Excerpts
From
CES '98
Standout Room Report
SoundStage!
writers pick their favorite rooms from CES '98
Published February 1998
|
| Doug Schneider |
| This year I did
far more running around than listening. Still, I
managed to squeak in a number of listening
sessions. The most memorable and pleasurable of
these were: . . . My second choice will become second choices
-- that's because two groups of companies stood
out for showing good value by offering
exceptional products at reasonable prices. Group
one is the folks at Clayton Audio/Osiris
Audionics/DH Labs who were showing off
their fancy wares through two very nice systems
using Meadowlark and Merlin speakers. The
Meadowlark Shearwater speaker certainly seems a
steal at $2000. Groups two consists of Speaker
Art along with G&D
Transforms, Symphonia and TG
Audio. They provided an exceptional demo
of the $1595 Clef Signature loudspeaker using a
G&D UCD-1 CD player wired directly into a
Symphonia amplifier (yes, no preamp). The sound
was rich, three-dimensional, and beautifully
musical. This was a very fine music system. Based
on the sonic quality of the presentations, all of
these components are knockout standouts.
. . .
|
| Todd Warnke |
 . . . And my first choice
goes to the Merlin/Joule Electra
room. There are many contenders for the title of
best speaker in the world, almost all of which
are beyond the reach of anyone who wasn’t in
on the ground floor at Microsoft. That’s one
reason why I like the Merlin VSM-SEs so much. At
$5950 a pair, the VSM-SEs with BAM are the
cheapest speakers by far that can lay claim to
being the best. Driven by the jewel-like Joule
Electra electronics, the sound in Bobby Palkovic
and Jud Barber’s room was ultra-detailed,
superbly refined, sublimely musical—and best
of all, natural. It was everything I listen for. |
| Marc Mickelson |
| With one
exception, the rooms I picked as having the best
sound were ones with some piece of equipment I
had already heard and enjoyed at home. I'm
nothing if not consistent.... The Merlin/Joule Electra
room was one of the first I visited, and I
thought at the time that the sound was great, but
I was convinced then I'd hear other
more-impressive demos—this was the CES,
after all. And I did hear a lot of good sound,
but the Merlin/Joule Electra room held its
own—making beautiful music. Merlin
VSM-SEs and BAM ($5950) were driven by the
striking Joule Electra VZN-100 monoblocks ($8,895
per pair). Preamplification was supplied by a
Joule Electra LA-100 Mk III linestage ($3295) and
OPS-2 outboard phonostage with separate power
supply ($3495). Digital and analog were used as
sources—a newly upgraded Timbre TT-1 DAC and
Goldmund 39 transport for the former, a VPI
turntable with JWM Memorial tonearm and Cardas
Heart cartridge for the latter. The cables were
from Cardas. Bobby Palkovic played a Mercury
Living Presence LP of The Firebird Suite,
and I was glued for the entire first side. Tons
of space, tremendous resolution, and impressive
bass impact—this system had it all. . .
|
| John Upton |
| Once again, Doug
Schneider has asked us to submit a list of our
three "standout" rooms at the CES. Once
again, he has not chosen to define the term
"standout," leaving me, a SoundStage!
Show reporter, a dangerous amount of leeway
to interpret this missive. If I were to interpret
"standout" as meaning the finest
overall sound, you'd be reading about the Merlin/Joule
and Kharma/Lamm rooms at the
Alexis Park and the Genesis display
at Caesar's. If I interpreted
"standout" as meaning exceptionally bad
sound, I'd be telling you about...no, I don't
suppose that would be fair. Show conditions are
tough, and a bad room can make the best of
systems sound simply wretched. Instead, I've
decided to try something a bit different and will
define a "standout" room as one
featuring products offering exceptional sound at
real-world prices. With these parameters in mind,
I offer the following as my CES '98 standouts... |
| Doug Blackburn |
| OK, if you
already read my Show report, you might remember
that I was way busy shooting photos and
schmoozing, so my three best rooms aren’t
going to be necessarily based on sound quality.
Instead, they are the rooms where I had a
relaxing listening experience, learned something
new, or just generally had a good time. . . Number 2: Blue Circle
Audio*. As usual, the Blue Circle room could
be counted on for great sound and conversation.
Gilbert Yeung, Blue Circle's president, wins the
first-annual "dB's Best/Worst Sense of Humor
Award." dB awards will henceforth be known
as the "Belle," as in short for
"decibel." Gilbert is now infamous for
getting the most laughs from the worst jokes.
Besides that, he let me drop 35 pounds of
"load" several times to make walking
the Show easier. Thanks guys! Ring your Belle,
Gilbert! . . .
[*A note from
Merlin: Please note that the Blue Circle/Merlin
suite demonstrated the VSM-SE speaker system]
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