While some folks are already offline and focused on the holiday's celebrations and spending time with family, I'm still hoping to be able to use the next few days to do some planning and packing for the busy first week of January (January 4-8, in Las Vegas, NV). Yes, time for another CES.

Some people are showing company Christmas party photos on social media, while I’m just looking desperately at the increasing flow of emails in my inbox, 60% of which are Holidays Greetings, 30% desperate emails from companies trying to confirm a meeting at CES 2023, and the rest is mostly pro audio companies reminding us to make appointments for ISE 2023 :) (and very few press releases).

We'd almost forgotten how it feels like to plan for a show like CES at the end of the year - and having to plan to travel on New Year's Eve avoiding anywhere that snows. And this year in particular the schedule looks to be even busier, with the number of private demos and business suites almost doubling, as many companies have toned down their booth exhibits and doubled up on trade, which is normally conducted in one of the many Las Vegas hotels.

CES is as complex as trade shows gets, with "shows within shows" for vertical markets, and many different "zones" spreading across multiple convention centers and at least eight Las Vegas hotels. I never ceased to be amazed at the fact that some folks visiting and exhibiting at CES for decades have never even visited other areas of the show. As much as those who are still complaining about the "audio" exhibits on the Venetian floors, which are no longer "what they used to be" - when in fact audio exhibits have multiplied and are spread all over CES. (Hi-fi? No, that's at AXPONA. Wrong show).

As I mentioned about the 2022 hybrid edition of CES, the pandemic effects left some premium spaces available from their traditional occupants, while the new LVCC West Hall and a reshuffle of the exhibitors’ profile and application markets have also allowed for a better reorganization of sectors. So, CES 2023 is mainly about rediscovering new "zones" and above all, finding better ways to conduct business. And a lot of automotive tech, including a lot of audio technologies for electric vehicles, which in itself would require a reporting team to cover.

One of the things that always surprised me about a trade show like this was the number of companies that expect to do business behind unmarked closed-door suites. I don't know what notion of trade shows these people have, but hiding is probably not even in the manual.

Yes, Las Vegas hotels that are far away from the Strip are much cheaper - and there's a reason for that. If you are out of the regular trade show routes and transportation, you are not likely going to manage a full meeting schedule. And there's a likelihood that a large percentage of the appointments will be cancelled or rescheduled. Not very sound business.

While many audio companies that need to go to CES to show their latest technologies and designs are not exactly ready to take a booth on the show floor - intended mostly to take volume orders from retailers and distributors from all over the world - they also shouldn't be hiding in a suite that no one knows about, and no one has time to visit.

If possible, companies should stay close to the CES audio business - taking place at the Venetian Expo and Convention Center (formerly Sands Expo) - and combine both a showcase, demonstration space, with a more private meeting area. Making sure that any folks - including the press - who want to see you can do that. The number one reason to spend money attending a trade show is to meet the folks you never met. Not just the ones you already know.

Also, very important for Business-to-Business (B2B). You don't just need a place for people to come and see you. You need to go see the other folks. So, networking with other exhibitors and attendees is probably as important during a trade show as it is to be located where people can find you.

Let's put it this way. If you can schedule a clean lineup of the exact people you want to have meetings with before the show, then you can probably stay home and have Zoom calls like we did for the past two years.

If you have a product/service to sell, but you don't know who needs it, go to a trade show and make sure you get noticed. That's how it works.

I have heard countless times from folks in the audio industry who want to do business with the large consumer electronic brands and tech companies, who enter new market verticals such as automotive, and they don't know what to do to get there. Some visited the shows, but they ended up in the wrong places, and probably only had a few useful meetings or unplanned meetings in the hallways, when the other folks are in a hurry to get somewhere.

That's why audioXpress has actively engaged with the Audio and Loudspeaker Technologies International (ALTI) Association (formerly ALMA) to promote an initiative for a few companies that needed support to be at CES.

For the first time this year, ALTI is promoting a Hospitality Suite at CES 2023, which is open to all members of the audio industry. Inside the suite, ALTI will be able to coordinate meetings with the right companies and vendors, and a few companies have desks where they can meet and showcase their products and services. More importantly, all other exhibitors will know that they have a place to enquire about potential suppliers and be directed to the audio companies present at the show.

