Four days and many, many walking miles ago, I embarked on
my first CES. Now that it’s over I have an observation about demonstrating audio
systems that I’d like to share.
There seems to be a predilection among many audio
manufacturers to demo their systems -- whether they make the electronics or the speakers
-- with music that does little to provide any insight into what the gear can actually do.
Considering the great expense these companies go to in order to ship their products to Las
Vegas and set them up in high-priced hotel suites, that seems like a silly policy.
I appreciate most styles of music, but I also know that
chamber music and instrumental and vocal solos are not able to push an audio system to its
limits. Yes, a violin or flute solo can offer great insight into the performance of a
tweeter, and vocals are a great help in determining how well a component performs in the
midrange, but those individual things do not a whole frequency range make. Despite this,
room after room had music playing that had most or all of its energy from the midband to
the mid-treble. What of the woofer?
It’s probably not a coincidence that the systems that
really stood out to the SoundStage! Network crew -- in the Anthony Gallo Acoustics, Focus
Audio, TAD, Magico and EgglestonWorks rooms, for example -- played a wide variety of
music, almost all of it containing instruments and voices that produce sound in the treble
and bass clefs. Classical guitar or harp are all wonderful things, but they tell us
nothing about a speaker’s bass response or its ability to commingle the output of
different instruments into something bigger than the sum of its parts. The systems and
speakers are full range, and so are our ears, so why not the demo music?
The Anthony Gallo Acoustics room was one of my favorites at
this show because the people there weren't scared to play any music to show what
the system could really do. [www.roundsound.com]
