AudioCircle
The Commercial Zone => Audio Shows and Events => Topic started by: MaxCast on 19 Mar 2014, 12:54 am
-
T.H.E. Show Newport Beach
May 30 > June 1
http://www.theshownewport.com/
-
Bought my tickets yesterday for all 3 days. Both Hotels list rooms as being available. Haven't decided if I going to get a room at one of them or not. Decisions decisions.
Looking forward to the Show as always. Hopefully it will be well attended and all of the usual suspects (as well as some new faces and companies) are in attendance.
-
It's that time again already! Seems like last week that we were there! How time flies.
-
Vapor Audio will be there with Empirical Audio in room 1001 at the Hilton. We'll be showing a Joule Black, and I know Steve has some DAC improvements to show off. We loved the show last year, and are really looking forward to again this year!
-
I was offered a deal too good to pass up on accommodations, booked my flight last night, three days of fun. Hope to meet some fellow AC members I've not met before.
-
LampizatOr will be there in room 829 of the Hilton. We will be debuting our "Big 7" statement DAC along side show partners Wells Audio, Ginko and Danacables.
Check us out!
-
LampizatOr will be there in room 829 of the Hilton. We will be debuting our "Big 7" statement DAC along side show partners Wells Audio, Ginko and Danacables.
Check us out!
Are you going to be there Fred?
-
Mike, I hope to meet you there. Looking forward to it.
I'll be hosting (passing out snacks, sodas & booze) the LA Audio Society hospitality suite Saturday morning until noon. Hilton 831-833. Y'all drop in and say hi.
Russ
-
ACA will be there in our usual room, Atrium #220. :)
-
Are you going to be there Fred?
I will indeed!
Look forward to meeting in person.
-
Triode Wire Labs will be providing the entire cable loom in the Atrium Room 219 with Volti Audio Speakers and Border Patrol Electronics.
Greg Roberts from Volti is bringing a beautiful set of Rosewood Vittoras, and once again offering free shipping on this set from the show. This is Greg's first West-Coaster show; Wait until you see & hear these gorgeous speakers!
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=99490)
We'll be using Gary Dew's BorderPatrol S10, with two separate Power Supply Units, delivering, 9wpc in single-ended configuration. This amplifier provides all the midrange warmth and detail you expect from 300B's, but produces incredibly deep, tight, solid bass that you would not normally associate with 300B's. BorderPatrol is also bringing along one of their very special Control Units, and DAC to round out the electronics.
We will have the "Seven Plus", "Ten Plus", and "Twelve Plus" power cables on hand, as well as the "American Speaker Cables", and the newest addition to the TWL lineup, the "Spirit" Interconnects. Special show discounts will be offered with free shipping!
We'll also be using an Pi Audio Group UberBUSS power distribution box... Thanks, Dave!!
Cheers,
Pete
-
(http://gallery.audioasylum.com/cgi/gi.mpl?u=2112&f=Zephrin46-001.JPG)
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=125924.0 (http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=125924.0)
Vendor Electra-Fidelity Hilton Room 920 niner-too-zeero (vendor's other room has different speaker brand).
$4500/pr MSRP AudioKinesis "Zephrin 46" approximately 93 dB, high 30 Hz bass cutoff, natural/mechanical bass mode cancelling feature, user switchable 8 Ohm or 32 Ohm flat above the bass range (minimum 6/24 Ohm), high power handling/low thermal compression, wave guide compression tweeter, four 6.5"/five tweeters per channel, and lots more...
LCS Late Ceiling Splash Patent Pending radiation pattern...In 2008 The Absolute Sound magazine, reviewer Robert E. Greene awarded AudioKinesis "Dream Maker" (original) the Golden Ear Award. Zephrin 46 incorporates refinement and evolution of DM design including cutting-edge state-of-the-art ambiance recreation parameters by Dr. Floyd Toole, Dr. Earl Geddes, high end pioneer Richard Shahinian, and others. With all due respect to bipole, dipole, and omni-pole, LCS brings more audiophile goodness including the largest sweet spot and maximum placement options, even against the front wall! And no fuzzy image outline nor bloated image dimensions, the bane of omni-pole.
