T.H.E. SHOW 2024 Pt 1

The Home Entertainment Show (T.H.E. SHOW) is one of the oldest audiophile-oriented consumer electronics shows focused directly on the actual consumer having been around for 28 years and I wanted to thank Maurice, Emiko, and DJ for making this year another great adventure.

HIFIMAN

My most anticipated visit of the show was to HIFIMAN who were debuting not one, but two exciting new products, and to do this they not only had a space in Headphonium, they also had a private listening room, which was my first visit of the show. In their room, they had the epic new HIFIMAN SUSVARA UNVEILED ($8,000) on display with the HIFIMAN EF 1000 Quad HYMALAYA Pro DAC/Headphone Amplifier ($13,000) setting a new bar for planar magnetic headphone sound, it was simply fantastic. Also on display were the HIFIMAN Shangri-La SR Electrostatic Headphone and Amplifier ($50,000) using a HIFIMAN EF600 HYMALAYA Pro R2R DAC/Amplifier ($799) as DAC, and a HIFIMAN Shangri-La JR Electrostatic Headphone and Amplifier ($8,000) paired with a HIFIMAN EF500 HYMALAYA LE R2R DAC/Amplifier ($799). The real highlight for me was down in Headphonium with the unveiling of the HIFIMAN Mini Shangri-La Electrostatic Headphone and Amplifier ($2,300) which was sourced from a HIFIMAN EF 499 R2R DAC/Amplifier ($299) providing truly affordable HIFIMAN Electrostatic Headphone performance.

Auribus Acoustics LLC

Auribus Acoustics LLC was demonstrating the production model of their new Auribus Acoustics LLC SIERRA Dynamic Open-Backed Headphone ($749 for pre-order, $899 normally) which will soon be available. There was also a display model of their Auribus Acoustics LLC Everest Headphone (discontinued).

Streamline HiFi

For the first sixty years of the twentieth century, from the early Victrola to the beautiful console HiFi units of the fifties and sixties, music was brought to the public via objets d’art, that were considered fine furniture, which anyone would be pleased to display in their home. Along came the seventies and the ugly rack systems which consisted of metal boxes housed on cheap Ikea-style furniture with large unsightly wooden boxes in the form of speakers being tolerated in the name of the aural pleasure they might bring.

Streamline HiFi has brought back the era of form plus function with their amazing handmade console units for the twenty-first century. In keeping with tradition and the audiophile nature of the show these systems provide music via a turntable and tube amp combination. They offer three models, the compact Streamline HiFi Crossroads ($8,000 starting price) which provides record storage in a place below, the slightly larger Streamline HiFi Rambler ($15,000 & up) with a mini-bar compartment behind a door in the front, and topping the bill is the Streamline HiFi Mojo ($18,000 & up) which has plenty of storage for records and mini-bar accessible from the top. So as not to limit your listening to vinyl Streamline HiFi units are equipped with Sonos Port or WiiM Pro for streaming.

Schecter Custom Shop

It has been a tradition of T.H.E. SHOW to provide a little something extra other than just audio, in years past it was cars, but this year it was something a little more apropos, guitars, provided by Schecter Custom Shop which were displayed in Headphonium and T.H.E. Music Instrument Museum in one of the large ballrooms.

Spencer Brewer & Esther Siegel Assemblage Art

Yet a further adjacent attraction was Spencer Brewer & Esther Siegel Assemblage Art which was placed at key points around the show, and in Headphonium they were actually offering classes for anyone who wished to try their hand.

Synthax/RME

Synthax was showing their usual lineup of headphone DAC/amps including the RME ADi-2/4 Pro SE ($2,499) which not only is able to output four channels of digital content, but records and plays back 32-bit/768kHz PCM as well as DSD and has a built-in phono stage.

Katli Audio/Omicron Group

Katli Audio was presenting Omicron Group Harmonic Vibration Tuning isolation products from Italy which use a unique ball-bearing isolation system similar to the record clamp I got from Margules a couple of years ago (and pictured below).

