T.H.E. Show 2022

Last year in Long Beach, PBN Audio's Peter Noerbaek was so eager to show what his humongous speakers could accomplish without distortion that he cranked up the volume far louder than the New York Subway System at its worst. As I thanked my lucky stars that I was some distance away from the huge room's doorway when the eruption occurred, a member of T.H.E. Show staff came running. "The glass walls on our office are shaking!" he yelled, as he made show policy clear. Only after that did I feel safe to enter.

This time, perhaps the fear of God or Ray Kimber's beneficent presence radiated so strongly through his Carbon, PK10 Gold, and D60 cabling that Noerbaek hung loose.

Together in one room, PranaFidelity's Steven Norber and E.A.R. USA's Dan Meinwald guaranteed fine sound from great and unusual music. "The Dhara speakers are finally finished," said Norber of a 40lb standmount ($7950/pair with stands), which includes dual 6" woofers and a 30mm tweeter, and boasts a frequency range of 38Hz–23kHz, a sensitivity of 88.5dB, and an 8 ohm nominal impedance.

First things first. This was one of the best-sounding rooms at T.H.E. Show. Given its sheer size, I have no question that some of the success was due to the various and sundry magical Synergistic Research accouterments—I counted 10 so-called "Acoustic Room Treatment" devices and 5 Synergistic Power Conditioning devices (including Purple fuses)—along with new Synergistic Racks (intended for internal use) and, no surprise, Synergistic Research cabling.

Yes, it's a mouthful. And perhaps the name will change. But as for now, the new SVS Prime Wireless Pro Powered Speaker Pair ($800/pair), an active/passive self-powered combo whose 200Wpc driver amps are housed in one of the two speaker cabinets, is due out in mid-August. This is a fine-sounding alternative to a sound bar, complete with a 24/192 DAC and an active digital crossover. Connection will be either wired or wireless, with options including DTSS, Play-Fi, AirPlay 2, Chromecast, Spotify Connect, aptX Bluetooth. Play-Fi will enable listeners to stream 24/192 signals.

In just a few minutes as I write these words, T.H.E. Show returns for another installment at the Long Beach Hilton. Rumored to offer approximately 40 exhibit rooms plus untold stands in the Marketplace and Headphonium, it has drawn exhibitors from all over the United States and beyond.

Jim Suhre, 86, is an independent speaker designer who for many years has brought his latest designs to audio shows. He didn't have a name for the speaker system he showed at Long Beach, which will go for $9000–$10,000/pair, but he did explain that his full system includes an integrated module with balanced interconnects and only one power cord.

Because its sound proclaims "major significance," our coverage starts with the show premiere of Graham Audio's LS5/5f loudspeaker ($24,995/pair). Unveiled in Munich, albeit only in passive display, the speaker was designed by Derek Hughes, son of the late Spencer Hughes, founder of Spendor.