CES 2018 • Best of Show

CES is all about making a splash -- doing something that will get attendees to take notice of you and your products. So often this involves putting together a showy, costly system -- the sort that can only be heard at an audio show. But with more and more of these systems on demonstration, companies have to devise new ways to catch the attention of showgoers.

Totem, Transparent Audio, VPI and Simaudio made a splash in a different way: compiling an entire system whose retail price totaled a little over $7000. A Simaudio Moon 240i integrated amp ($2100) drove Totem Signature One speakers ($2650 per pair). The main source was a VPI Cliffwood turntable with Grado Green cartridge ($895). Cables were a Transparent MusicLink phono cable ($250) and MusicWave speaker cables ($440 per eight-foot pair), along with Hardwired by Transparent power cords ($75 each). A Transparent PowerBank 6 ($695) cleansed and distributed power to the electronics. (A Simaudio CD player was also on the rack, but not included in the system list or used while we were in the room.)

Sparing expense can mean reducing musical realism, but that wasn't the case with this system. Bass from the little Totem speakers belied their stature, with the system literally filling the room with potent, physical music. At a total of $7105, this entire system cost less than the cheapest part of the dCS/Wilson Audio/D'Agostino system we also highlighted, a rather interesting and attention-grabbing feat.