Ask a vendor representative to flip the transparent toggle switch located at the component rack to directly compare LCS vs. plain old-fashion mono pole. Warning: this test is an existential risk to tolerance for non-LCS radiation patterns.
Please introduce yourself to LCS co-inventor (me) who shall summarize the theory behind it.
Need more? How about a unique natural bass-mode-cancelling feature built right in? This feature is not EQ, is purely mechanical, operates in three-dimensional space to eliminate the mode source before it propagates, works throughout the room, lacks dreaded "hot spots," and is available no where else (EQ and "bass traps" are band-aids). Remember the adage: it's easier to fix a problem before it occurs.
Still not convinced? Who's got a music source like this? Want state of the art tubes, both OTL and transformer-coupled? We got 'em! Keep reading!
Show System
Reel to Reel analog tape, what Cpt. James T. Kirk prefers over vinyl in the next Star Trek prequel: Otari MX5050 MkIII modified, 15ips, 1/4" half-track, playback head feeds custom outboard Atma-Sphere tube preamp/EQ...Master Tapes: Paul Stubblebine Tape Project, Swedish Opus Three (ex-LP manufacturer), and (hopefully) TRL Tube Research Labs Paul Weitzel
Digital: Resolution Audio Cantata CDP and Streamer
Preamp: All-new, affordable Atma-Sphere unbalanced tube line stage. (Replaced an ARC Reference 3 in one audiophile's big rig!)
Power Amps: Electra-Fidelity 300B mono 10-12W....Atma-Sphere M60 mono OTL, 100W @ 32 Ohm (Zephrin 46 speaker is user-switchable 8 Ohm or 32 Ohm...nothing magnifies speaker cable performance like a 32 Ohm speaker load!)
Acoustic Treatments: Room Tunes original plus custom OC703 4'x8' (ask us about our ultra-high-tech diffusion surface)
Speaker Finishes: standard cost real wood veneer walnut, maple, or oak...extra cost custom veneers.
Did I say room niner-too-zeero?
-
Jeez. I won't miss all of that. See you there.
-
Hahaha.
See you soon Cheeseboy :)
Jeez. I won't miss all of that. See you there.
-
Only a week away? - Hard to believe it came up this fast. See everybody next week! :wave: There are so many different things I want to see. I guess I'm going to have to go slow and try to hit every room (but there are usually a few rooms that chase me out before I can get all the way in) I still have a room booked at the Hilton, but they called yesterday to try to get me to switch - sounds like they overbooked. They didn't push it yet, but I'll hang onto my backup at Embassy Suites until the bitter end.
Triode Pete - you going to be there?
Hugh - I will definitely stop by and say hi! - Always one of the most relaxing, musical setups at these shows. Which amps this year?
-
We will still be using the big Melody MN845 (150W Class A) BUT the new toy is the new flag ship CD player from Onix aka OC103. You can play both red book and digital with this one stop player.
IMHO, this player can compete favorably with the best currently on the market.
Only a week away? - Hard to believe it came up this fast. See everybody next week! :wave: There are so many different things I want to see. I guess I'm going to have to go slow and try to hit every room (but there are usually a few rooms that chase me out before I can get all the way in) I still have a room booked at the Hilton, but they called yesterday to try to get me to switch - sounds like they overbooked. They didn't push it yet, but I'll hang onto my backup at Embassy Suites until the bitter end.
Triode Pete - you going to be there?
Hugh - I will definitely stop by and say hi! - Always one of the most relaxing, musical setups at these shows. Which amps this year?
-
Will you trade wine for a Class A Tube Amp? Can't wait to hear them.
-
Will you trade wine for a Class A Tube Amp?
you may need couple barrels of finest napa cab to pay off those beaties !!!!!!!
-
I'll make an even trade for a case of 1990 Chateau Margaux.
-
We are going to try something a little different with our Newport show report this year.
We are going to try and post the normal 500 to 1000 photos, in REAL TIME, as they are taken, on Instagram.
These will be lower resolution, but hopefully will give a more visceral feeling of 'being at the show'.
