A Novices Take on CES 2012

[Lildebs888]

Originally Posted by Taylode

This was my first experience with CES and, as a novice; I suffered a bit of information overload not to mention I think I wore out a pair of shoes. Here is what I took away from the show.

• 3D Television: Everyone is doing it. I think its more gimmick than anything else but that’s probable more the content developers (e.g. studios) than TV manufactures. The no-glasses 3D is nowhere near ready for primetime – picture blurry and you have to be in just the right position.

• Ultra-High Definition: This is very cool and in my opinion a much better way to go than 3D. I also think it will ensure that BD has a much longer future.

• Audio: The Japanese and Scandinavian speaker designers definitely have a very unique since of aesthetic. Aida is a beautiful speaker and even though it’s large, I did not find it domineering. I may be the only person that doesn’t like Lamm and Wilson. With female vocals I picked up an edge that was painful to my ears (I’ve experienced this before with other manufactures). In contrast, Wilson and D'Agostino Momentum's were sublime – no edge or grain. I like this combo a lot! McIntosh’s new 7 channel amp is ugly. I thought perhaps it would look better in person, but no it’s still ugly. However, their new entry-level speakers I thought looked much better in person and I was quite pleased with their sound. The equipment at the show that I would like to audition further is: Vienna Acoustics Music speakers and Wilson Sasha’s. I was also very impressed with Oracle Delphi MK VI turntable.

• My best in show awards go to: For Speakers, Sonus Faber Aida; for Amplifiers D'Agostino Momentum's; and for Music Servers, Burmester 111 Music Server.

CES 2012 was quite an experience. It was very cool to see much of the gear that is discussed here but I’ve never experienced. If I do it again, I will go in with a game plan rather than trying to take in the entire show. Next I think I’ll attend RMAF to see which I prefer.

I’ll conclude with a final word about rooms. I’ll start with the Lamm/Wilson since it got a fair amount of negative publicity here. I didn’t find the folks rude or snooty just very serious and I can understand why some people would find that off putting. The Boulder folks were the most casual and relaxed and Burmester was the most enjoyable. The Sumiko room was nice and talking with Bill is always a treat, too bad we were never able to hook up in the evening. Well there you have it, my take on CES 2012.

Great Report, Dennis! Thank you for sharing

[Taylode]

Originally Posted by Lildebs888

Great Report, Dennis! Thank you for sharing

Thanks Deb and sorry I didn't make it up to the Wilson party -- I didn't get to my room until after 8PM that night. Too bad because I was looking forward to attending and meeting you!

[JFR0317]

Thanks for the report, Dennis!