Home Electronics Expo

Hilton Hotel - N.Y.C

June 2002

The Home Electronics Show is always a great place to enter "dreamland".  The prices of most equipment at this show are far beyond the reach of "normal" consumers, and although the systems sound and look great,  the majority of adults ears will have a hard time perceiving the added tonal richness provided by these systems.  That is not to say you can't immediately hear the difference on a system such as the one pictured below from MBL of Germany, when you compare it to your $499.95 Sony Surround setup, but if you were to up your home system to the $1,500 ~ $,2000 range, the subtleties of sound enhancement from the $60k would diminish to a negligible amount.  All that being said, I would still love to own one of these systems.  It would take a major Lotto win however, for mew to be able to justify the expense.

One of the other big draws of this event was SACD (Super Audio CD).  Sony, Phillips, Sharp, Samsung, and many others all had there latest offering in  DVD players capable of delivering the new audio content.   There were also a large number of companies selling SACD's.   My take on SACD was a CD from the Rolling Stones which was originally mastered for stereo remastered in  5.1 surround, does more harm to the material than good.  On the other hand, a symphonic concert recorded in 5.1 surround can place you in Carnegie Hall 10 row center.  

Toys from the Attic Super System

The amplifiers of the "Super System".   I would love to hear my AudioTron or computer play my mp3 collection through this system.

A $10,000 turntable.  "So why should I pay this much for a device that takes ten minutes to locate and play a song?" 

MBL System
www.mbl-hifi.com

My favorite system of the show.  As I walked by the demo room, I could have sworn that a live drummer was playing.  Pictured here is over $60,000. of pure sound delight. 

This was another fine sounding and very good looking system from Tenor.  It also was in the $60k ballpark.