Geoffcin
05-08-2005, 04:04 AM
With 5 minutes to go to the meeting I headed up to Aperions rooms, (they had two), and ran into one of the organizers of the show in the elevator on the way. She looked a little peaked by this time of the day (4pm) and told me that it was a late night, as all the dealers were setting up late into the night and the whole floor where she was staying was shaking like it was a dorm room party. I told her where I was going, and she seemed to know all about it, and took me directly there.
Aperion took the better part of an hour to do, and although I only got about 15 minutes of play time with the new speakers, which can be had in real wood veneer, or piano black lacquer. I can say that my first impression of them was very good.
http://gallery.audioreview.com/data/audio/504/medium/207729aperion_speakers.jpg
Aperion was one of the few dealers to bring a 5.1 setup, and I made good use of it in the time that I had with it. If you want details;
http://forums.audioreview.com/showthread.php?t=11305
By the time I was done in the Aperion rooms it was pushing 5pm, and I had not even stopped for lunch yet. So, I decided that would be enough of the upper floor dealers, and headed back down to level 3 to get one last look at the ballrooms. I stopped into the AR room to look at the neat looking Digital MediaBridge that I've some buzz about when something caught my eye. There was a rep there with a new kind of computer mouse that really intrigued me. The mouse has a built in gyro that lets you use it completely free of any surface. We played with the features
on a computer that had multimedia software installed, and it really worked well! The real thing that set the hook for me was when he demonstrated how well it worked with gaming. He had a copy of Tiger Woods golf playing and proceeded to sink a really sweet put as if he were doing it for real!
http://members.aol.com/geoffcin/mouse.mvi
Man, I gotta get me one of these!! The mouse is going to retail for $79.95, but as with most AR stuff, you'll probably be able to get it at a discount from the big box stores.
It was past 5;30 by now, and with everyone closing the doors at 6, it didn't make any sense to try to see anyone else's room, but I did make one final call on the Balanced Audio Technology room. The room was one of the larger ballrooms, and it sported seating for about 30, and the huge 80k+ Focal-JM labs Grand Utopia Be speakers. BAT makes massive no-compromise amps & components, and mated to the Grand Utopias Be this room really was like a temple to the audiophile gods.
http://members.aol.com/geoffcin/bat.mvi
I wish I could give a better description of the sound, but I only stayed long enough to take a couple of pictures, and this short video.
Walking out it was just shy of 6pm, and having arrived a few min before 10 that made almost exactly 8 hours of nonstop audio enjoyment. Not a bad way to spend a day!
Hope you enjoyed the report, and here are my PICS for "best in show"
Best Multichannel setup;
Dolby Labs/ DVD-Audio room with Piega speakers driven by Innersound amps,
http://gallery.audioreview.com/data/audio/504/medium/207729innersound_amp.jpg
and featuring the Meridian Reference Multiplayer as source.
http://gallery.audioreview.com/data/audio/504/medium/207729meridian_reference_players.jpg
I've simply never heard better multichannel music period. The engineer from AIX recordings was playing some of his DVD-A direct-to-digital recordings on the Meridian and it was as close to real as I've ever been. Actually let me qualify that; I've never been up on stage for a recording so it's as close to being up on stage with the musicians during a recording as I've ever been. The Piegas ribbon tweeter is a wonder to behold, and the speakers have a very tight life like bass. I did find it a little lean in the lower octave in that huge room, but everything else was so great it didn't matter.
http://members.aol.com/geoffcin/DVDA.MVI
2 channel Audio;
Totem Mani-2 signatures setup
http://gallery.audioreview.com/data/audio/504/medium/207729mani-2.jpg
This setup simply presented the most coherent, and appealing sense of musicality in the size room it was given. Were there more expensive setups in the show? Most of them! but the dealers weren't willing to make the volume loud enough for me to get the feel of them, or the rooms they were in just were just way too small for the speakers, like the VR9se which might of won had it been in one of the larger rooms. Even the hyper expensive Kharmas were beings played too "laid back" for my tastes. For me, the Mani-2's were "just right" in so many ways, that it made it an easy choice for my "best 2 channel sound in show"
I hope you've enjoyed my report!
