"We are so proud of everyone who made T.H.E. Show 2021 come to life," texted show coordinator Emiko Carlin about what was the first post-pandemic audio show to take place in North America. "After more than a year of unprecedented losses, this was no doubt a true celebration of audio and musical connection. We are thrilled that 1416 unique attendees showed up to reconnect, and we are delighted that [they] all did it safely and responsibly. As the first audio show in the US to open, and one that had to honor venue attendance caps, we are over the moon with how of T.H.E. Show 2021 turned out. We can't wait for our next event!"
I second those sentiments. I'm so glad that editor Jim Austin decided to take a risk and have Stereophile cover T.H.E. Show 2021. The advantage of attending a small show is that anyone with a two or three-day pass can visit their favorite rooms multiple times over and linger for extended periods of time. For exhibitors, that meant that anyone who was making good sound saw their room full or near capacity during prime show hours.
As always, Sunday was a slow day, but Friday's attendance was remarkably robust. On Saturday, I had to skip a few rooms because they were consistently packed. Just about everyone was extremely conscientious about mask wearing, and the few people who forgot to don them didn't make a fuss when I requested that they put theirs on. Hey, I've got a lot more shows to cover before I make it to the true high endpoint, aka heaven.
I hope these show reports convey how good the majority of exhibits sounded. There were a few unusual ones, with Alex Yoon's Los Angeles-based Wavetouch Audio Antero V2 speaker ($8000/pair) as unique as his comments.
As you can see, the Antero V2 has a sound wave tongue sticking out of each of its drivers. While it can't rival the tongue of Ms. Daisy Mae Doven (pictured below), whose ability to clean out her daddies' remotest sinus cavities is unequalled, the Wavetouch tongue is intended to prevent sound dispersion. Yoon doesn't prefer the deep soundstage presentation of many other speakers, and seeks to place a singer right upfront in the room. It also seems that he prefers the sound of his modified Oppo BDP-95 to that from dCS gear, whose sound he considers dried out.
If you're wondering whose tongue comes with more bite and bark, you may wish to take a listen. To the speaker, that is. If you listen closely every time a UPS or FedEx truck passes by, you'll undoubtedly hear echoes of Ms. Doven, aka The Queen Terrorer of Port Townsend.
Back to T.H.E. Show 2021. In addition to the good sound, it was a mere six or seven city-blocks walk to several really good restaurants in downtown Long Beach. The scene in the street, which was closed to vehicular traffic, was a show all its own. For those who preferred to dine closer to the hotel, T.H.E. Show arranged for four food trucks to be on hand each day. Three cheers for the truck with the Oaxacan burrito. And three fat burrito-sized cheers to Emiko Carlin, Maurice Jung, and T.H.E. Show staff. In the face of many a raised eyebrow and doubting Thomas—even a doubting Serinus—you pulled it off, and well. You boosted many a spirit, affirmed that the High End is alive and determined to thrive, and performed a major service to the audiophile community. Thank you.
As you can see, the Antero V2 has a sound wave tongue sticking out of each of its drivers. While it can't rival the tongue of Ms. Daisy Mae Doven (pictured below), whose ability to clean out her daddies' remotest sinus cavities is unequalled, the Wavetouch tongue is intended to prevent sound dispersion. Yoon doesn't prefer the deep soundstage presentation of many other speakers, and seeks to place a singer right upfront in the room. It also seems that he prefers the sound of his modified Oppo BDP-95 to that from dCS gear, whose sound he considers dried out.
If you're wondering whose tongue comes with more bite and bark, you may wish to take a listen. To the speaker, that is. If you listen closely every time a UPS or FedEx truck passes by, you'll undoubtedly hear echoes of Ms. Doven, aka The Queen Terrorer of Port Townsend.