Upscale Audio/Audioquest/Fyne Audio/Pathos/PrimaLuna/T+A Elektroakustik/HiFi Rose

Upscale Audio had a presence in Headphonia along with two rooms on the second floor. Their focus as usual was on Pathos, PrimaLuna, and Fyne Audio a British Loudspeaker manufacturer created by former designers from TANNOY. The system I listened to consisted of Fyne Audio F704 Floorstanding Loudspeakers ($18,999/pr), a PrimaLuna EVO 300 Tube Integrated Amplifier ($5,505), a T+A Elektroakustic DAC 200 Preamplifier/DAC ($7,620), a HiFi Rose RS130 Network Transport ($5,195) and an Audioquest Niagara 3000 Low-Z Power/Noise Dissipation System ($3,900), with Cardas cabling throughout.

B.A.D.A.S.S. HiFi/Margules Audio/VIABLUE/Tönnen/RSX

Across the hallway from Upscale was Ball Audio Distribution and System Solutions (B.A.D.A.S.S. HiFi), Margules Audio, VIABLUE, Tönnen, and RSX. B.A.D.A.S.S. HiFi is a new marketing company created by a very old marketing genius Bruce Ball who has been in the business for over 40 years and has brought many, many now familiar names to the world of audio and is now freeing himself of previous entanglements to better serve his manufacturers hence the new company.

As usual, the sound of the Margules room was a treat for me especially with the new Margules Orpheo Century Overture Stand Mount Speakers ($16,000/pr) driven by a Margules U280 30th Anniversary Edition Amplifier ($12,000), Margules SF220 Preamplifier ($8,000), and their new Margules MS1 Music Server/Streamer ($3,500), with VIABLUE and RSX cables and accessories, and Tönnen Acoustic room treatment.

On static display a Margules I240 integrated amplifier ($7,000) and the above-mentioned record clamp. While on a separate table German cable manufacturer VIABLUE who took AXPONA by storm appearing in at least half a dozen of the rooms at that show, which is quite a feat for a first-time appearance, especially given the number of well-established cable lines in the community. Providing extreme performance at a reasonable price, all of their cables are available in a plethora of different outer jackets on a custom-order basis. Cut samples were on display as VIABLUE was happy to show their unique construction which features a series of weaves and composite materials. They also offer a host of accessories, including isolation feet, cable lifters, and even 4% silver solder.

Seminars, Parties, and Music

My good friend Julian Margules of Margules Audio performed a very interesting talk down in the Seminar room on the subject of testing in the audio world and calling for a new modern standard that more reflects the issues with audio equipment based on the fact that the AES established a set of standard tests in the 50s and no movement or improvement has been made since, despite the increased capabilities of current technologies. Julian is working with several universities to develop a new system based on what he calls harmonics but I think of as time domain.

I attended another seminar held by speaker designer Andrew Jones called “THAT Andrew Jones Experience”, which was also the title of the talk he held in one of the listening rooms with the various speakers he owned and designed, which was mostly the story of his life in audio. He also stayed for the “Speaker Saturday Panel” which featured an open-question forum with Andrew, Bill Dudleston, and Richard Vandersteen. Interestingly enough, the question of testing came up again, this time talking about how poor the tools they have to work with are pointing out that even an anechoic chamber isn’t really anechoic and has to be specially treated for each test, and that there is no standard or consistency as to how that testing is performed, lending great weight in my mind to Julian’s talk.

On Friday night after the show, there was T.H.E. Friday Night Kickoff Party held for the attendees with food and drinks, and on Saturday there was T.H.E. Music Group Artists Live in Concert featuring Julia Sawtell, Spencer Brewer, and Emiko.

And that concludes part 1 of my coverage of T.H.E. SHOW 2024, stay tuned for part 2.