Solid Tech

Solid Tech's presence was again felt this year as they provided able support for a number of systems in the show. A good example was in this Audiophile System room where a four-tier Rack of Silence with spring-suspension for the two middle shelves formed the foundation for a DCS, VTL and Verity Audio system.

Shunyata Research

The folks at Shunyata were showcasing their new Helix series of cables, and that extends from their award-winning power cords to interconnects and even speaker cables. Apparently, all their high end cables now share the same hand-twisted geometry, with each individual strand needing to criss-cross at 90% with each other in order to minimize capacitance and in addition to this the unique counter-rotating helices that are longitudinally offset create disparate EFF (electromagnetic flux fields) that minimize inductive reactance. It may seem like a lot of technical mumbo-jumbo to some, but they represent a quantum leap in performance that is immediately audible when compared to their earlier series of cables.

Another interesting thing to note is their introduction of a new range of Guardian conditioners that will make effective power conditioning more affordable and thus more accessible to a greater number of audiophiles. They are expected to be ready for official release later in the year.

Totem Acoustic

Totem this year, introduced their new Tribe series of on-wall speakers which are specifically designed to match flat panel screens in appearance and dimensions.

There are three Tribe models: Tribe I, Tribe II, and Tribe III. Of different size, each model is nicely finished and perfectly proportioned for placement either at the side or under a plasma or LCD screen, and I believe that they are among the slimmest wall speakers available.

As with all Totem products, the Tribes sounded excellent and belied their slim dimensions with a very dynamic and full bodied presentation.

When I was there, the movie “House of Flying Daggers” was being played and the soundstaging, imaging, detail resolution and visceral impact of the special effects were indistinguishable from conventional high-end speakers.

The Tribes were very ably partnered with the Storm subwoofer, another new addition to the extensive Totem Acoustic product lineup.