"Have you heard the new Imani Coppola?" he asked.

"Nope."

"Oh, I've gotta play it for you..."

Leland dropped everything—two phono preamps, a bottle of Scotch, a pretty girl's phone number, Roy Hall's pants—and skipped over to the CD player to share some music with me.

Soon, Imani was singing, and I could easily hear why Leland's been so into her. Leland likes his music raunchy.

Imani Coppola's The Black & White Album was playing strong in the Music Hall suite. Imani sings:

Sometimes life may feel like it's sucking you up
But, nah, it may just be you sucking.

Bellari's pretty little boxes remind me of my guitar effects pedals. And maybe that's why I find them so attractive.

Their new VP530 USB phono preamplifier has a setting for RIAA EQ ("Of course, it sounds better without it," quips Music Hall's Leland Leard.), a rumble filter on/off button, a headphone output, and costs $340.

I want it.

Shanling seems to have erected a shrine to the holy iPod with its new STP-10 stereo vacuum tube amplifier ($900).

The STP-10 has a big brother named the MC-30 Music Center ($999). Watch out for Ol' Artie Dudley's review of that sweet thing in our March issue.

The Shanling STP-10, with the lights on. This hefty little toy is built like a tank, and made to make your iPod smile.

Hansen Audio's Prince V2 costs $39,000/pair and is the company's best-selling speaker. Wes Phillips is reviewing the Hansen speaker in the April 2008 issue of Stereophile.

Jon Iverson, our magazine group's self-proclaimed “Web Monkey”—that’s how his business card describes his role—mentioned that a reader, now living in Dubai, wrote him Tuesday night about Gallo Loudspeakers. "I'm hoping your CES 2008 show blog will bring me up to speed on the latest loudspeaker from Anthony Gallo," he wrote.

Jon and I found Anthony Gallo's Venetian suite early this morning. In fact, we were the first visitors On Wednesday, arriving even before Anthony Gallo did. When he did appear, Jon took his photograph next to the company's flagship loudspeaker, the $18,000/pair 5LS full range, floorstanding loudspeakers. After Jon left, Anthony got down to work, adjusting the bass controls and absolute phase. Sure enough, the chorus in the Reference Recording CD I brought along—RR57, Rutter's Requiem—snapped into focus after Anthony did his magic.

"I don't know what happens each night," said Anthony, "but the 5LS always sounds sluggish in the morning, and some controls on our Reference SA amplifier for the woofers have been fiddled with." I was about to comment that I always am sluggish in the morning, especially if my controls have been fiddled with. However, I bit my tongue.

Anthony then ran his hands over the 5LS's 70" tall, 11" thick, stainless steel column, and begin to describe the company's flagship. The enclosure is made of stainless steel with cast-aluminum endcaps. Stainless steel was found to be more rigid than aluminum. The front of the column holds a line array of eight 4" midranges in spherical enclosures, interspersed with seven piezoelectric cylindrical-diaphragm tweeters. The front of the enclosure has a vertical elastic-string curtain, similar to those that first appeared on the Sonus Faber Extrema speaker. Around back, there are a dozen 4" subwoofer drivers, also in line array. The speaker has only one crossover for the woofer section, essentially a single inductor that acts as a first order, 6dB/octave, filter at 80Hz. Above that, the midrange and tweeter drivers run full-range.

I listened to two of my recordings, including the first two cuts from our magazine's Editor's Choice CD to check phase and channel identification. I found that the announcer—Richard Lehnert—sounded most natural from the second row of seats in the large suite Gallo occupied. Anthony, by the way, preferred another row. However, I was satisfied by the quality of midrange, bass, transparency, and soundstaging. This loudspeaker is definitely a contender.

After seeing audio components that cost thousands and even tens of thousands of dollars, I always find it refreshing to encounter ones that cost a fraction of those prices. Case in point: the Nu Force S-1 integrated amp (10Wpc), which costs just $199, shown here by Jason Lim, CEO of Nu Force. The company also offers a matching speaker, the Icon-1, a small unit using a single driver, the combination, including cables, selling for $399. The system sounded pretty good, too!

"Lightning strikes twice," says the blurb on Ayre Acoustics' new KX-R preamp, referring to the 1996 introduction of the Colorado company's original K-1 preamp, considered to be among the best preamps. The KX-R ($18,500 in aluminum finish) retains the zero-feedback, fully-balanced configuration of the K-1, but has a Variable Gain Transimpedance (VGT) circuit, with something called "equilock circuitry" for the gain devices. This was explained to me as a circuit design that does not attenuate the inputs at the front end, and thus improves the S/N ratio. The KX-R is a slim but heavy unit (41 lbs), and as you can see, it looks stunning.

Here's a look at the inside of Ayre's KX-R preamp. "Wow!" exclaimed John Atkinson.

