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Hifi 97 Coverage |
| category: | Features, Best of & Technology |
| reviewed by: | Jerry Del Colliano |
So, couldn't make it to San Francisco? That's OK because here are the highlights. Select a category to explore some of the best of the HIFI 97 show. Covered by Jerry Del Colliano
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HIFI 97 Report Section One
By Jerry Del Colliano
HIFI 97 stealthily hosted by Stereophile Magazine at the Westin St. Francis in San Francisco was a big hit for both trade, media and consumers. The layout included exhibits using booths on the second and mezzanine floors along with exhibits on most of the twelve floors of the St. Francis older section. The Audio Revolution has collected photos and details from some of the best (but not all) rooms at the show.
Is it live or NHT?
NHT had the single best idea of the show in using two adjoining rooms to A/B test NHT speakers versus a live performance. In the first room of the suite there was either a harpsichordist, a guitarist or a vocalist playing live and being fed to a Macke mixer and routed into the adjacent room where Bryston Electronics and NHT 3.3 loudspeakers re-captured what you could hear in the other room. This demo was original and gutsy and well worth the effort in that it captured the essence of why we are passionate for high end audio. Bravo NHT, you get our vote for best sound of the show.
Wilson Grand SLAMM Series II
The Wilson Grand SLAMMs are the most successful large loudspeaker in the history of high end out selling the competition, according to Wilson, in the over $20,000 category by a ratio of 6 to 1. Obviously David Wilson felt the speaker wasn't perfect yet thus changes to the crossover and a new tweeter. Every X1 is upgradable in the field (thank god because the X1's are really heavy) by your friendly neighborhood Wilson dealer for the difference in Retail prices. The new SLAMM series II's are priced at $75000!
sonic frontiers<>
It has been rumored that Chris Jensen at Sonic Frontiers has been screening Star Trek films at design meetings just look at the CD transport that they have come up with. Soon to be released the Transport III ($4995) makes a visual statement that wont be soon forgotten. The Processor III ($6995) also will debut at your local dealer soon and will take Sonic's best stab at cost no object digital playback. I can't wait for an extended listen.
Affordable Cello Speakers?
Can you believe the lofty Cello has made a speaker for the common music lover? Well for $3500 ($4200 in custom finishes) you can own your first piece of Cello with these unnamed monitors. They definitely had the Cello sound with low freqs reportedly down to 72 Hz. Perfect for multichannel music and theater or small room audio applications. These DynAudio drivered little speakers will ready in July directly from Cello NY and LA. Unconfirmed rumors abound about less expensive Cello electronics to accompany these new speakers.
HIFI 97 Report
Section Two Theater
faroudja does ld and dvd!<>
Yves Faroudja turned the video world upside down when he introduced his first line doubler. Now Faroudja is coming to market with a high line Laser Disc transport and DVD player to satisfy the need for a high performance, integrated video front end. Both units should be ready in the summer. The picture was awesome on the Vidikron Vision One 9 inch CRT in the Cello suite.
millennium is breaking the dts price barrier!<>
DTS has been one of the hottest topics in music, home theater and film since Winter CES. Millennium makes a $699 DTS decoder that includes the DTS decoding (no AC3) chip all of the 6 DACs needed along with features that adjust for level as well as work along with the existing remote preamps in many high end systems. The Millennium breaks a price point for DTS that allows it to enter moderately priced music and theater systems.
ultimate entertainment (meridian-vidikron-audioquest)<>
This Phoenix Area retailer had the buzz for the best of the show with a Vidikron Vision One $50000 projector along with a Snell & Wilcox interpolator ($30000) as well as the new Meridian 861 DTS and AC3 controller ($14000) Meridian electronics, speakers and Audioquest cables. As an added very cool feature the Vidikron Vision One had a custom chrome logo package that looked great!
cinepro teams up with mark brasfield formerly of eiger systems<>Remember those Eiger System teaser ads that never resolved themselves? Cinepro, the up and coming high power amplifier manufacturer has hired the chief designer of Eiger Systems, Mark Brasfield. Cinepro will distribute the radical Brasfield designs including some $14000 loudspeakers and corian encased electronics. Cinepro had some of the most punchy, exciting music demos going at the show and with 300 watt plus amps for $849 they are a true high end value.
