CES Day 1 - High End Audio and DIY Drivers

Joe Petrilla of SVSound holds up their new beefy 13" woofer developed for their latest generation of Ultra SVS Powered Box & Cylinder Subwoofers due out spring '07. These subs will be available in 5 different finishes. Their 7.1 theater demo had impressive bass, the kind that makes movies fun to watch. Solid and DEEEEEEPPPP!!! MSRP is to be determined. SVSound is based out of Ohio, USA and more info at www.SVSound.com

Featured above are SONICS brand speakers from Germany which implement ribbon tweeter technology. These were extremely musical speakers. Very clean and detailed sound that was relaxing and easy to listen to with authoritative bass that got you toe-tapping to the music without getting "boomy" or "boxy" sounding. Exact model and pricing information can be looked up through www.ImmediaSound.com, the domestic distributors for SONICS.

SEAS was displaying several new models of their drivers, some featuring reed/paper pulp cones, and others showing off a newly developed radial reinforced rubber surround, which is said to reduce radial resonances and prevent surround break up at high excursion. These drivers will be available from www.Madisound.com shortly with a MSRP to be determined. Let me just say these are some sexy looking drivers in person. Go to www.seas.no for more info.


For the tweaker type Golden Sound was displaying some of their latest HDMI cables, spiking systems, dampening pads, and a device called a CD Upgrade Box loosely based on the Intelligent Chip that had gotten a lot of press a few years back. When I asked Allen Chang, President of Golden Sound, what exactly this mysterious box does to CD's to improve them her replied, "Just bring a CD by and I'll run it through the machine and you can see for yourself". The two part box and card system retail for $200 each piece and are good for 100 "CD upgrades". www.GoldenSound.com


Shown here is Canadian based Focus Audio's Master 2.5 speakers paired up to Vitus Audio's SM-101 (Denmark), a class-A/class-AB 100w mono block amplifier from their signature series. This was a fantastic combination. Female vocals were presented with a life-like soundstage and good overall driver-to-driver balance was achieved. MSRP on the Master 2.5's is $18,600. More info can be found at www.FocusAudio.com and www.VitusAudio.com.



Reported by Mike Velari