If one were to judge by the new product introductions from Ayre and Jeff Rowland Design, $18k seems to be the price point for high-end solid-state preamplifiers. Rowland's new Criterion preamp uses NiMH batteries in the power supply; these are more easily available than the lead-zinc ones that were used in Rowland's previous top preamp—and, of course, the design of the Criterion features a number of improvements from its predecessor. Rowland also introduced the new Continuum integrated amp, available in two version: 350Wpc ($7200) or 500Wpc ($8800), the latter featuring power-factor correction.

Anglo-Chinese brand Quad is not one of your consumer electronics companies that revamps their entire line every year (whether it needs to or not). Some might even consider their approach a bit stodgy, resisting change. So when they come out with not just one new product but a completely new series, that has to be considered news.

Quad's new Platinum series of solid-state electronics come above the current 99 series (which will remain in the line), and includes a CD player, preamp, integrated amp, 150Wpc stereo amp, and 170W monoblock amps. The components use balanced connections, and feature standard 12V triggers. The units on display were pre-production prototypes, with delivery promised for the third quarter of 2008. Prices have not been determined yet, and the Quad representatives would not even offer an estimate for publication—but it's safe to say that while they will be significantly higher than the prices for the current 99 series, they won't reach the high-end stratosphere.

Continuing my game of guess-the-nationality-of-the-manufacturer, I walked into a demo room that had a very-nice-sounding system with the brandname Nightingale. My thought was British (I recall vaguely a British speaker designed by John Jeffries many years ago bearing that name) or Japanese (as in the Emperor’s Nightingale). However, the answer was Italian. They make electronics as well as speakers: they were demming the prototype PTS-03 battery-operated preamp ($8000), the Gala power amp ($6000), and the new CTR-2 speakers ($9000/pair). I also saw what I thought was another power amp (the one on the right in the picture), so I asked about it, and was told that it was actually the power supply for the amp. I wasn’t doing too well in my guessing here!

Bryston's James Tanner surprised me by showing me a new direction for Canadian amplifier manufacturer Bryston: it has developed a series of class-D (switching) amplifiers. "You'll notice from the line's hybrid name that we combine the class-D output module with regular linear power supplies, not switching supplies," explained James. "The switching supplies are too noisy."

Prominently displayed on their exhibit was the firm's new D-250Z amplifier, rated at 250W into each of its 8 channels. Such an amplifier can supply a full 7.1 home-theater system, or four stereo zones. Furthermore, each individual stereo zone can be bridged to deliver 800 Watts into 8 ohms.

"We now have an amplifier that supplies 8 channels at the very good price of $5695, much less than our conventional multichannel amplifier reviewed in the pages of your magazine." Notable, however, is that the company's usual 20-year warranty does not apply to the D-250Z, which is only warranteed for 5 years.

Attendance was light at the Alexis Park on Wednesday, with the rooms closest to the front getting the most attention. That was certainly the case for Evolution Acoustics, whose imposing MM3 modular speaker commands respect. After seven years of development, this huge baby, designed by Kevin Malmgren (left, formerly of Von Schweikert) made its initial debut at RMAF 2006. Then, the company went low-key while Malmgren and his wife were busy raising their first child (who, after almost one year of development, has just made a most auspicious debut in his stroller at T.H.E. Show 2008). Well, not really. The speaker was back-ordered even before it was launched, and has kept Malmgren and its distributor so busy that they haven’t had the time or need to yet establish a dealer network.

The MM3 ($70,000/pair, intro price $38,000/pair) weighs 650 lbs per side and consists of three parts: the MM1 center portion ($30,000/pair, intro price $18,000/pair) and MM2 bottom and top ($50,000/pair, intro price $28,000/pair). The tweeter is adjustable for both level and crossover point to create a smooth and even response. The woofer is also adjustable on every level—how deep, how full, etc.—and is powered by a 1000W amp in MM3 configuration and a 600W amp in MM2 configuration. Because the woofer extends flat down to 10Hz, and actually reached down to 3Hz in the Alexis Park, it includes a subsonic filter to make it analog-friendly for platter spinners. Everything in the speaker except the midrange and tweeter is made in the USA.

Paired with DarTZeel electronics from Switzerland, Evolution Acoustics power cables with built-in power conditioners, and huge gauge EA interconnects and speaker cable, the system conveyed the weight of massed strings like no other speaker I encountered at T.H.E. Show save the Rockport Ankaa discussed earlier in this blog. When I played Martha Argerich performing Beethoven's Piano Concerto 2, the strings were so close that I felt as though my head was under the piano’s raised lid. Playing a track from the new John Marks-engineered Pipes organ CD, issued by the Rhode Island Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, all I could write was, "Holy Shit! This really sounds and feels like an organ."

I'm not sure how you-know-who uses the terms yin and yang, but from my understanding of Chinese medicine, the system was far more yang than yin, meaning that it was better with the big, extroverted stuff than conveying a voice expressing vulnerability and tenderness. While there was a bit of buzzing on voices, probably caused by the smallness of the room, what this speaker did right was so right that it commanded attention. Contact Jonathan Tinn (right) at Blue Light Audio in Portland if you hear the call.

