CES 2016 - Pictures Thread

Nice photos looks like it was a great show
 
Thanks Mike, I know that's a ton of work. My buddy Joshua's setup started with slide 151 of your first post. He's a member of our local 5one2Audio listening club. Can't wait for him to bring it back to his house so we can give it a listen.
 
Mike said:
Magico S1 mk2. I listened for over an hour. As good as the original S1 was - especially when Cyril and I heard them together, these are better. The new tweeter is superb. They were using Magico's personal CAT amps with big KT150's. WOW! What a sound.

ARC - I should never go in this room, just makes me miss my ARC gear more and more. The new REF3 phono is a "holy Sh!t" product.

For budget products - ELAC's $299 stand mount speakers. A real head shaker.

Mytek DAC. The one I photographed. I may buy one.

Lumin M1 - finally got to hear it. Sounds great.

MQA demos - especially the one in the NAD/PSB room. I took lots of videos! The difference vs red book was big. I got to see the Tidal Beta (see pic in slideshow above) which shows another level on Tidal above "HiFi" called "Master". Got an understanding of how MQA will work via Tidal. Also, YES, you will need an MQA capable DAC to decode the MQA signal. Streamers like Aurender should theoretically just need a firmware update. MQA works like WINZIP on a computer. If you don't have PKUNZIP on the other end, you can't get or unzip the file. If the master was recorded in 24/384, the MQA technology "folds up" the bits into a 16/44 packet and then the decoder "unfolds" the packet on the other end. I heard 24/356 master files too. Amazing. This isn't just a "zipping" technology, it's much more. Keep in mind that the Master File is the TRUE Master File from the original source with any kind of corrections made for faults in the recoding equipment and/or changes approved by the original recording artist. That's the only way a file can get the MQA stamp of approval. I heard (and recorded with my phone) many songs. When they played Natalie Merchant Tigerlily I knew the differences right away. Recordings from 30 years ago sounded current, fresh and new - like they were well recorded today. Current recordings from say Lady Gaga sounded amazing.

Audeze LCD-4 with the Chord phono. Finally I've heard headphones that blew me away!

More later...I still have a lot of rooms to go to.


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Really appreciate all your reports and photos Mike...many thanks. Do you have any more info on the new KT150 CAT amps Magico were using? I own CAT JL2 so very interested in hearing about these. I always felt CAT and Magico may be great together but have never heard them together. Was this Magico or CAT room? Would love to hear your thoughts on the Kondo/Kaiser room if you get a chance.
 
ashandger said:
Really appreciate all your reports and photos Mike...many thanks. Do you have any more info on the new KT150 CAT amps Magico were using? I own CAT JL2 so very interested in hearing about these. I always felt CAT and Magico may be great together but have never heard them together. Was this Magico or CAT room? Would love to hear your thoughts on the Kondo/Kaiser room if you get a chance.
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It was the Magico room. Sorry, no more info on the CAT amps. But the whole synergy with the Berkeley Alpha Reference created a beautiful sound.

The Kondo/Kaiser was excellent. I think if I win the Powerball this weekend, I'm getting all Kondo gear. Its destination type stuff for sure.


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Mike said:
It was the Magico room. Sorry, no more info on the CAT amps. But the whole synergy with the Berkeley Alpha Reference created a beautiful sound.

The Kondo/Kaiser was excellent. I think if I win the Powerball this weekend, I'm getting all Kondo gear. Its destination type stuff for sure.


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Many thanks for the feedback. I suspect they also used CAT Legend preamp. Cables were Transparent....they have this system on their Facebook page as well. Enjoy the show.
 
That's anyone visit the Hegel Room with KEF?
Anyone familiar with Hegel H30s in mono?
Thanks Mike.

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junglern said:
That's anyone visit the Hegel Room with KEF?
Anyone familiar with Hegel H30s in mono?
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I didn't attend CES, but have read some reviews (Stereophile's was one if I recall) and several user comments where they compared the Hegel H30 in stereo to two of them running in mono. They were quite surprised to find that the amp sounded better in stereo! So if you're considering the H30 I'd suggest that you audition it in both configurations before buying a pair.
 
audio.bill said:
I didn't attend CES, but have read some reviews (Stereophile's was one if I recall) and several user comments where they compared the Hegel H30 in stereo to two of them running in mono. They were quite surprised to find that the amp sounded better in stereo! So if you're considering the H30 I'd suggest that you audition it in both configurations before buying a pair.
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Bill - not sure if you recall, but I actually had two Hegel H30's. Ran them in mono. A single H30 sounded better. Others have found the same as well. One is sweeter sounding and more 3D.


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Mike said:
Bill - not sure if you recall, but I actually had two Hegel H30's. Ran them in mono. A single H30 sounded better. Others have found the same as well. One is sweeter sounding and more 3D.


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Mike I completely forgot that you had own both in mono.
All reviews mentioned better in stereo. Just curious about the mono performance.
The H30/P30 it's the best audio combination I had ever own. I am using PS audio DS and Sony 5400 es as a transport. Awesome with Harbeth 30.1. I also own dali helicons 800 MKII super as well.
I am very happy with the Hegel reference, I am not missing tubes or class A so far.
Thank you.

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Yes Mike, I thought you were one who experienced that but I wasn't certain so I didn't want to mention you specifically. I know your experience was in common with many others.
 
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