The Colorado Convention Center, CEDIA's home
for 2006, 2007 and perhaps beyond, is nicely located in downtown Denver and absolutely
enormous. Still, we miss the familiar floor plan and nearby restaurants in Indianapolis,
CEDIA's past home.
Each CEDIA Wilson Audio seems to bring a
speaker in a new shade of red. This year, a WATT/ Puppy 8 ($27,900 per pair) in Imola red
and another in Bugatti blue were catching quick peeks and long looks. [www.wilsonaudio.com]
Matt Reilly of Shunyata Research showed us how
the Hydra Model-8 ($2495) reduced noise -- both from the power line itself and the
products plugged in. Using a paper shredder as a noise source, Matt first showed us a
waveform without and then with the Hydra.
Even if they claim to not hear a difference, power-conditioning skeptics would have to
concede that they can see it from this demo. [www.shunyata.com]
Showy displays are nothing new to CEDIA, but
this one, featuring a gleaming Airstream trailer, was especially noticeable. What was it for?
Yoav Geva, the "YG" in YG Acoustics,
stands proudly next to his Anat Reference Professional speaker ($92,000/pair), which is
made locally in Denver. This very heavy speaker's front baffle is made of
machined aluminum titanium, and its cabinet is a combination of two different kinds of
aircraft aluminum in two layers. How did the speaker sound? Very open and exceptionally
extended up top and down low. We'll go out on a limb and predict that you'll be reading a
great deal about YG Acoustics in the future.