Tinn also distributes DarTZeel. The system boasted the NHB108 amp ($21,181 and Stereophile's 2005 Product of the Year), which outputs 160Wpc into 8 ohms; the battery-powered NHB18NS preamp ($26,250) complete with phono stage and remote control). The two units are connected by impedance-matched 50 ohm DarTZeel wires. They certainly did the Evolution speakers proud.

As much as I had hoped to write about new companies at T.H.E. Show this time around, I keep finding myself drawn to "old friends" for one overriding reason: their sound is the best I encounter. Such was the case with veteran audio designer Peter Ledermann's Soundsmith. Despite Peter's 1960s-holdover proclivity to turn his consistently impressive, housed-in-wood electronics into multi-colored light shows—thank God you can dim the lights or turn them off entirely—the former Director of Engineering at the Bozak Corporation continues to astound with the sound of his phono cartridges and the amazing frequency response of his small Firefly speakers.

On display was Peter’s "The Voice" phono cartridge with sapwood ebony body ($2200). The ebony is said to produce sound a little warmer and better-damped than the standard model. Peter will probably introduce yet another version of “The Voice” with a different hardwood body before long. A high-compliance cartridge designed to be used with the moving-magnet preamp of one's choice, the Voice conveyed every iota of drama on the opening minutes of Janos Starker’s recording of Dvorak's Cello Concerto. Paired with Soundsmith's entry-level $300 phono preamp, the system could not convey the even quieter, seductive silky smoothness, more fleshed out and layered midrange, deeper bass, and more pronounced leading edge of Soundsmith’s classic Strain Gauge phono cartridge and matching preamplifier system ($6000–$15,000 for both, depending upon preamp features, but with sound consistent throughout the line). Yet, in some ways, The Voice was more truthful. A hell of a lot of us, including yours truly, would be delighted to have the "The Voice" in our phono set-ups.

Also on display was the new HE 150 150W power amplifier ($6000). Using the same circuit as its costlier, more powerful brother, the amp’s performance was difficult to fully assess because it was paired with the smaller and less full-range of Soundsmith's two Firefly speakers. I'll leave that one up to you.

Music Culture Technology Corporation's Reference line has been designed and engineered by MBL's official engineers. Though not yet distributed in the US, the combination of MC's partnership with MBL and their components' arresting good looks drew me in for an extended listen. It was also a belated listen, but that had to do with the Hard Rock Café across the street from the St. Tropez, whose bass blasting from the rock video they project in their parking lot between 5pm and 10pm made listening to anything other than equally blaring rock music an absurdity. Call it high end trumped by high insult.

Now that I've got that off my chest, back to MC. A multinational corporation, with everyone in the room from Hong Kong, MC is currently distributed in Hong Kong, China, Thailand, and Singapore. Australia, the UK, and the USA are coming this year. (The company's CEO wants a dealer who specializes in audio as opposed to home theater.) Their RL 32 3½way, 4 ohm speaker ($32,000/pair) measure 87–88dB sensitivity, and extends from 20Hz to 50kHz. I was most impressed with the size of images, which grew to arresting proportions as the volume increased. While I thought the midrange a bit muffled, that may have had to do with the cabling. MC is definitely a company to watch out for.

Instead of using conventional CD playback technology, the Rockport room featured the DC-powered Black Box Audiophile PC from Blue Smoke Entertainment Systems of Chicago. (Preliminary pricing, expected to lower before the unit reaches the market, is $7999.) With no moving parts in the box into which one inserts a CD, the DSP-based system reclocks the data after reading the CD, basically eliminating jitter. It copies the audio data from a CD onto a hard drive, reading the CD multiple times if necessary to eliminate data-reading errors. It is said to be far more accurate my own conventional stick it in the iMac and burn it in iTunes setup. The unit can process data up to 24/192. Lordie did it sound good.

Microsoft wanted to talk to me about its Windows Home Server division—and I wanted to hear what they said because I was impressed last summer at the company's commitment to making its Home Server software as simple as pie.

But the first thing Todd Headrick wanted to show me was a children's book called Mommy, Why is There A Server in the House? by "Tim O'Connor, Ph.D."

Good one, MS!

Actually, Microsoft is very serious about the home server concept and is about to introduce Powerpack 1, which will add a bunch of fervently requested features. "Who requested them?" I asked.

Headrick said, "Users—and some of the most fervent beta-testers were MS employees, who are pretty computer literate, but our motto in the server division is no acronyms, no mysteries—so we pushed back hard on the features that would make home servers harder to use. That dynamic—then pushing, us pushing back—has helped us figure out which features really improve the experience."

(This sounded a lot like open-source software to us, where users generate much needed improvements through forum participation and, sure enough, MS has a Home Server Forum.)

Like what? "Access from anywhere to your home server and a customer experience improvement program that really offers some spectacular benefits—like trusted SSL certification that keeps your data secure."

Microsoft now has over 15 Home Server vendors, from small companies like Tranquil to giants like HP.

We believe in credit where credit is due and Microsoft's Home Server initiative is a great idea that just keeps getting better every time we check in on it.