EDITOR’S LEAD-IN
CES is no longer the essential show on the hi-fi calendar, which is actually a great thing for most audiophiles, including here in Australia.
Normally in this issue we’d bring you a round-up of CES, held in Las Vegas every year in the first week of January, but this year, just like last year, there’s no such thing as ‘normal’ thanks to Covid-19. So of course CES wasn’t held this year. Or, rather, it wasn’t held as a physical event. In true “the show must go on” spirit, the show’s organisers decided that they couldn’t forgo all that lovely exhibitor revenue and turned the CES into a ‘virtual’ event, proudly proclaiming on the opening day “The first-ever, all-digital CES 2021, owned and produced by the Consumer Technology Association, opened its full digital experience to audiences around the world. This transformational event provides audiences with a front-row seat to the innovation and technologies that will move the world forward. CES 2021 will feature more than 1900 exhibitors ... attendees will experience a highly personalised show where they can see the latest product launches, hear insights from global visionaries, engage with global brands and startups, chat and meet with attendees from around the globe and receive recommendations based on personal preferences.” This might have been all well and good except that ‘virtual’ really doesn’t work where high-fidelity components are concerned, because much of the newsworthiness of a hi-fi product revolves around how it sounds, and this can’t be determined via a ‘virtual’ event. So Australian Hi-Fi didn’t go to CES this year, nor are we publishing our usual CES Report.
Truth be told, we weren’t planning to go to CES this year anyway, even before Covid-19. Firstly CES is enormously expensive to cover, Vegas hotels being at least five times more expensive during CES than they are at other times, not to mention the cost of flights from Australia to the US even during a normal holiday season. But secondly (and mostly) we didn’t plan to go because very few audio companies now exhibit at CES. It’s too expensive for them too. So whereas once it took several journalists an entire week to cover all the rooms with audio exhibits, the last time we went, one person covered the entire show in just two days. Plus CES has lost its relevance for audio manufacturers. They now head for the Munich Audio Fair and also exhibit at the multiple smaller national shows across Europe and the USA (Milan and the Rocky Mountain Fair being two of the best-known of these).
Why are manufacturers bothering with smaller national shows? Mostly, it’s because there are fewer hi-fi stores around the world than ever before, and fewer stores that can afford to stock high-end audio equipment. Just take the components we’ve reviewed in this issue, for example. Any hi-fi store that demonstrated a system comprised of the Pilium DAC, Gryphon amps and Harbeth speakers would be expecting customers to pay $126,490. And since it’s likely that far more expensive speakers would be paired with an Elektra/Essence combo, all-up cost would be more like $200,000. Sure the store would be getting the equipment wholesale, but that’s still a whole lot of money invested in one single system. And it’s not just hi-fi stores that are affected by the spiralling cost of hi-fi components. We recently asked a large distributor for a loan of a product for review only to be told that it was an ‘indent only’ model. That is, they didn’t bring it into the country and wouldn’t do so unless they had a firm order. It’s lucky that the great majority of Australian distributors are more far-sighted, otherwise even more Australian audiophiles would be travelling to overseas hi-fi shows (and stores!) to audition components they’re interested in purchasing.
On the bright side, it means that hi-fi shows in Australia in future will benefit from increased numbers of exhibitors, which is great for audiophiles because these shows are (mostly) within driving distance.
So far, the only show that has been announced for this year is the Stereonet show, at the Pullman Convention and Events Centre, Albert Park, Melbourne, which is scheduled to take place November 19–21, 2021. So put that date in your diary and cross your fingers that we have Covid-19 under control by then!