Girding, T.H.E. Show Las Vegas and CES 2013


I’m still not exactly sure why loins, specifically, would need girding, but I think I may need to get on that pronto. It’s about to get a little hairy.

Monday, I’m off to Vegas. I don’t care how tedious some folks find these events, I love ’em. Excited to see everyone out there!

First up is CES over at the Venetian Hotel. The bulk of the action is over there, and it’s gonna be a zoo. Not like the next-door Convention Center, but a bit of a mess. Why? Because it’s a freakin’ casino. A pretty one, but you’re aware they build those things like rat mazes for a reason, right?

Next is T.H.E. Show in Las Vegas. I’m actually psyched for this one — Richard Beers puts on a nice show. It’s a bit off the path from CES, which should mean it’s a little less hairy. All good, to me, as I’ll be slinging a monster camera rig — with tripod. I’ve tried the little point and shoots, and no matter how good they are, they still suck. So, the Canon 5DIII is still the only way to go.

Of interest, perhaps, is the new Canon Vixia HF G10 I picked up late last year on super-big-discount. Yes, we’re going HD video over here at Part-Time Audiophile. In fact, you can see my early efforts in the Axiom write-up and in the upcoming stuff for Volti Audio and Clearwave Audio. Assuming I don’t lose it, have it stolen, or simply forget to use it, I’ll have some video from the shows to play with.

The plan is to spend Tuesday and Wednesday at CES/the Venetian and Thursday and Friday at T.H.E. Show at the Flamingo Hotel. Oh, and to eat at some damn fine restaurants when I remember to actually do so.

Last thing — I will be “doing” this show a bit different. This isn’t really a consumer-oriented show — at least, CES isn’t — so I’ll be approaching things with a bit more targeted type approach. That is, it’ll be more “What’s New and Why Should I Care?” and less “this is everything I found in the room”. Hope that works for everyone, but honestly, the show is too big to cover any other way.

So, any last-minute requests? What do you want to see?





19 Comments

  1. A well established Australian Speaker called SGR are showcasing their gear – Active X-overs to drivers. Would like to know what the feedback is as they are well regarded by some at home.

  2. I’d like to get your thoughts, if you run into the Phoenix speaker by Precision Transducer Engineering. MTM config, powered amplification for each driver! Desert island low cost speaker for my taste. I heard them at RMAF 2012, thru an analog set up, the old Cantate Domino LP recording, which I hadn’t heard in years (18+???) and it was jaw droppingly excellent !! It ain’t pretty, but boy it sure almost puts one into the venue (recording site). Be safe, vigilent and have fun, fun, fun!! Eagerly awaiting your round up of coverages…

  3. Try to get to listen to the Evolution Acoustics MM Micro 1 and see if John will let you review them. I have them incoming in a week or so.. Have yet to hear them.

  4. Please let us know if Arcam is around and if they do a credible demo with the AVR600. I don’t think I’ve ever heard more +/- on one piece of equipment. Want one bad, but scared just as much!

    • Not sure if they’re on the tour, but I’ll keep an eye out for Arcam for sure.

  5. I see that Reference 3A speakers will be there, and they’ve just updated their entire line with new cabinet finishes and new tweeters, not to mention a couple of brand new models. I’d LOVE to hear your impressions of that room and see some photos, too.

  6. Check out the new Reference 3A NEFES speaker, 2 x 8″ hyperexponential mid range/woofers , beryllium tweet in MTM formation, minimal cross over hardware, new cabinet material. And talk about video take a look at the new LG 55″ OLED – flat panels could be a whole new field for you Scot 🙂 Tx again and in advance for superlative show coverage, best in class.

    Regards,
    Charlie.

    • Thanks for the kinds words!

      And thanks also for the catch on Ref3a — they sure did update their lineup, didn’t they? Very exciting. The Nefes looks great — wonder if they’ll send me a pair?!?

      As for TVs, that’s a whole other kettle of fish. I can only imagine what the wife would say to a “review TV”. LOL. She’d never believe me in a million years!

  7. Check out the PBN/Quintessence room at THE. Quintessence in particular rarely gets talked about, especially compared to companies like Magico, Wilson and YG which are on TAS and Stereophile covers every month.

    I’m surprised to see Kharma there, I thought they had packed up and left the US market. Lumenwhite will also be there, may be worth a look.

    • A dealer friend of mine said that Kharma is back in the US — sort of. That is, they’re coming in through a Canadian distributor. I’ll be checking them out for sure. I’ve heard some big PBN speakers before, but I’ll look them up too ….

  8. Anything different. I know you have to cover all the usual suspects but find something you have never heard and seems interesting, unique or even downright crazy.

Comments are closed.