A couple more random thoughts from CES:
3D video was everywhere.... and it's awful..... it's going to fail and I will NEVER own a single product. JVCs version of it was the least offensive. Panasonics version gave me a headache in under 30 seconds. It actually made Melissa vomit she got so sick trying to watch it. None of it was good. I'm sooooo glad we haven't gone to Avatar in 3D yet. I'm not seeing it that way.
I spent time in the greatest massage chair I've ever used at this show... stupid expensive, but I just may have to get one. I'll be doing more exploration on this one as I'm not convinced about the company yet without more research.... but wow was it really, really, really good.
LG of all people were introducing new high end speakers and subwoofer using Vifa dual ring tweeter and Scanspeak revelator midrange and midbass drivers, along with kevlar bass drivers. They were powering it out in their huge booth with their budget all in one blu-ray player/receiver combo. They looked interesting and the sound really wasn't bad.
All the new 2010 plasmas with the infinite black filter were very nice. People were going nuts over the ultra thin LED LCD units... but they still weren't as good as plasma. The 480Hz refresh LCD they were showing did finally address the motion blur issues that drive me batty with LCD and cause me to bad mouth LCD to anyone that will listen
The JVC 4K projector was very nice...as well it should be for $175K MSRP.
I had multiple very long conversations with the Perreaux guys about their DAC card in the Eloquence integrated amplifiers as well as where they are heading with regard to distributed digital media. Their 250i integrated powering the Harbeth Monitor 40.1s was very nice. Alan Shaw from Harbeth did a number of changes throughout the show when I stopped into the room on my way somewhere else. He stuffed the ports, played with positioning, etc. etc. Really changed the character of the speaker.
I spent a little more time in the Usher room and played my test disc on the Mini 2 speaker with the new Diamond tweeters. It was a very familiar sound: All JPS Labs cabling, Belles VT-01 preamp, MB-01 class A monoblocks, and the Ushers. The new tweeters are going to be interesting. I'll talk to you local guys more about this when I get back. I will say this: My test disc was filled with some audiophile approved tracks, and then a bunch of stuff that I like to listen to where the audio quality is not up to snuff at all. But I love the music. One of those tracks is from The Tragically Hip off their second album Up to Here. Track 3 - New Orleans is Sinking. Recording quality is awful, but it's got such a great driving beat and rhythm that I love to hear what other systems do with it. Anyways, I learned that the US distributors are huge Hip fans when I played that cut. Stan's seen them 5 times in concert. He had to come sit next to me and listen when this came on. We cleared the room of a few pretentious people, but by the end of the song it got filled up by passer-bys who stopped in to hear rock played at a bit too elevated level. On this setup of gear, it was the best sounding of any system that let me play my disc. It reminded me of why I like the Usher sound so much.
I stopped back to the Coincident Speaker room. I really liked the Super Victory speaker they had playing with their amps and preamp. Really great detail and the ribbon they used was not a typical ribbon that has all the detail but none of the drive and impact. One of the better rooms I heard all show.
more later... someone is claiming we need to go get breakfast....