A year can change a lot of things. I’ve been known to
rant a bit in my CES Daily Feature: the last couple of years I have been critical of an
industry that in some cases seems to have strayed off track. You see, I write about really
expensive audio gear. I like the bleeding-edge stuff, and I’m not shy about it.
However, I also believe that some of the really expensive gear available today has no
business being expensive -- both in terms of the performance offered and the manufacturing
cost of the actual thing. There was some of this nonsense at this year’s show
too. But the tanking economy has hurt the high-end-audio industry. The attendance at CES
is down, and I heard stories of some hurting businesses out there.
But there is also an unmistakable bright spot -- a return
to sanity, at least for some. The most exciting thing for me at this show has been the
affordable products that appear to offer a lot of value. Take the EgglestonWorks Dianne,
for instance. This speaker costs $2500 per pair -- not too bad at all. The Dianne is a
small, jewel-like floorstander that would appear to work well in small or mid-sized rooms.
And this speaker was introduced by a company whose best-selling product to date has
retailed for almost ten times the Dianne’s price. I find that a clear-headed response
to a down market. And I’ll have the first review of these speakers on Ultra Audio.
I'm excited about auditioning them.
EgglestonWorks Dianne loudspeakers
So perhaps there is a silver lining after all:
"High-end audio came to its senses at the 2009 CES." You can quote me on that.
