- Thread Author
- #1
Anyone hear these?
There were many excellent sounds to be heard at CES 2011, with Venture, Nola, VTL, BAT, Audio Research/Magnepan, Marten, and BAlabo/Tidal toward the head of a distinguished list. There were, however, two rooms that stood out from even the very stiff competition at this show. In both of these exhibits I heard sound at a level that was something well beyond anything I have experienced. These two very different rooms came closer to presenting live music as it really is, in all its dimensions, than any audio systems I have heard.
I have heard the Scaena speakers on a couple of occasions and been very impressed, but this year’s exhibition was supreme. For those unfamiliar with them, the Scaenas are very narrow line-source towers (available with 24, 30 or 36 "pods" per side) supplemented with pairs, quartets or sextets of powered subwoofers that incorporate digital processing for room matching. The speakers shown at the show were 24-pod towers with two subwoofers per channel and go for $60,000/pair. A complete dCS Scarlatti digital front-end and Scaena exec Sunny Umrao’s laptop (fed into the dCS gear) supplied the tunes. Conrad-Johnson’s 275W ART mono amplifiers drove the main towers. Cabling was Nordost Odin from stem to stern.
The towers were set up in the nearfield on the higher part of the two-level room, with the subs located well back on the lower level. In the distance between was the single most freakishly holographic presentation of recorded music I have ever heard. Life-sized musicians were present, and the original recording's acoustic was authoritatively and utterly forced into the room. Timbres were superbly lifelike and resolution was phenomenal. As impressed as I was, Umrao was also sufficiently blown away by the Auger/Driscoll track to demand that he be allowed to rip it before I left the room.
MODEL 3 SYSTEM
SCAENA Model 3.1
2 towers with Quartz base and 4 machined
aluminum retractable spiking footers.
12 mid-ranges per side / 9 ribbon tweeters /1 woofer
with 1 aluminum woofer base. Woofer amplifier and
electronic crossover.
SCAENA Model 3.2
2 towers with Quartz base and 4 machined
aluminum retractable spiking footers.
12 mid-ranges per side / 9 ribbon tweeters /2 woofers
with 2 aluminum woofer bases. Woofer amplifier and
electronic crossover.
SCAENA Model 3.4
2 towers with Quartz base and 4 machined
aluminum retractable spiking footers.
12 mid-ranges per side / 9 ribbon tweeters /4 woofers
with 2 aluminum woofer bases and 2 aluminum stacking
mount bases. Woofer amplifier and electronic crossover.
MODEL 2 SYSTEM
SCAENA Model 2.2
2 towers with Quartz base and 4 machined
aluminum retractable spiking footers.
15 mid-ranges per side / 9 ribbon tweeters /2 woofers
with 2 aluminum woofer bases. Woofer amplifier
and electronic crossover.
SCAENA Model 2.4
2 towers with Quartz base and 4 machined
aluminum retractable spiking footers.
15 mid-ranges per side / 9 ribbon tweeters /4 woofers
with 2 aluminum woofer bases and 2 aluminum stacking mounts.
Woofer amplifier and electronic crossover.
MODEL 1 SYSTEM
SCAENA Model 1.2
2 towers with Quartz base and 4 machined
aluminum retractable spiking footers.
18 mid-ranges per side / 12 ribbon tweeters /2 woofers
with 2 aluminum woofer bases. Woofer amplifier and
electronic crossover.
SCAENA Model 1.4
2 towers with Quartz base and 4 machined
aluminum retractable spiking footers.
18 mid-ranges per side / 12 ribbon tweeters /4 woofers
with 2 aluminum woofer bases and 2 aluminum stacking
mounts. Woofer amplifier and electronic crossover.
CES & THE Show 2011 • Too Marvelous for Words
by Paul Bolin | January 31, 2011
I have heard the Scaena speakers on a couple of occasions and been very impressed, but this year’s exhibition was supreme. For those unfamiliar with them, the Scaenas are very narrow line-source towers (available with 24, 30 or 36 "pods" per side) supplemented with pairs, quartets or sextets of powered subwoofers that incorporate digital processing for room matching. The speakers shown at the show were 24-pod towers with two subwoofers per channel and go for $60,000/pair. A complete dCS Scarlatti digital front-end and Scaena exec Sunny Umrao’s laptop (fed into the dCS gear) supplied the tunes. Conrad-Johnson’s 275W ART mono amplifiers drove the main towers. Cabling was Nordost Odin from stem to stern.
The towers were set up in the nearfield on the higher part of the two-level room, with the subs located well back on the lower level. In the distance between was the single most freakishly holographic presentation of recorded music I have ever heard. Life-sized musicians were present, and the original recording's acoustic was authoritatively and utterly forced into the room. Timbres were superbly lifelike and resolution was phenomenal. As impressed as I was, Umrao was also sufficiently blown away by the Auger/Driscoll track to demand that he be allowed to rip it before I left the room.

MODEL 3 SYSTEM
SCAENA Model 3.1
2 towers with Quartz base and 4 machined
aluminum retractable spiking footers.
12 mid-ranges per side / 9 ribbon tweeters /1 woofer
with 1 aluminum woofer base. Woofer amplifier and
electronic crossover.
SCAENA Model 3.2
2 towers with Quartz base and 4 machined
aluminum retractable spiking footers.
12 mid-ranges per side / 9 ribbon tweeters /2 woofers
with 2 aluminum woofer bases. Woofer amplifier and
electronic crossover.
SCAENA Model 3.4
2 towers with Quartz base and 4 machined
aluminum retractable spiking footers.
12 mid-ranges per side / 9 ribbon tweeters /4 woofers
with 2 aluminum woofer bases and 2 aluminum stacking
mount bases. Woofer amplifier and electronic crossover.
MODEL 2 SYSTEM
SCAENA Model 2.2
2 towers with Quartz base and 4 machined
aluminum retractable spiking footers.
15 mid-ranges per side / 9 ribbon tweeters /2 woofers
with 2 aluminum woofer bases. Woofer amplifier
and electronic crossover.
SCAENA Model 2.4
2 towers with Quartz base and 4 machined
aluminum retractable spiking footers.
15 mid-ranges per side / 9 ribbon tweeters /4 woofers
with 2 aluminum woofer bases and 2 aluminum stacking mounts.
Woofer amplifier and electronic crossover.
MODEL 1 SYSTEM
SCAENA Model 1.2
2 towers with Quartz base and 4 machined
aluminum retractable spiking footers.
18 mid-ranges per side / 12 ribbon tweeters /2 woofers
with 2 aluminum woofer bases. Woofer amplifier and
electronic crossover.
SCAENA Model 1.4
2 towers with Quartz base and 4 machined
aluminum retractable spiking footers.
18 mid-ranges per side / 12 ribbon tweeters /4 woofers
with 2 aluminum woofer bases and 2 aluminum stacking
mounts. Woofer amplifier and electronic crossover.
Last edited: