CES2005, Standout room
Stereovox, Peak Consult
Stereovox and Peak Consult put together a deliciously rich-sounding system that threw a deep and detailed soundstage. The Peak Consult Princess speaker system ($21,999) was driven by Wavac HE-833 v1.3 amplifiers ($69,000 per pair), which output 150Wpc, and Wavac PR-T1 and LCR-X2 preamplifiers ($30,000 and $25,000 respectively). Continuum Audio Labs provided the analog motivation with the new Caliburn turntable ($50,000). Cables were all from Stereovox. Jason Thorpe, who almost cleaned Classic Records out of vinyl at CES all by himself, simply didn't want to leave this room.
Jimmy Awards
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Peak Consult/Stereovox By the time I reached the Peak Consult/Stereovox room on the afternoon of January 9, I was CES’d-out. This may explain why my mind recognized the Peak Consult Princess speakers’ inner beauty but my heart wasn’t keen on a private demo. I did notice that the Princess had dynamic snap when the music called for it, but not when it didn’t. After witnessing a plethora of loudspeakers with fatiguing snappiness, I considered the Princess a speaker that would probably wear well over an evening spent alone with a pair of them. Peak Consult/Stereovox room …Jim Saxon jims@soundstageav.com |
The CES 2005 Jimmy Awards The format of this year’s Jimmy Awards had to be modified due to theft. Like a clueless rookie traveller, I packed my digital camera in checked baggage, and somewhere between Costa Rica and Las Vegas the camera was heisted. My MO includes the use of photos as mnemonic devices, but at the 2005 Consumer Electronics Show I was flying blind, having to rely on indelible impressions of components and room demonstrations. But in most cases (a notable exception is mentioned below) it’s impossible to identify the prime source of good sound in a show system, so this blanket approach may actually be better. By giving out awards to entire rooms, I hope to honour those rooms’ main ingredients as well. If I inadvertently give associated equipment undeserved praise, so be it. If an exhibitor has chosen components carefully, then all the pieces that played roles in the stirring epic deserve credit. My notes (analog to the rescue!) tell me that 18 rooms blasted me out of my socks. For purposes of alliteration, I’ve rounded up the list to a Top Twenty, with a few Honourable Mentions. I’ll start at that end. All prices cited are in US dollars.
For all Jimy Awards see this