Loudspeakers $25k and Above at CES 2011
Save for Saturday afternoon, I thought the high-end exhibits at CES were poorly attended this year, which was a shame because, at least in my pearly neck of the woods, the sound was for the most part very good and often excellent. There were several exceptions, which I’ll come to, and certain question marks, and there were also more than a few exhibits that sounded a lot alike. Whether this was because of the uniform acoustics of the Venetian hotel rooms, the implementation of virtually the same drivers and enclosure/crossover materials in a number of speakers, the use of the same strongly colored electronics in certain instances, the vagaries of Las Vegas current (which drove several exhibitors a bit crazy, especially early in the show), or some combination of all of the above I don’t know. Nonetheless, a surprising number of speakers sounded almost exactly the same shade of dark, sweet, soft, and gemütlich.
I should tell you now that one speaker at this show—my Best Sound of CES winner, in fact—was a genuine revelation. Going back to my seminal, ear-opening, mind-expanding experience with the Maggie 1-Us in the early 70s, I can count the number of times I’ve heard stereo systems that were “fool-me” realistic on both hands without using up all my fingers. This year—at a trade show, no less—I heard a speaker that was so uncannily lifelike and so “not there” as a sound source that I was almost literally stunned.
Because I’ve not listened to this speaker in my home with a variety of music—and because it presents peculiarities of setup that may prove to be its undoing (at least in a room considerably smaller than a bi-level suite at the Venetian Hotel), and because I have only heard it with one set of electronics, the sound of which I’m no longer familiar with (although I used to be), I’m unsure whether this epiphany will be repeatable in my own listening room. If it is, and I hope to find out, then the Magico Q5, which is (at least in my setup) capable of this same level of “fool-me” realism on select sources, will face competition.
I’m going to list the speakers in the order that I heard them, although in some cases (particularly with speakers that I auditioned on the first day of the show) I made a return visit later in the show to see if the sound had changed or improved (and in all instances it had). As usual, I apologize in advance to manufacturers I may have missed—or for any mistakes I may make in pricing or specifications or nomenclature. There are a lot of very expensive speakers at CES, and I’m just one guy with a briefcase full of blues (and classical).
Since I began my annual trek on the top floor, with the Big Boys in the outsized 35th floor suites, it chanced that the very first speakers I heard—and I think I’ve only heard them being actively exhibited once before—were Wilson Audio’s $158k flagship Alexandria X-2 being driven by the TAS Amplifier of the Year award-winning Lamm Industries ML3s and sourced, at least on the analog side, by the latest version of the AAS Gabriel/Da Vinci turntable with Da Vinci’s 12-inch Grandezza arm and Grandezza cartridge. (It was, BTW, an absolute joy to see Peter Brem and Jolanda Costa, the authors of Da Vinci’s gear, at this year’s CES; I hope to review their new record player in the near future.) All of these treasures (save for the speakers) were sitting on Critical Mass stands and platforms. (This was a very good show for Critical Mass, which was also doing its job of taming floorborne and airborne resonances in other very-high-end exhibits).
Given that this was one of the highest of high-end rooms I’d anticipated a very very good sound, but on the first hour of the first day of the show—with so much still being worked out—the presentation was not good. It was overly sweet and soft. Though rich in timbre and amazingly ambient, the sound lacked dynamic bite, as if transient attacks were being swallowed up in a superabundance of mid-to-upper bass. Thus, Heifetz’s Guarnerius (on the great RCA recording of the Prokofiev Second Violin Concerto) and Eden and Tamir’s pianos on Satie’s incredibly delightful Trois Morceaux en forme de poire (on a truly great Decca LP) were swamped by reverberation, losing some of their sparkle and articulation on loud passages.
However, when I returned on the last day of the show, Sunday afternoon, most of these kinks had been worked out and the sound was much more neutral and competitive. Though still a little soft on the very top, making Heiftez’s fiddle sound slightly more recessed (less spotlit) and more velvety in timbre and texture—and his performance a bit less sensationally dynamic—than it should have, the presentation was now exceptionally natural and detailed in the midband and the bass. (I returned to the Wilson room one final time—at Peter McGrath’s behest—to listen to one of his marvelous mastertapes, a superb recording of Leonard Shure playing Beethoven’s Sonata No. 30, Opus 109. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, now: For classical music lovers McGrath is a national treasure.)
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Comments
Thank you for that comprehensive and well written summary.
Ditto that! Wins my best of show for show coverage, so far.
Dj and Josh,
Thank you both for the kind words.
Jon
jv, heard the wilson /lamm several times ,and just didn't get it....:~(
but the tad ref1/cr-1, the new s/f, the focal/carry, acapella/einstein, lumen/white/ayon, were all very good, imo, and inviting for my repeat visits.
when will you review the tb electronics, and how did you find their over sound, in comparison to say the baLABO which you are so familiar with?
Ozy,
I will be reviewing the TB electronics in Issue 213.
Jon
Mazel tov JV, for great show coverage. Other writers/reviewers need to take note here.
Now, how about some good-old analog? :)
Mark
Appreciate the review, but a couple things...
I can't believe there was no mention of the new Wisom Audio speakers. Your Greatest Technological Breakthrough category wouldn't be blank if you did. Amazing on wall reference speakers for the first time ever that compete with anything. Everything else I saw at the show was basically the same stuff that's been demoed the past 5 years.
I saw the other rooms you commented on and will commend you on a pretty accurate analysis. However, i might be able to add a little insight. The Lumen White sound was "hollow" because they were running the CD direct to their amp. Almost any reference system bypassing a traditional preamp can sound "hollow" (yet very detailed and transparent) in comparison to other reference systems. BTW, the other speakers in the room were Legacy, not Lumen White.
If I get time, I'll come back and comment further.
JV, thanks for a great coverage
"As noted, my only reservation was its handling of large-scale dynamics in the bass. I hope to acquire a pair of these speakers soon to find out whether, as I suspect, it was the amp or the room or both that were robbing the 3.7s of power"
Did you happen to listen to the 3.7s in the Magnepan room using Bryston 28B SST monos, same impression of this setup?
I was wondering the same thing. Here's a comment from someone who heard them in the Bryston room:
"Like the MG1.7 last year, the MG3.7 didn't disappoint, offering midrange clarity that speakers ten times its cost can't equal and a much-improved bottom end with some real power and heft."
http://www.theaudiobeat.com/ces2011/ces2011_bos_magnepan.htm
And from Paul Seydor's review here:
"It was impossible not to be blown away by the sheer impact of the sound, the dynamic range and power—indeed, playing Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man, the setup answered a lifelong curiosity of mine of what it might be like to be inside a bass drum when it’s being whacked!"
And another one:
"Wendell played that old warhorse, 1812 overture and I nearly stained the seat looking for a subwoofer that wasn't there when those cannon shots were launched."
http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showthread.php?2471-CES-2011-The-Good-the-...
These are all from the Bryston room. So are we talking different room acoustics, or, as JV suggests, a limitation of the amplifier? I saw one review from the Audio Research room that also spoke highly of the bass:
"This time I was able to play music from my own CD-R, and the speakers, which even I could dream of owning, grabbed me by virtue of their coherency and, surprisingly, near-prodigious bass. Finally, a planar speaker with slam -– all without losing the glorious midrange and creamy top end that were hallmarks of the Magnepan MG3.6"
http://www.theaudiobeat.com/ces2011/ces2011_tablog_speakers.htm
But don't know anything about the reviewer.
Sceptic and Josh,
I did hear the 3.7s at T.H.E. Show, but only briefly and not with my own music. There, driven by Bryston amplification, the 3.7s seemed to be MUCH more dynamic in the bass (or, at least, the mid-and-upper bass), although there was a definite trade-off in midrange/treble smoothness and graininess (the ARC amp was much more refined).
Jon
Talk about your classic tube/transistor dichotomy! Sounds like a good candidate for bi-amping.
Did you have the impression that Magnepan has improved the 3.7's bass, as some of the other reviewers have asserted, or is it unrealistic to make that judgment from a show demo?
EDIT -- Except I see that it's a Class D amp. So much for classic dichotomies, LOL . . .
JV- did you hear the Zu Dominance at T.H.E. Show?
Jon,
As the resident Magnepan guy I have a subwoofer integration question. I have taken TAS's advise to mate 1.7s w/PSB 5i (stereo). How do you recommend I hook them up? Via RCA utilizing line level or speaker cable utilizing speaker level???
thanks in advance,
Frank
Magnepan MG 1.7, Bryston 4B SST2, Wyred4Sound DAC-2, Kimber Kable 12TC and Hero, PS Audio Duets, Shunyata Venom 3, Toshiba laptop with J River 17 and Windows 7
The DS450 was billed as ARC's Magnepan amp at last year's CES but there has been little discussion (or sales?) of this amp that I can find. On another ARC note, the Sonus Faber's were being driven by the 610Ts, did these have the new K120 tubes? According to ARCDB the 610T w/ KT120 will put out over 800 wpc.
dj,
The ARC 610T was being used with the new K120 tubes.
