Chesty Voices Don’t Spoil the Musicality

Jan 9 - My first day at CES was spent on the 29th floor of the Venetian Hotel, home to many of this year’s high-end exhibits.

To my shock there were no gondolas to carry me from room to room at the Venetian—no litter-bearers, either. So, along with my pal Wayne Garcia, I trudged from room to room, looking for the best sounds in my stratospheric category—speakers and electronics above $25k. As is usually the case for audio shows held in hotel rooms, the results were a mixed bag. Here are the three exhibits I liked best.

As was the case at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, the $30k Gershman Black Swans showed very nicely, powered by the handsome V-shaped $40k Red Rock Audio Renaissance monoblock amps. The overall sound was a tad dark and a little soft on top, but sweet and full and nicely detailed. The dynamic workout of the third movement of the Copland Third Symphony (“Fanfare for the Common Man�) tested the Red Rocks, which proved a little underpowered for the huge bass drum strikes and brass fanfares. But on an extremely dynamic cut from Mario Lanza Live from London, they and the Gershmans hung in there quite impressively. Lanza’s voice was a little chesty but solid as a rock at all levels (and, brother, he sings fortissississimo in many spots on this disc).

Also impressive was the Pass Labs’ $25k “Next� loudspeaker, driven by Pass’ own X350.5 amplifier, X0.2 preamp, and a Basis turntable. The Nexts showed exemplary balance and coherence on Peter, Paul, and Mary’s version of “All My Trials.� Though not the last word in inner detail and a little restrained dynamically, it was exceptionally natural in timbres and—forgive me, but it’s the right word—never less than musical.

My final pick for Day One standouts was a bit of a surprise, since I’d never heard of the company before. Epitome (an Italian firm) showed a sizeable, curvaceous, floorstanding $48k three-way called the “Caruso� that, driven by affordable Unison Research electronics, not only had electrostatic-like clarity and coherence but a dynamic liveliness and transparency that made it my pick for best sound of Day One.

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