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Editor's Note: Stephen Mejias has never attended CES before, and does not claim to be an audiophile. But he's distinquished himself enough around the Stereophile office that it seemed a good idea to register his first-time impressions of audio's greatest show on earth.

The Wednesday before the official start of the CES is traditionally a day devoted to press conferences and room set up and today was no different. Many mainstream companies put on dog and pony shows announcing products they think will answer the mass market's thirst for more and better—but a few high-end companies make announcements as well.

The "high-performance" sector of the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show, to be held January 7–10 at the Venetian Hotel, in economically downturned Las Vegas, promises an exciting array of new products for home and office. While the CES proper is open only to dealers, press, and the relatively few non-industry audiophiles who can wriggle their way in, Stereophile's intrepid bloggers promise to tell you just about everything worth talking about, via frequently updated show reports on our website.

Earlier this year, the Consumer">http://ce.org/">Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) tried something a little different and ran the 2002 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas during the week, starting on a Tuesday, instead of in its normal slot over the weekend. The hope was that the show would not compete with the normally crowded Las Vegas weekends, and would offer showgoers more flexibility in finding hotel rooms and taxi cabs.

Evolutionary. That's the word that comes to mind after strolling about the Alexis Park, home of Specialty Audio exhibits at the 2001 Consumer Electronics Show. The revolutionary stuff usually makes its debut at the Las Vegas Convention Center; here, in the high-end halls, we find manufacturers and designers more interested in perfecting existing technology.

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEAhttp://www.ce.org">CEA;) has taken major steps to ensure that the 2008 edition of its International Consumer Electronics Show, to take place in Las Vegas, Nevada, January 7–10, will provide a model for sustainable and energy-efficient practices. According to CEA president and CEO Gary Shapiro, the world's largest international trade show for consumer technologies is "the first tradeshow of our size to reduce our carbon footprint. We will do so by reducing energy consumption, increasing our recycling efforts, improving efficiency where possible, and making strides toward offsetting our unavoidable emissions. . . . [We intend to give] this industry an opportunity to be a positive force for change and integral to environmental solutions that will ensure future generations inherit a healthy planet."

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), the producer of the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), has finally confirmed the rumors that have been circulating for many weeks: The industry sector that CEA terms "high-performance audio" will move from its customary venue at the Alexis Villas (originally the Alexis Park) to the Venetian Hotel in 2007. In addition, "high-performance audio" and "high-performance home theater" will now be represented under the same umbrella.