HIFI 98 by JPS Labs

Well this year I decided to go where no manufacturer has gone before (as always). I acted as my own reporter, covering all rooms that were JPS'd. Throughout I try to be of course as objective as possible:). Please make sure to hover your mouse pointer over the pictures for more show tips.

This years show was at the wonderful Westin Hotel near the LA airport in California. This hotel has class, and its people were first rate. We were pampered no matter what we did... All in all an excellent place for a show.

Entering the elevators and headed for the ninth floor, where some magic is taking place.

JPS Labs and Gershman Acoustics were making beautiful music together in room 902. Walking in and hearing Bruce Springsteen The ghost of tom joad playing on the harmonica was so enticing. This is one of those CD's that when you get it right, it just sounds right. the vocals are THERE, and the richness, timbre and air of his harmonica will bring listeners in the room every time. Other reference recordings we used were both Sara K, Hobo and Christy Baron, Thought About You, both on Chesky, as well as some fine recordings from the late Junior Wells on Telarc. The female vocals were reproduced so well that you would think your mother was singing you a lullaby and you were about 3 years old. It just melts you as an adult...

The room was completely wired with all JPS Labs Superconductor 2 cables, AC products and accessories. The Gershman Acoustics loudspeakers sounded wonderful, with deep, tight bass, a beautiful liquid midrange, and excellent clear top end; just like at home. Our room and the system as a whole sounded wonderful, so much so that it did not take long for both our companies to agree to do the next show together.

Two amps were switched in depending on our mood. One was the Mesa Baron (top) and the other the SimAudio Moon Series. the Mesa was run in 45 watt triode, the Moon being a 175 solid state design. Both amps allowed for great inner detail, dimensionalism. and dynamics, driving either the large GAP or small X-1's. Speaking of the X-1's, these small stand-mounted monitors can produce some amazing low end to match the rest of their capabilities. There were many times where even we could not tell which one was playing.

Two pairs of the Superconductor 2 NC Series speaker cables were used to bi-wire the large GAP's, and the 'Single' Superconductor with JPS Jumpers on the smaller X-1's. All of the Gershman loudspeakers had a 'house sound' characteristic of a very stable and focused speaker manufacturer, and room interactions were the least I have ever experienced compared to previous shows. I would have to say these loudspeakers would sound great just about anywhere. Of course the choice of cables is of the utmost importance to even come close to appreciating any refined speaker such as the Gershmans, and the JPS Labs rates right up there with the best if I do say so myself.

A 24 foot (7.5 meter) run of the new JPS Labs Superconductor 2 balanced connected the amps to the head-end goodies off to one side of the room, all on Lovan racks . Equipment there included the wonderful 2 piece SimAudio Moon preamp, and a nice 3 piece CD player combo by Metronome of France. All interconnects were the latest JPS Labs Superconductor 2, including the digital cable, and a complete compliment of our specialty power cords. The system was highly resolving without any of the normally associated brightness. The soundstage floated effortlessly between the loudspeakers, and both male and female vocals, and the whole soundstage, had that 'they are there' quality to them.

The JPS Labs/Gershman Acoustics room showed LA what hi-end audio was about. The comments from almost all of our guests; dealers, distributors, and customers, were great. All in all, a very good showing for JPS Labs and Gershman Acoustics. We feel our new customers, and the media, will agree.

As is the case wherever there is an elevator, there's someone you just cannot avoid:). Gary from Gallo Acoustics stumbled upon me and my camera, and he dragged me to his room to interrupt a speech Anthony Gallo was giving to a large crowd.

They were showing off their new Anthony Gallo Nucleus Micro Series, code named 'Ditto' made mainly for multi-channel systems. Gallo had 2 rooms, both devoted to 2 channel sound. The one room was simply 2 of their new Ditto's with the matching sub, that's it!

The funny thing is while looking at these little balls, you would never imagine how well they can fill a room with sound. They imaged like crazy, with great extension top to bottom. Out of a 4" ball, no way. Yea way. One thing for sure is Anthony knows his balls, and these Ditto's are destined to be a big hit.

Unfortunately, the lower cost JPS Ultra Conductor cables were not ready in time for this show's more affordable multi-channel; soon though. So I would have to assume it can actually get better than this, scary mun. But in Gallo's other sound room, The JPS Labs Superconductor 2 prevailed, showing off along with the new Nucleus Reference which made its first appearance at the 98 CES.

