The prices will be lower and quality better for those who wait!
Ken
Quote from: Bigfish8 on January 11, 2010, 09:28:05 AM
Shane:
I have seen Avatar in 3D twice and it it totally awesome. Both times I was there the theater was full of folks and the 3D seemed to have no negative effect on anyone. Over on AC many guys have seen the movie and all claim it is the best 3D they have ever seen.
I went to this a few weeks ago at a crap theater (SouthPoint Hotel / LasVegas) and thought it was amazing in 3D. The place was packed and it was the first time I have experienced an entire theater clap at the end of the movie. I have heard about it happening but that was my first and only time where it happened at a show I attended.
Awesome movie that rocked in 3D!
I've seen it in 2D... it's a very good movie... but I believe they use the shutter style glasses for this one... that's the one that gave me a severe headache and make Melissa sick. I honestly haven't followed all the 3-D tech lately. I've hated every version of 3-D I've seen to date. So I was procrastinating until real product was shipping before looking much at the new stuff.
One other product that was on display that is going to do interesting things: Clear 4G wireless internet service. They obviously beefed things up for the show. But sustained speeds were really good. It might make me drop Time Warner Cable modem if I get similar response once they launch in RDU area.
Highlights of the trip so far foodwise:
a) The veal special at Bouchon in the Venetian... I like veal but also end up disappointed 99% of the time because most places completely ruin it... not here... by a wiiiiiiiiide margin, the greatest veal dish I've ever had. We sold 10 of them to people who sat down after us at other adjacent tables and they all had the exact same reaction.
b) The hot cinnamon sugar donuts with chocolate and strawberry toppings at Bouchon this morning at breakfast. Somewhat simple.... but insanely good...
c) the blanco mac & cheese side dish at Beso, Eva Longoria's new restaurant in City Center. They destroyed my steak, but this impulse order will make me go back to the restaurant next time I'm in town. I'll just better explain how to cook a steak next time.
I've seen a few 3D movies in the past but found them quite painful to watch. Not so with Avatar! This movie was just totally over the top in 3D. My daughter, who has serious eyesite problems that require a lot of correction, came away with a slight headache but still absolutely loved it and went back to see it again two days later.
If Avatar is a sign of things to come, then it will definitely be the revival of big screen theaters. It made a believer out of me :thumb: :thumb: