Koss Totem Mani-2 Manuel d'utilisateur télécharger pdf (Page 80)

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You have to be intrigued by the ad:

“Home stereo. Reinvented.” We like the

way home stereo has been moving just

ﬁne, thanks very much, but does Apple

Computer (whose on-line ad this is)

actually have a better idea?

It doesn’t look that way. The iPod

Hi-Fi’s name is what’s been reinvented.

What is it? It’s a powered speaker with an

iPod slot, not the sort of ground-break-

ing innovation you might expect Steve

Jobs to launch. Is it better than the little

powered speakers from Bose or Harman

Kardon? Tough acts to follow, we’re sure

you’ll agree!

Actually the device was the star of

Steve’s launch party only because this

was the dullest Apple launch since the

days of the Macintosh Performas (the

other products launched were an iPod

leather case costing a hundred bucks,

and a new version of the Mac mini with

an Intel processor but no video card).

The reviews we’ve seen praise the

iPod Hi-Fi for “powerful bass.” We

hope that doesn’t mean boominess, but

considering the unit can be powered

optionally by D cells, we have no illu-

sions it can reach realistic concert levels.

They downgrade it for weak treble and

the absence of an FM tuner or a wireless

receiver. And for not being cool.

As for us we don’t go around bashing

boomboxes for not being high end high

fidelity, and besides this thing costs

only US$299. But the expression “hi-ﬁ”

has been grossly abused for years, and

the iPod Hi-Fi’s slogan looks like a

snide attack on those who want quality

products.

But without the people willing to

seek out quality, no one would remember

Apple. Promoting mediocrity, Steve, is

what really isn’t cool.

It seems like forever (but it isn’t) that

the high end exhibits of the Consumer

Electronics Show in Vegas have been

held at the Alexis Park, an increasingly

shabby “villa” (or motel, to be more

exact).

Oh, it wasn’t as shabby as the Sahara

bilevel complex which preceded it, whose

electrical system was so horrible CES

had to rent giant generators and run

cables into the window of every exhibit

room. To some exhibitors, the use of

these two awful venues was evidence

CES didn’t care about high end.

So next year high end moves upscale,

to the Venetian, right on the Strip. The

Venetian includes a replica of the Grand

Canal and even the Plaza San Marco

(shown at right), with all the trimmings

except the pigeons.

The Venetian has more large salons

that we can count (compared to maybe

two or three at Alexis), and at its back

end, down the corridor, is the Sands

Convention Centre, which CES is

already using. It also has hundreds,

perhaps thousands, of rooms in its hotel

towers. What they’re like we don’t know,

but our bet is that this will be a consider-

able improvement.

But there’s a secondary advantage for

CES.

For many years, disgruntled audio

companies have snubbed CES and

attended an alternative show, which for

some years has been known as The Home

Entertainment Show (T.H.E.Show, get

it?). It had set up shop at a hotel called the

St. Tropez. By an amazing coincidence,

the St. Tropez was next door to Alexis,

with a walking time of…oh, maybe 45

seconds. But with CES on The Strip,

the St. Trop might as well be on the

Moon.

There’s speculation, of course. The

Strip is upscale territory, but the Impe-

rial Palace is about eight minutes from

the Venetian, and is just shabby enough

to be cheap.

We shall see.

“Cool” Gets Warmer

Goodbye Alexis, Hello Venice

78 ULTRA HIGH FIDELITY Magazine

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Koss Totem Mani-2 Manuel d'utilisateur Page 80

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