We would like thank every one who came to see us the the 2005 CES.   Despite the cold and rain, we had a very successful show, met many old friends and even managed to make a few new friends.  This made the all hard work before and after the show worth while.

Our main system (shown above) comprised a Viola Cadenza preamplifier, Viola Symphony power amplifier (center), driving Viola Allegro speakers coupled with the Basso passive sub woofers.  This was all driven by the excellent Bel Canto universal player.  Also in the picture is our Viola Bravo 350W power amplifier.

We received many compliments on the sound in our room, but we'd like to share the following which we have taken from the Stereophile's web site coverage of the show, as they best encapsulate the comments of the visitors to our room..

John Atkinson

"...As long as audio companies can still design products that allow the music to communicate so effectively, the High End will survive and perhaps one day again will thrive!..."

Wes Phillips

" ...It wasn't the prices that made me gasp (I didn't learn them until later), it was the sound. Allison Krauss's New Favorite lived up to its title and I've been hearing it for ages. It just never sounded like this. Krauss's voice had purity and sparkle and Union Station was presented with slam and lots of forward momentum. The Bassos integrated with the Allegros seamlessly and I was reminded of just how good a good full-range system can be.

Wowsa..."

Reproduced courtesy of www.stereophile.com

Some pictures just have to be shared.  This is our Paul Jayson looking cool next to his Allegro speakers.  The smile is probably due to all the compliments he received about them during the show.

From Holland we have Harry van Dalen and Martin Odijk who run the Dutch high-end audio distributor More Music  They also run Turtle Records, whose recordings are both technically and musically excellent.   They brought us a batch of new SACDs which we used extensively during the show. For more information check their web site at www.turtlerecords.com.  This plug is completely unsolicited, but it should be good for a beer next time we see them.

Adib Khavari (center front) from our German distributor Audio Components visited, together with his wife Ute (front right) and their chief salesman Wolgang Linhard (standing). Audio Components are the leading high-end audio distributor in Germany and we are very pleased to have their support. 

Also with them is Christine Tantschinez from the high-end audio magazine publisher Motor Presse.

From Tokyo, we have Mr. Hideaki Nishikawa (center), President of our Japanese distributor Zephyrn, with two of his senior staff, Mr Hashizumi (left) and Mr. Iwasaki (right).  Japan is our most successful market and we owe a huge debt of gratitude to Mr. Nishikawa and his staff for their hard work and support.  

Dr. San Jun Na, President of our Korean distributor Audio Gallery.  Korea is one of our most important Far East markets.  We are grateful to Dr. Na for his hard work on our behalf and for the confidence he has shown in our products. 

Han Tin Kwang from Reference Audio, our distributor in Singapore picked the day with the heaviest rain to come and see us.  Luckily he was well protected against the elements.

Han is a veteran of the Singapore hi-fi scene and one of the nicest people you could wish to meet.  If you are in town, make sure you pay a visit to his show room. This is located in the Adelphi Building, the hi-fi Mecca in Singapore where you will find pretty much every significant high end audio brand.

We would like to acknowledge the help we had from a couple of friends in making this all work.

First mention goes to Mike Kochman of Echo Busters, who provided his excellent room tuning panels.  These really work and without them we would never have been able to tame the difficult acoustics of the room.

More information about Echo Busters may be found at www.echobusters.com.

Second mention goes to Mike Broughton of the Audiophile Source.  Mike came in and lent us his considerable room and system tuning skills and enabled us to get the most out of our system. 

Anyone who wishes to have their system set up to provide maximum listening pleasure can get in touch with Mike at:

Tel: 1 970 485 2472

or visit his web site at Audiophile Source.
 

Finally we'd like to thank the staff at our favorite eatery in Las Vegas, the Peppermill.
No matter what time we rolled in, the staff were always cheerful, the service efficient and the food always great.  Just what you need to keep you alive during a show.