It was definitely a last-minute decision for us to go to T.H.E. Show. We called the Hilton at about 7 pm on Wednesday night and booked a room. Then, we bought tickets for a Southwest flight and packed our bags. Thursday morning, we were off to Long Beach!
The show did not disappoint, and I’ll share with you four showrooms that were really impressive and a couple of products that I think are exceptional.
About the Show
This show is fairly local for us as we live in the San Francisco Bay area, and it was a short flight. This was the first show we have attended since the Florida Audio Show in 2020, so we were excited to see our audio friends. I think everyone at the show felt the same way, and there was a lot of catching up to do and just enjoying our shared interests with others who share our passion for great sound. Evidently, a lot of audiophiles felt the same way as the attendance was really good on both Friday and Saturday. Sunday’s crowd was a little thinner, but that’s not uncommon.
Show Accommodations
The Hilton is located right across the street from the beach, and our room had a great view of the ocean. We had no complaints about the sleeping accommodations. In general, however, a hotel room is not designed to be an audio showroom, but they work well for smaller systems. Larger rooms in the corners of the third, fourth and fifth floors accommodated mid-sized to larger systems.
The only drawback with this show site was the really large systems that were in the banquet rooms on the 1st and 2nd floors. These rooms are divided by removable walls enabling them to accommodate crowds of different sizes depending on the event. For the audio show, I noticed a good bit of sound bleed through from one portioned room to another. In general, however, these larger rooms were just too big for a home audio system.
Show Details
It’s a lot of work to put on the show, and we appreciate that, but here are a couple of things that we noticed that could be improved for next year. The signage on the rooms did not go into the amount of detail that we see at most shows. The main exhibitor was listed, but not the entire list of brands in the room.
Also, communication was a bit sketchy. On the last day of the show, we noticed a food truck outside of the hotel. We don’t know if there were food trucks on other days, but if so, we missed getting the information. Communication was a little hit or miss.
Nevertheless, we thoroughly enjoyed the show, and here are a few rooms that caught our attention.
Acora Acoustics / Thrax / Audio Research / Lampizator
We visited this room multiple times. It was just hard to stay away from such good sound. I have to say this was one of the best rooms at this show. Watch for my review of the SRB loudspeakers later this summer. Ken Redmond will be reviewing the SRC-2 loudspeakers sometime this fall.
Room Components – System 1:
- Acora Acoustics SRC-2 loudspeakers – $37,000/pair
- Audio Research REF 6SE Linestage – $18,000
- Audio Research Reference 160M Monoblock Amplifiers – $34,000/pair
- LampizatOr Pacific DAC – $23,500
Room Components – System 2:
- Acora Acoustics SRB Loudspeakers – $15,000
- Acora Acoustics SRS-G Stands – $5,000
- Ampsandsound Zion Monoblocks – $24,000/pair
- Aurender N30SA – $24,000
Acora Acoustics | Thrax | Audio Research | Lampizator
High End By Oz: Thrax / Trio / Verity / Vitus
If money is no object, this room put together by High End by Oz, maybe just be what you are looking for. We can assure you that it sounded great. For my personal taste, this was the best room at the show.
Room Components:
- Thrax Audio Spartacus 300B mono amplifiers, six 300Bs per channel and output 50W in triode class-A into 8 ohms – $97,000/pair
- Verity Audio Sarastro MkII Speakers – $65,000/pair
- Thrax Audio Libra 300B preamp with outboard power supply – $67,000
- Vitus Audio SCD 25 MkII (served as a transport only) – $26,400
- Hifistay Mythology racks – $4,900/tier
- Ansuz C2 Cabling
High End by Oz | Thrax | Trio | Verity | Vitus
Margules / Raidho / Shunyata Research
We were unable to get a picture of the room, but we did get a shot of the Margules U-280 SC 30th Anniversary Limited edition Class-A triode monoblocks ($10,00/pair), one of which is pictured below. I have long been a fan of Margules products, and these new monoblocks continue their tradition of quality and beauty.
As much as I have always enjoyed the exceptional Margules speakers using the big Raidho Acoustics TD 3.8 3-way loudspeakers opened my eyes to how these amplifiers can sound as good as any system you put them in.
Room Components:
The other components in the system in this room included:
- Raidho Acoustics TD 3.8 3-way loudspeakers in walnut finish ($117,000/pair)
- Margules U-280 SC 30th Anniversary Limited Edition class-A triode monoblocks ($10,000/pair)
- Margules SF-220 class-A tube preamplifier ($7,000)
- Esoteric K-01 XD SACD/CD/DAC ($24,000)
- Shunyata Research Sigma power distributor ($6,000)
Margules | Raidho | Shunyata Research
Common Wave Hi-Fi with QLN, Innuos and Nagra
There was a whole lot going on in this large corner room, and we made more than one visit, not only to hear the systems but also to visit with our good friend, Mark Sosa, the room host.
These new QLN speakers may resemble the original, but trust me, they are a whole new ballgame. Paired with the beautiful sound of the electronics from Nagra the system was simply a wonderful musical experience.
Room Components:
- Classic Vacuum Tube Preamp ($18,900)
- Classic Tube DAC/HD DAC replacement/11.2MHz 72-bit with tube output stage and more ($28,500/$47,500)
- Classic PSU with 3× output ($16,500)
- Classic Amp with 100Wpc ($18,500/$35,900—might a pair used as monoblocks cost less than a single amp ×2?)
- VPS valve phono stage ($9500)
Common Wave Hi-Fi | QLN | Innuos | Nagra
New Products That Got My Attention
Whether you are a dealer or a customer, one reason you go to audio shows is to see new products, or at least products that are new to you. Reading a product review is just not the same as being able to see, touch and listen to a component. There were two products at this show that grabbed my attention.
DeVore Fidelity O/Baby
I’m always excited to hear anything new from John DeVore, and the DeVore Fidelity O/Baby did not disappoint. It is essentially a miniaturized O/96, complete with an optional solid oak stand. It has a horn-loaded .75″ textile dome tweeter and a new 7″ woofer using the same uncoated German paper as the legendary O/96 and O/Reference. It is 90dB sensitive. In the White Oak finish, these loudspeakers are $5,600/pair, with matching stands at $995/pair.
Graham LS5/5f
T.H.E. Show was the North American debut of the New Graham LS5/5f ($24,995/pair). You can read their press release here. This speaker was on display in Munich but in a passive mode. So, T.H.E. Show was the first opportunity for the public to hear this new speaker designed by Derek Hughes, son of the late Spencer Hughes, founder of Spendor.
This speaker has a very special sound, indeed. I look forward to listening to it again.
Thanks for reading, and we will hopefully see some of you in Seattle next month!