A few loose ends to tidy up now that I've got most thoughts down on another show. These are necessarily quick reactions and likely not common, but it's what I heard.
Big Tannoys and VAC amps...sounded good in a huge room, which is not as routine as it seems at RMAF. Acoustic Zen were in two rooms with two very different sounds: the smaller Crescendo IIs in AZ's own room sounded great -- an experience I have every time I hear them. Sadly, in the W4S room downstairs, the top of the range Zens ($40k) just boomed too much on Holly Cole for me to stick around long. Poor set up and music choice there.
I was also disappointed with the Harbeth 30s I heard in Vinni Rossi's room. Not helped by a continuing, loud conversation going on and on with a press rep from a well known mag. I almost asked them if anyone was playing music here but they eventually put on some singer songwriter that the guys in the room thought sounded "amazing". I heard a rather dull, limited sonic picture that surprised me, but not in a good way. Another first-- poor sound from a pair of Harbeths. I moved on.
The Constellation amps sounded very good wherever I heard them but particularly in their own room with Continuum table (lovely!) and Wilson speakers. I went in a couple of times, always to hear great music on LP.
Caught the tail end of a demo of the new Legacy processor which seems to be all about timing and signal recovery (not to be confused with the Qol of yore that was about phasing). Switched in and out, it made an obvious improvement to my ears. Hard to figure what this would sound like in a normal room as Legacy always seem to take over a ballroom and play music in different set ups around the huge space. With more gorgeous amps from Raven than I've ever seen in one place, this was also a visual delight. Wish I'd had more time here to really listen closely.
Zu Audio are wonderful hosts, but I was not too impressed with the sonics in their big room. Certainly affordable, loud, and toe-tap-inducing enough but not what I'd want to hear all day. Technics room was excellent and their two turntables, both direct drive, sounded very good. Their top of the range $4k model might be the one to beat at the pricepoint.
And of course Sanders. No surprises...simply excellent sounding speakers. I say it every year and it's always true. While the seating arrangement only encourages people to believe these speakers have to be heard from the sweet spot, I moved about and still found them excellent sounding. For most sane people, these would be good enough to settle with for the long haul.
Can't say the same about the Golden Ear speakers with Hegel. Two good companies whose products garner great reviews, it all sounded lifeless to me when I was there. The Joseph Audio room had a pair of floorstanders (the Pearls?) that were superbly coherent and lifelike. Sort of shaped like my reference Von S VR5s but a little more full-bodied and present in that room. A quick word with Mr Joseph asking how he got this sound and he mentioned to secret is really the crossover. No argument from me.
Not sure I mentioned the ELAC speakers...I wanted to hear them but when I entered they were shutting it down to reboot everything as Andrew Jones did not like the sounds he was hearing. Telling us to come back in 10 mins or so, I moved on and of course, inevitably was distracted by other stuff.
Never even tried Can Jam, but that was only a function of time - I really would like to have heard a few options there. And despite promising myself a Stax experience (they had a room), it never happened either. Next time, maybe.
Checking out of my hotel, I lucked into finding Avalon and Spectral set up on their own in the Hyatt. Keith Johnson himself was playing a selection of his own recordings, and damn good they sounded too. Not sure too many people knew they were there but I suspect their goal was about business meetings rather than casual attendee listeners.
Last shout outs -- ATC sounded very good in two rooms, the active versions particularly. Same can be said of smallish Monitor Audios I heard. Not sure what changed with both company's designs recently but I liked both more than before.
Other major disappointments: Apart from no Quad, I found the sound in some really expensive rooms to be really disappointing. Generally like Vandersteen but their 7s in a large room with VTL amps sounded like nothing special to me, and for the combined price, made me wonder just why anyone spends such sums. Maybe large rooms have different demands, but if that is what I ended up with my home after dropping north of $100k, I'd question my sanity. No, it did not sound 'bad' but it just did not sound great or even better than many other rooms with far more affordable gear. Am sure room will get best of show from someone though.
On the very first day, during the early pre-show hours, I lucked into Robert Silverman's new recording being played in the Kimber room with four Sony floorstanders surrounding the listening space. It sounded spectacular, a real best in show. When I opened my eyes after taking it in, found the (Silver)man himself clearly enjoying it too on the sofa in front of me (only being partly interrupted by an over-zealous purchaser of the new recording who wanted it signed). To end it all, on Sunday, I walked in again to hear Mr. Silverman playing live on a piano in the adjoining room. It was marvelous and served to remind anyone there what music listening was all about. If anything, it also reminded me of how far we have to go. No fake soundstaging, no ultra sharp transients, no overemphasized details, but real dynamics and decay, and beautiful music that was physically present. Every room here, even the best, paled in comparison.
Good fun, a real reminder of what's out here, what's possible, and what's typical, RMAF is worth any audiophile's time. My congrats to the organizers and to all the companies that set up rooms and put up with the endless repetitive questions and requests for music. It's hard work for all but worth it. I consider the cost of attendance a small investment in reality checking -- after hearing what all those extra dollars gain you sonically, you might save a small fortune over time on your own system. That's it for another year. Thanks for all the emails, I tried to cover everything I could reliably remember but am sure I've missed a few.
