Dick Olsher’s Best of Show

 

Best Sound: Kudos again to Mike Slaminski–the audio engine behind Precision Audio & Video. Although either of his rooms at the Venetian could have gotten my vote, in the end, and by a small margin, I opted for the system consisting of the Venture Audio Grand Excellence III Signature speakers, Silicon Arts ZL-120 monoblock power amplifiers, Concert Fidelity CF-080 linestage preamplifier and DAC-040, Silicon Arts SPA-4B phonostage, Spiral Groove SG-1 turntable outfitted with a Graham Phantom B-44 arm and Transfiguration Orpheus cartridge, TEAC Esoteric UX-1 transport, Sound Application RLS power conditioners, and FMS cable.

Greatest Bargain: Any of the Disc Doctor record and stylus cleaner products starting at $25.

Most Surprising Discovery: A tube amplifier from digital powerhouse TEAC Esoteric with the speed to match Esoteric’s MG-20 speakers.

Most Important Trend: Continued evolution of metal cone drivers, including magnesium-alloy designs.

 

Most Significant New Product: The $1695 PS Audio Memory transport; potentially, the most cost effective solution for CD playback jitter reduction.

Greatest Technological Breakthrough: David Berning’s extension of the Zero-Hysteresis (ZH) technology “OTL� to higher power levels. At the core of the technology is a mapping of the audio signal onto an RF carrier frequency, followed by a high-frequency power converter, which extracts a high-current and low-impedance drive signal suitable for driving a loudspeaker.

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