DVD versus LD comparisons
Joe Cali of Cello LA conducted a shoot out of LD and DVD pictures using Waterworld on the Faroudja-Vidikron video system. The difference was obvious in that the DVD had a richer more saturated color. The Laser picture was more dry and bright. Some complained the DVD looks too "cartoony." I liked it better.
under $10k cello home theater speakers
cello brought a prototype of their under $10000 complete theater loudspeaker system which unfortunately was under powered in the huge room they arranged for. the speakers are small and very efficient but could not fill the huge volume of the room like the promised 5 stradivari grand masters.
lexicon goes dts<>
Lexicon DC1 will have an upgrade this summer for DTS performance for the price of $495. You will need to already have an AC3 ready unit.
Marantz
On the video front, Marantz will release two Joe Cane approved big screens at 54 and 60 inch. Additionally, Marantz is promoting their DP 870 AC3 processor along with an MSB DTS upgrade for a combined price of $1499.
parasound<>
Parasound has a low cost, high performance AC3 decoder coming to market this summer in the PDD 1500 for $995.
jbl mini theater<>
Tiny speakers, a powered sub and a really cool integrated CD theater unit makes it so that you can just add a TV and have Dolby Pro Logic theater, CD and Tuner for under $900. What bedroom couldn't use this Simply Cinema System?
High end sound for your desktop PC or Mac!
Impact Technology makes a $595 loudspeaker that is designed to elevate the tweeter as to give you the best performance for computer seating. It is hard to imagine why you couldn't use smaller loudspeakers on brackets but Impact's heart is in the right place.
virtual reality at home?<>
Well, maybe 3D. Realeyes 3D makes a $850 unit complete with glasses that tries to elevate the level of depth to a regular NTSC video signal. The results aren't for everyone. You will need to test this one before buying.
HIFI 97 Report Section Three
More Audio
audio research's new vt 200<>
The venerable Audio Research unleashed their new VT 200 tube power amp ($8995) at HIFI 97 which just lit up a pair of ProAc Response 3.5's. This was one of the few rooms that was luring lots of people in from the hallway with great sounding music.
cardas, wadia and dunlavy<>
George Cardas watches with amazement as he demos a huge Dunlavy SCVI, Wadia, Cardas wired system for a packed house. Wadia used their new 860 CD player. Expect a new CD player from them named the 850 with a smaller price tag later this summer.
fm acoustics<>
You wont see FM acoustics at any US high end dealers but their Antonio Carlos Jobim demo lured me down a long hallway to audition their $100,000 system. If you are in the market for a system in the six figure price range you should look into these products in that they have potential to be of the highest performance available anywhere.
Dunlavy
This room was too small to have imaging but the Dunlavy SC III's ($3995) along with the moderately priced (around $1800 each) Alchemist electronics imaged amazingly well. Definitely one of the best value oriented systems at the show!
bow technology<>
While every digital company is moving to combo players, Bow Technologies has entered the 16 bit digital fray with their $6000 plus CD transport that has some real potential for that "last transport purchase."
wavestream kinetics<>
These $16000 stereo and $32000 monoblocks challenge to be some of the finest power amps period with over 200 watts of power and a visually distinctive design.
Camelot Technology
Involved in the design of the former Audio Alchemy, Camelot Technology takes over as a value leader in digital playback including the Arthur 3.0 DAC around $700. Additionally, Mel and Howard Schilling were ecstatic over the performance of their power S-VHS cable for $249.
marantz<>
The demand for the classic Marantz model 9's was too great to ignore so Marantz went to great lengths to re-issue authentic but new Model 9's. Expect a full feature on all of the measures taken to give new life to this legendary amp.
Westlake Audio
Known for their professional loudspeakers, Westlake Audio came to show with an ass kicking little $3250 loudspeaker named the VNF4. Parked right next to an ugly set of speakers with foam all over them, the VNF4 made you believe that the larger speakers were playing.
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