Redesigned to address the WAF (wife acceptance factor), underneath hides the original balls with some minor improvements to the already great sound. Sometimes he just can't stop tweaking. The new cabinet is beautifully finished with real wood and a high-gloss finish, and piano black accents. Also showing was the original Nucleus Solo (above right). The sound was typical Gallo style, very good as usual.

While heading back home to the 9th, I decided to stop in the Merlin Music/Blue Circle room and check out the scenery. There I found both Bobby Palkovic (AKA Speaker Boy) of Merlin Music Systems, and Rich Brkich of Signature Sound of NY, in their natural show positions. Gilbert of Blue Circle Audio was lurking in the background, waiting to scare some unsuspecting customer.

I must apologize for the picture quality in their room, but the sound could in no way be compromised by the abundance of light (Bobby ordered 25 watt light bulbs), and digital imaging only gets so good in the dark...

Bobby was showing his latest VSM SE loudspeakers with one of the new high-gloss finishes, this pair in piano black. Looks were great, and so was the sound. The speakers had excellent control of the room from about 35 Hz on up, and the clarity and definition available from the VSM SE's are stunning. The Blue Circle monoblocks, preamp, and other BC goodies along with a new Resolution CD player as a source were no slouches either, and gave the VSM's all they needed to strut their stuff. Combined with the BAM extending the bottom end, the VSM SE's have amazing low freq. extension for a speaker taking up under a square foot of floor space. I dare say that this room sounded almost as good as the JPS Labs/Gershman room...

Wiring was a mix of Cardas and JPS Labs (a group effort). Lets just say that after placing a set of JPS POWER AC and Digital Ac cords in the system, Bobby smiled for a change, and that was that. These VSM's are speakers that you just cannot tap out in terms of resolution, and are actually what I presently use as my reference for R&D and design of all of our cables. Rumor has it that Bobby may have convinced a few big labels to jump on his bandwagon and use the SE's as their reference monitors. Time will tell...

Last but not least on the list of JPS'd rooms, Systems Design Group of Redondo Beach, CA, opened their doors on Friday and showed the masses all about affordable A/V systems. These people are our local dealer at the show, and so of course the room was flooded with JPS cables everywhere (we were too late of an arrival to make it on the sign, oh well).

Peter ran the show, along with help from representatives from B&K Electronics, Definitive Technologies, Lovan, and myself. The room was all home theater, showing two systems. The main system in-use was based on a new B&K surround processor/receiver/amplifier, which automatically selected an active input, set itself up, and played (don't worry guys, you can go to stick shift with the remote). Now this even my wife could use...

Speakers used throughout were from Definitive Technologies, and the room was loaded with Lovan racks and stands.The second system consisted mainly of the latest Theta gear (nice stuff!), and it weighs a ton. Typical Theta esthetics and layout, all top shelf. To prevent confusion at peak hours, during most of the show, the lower cost B&K/Definitive system system was in use.

Now I am not yet a big fan of all this multi-channel hoopla yet, only having an older Dolby digital system in my home, but I must admit that watching a scene from a movie (which none of us can remember the name of) where an underground explosion of a tanker took place, was stunning. The flames singed my hair, and I just wanted to hit the dirt. I thought it was over for sure... Not bad for a modest 5 channel system with projector. Maybe I could talk Peter into a trade???

Well Saturday I bumped into the Soundstage crew in the lobby (near the bar, where else), where they spent the entire day writing, clipping, pasting, and editing the latest and greatest breaking news to place on their site. Now I bet no one has done a show report on the show reporters before; another first...

I caught them near the end of the day, as shown by Dave Duvall kicking back with a beer. It was a long day on the laptops as usual, and their work is appreciated by many thousands of readers each week on the net.

The powers to be who handle these shows noticed them as well, and never realizing that these guys have a new set of needs, said that next show (CES) there will be provisions in the press room for such advanced activities, including phone jacks and all. Sorry guys, but no bar and scenery next show...

That night Terry Evans (one of whose CD's I happened to play in our room) was putting on a show of his Blues talents. As seen below, he really gets into his music (don't we all).

The large auditorium was almost full, so I would have to say most of the show attended this concert. It was an enjoyable concert, with decent sound and not too loud. In fact they actually started with a lower volume and slightly raised it as it went on. They must have heard how sensitive us audiophiles can be...

So that's the full JPS Labs show report. Thanks to everyone for their participation, and for using JPS Labs products. All in all, the show was very good, one of the best in a while. Lots of interest, lots of literature gone, and met and made some genuine good friends. Glad I decided to attend. Until next show, take care... JOE

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