Jon
I understand the Magico Q1 were on static display. Did they have any idea on their retail price and timetable?
jfkbike
Jeff,
Yes, the Q1s (atop dedicated stands) were on static display. I think that price and delivery are still being determined.
Jon
"There, driven by Bryston amplification, the 3.7s seemed to be MUCH more dynamic in the bass (or, at least, the mid-and-upper bass), although there was a definite trade-off in midrange/treble smoothness and graininess (the ARC amp was much more refined)"
Always a catch :)
It's the tubes, man, the tubes!
Best coverage of CES online---thanks JV!
The AudioResearch amp was a class d solid state amp that drove the mag 3.7. I will compare this amp against the AudioResearch ref.110,
which is a tube amp, with the incoming mag 3.7
I currently drive my 3.6s w/ a VT200MkI/Ref 3 combination. I am seriously considering a 3.7 purchase. I'll be interested in your comparison since the D450 has 450wpc and the 110 about 130-135 w/ the KT120s.
Len, please keep us posted on your findings.
JV, nice,
however i'm disappointed> cutting edge! No VIVID GAYA, yet you visited speakers that you've already reviewed
Sorry, Zead.
I just missed it.
This is the kind of coverage that makes JV such a respected reviewer by the industry and by consumers alike. I am interested in and have heard several of the speakers listed here in various incarnations. And while I obviously must audition the reference speaker (I am going to be living with for a long time), JV's show reports and reviews are proving to be invaluable research material I find my self reading multiple times in print and online. Furthermore, blogs such as this, covering the various gear he and other TAS reviews publish, also are becoming more important as an extended discourse between the reviewer and the readership, while the magazine reviews seem to be more of a jumping off point.
I would like to see this trend of extended coverage, dialog and comparative commentary blossom, as the economic pressure of producing a printed monthly magazine forces shorter and more varied reviews. I have heard people complain that TAS reviews are not like the old days, where vast literary real estate was devoted to a particular product or system. I'll point out REG's original review of the Quad 63 US as a benchmark (reading that reprint in a store is what brought me to subscribe to TAS and purchase Quads all those years ago).
I would like to see TAS/AVguide rely even more heavily on the extended blog format as a way to return to glory days of high end journalism, with the 2 way dialog allowing for an even greater understanding of the subtleties of this hobby than the reading public has even been afforded.
High end journalism now has a golden opportunity to evolve past two trends I have seen emerging. I have several audiophile friends who (perhaps unjustly) have sworn off magazines reviews as simply PR. And as computer aided design and analysis of equipment pushes the industry further toward neutrality (just look what has happened to amps both valve and solid state, cables no longer being tone controls, etc) much of the gear being produced, and even at modest costs, are performing to a degree where almost all modern reviews are positive. The public interprets this as audio reviewers not being truly critical. I have read this time and time again in one incarnation or another in online forums.
Devoting further resources to formats such as this can allow audio journalism to evolve into a force more relevant than even the best of TAS's past glory days, while including the "new blood" so badly needed to keep this increasingly complex and expensive hobby vital.
well said emailist! on a slighly different note, i think RH and the crew have still been doing an excellent job with the magazine and are even actively responding to online suggestions. I for one was very happy for the indepth music sections that have appeared lately....in fact i think it was the last magazine wherin while reading the music section i mentioned to myself --wow! Tas has finally nailed down the music thing!
zead,
Much of the credit for the improvement in music coverage goes to our music editor, Mark Lehman, who's done a truly wonderful job.
And let me add that Robert Harley is the best editor I've ever worked with.
Jon
Hello JV,
Any chance you took pictures of the new The Contender from Nola? Can't find any online yet. Haven't read anything anywhere either exept from you so far. But the price is right and I trust you ears so I am curious about It.
Thanks!
Benny,
You'll find information about The Contender at nolaspeakers.com.
Jon
The Mangepan site now shows the 3.7. They described the 3.7 as "full ribbon" as the 1.7 suggesting that both the mid-range and bass panels are now quasi ribbon (QR) as 1.7. I believe Jon that you, and many of us, believed the bass panel was still planar magnetic in design. If the entire speaker is actually both true ribbon and fully QR I would be much more inclined to move from my 3.6s to the 3.7s.
