Thomas J. Norton

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CES 2011
Marten Getz
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jan 11, 2011  |  0 comments
Another potential best-of-show system has to include the Heritage Series Getz, a new model from Sweden's Marten loudspeakers. With their all ceramic drivers from Acuton (apart from a passive radiator, one of the large cones visible in the photo) they were very different in balance from the Sony speakers, above. Faster on their feet and even more sparklingly detailed, but less weighty and majestic sounding. And at $20,000, cheaper, though not exactly a blue-light special.
CES 2011
Sony SS-AR1
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jan 11, 2011  |  1 comments
As with the Thiels, we mentioned these Sony speakers earlier in this report. But also like the Thiels, they deserve another mention. No other speakert impressed me as much as this one did at the show. I'm enough of a show veteran to realize just how much the room, associated components, and program material can effect the sound of a system, but under the conditions in the Sony room, in a 2-channel setup (four of the speakers were also being used in a surround system in a different room) they impressed me about as much as any speaker ever has at a trade show. The sound was punchy, dynamic, and full-bodied without being overblown. And they made both modern and classical music sound real—few speakers can do as well on both.

The SS-AR1's (I sense an homage in that name) have been on the market in Japan since 2006, but have recently been upgraded in the voicing and crossover department.

But will we ever see them for sale here in the states? Possibly, but this show appeared to be a trial run to judge dealer interest. That's been a problem with Sony speakers in the past, and there have been some very good ones. High-end dealers are reluctant to take on Sony speakers, and Sony dealers are reluctant to take on speakers this expensive—currently about $27,000/pair in Japan.

Associated equipment included Pass Laboratories monoblock solid state amps and an EMM Labs (Meitner) Reference SACD/CED player.

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CES 2011
Thiel SCS4T
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jan 11, 2011  |  1 comments
The new Thiel floorstanding SCS4T (about $3700/pair), mentioned again further down in this report, is a modest speaker by Thiel standards. The single coaxial driver has the advantage of coincidence. That is, the tweeter is mounted coaxially with the woofer, so the two drive units do not produce comb filtering dips in the speaker's response at off axis angles. Coaxial drivers are also used in more upmarket models from Thiel, and also by KEF and Tannoy, but otherwise are relatively rare.

Yes, I heard more dramatically impressive sound at the show, but the Thiel room, one of the first I visited, sounded so honest and right that for me it represented the sort of value that most of the higher-end products could not manage. Of course, a pair of Thiel subwoofers were helping it along in the deep bass!

And unlike nearly all of the speakers heard at the Venetian, the SCS4T is ready for home theater. The older, stand-mount SCS4 (about $2400/pair, available in singles) should be a good match. It uses the same coaxial driver and can be used as a matching center channel, even mounted on its side (a trick that other non-coaxial 2-way speakers cannot do without sonic consequences.

CES 2011
The Fat Lady SIngs
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jan 08, 2011  |  Published: Jan 09, 2011  |  0 comments
I heard the Fat Lady Sing, and she was in fine voice. The Fat Lady is a floor-stander from Morel of Israel, where the name apparently is politically incorrect. I have to admit that it's descriptive of the cabinet, which is designed to sing along with the speaker and stop short of coloring the sound.
CES 2011
Meet Alfred and His Partners
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jan 08, 2011  |  Published: Jan 09, 2011  |  0 comments
From Alfred and Partners comes the Estelon, a uniquely shaped speaker with all Accuton ceramic drivers. All yours for just $43,000/pair.
CES 2011
NuForce Icon HDP
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jan 08, 2011  |  Published: Jan 09, 2011  |  0 comments
The NuForce Icon HDP is a low distortion headphone amp, a high resolution DAC with optical, coaxial, and USB Type B inputs, analog RCA outputs, and a full size stereo headphone output. $449.
CES 2011
YG Acoustics' Acoustics
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jan 08, 2011  |  Published: Jan 09, 2011  |  0 comments
YG Acoustics brought along a truckload of acoustic panels to make certain that the hotel meeting room's acoustics weren't wreaking havoc with the sound of its expensive, aluminum cabineted speakers.
CES 2011
NAD's Flagship AV Receiver
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jan 08, 2011  |  Published: Jan 09, 2011  |  0 comments
If you look at the back of NAD's new T787 AV Surround Sound Receiver ($3499) you'll see the plug-in modules that make the 120 WPC x 7 unit amenable to future upgrading. As delivered it includes the latest digital video, HDMI, and audio modules. A Control4 Director Series Module is an option. The T187 AV Preamp Processor ($2499) is similarly equipped.
CES 2011
D'Agostino Gets Momentum
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jan 08, 2011  |  Published: Jan 09, 2011  |  0 comments
Dan D'Agostino Master Audio Systems showed its new $42,000/pair Momentum monoblock amps, shown here with the Wilson Audio Sashas, dCS Puccini SACD playback system, Weiss Firewire to coaxial digital converter, and high-rez music from a Mac laptop that together teamed up with them to produce one of the best sounding rooms at the show.
CES 2011
Wolf Cinema
Thomas J. Norton  |  Jan 08, 2011  |  Published: Jan 09, 2011  |  0 comments
Quality home theater demos were thin on the ground anywhere at CES, but particularly rare in the Venetian hotel. This is the venue for high performance audio, which for far too many audiophiles does not leave room for either multichannel music or any combination of audio and video. But the Wolf Cinema room was an exception, combining the $25,000 Wolf DCL-200FD LED-lit DLP projector with an ISCO anamorphic lens ($10,000) on a 120" wide, 2.35:1 screen. The latter was said to be a 1.4-gain Screen Innovations design, but I need to check up on that, as the only 1.4-gain screen listed in SI's brochure is the dark gray, Black Diamond HD. The speakers were from the Sonus Faber Toy series, together with three T-1 REL subwoofers. The result was exceptional video and audio, even if the former cost several times the latter. The pre-pro was a Primare, no longer distributed in the US by Sumiko (Sumiko distributes Wolf projectors).

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