CES was simply abuzz with great developments this year, but what were our favorites?  We’ve narrowed down the extensive list to our top five trends for CES 2009.

CES 2009 has come and gone.  Reports estimate the crowd in attendance was somewhere between 110,000 and 130,000 people.  While this is a decrease in overall attendees from CES shows of the past, the halls were still packed shoulder to shoulder with gadget hungry techies, bloggers and industry professionals.  The team at AVRev dove into the fracas to bring you everything worth hearing about at the show.

Introduction Conrad Johnson is one of most well-known and respected names in the world of tubed audio gear. The CT6 preamplifier reviewed here is the result of trickle-down technology from the company’s famous ACT preamplifier, which itself descends from the legendary ART preamplifier. At $5,000, it is roughly a third of the price of the current ACT II preamplifier that shares its composite triode circuit design. For those of you interested in a technical description of this circuit, I recommend a look at the Conrad Johnson website, which provides more information on this circuit design. The Upside Turning on the CT6, I was surprised by the long wait for the unit to warm up, during which no control input is accepted.  I quickly learned to simply leave the unit on and muted in between a day’s listening sessions.

The Composite CF-1000 Wide Rack is a 60-inch-wide anti-vibration rack designed to house all your audio and video components. Designed to be used as a standalone rack or as a bridge between two of Composite’s CF-1000 shelving systems, this set-up offers thick acrylic shelving supported by carbon fiber legs to absorb vibration, maximizing the look and sound of your AV system. Like all composite stands, its modular design allows for great flexibility with your room and set-up, making the rack easily work for simple to elaborate systems. Shelves are purchased as top ($3,150), bottom ($2,925) and middle ($2,700), or you can mix and match the standard-width CF-1000 shelves as you see fit.  The carbon fiber legs come from six to nine inches and can be made longer by special order. The one-inch-thick shelves are plenty stiff and offer dampening, while the ...

The Composite CF-1000 Anti-Vibration rack comes with acrylic or carbon on acrylic shelves. Three carbon fiber legs on each shelf assure a stable platform for your gear, while all that carbon fiber holds it securely and helps to soak up vibration. The racks can be customized and you can have either or both shelving materials, depending on your wants and tastes. Racks come as top, bottom and middle shelves with up to five shelf systems and can be expanded for taller systems. The carbon fiber legs determine the distance between shelves and come from six to 11 inches as a standard order, or taller by custom order. These solidly-built racks offer a large platform. The shelves are one inch thick to minimize vibration, give a solid base to your gear and can be upgraded to carbon fiber over acrylic for ...