The midrange and bass panels are Quasi ribbon, and the tweeter is real ribbon.
dj,
H'mm. Well, it stands to reason that Maggie would make this change after the introduction of the all-quasi-ribbon 1.7. I wonder if this change to quasi-ribbon panels in the bass had any bearing on bass dynamics in the ARC exhibit, although a little bird told me that that was a room issue--or, more precisely, that there were some seating positions in which the bass was too lean and some where it was too full.
Jon
Thanks again Jon. No reasonable person expects a definitive review of any component, especially a loudspeaker, from listening for a few minutes in a hotel room!! What's informative and entertaining, is that an experienced reviewer such as yourself provides readers with some detailed highlights of the show and your initial impressions. Dave
Dave,
First of all, thank you again.
But second, let me emphasize your point: It should go without saying that there is NOTHING definitive about a show report. Mine is a first take on a lot of very fine, very expensive speakers, most set up too quickly under mostly miserable conditions. It is meant to be entertaining and informative, and though I do spend time listening carefully what I've written is not meant to be the last word--or anything close to it--on any of these transducers.
All too often, I've heard gear that sounded downright dreadful at shows (the original launch of my 2011 Best of Show winners, the Scaena loudspeakers, for example) that at later shows proved to be fantastic transducers. Just look at the Magico Q5 launch last year, where a combination of things (most especially the room) kept THE highest-fidelity (most lifelike and transparent-to-sources) full-range loudspeaker I've heard in my home from sounding close to its best. It took a trip to Berkeley and a trip to RMAF, followed by a trip to my listening room, to prove how misleading that first impression was.
Jon
Thanks for the indepth review JV. I noticed your positive comments about the AMR phono stage....Any chance for a review and comparison with the ARC Ref Phono II since they are priced the same and have similar features?
jmitr,
Yes. There is a chance for a review, but I have to talk to AMR first.
Jon
Jon:
I heartily concur in your assessment of Peter McGrath's skills as an engineer. Peter playing his own recordings is always a significant highlight of any show he attends.
And the Maggie 3.7 left me pretty bowled over as well.
Great job Jon!
JR
Great job Jon!
JR
Hey Jon, That's SILBATONE on the big field coil horn speakers not Silvertone!
"Silvertone" is a cool name but Sears and Roebuck beat us to it back in the 1950s...
Oops. Thanks for the correction, Joe, which I'll make in the blog and in the print version of the report. BTW, it was good to see you again after all these years. Reviewed anymore GE radios lately?
With that Fi Magazine GE radio review as the pinnacle of my career, I thought it best to retire the pen and jump the track to the manufacturer side to assist my old friend with the Silbatone project.
Talk about trading one thankless role for another, right? Undoubtedly, it is quite a job to cover CES. As an exhibitor, at least I get to hang tight next to a coffee maker and feign sanity. Only have to deal with one bad room and funky setup, rather than dozens on end, and I don't have to listen to Diana Krall unless I choose to.
Soldier on, Brother! Show reports for the people!!
I honestly thought that review was marvelous--witty, down-to-earth, and just plain sane--and you wrote several others that were every bit as good. I take it that Glass Audio is no more (in fact I think you told me so at the show), which is a pity. I wish you all the luck with Silbatone. If you ever decide to return to journalism, please get in touch with me first.
Joe:
Weren't you with another mag that dealt with SE & Horns?
Mark
Hi Mark:
Yeah, I was editor/publisher of "Sound Practices" until I ran out of cash, brain cells, and youthful vigor...also wrote for Fi and a couple other audio/video rags here and there. Fi (under JV's editorship) was a lot of fun for a mainstream mag and gave me free rein to get all freaky. I enjoyed those days.
Currently retired from audio except helping out with Silbatone, which is a non-profit centered, think tank operation with the world's best vintage Western Electric collection. We do CES and Munich as a traveling museum exhibition sort of thing, playing rare stuff folks wouldn't get to hear otherwise. jc morrison from Sound Practices is our lead designer on the electronics.
The WE horns and tweeters we brought to CES were 1930 originals!
If I ever decide to return to audio publishing, I fear my wife will find out first and do me in with some anti-freeze in my french roast! She hasn't forgotten all those coerced proofreading sessions...
Thank you for the honest impressions (most reviewers would never point flaws on the equipment they hear during shows). Keep it up!