Big Tannoys and VAC amps...sounded good in a huge room, which is not as routine as it seems at RMAF. Acoustic Zen were in two rooms with two very different sounds: the smaller Crescendo IIs in AZ's own room sounded great -- an experience I have every time I hear them. Sadly, in the W4S room downstairs, the top of the range Zens ($40k) just boomed too much on Holly Cole for me to stick around long. Poor set up and music choice there.
I was also disappointed with the Harbeth 30s I heard in Vinni Rossi's room. Not helped by a continuing, loud conversation going on and on with a press rep from a well known mag. I almost asked them if anyone was playing music here but they eventually put on some singer songwriter that the guys in the room thought sounded "amazing". I heard a rather dull, limited sonic picture that surprised me, but not in a good way. Another first-- poor sound from a pair of Harbeths. I moved on.
The Constellation amps sounded very good wherever I heard them but particularly in their own room with Continuum table (lovely!) and Wilson speakers. I went in a couple of times, always to hear great music on LP.
Caught the tail end of a demo of the new Legacy processor which seems to be all about timing and signal recovery (not to be confused with the Qol of yore that was about phasing). Switched in and out, it made an obvious improvement to my ears. Hard to figure what this would sound like in a normal room as Legacy always seem to take over a ballroom and play music in different set ups around the huge space. With more gorgeous amps from Raven than I've ever seen in one place, this was also a visual delight. Wish I'd had more time here to really listen closely.
Zu Audio are wonderful hosts, but I was not too impressed with the sonics in their big room. Certainly affordable, loud, and toe-tap-inducing enough but not what I'd want to hear all day. Technics room was excellent and their two turntables, both direct drive, sounded very good. Their top of the range $4k model might be the one to beat at the pricepoint.
And of course Sanders. No surprises...simply excellent sounding speakers. I say it every year and it's always true. While the seating arrangement only encourages people to believe these speakers have to be heard from the sweet spot, I moved about and still found them excellent sounding. For most sane people, these would be good enough to settle with for the long haul.
Can't say the same about the Golden Ear speakers with Hegel. Two good companies whose products garner great reviews, it all sounded lifeless to me when I was there. The Joseph Audio room had a pair of floorstanders (the Pearls?) that were superbly coherent and lifelike. Sort of shaped like my reference Von S VR5s but a little more full-bodied and present in that room. A quick word with Mr Joseph asking how he got this sound and he mentioned to secret is really the crossover. No argument from me.
Not sure I mentioned the ELAC speakers...I wanted to hear them but when I entered they were shutting it down to reboot everything as Andrew Jones did not like the sounds he was hearing. Telling us to come back in 10 mins or so, I moved on and of course, inevitably was distracted by other stuff.
Never even tried Can Jam, but that was only a function of time - I really would like to have heard a few options there. And despite promising myself a Stax experience (they had a room), it never happened either. Next time, maybe.
Checking out of my hotel, I lucked into finding Avalon and Spectral set up on their own in the Hyatt. Keith Johnson himself was playing a selection of his own recordings, and damn good they sounded too. Not sure too many people knew they were there but I suspect their goal was about business meetings rather than casual attendee listeners.
Last shout outs -- ATC sounded very good in two rooms, the active versions particularly. Same can be said of smallish Monitor Audios I heard. Not sure what changed with both company's designs recently but I liked both more than before.
Other major disappointments: Apart from no Quad, I found the sound in some really expensive rooms to be really disappointing. Generally like Vandersteen but their 7s in a large room with VTL amps sounded like nothing special to me, and for the combined price, made me wonder just why anyone spends such sums. Maybe large rooms have different demands, but if that is what I ended up with my home after dropping north of $100k, I'd question my sanity. No, it did not sound 'bad' but it just did not sound great or even better than many other rooms with far more affordable gear. Am sure room will get best of show from someone though.
On the very first day, during the early pre-show hours, I lucked into Robert Silverman's new recording being played in the Kimber room with four Sony floorstanders surrounding the listening space. It sounded spectacular, a real best in show. When I opened my eyes after taking it in, found the (Silver)man himself clearly enjoying it too on the sofa in front of me (only being partly interrupted by an over-zealous purchaser of the new recording who wanted it signed). To end it all, on Sunday, I walked in again to hear Mr. Silverman playing live on a piano in the adjoining room. It was marvelous and served to remind anyone there what music listening was all about. If anything, it also reminded me of how far we have to go. No fake soundstaging, no ultra sharp transients, no overemphasized details, but real dynamics and decay, and beautiful music that was physically present. Every room here, even the best, paled in comparison.
Good fun, a real reminder of what's out here, what's possible, and what's typical, RMAF is worth any audiophile's time. My congrats to the organizers and to all the companies that set up rooms and put up with the endless repetitive questions and requests for music. It's hard work for all but worth it. I consider the cost of attendance a small investment in reality checking -- after hearing what all those extra dollars gain you sonically, you might save a small fortune over time on your own system. That's it for another year. Thanks for all the emails, I tried to cover everything I could reliably remember but am sure I've missed a few.
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