All audio suppliers will be able to benefit from the hospitality suite and will use it as a regular meeting space and reception, while remaining free to walk around. Many others will be able to reach out to the ALTI suite to request meetings, and network with other key audio companies during the show.

Some of the companies that have set up a table to promote their business and services in the ALTI Hospitality Suite would never officially be exhibitors at CES. Most of them are new companies, and others are "inside" CES for the first time, after having simply "walked" the show in previous years or wasted time and money booking suites in other hotels outside of the show routes.

Located at The Venetian Expo and Convention Center (formerly Sands Expo), close to where all the B2B action takes place, the ALTI suite shares an area that is full of companies active in the fields of Voice, Edge-AI, Microphones, Audio, Loudspeakers, DSP, Chips, and more. The smart home, wearables, true wireless, voice, and hearing exhibits are all located close by on the second floor of the Venetian Expo. Plus, on the lower floor we can find the Eureka Park at CES, the startup arena, plus all the innovative companies from the country delegations. That is like the heartbeat of CES. Where exciting discoveries are made every second.

Inside the ALTI Hospitality Suite you can find an amazing group of companies.

There's Radian Audio, the speaker manufacturer from California, this year showing new coaxial ribbon drivers for spatial audio and immersive applications, together with its extended range of second-generation planar ribbon drivers, extremely attractive for both home audio and pro audio level applications. Making its debut at CES 2023, Radian is launching a new member of the planar ribbon family, the LM10n, the largest ever with this technology, following three years of intense research. Full details of the LM10n should be available by CES time.

You will also be able to meet with Composite Sound, the Swedish company that everyone in the loudspeaker industry is looking at for future drivers. Now highlighting the latest examples and exciting possibilities of Composite Sound Metamodal technology, paving the way for speaker cone performance beyond material properties.

And if loudspeakers are your focus, you can also meet Dinaburg Technology and checkout the promising possibilities of new speaker designs using this new patented integral coaxial speaker cone topology. Now ready for licensing for OEMs and ready to supply volume production for application specific projects.

Also, a key name in loudspeaker design, Danish company Loudsoft is a recognized name in speaker and audio test, simulation, and design. Visitors can meet with Peter Larson to discuss how the latest FINE software modules can support in-depth analysis for design and production QC needs.

At one of the tables inside the suite, you will also find Hong-Kong based dB Enterprises - the audio industry “boots-on-the-ground" folks, as they like to call themselves. David Lindberg will be available to demonstrate many of the solutions they are bringing to CES, including from NanoflowX, VM Sound, Kardome, Zumi Systems, Taction Technology, Fabritech, and more. The company will display headphone test and measurement, waterproofing your designs, new liquid silicon rubber injection drivers, acoustic mesh for earbuds, new voice control solutions and spatial hearing, and the latest haptic drivers for headphones.

Most of our readers still remember Tom Perazella’s extraordinary egg speaker project with SB Acoustics Satori drivers, featured in the September, October, and November 2018 issues of audioXpress. Inspired by that design, Reinhard Metz decided to build his own version, and also explore his own take with an active crossover tri-amp approach using a miniDSP 4x10HD system feeding a dedicated six-channel amplifier using Purifi 425W Class-D units. The new Egg Speaker Amp and System is an inspired take on the original. This article was originally published in audioXpress, July 2022. Read the Full Article Now Available Here

This Test Bench focuses on one of the most intriguing high-frequency drivers from SB Acoustics' high-end Satori line, the MD60N-6 2.5" dome midrange. This is another product designed by Danesian Audio of Denmark, which has contributed to the excellent reputation for high-end home applications offered by Indonesian-based Sinar Baja Electric, marketed under the SB Acoustics Satori brand. The MD60N-6 is a soft dome midrange that features a non-resonant coated cloth 2.5" diameter diaphragm and surround, a 60.5mm diameter voice coil wound with round copper wire on a vented aluminum voice coil former. The motor system consists of a large neodymium ring magnet with a low carbon content steel return, incorporating a dynamic dome stabilizer and flow resistor, which takes the form of a 1mm thick perforated dome-shaped aluminum grille that sits underneath the soft-dome. There is also an injection-molded back-closed transmission line enclosure, filled with Thinsulate damping, mounted directly on the back side, covering its entire surface. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, August 2022.  Read the Full Article Now Available Here