Goin' to a show-show. (Surveying The Soundscape).

For the past few years, I've set myself a goal before taking off for the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Once it was to spot DVD players that could play CD-R and CD-RW discs (no longer an issue). Another time it was to find a phono stage with a stereo-mono switch (still an issue). My quest for 2003 was to uncover ways to listen to music files stored on a computer's hard drive on a proper audio system in another room. This was not an academic exercise. It was something I felt I needed to do to enhance listening choices at a vacation home. And if I could include Internet-based radio transmissions, so much the better.

A few months before heading to the CES, I mentioned the idea to Digital Don, my recording engineer buddy. DD did one of those Tex Avery eyes-popping-out-of-the head cartoon takes. For years he has tried to reason with me over my blunt rejection of involving my computer in my music listening.

Don patiently pointed out that all the music being delivered these days passes through various CPUs and multitudinous algorithms before ending up in my pointlessly computer-free audio system. His comments didn't move me. Starting out with a fresh music listening system--hardware and software--in my vacation home did.

The vacation home system currently consists mostly of vintage components that I picked up at estate sales and thrift shops. The speakers are the venerable KLH Model Six systems, a bit bass-heavy but fun to listen to. I'm driving them with a really sweet Kenwood KA-7100 amplifier--65 wpc with massive dual power supplies and a lovely array of controls. The turntable is a Dual 1218 with a Shure V15 Type RS (from Radio Shack when they were blowing them out for $10 or so) for LPs and a Shure M91 with N75-3 stylus for 78s. For FM, there's a stunning Onkyo T-4090 tuner. This is all topped off with a somewhat disappointing RCA DVD/CD player. I plan on replacing that soon, probably with one of the budget-priced Apex multi-format models.

After acquiring the gear, I started building a music collection for that location alone. JAH had suggested that approach, pointing out that it would be a lot more fun than hauling crates of discs back and forth between residences. He was absolutely right. It's been a hoot accumulating a new assortment of CDs, LPs, and even 78s. To supplement my currently limited selection of listening choices on traditional audio media, I started downloading music from various internet sources.

My MP3 files now number more than 300 and the count increases daily. It's compressed audio that lacks the vigor I'm used to from "real" music on LPs, 78s, and CDs. But when played through honest hi-fi speakers driven by an adequate amplifier, MP3 audio can be surprisingly satisfying. I counted on CES to help make that possible.

While there I ran across a white paper from Parks Associates, a market research company, on "The Emergence and Growth of Entertainment-Centric Home Networks." The company says that in 2002 there were 1.3 million digital-to-analog entertainment nodes deployed in US households and predicts that by the end of 2006 the number will jump to over 20million. Parks Associates calls them "kit" nodes--components that users buy to connect existing audio and video products with their home computers. That's exactly what I was looking for and I found plenty.