Aperion took the better part of an hour to do, and although I only got about 15 minutes of play time with the new speakers, which can be had in real wood veneer, or piano black lacquer. I can say that my first impression of them was very good.
http://gallery.audioreview.com/data/audio/504/medium/207729aperion_speakers.jpg
Aperion was one of the few dealers to bring a 5.1 setup, and I made good use of it in the time that I had with it. If you want details;
http://forums.audioreview.com/showthread.php?t=11305
By the time I was done in the Aperion rooms it was pushing 5pm, and I had not even stopped for lunch yet. So, I decided that would be enough of the upper floor dealers, and headed back down to level 3 to get one last look at the ballrooms. I stopped into the AR room to look at the neat looking Digital MediaBridge that I've some buzz about when something caught my eye. There was a rep there with a new kind of computer mouse that really intrigued me. The mouse has a built in gyro that lets you use it completely free of any surface. We played with the features
on a computer that had multimedia software installed, and it really worked well! The real thing that set the hook for me was when he demonstrated how well it worked with gaming. He had a copy of Tiger Woods golf playing and proceeded to sink a really sweet put as if he were doing it for real!
http://members.aol.com/geoffcin/mouse.mvi
Man, I gotta get me one of these!! The mouse is going to retail for $79.95, but as with most AR stuff, you'll probably be able to get it at a discount from the big box stores.
It was past 5;30 by now, and with everyone closing the doors at 6, it didn't make any sense to try to see anyone else's room, but I did make one final call on the Balanced Audio Technology room. The room was one of the larger ballrooms, and it sported seating for about 30, and the huge 80k+ Focal-JM labs Grand Utopia Be speakers. BAT makes massive no-compromise amps & components, and mated to the Grand Utopias Be this room really was like a temple to the audiophile gods.
http://members.aol.com/geoffcin/bat.mvi
I wish I could give a better description of the sound, but I only stayed long enough to take a couple of pictures, and this short video.
Walking out it was just shy of 6pm, and having arrived a few min before 10 that made almost exactly 8 hours of nonstop audio enjoyment. Not a bad way to spend a day!
Hope you enjoyed the report, and here are my PICS for "best in show"
Best Multichannel setup;
Dolby Labs/ DVD-Audio room with Piega speakers driven by Innersound amps,
http://gallery.audioreview.com/data/audio/504/medium/207729innersound_amp.jpg
and featuring the Meridian Reference Multiplayer as source.
http://gallery.audioreview.com/data/audio/504/medium/207729meridian_reference_players.jpg
I've simply never heard better multichannel music period. The engineer from AIX recordings was playing some of his DVD-A direct-to-digital recordings on the Meridian and it was as close to real as I've ever been. Actually let me qualify that; I've never been up on stage for a recording so it's as close to being up on stage with the musicians during a recording as I've ever been. The Piegas ribbon tweeter is a wonder to behold, and the speakers have a very tight life like bass. I did find it a little lean in the lower octave in that huge room, but everything else was so great it didn't matter.
http://members.aol.com/geoffcin/DVDA.MVI
2 channel Audio;
Totem Mani-2 signatures setup
http://gallery.audioreview.com/data/audio/504/medium/207729mani-2.jpg
This setup simply presented the most coherent, and appealing sense of musicality in the size room it was given. Were there more expensive setups in the show? Most of them! but the dealers weren't willing to make the volume loud enough for me to get the feel of them, or the rooms they were in just were just way too small for the speakers, like the VR9se which might of won had it been in one of the larger rooms. Even the hyper expensive Kharmas were beings played too "laid back" for my tastes. For me, the Mani-2's were "just right" in so many ways, that it made it an easy choice for my "best 2 channel sound in show"
I hope you've enjoyed my report!