No need to login to Instagram or anything:
http://instagram.com/audiofederation (http://instagram.com/audiofederation)
Or, if you prefer, you can see the photos off of the instagram tab on our facebook page:
http://facebook.com/audiofederation (http://facebook.com/audiofederation)
This might be great or this might suck. Don't say you haven't been warned! :-)
[We'll be taking hi-res photos too, just not as many as we usually do].
Now on with the show...
-
Although we won't be there in person, you can listen to an AVA Fet Valve 400R hybrid power amplifier driving the Janszen Electrostatic speakers.
It seems like David Janszen has discovered our power amplifier is an ideal match for his awesome electrostatic speakers.
Enjoy the show!
Frank Van Alstine
-
CIAudio will be exhibiting in 2 display rooms at the Newport Show.
Hilton Suite 706- We will demo our New E-200S stereo power amplifier, along with our Transient MKII DAC, PLC-1 MKII Remote Passive Line Controller, and Von Schweikert UniField Two Loudspeakers.
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=100119)
Hilton Suite 1023- This room will have the big Von Schweikert VR-100XS system. Bass is driven by our custom 1000w subwoofer amplifiers, mid-bass and top end driven by a pair of our D-500 MKII's.
Please come by for a listen and enjoy a craft beer :beer:
-
Can't wait to hear the big system. How do the new amp differ from the usual 200 watt monies.
-
The E-200S is a new compact stereo (dual mono) model, meant to compete on a lower price level (Wyred 4 Sound, etc.) but with better performance than the typical ICE powered offerings.
This model uses 2 Hypex SMPS instead of our linear supply. With this, we developed a new input stage with great rejection to power supply switching noise. The result is an amplifier with very similar performance to our MKII models, but at a lower cost and smaller package/lower weight. The monos are still more powerful into lower impedance loads, but the E-200S holds it own with conventional speaker loads.
Please come by and check it out!
-
Melody will be in 2 rooms.
Zu Audio in Atrium #322 will have Melody M845 SET Monoblocks.
ACA in Atrium #220 will have Melody PB101 and MN845 Monoblocks with 150W Class A.
ACA will also have the Flagship Media CD Player Onix OC103.
-
And this ladies and gerblstiens is why you go to THE Newport show. Class A tube amPs and hypex powered class D new technology side by side.
-
Getting very close now! :thumb:
I almost always carry a camera (point n shoot) to photograph a few quick shots of each room I go into to help me remember things and I take a few close ups of the stuff that interests me.
I will also take a better camera/flash in case there is something I'm really interested in, but I don't like carrying a full SLR around all day, but if there is something somewhere that anybody wants a special picture of, let me know and I'll try to make 1 round with it.
Should be fun!
-
Just a picture of you and Ann at the show enjoying yourselves.
-
You are right Cheeseboy, everybody in Southern California (and the southwest for that matter!), should come to THE Show Newport.
And speaking of class A tube amps & Class D amps... I'll be playing my new Carbon 7 SE's with the lighter & faster ScanSpeak mid/bass driver & Illuminator AirCirc tweeter on both the old & new technology. Stop by room 923 @ the Hilton to check out my designs on Electra-Fidelity 300B tube amps & room 906 or 908 on Wyred for Sounds high powered Ice amps.
There's lots of other great gear and people on this floor. As always, take the elevator to the top floor of the show & then walk down the stairs.
I hope to see some ACer's at THE Show.
Thanks & Happy listening... Fritz Heiler FritzSpeakers
(http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll3/fritzspeakers/Carbon7SE700_zpsa512db14.jpg) (http://s284.photobucket.com/user/fritzspeakers/media/Carbon7SE700_zpsa512db14.jpg.html)
-
We are going to try something a little different with our Newport show report this year.
We are going to try and post the normal 500 to 1000 photos, in REAL TIME, as they are taken, on Instagram.
These will be lower resolution, but hopefully will give a more visceral feeling of 'being at the show'.
No need to login to Instagram or anything:
http://instagram.com/audiofederation (http://instagram.com/audiofederation)
Or, if you prefer, you can see the photos off of the instagram tab on our facebook page:
http://facebook.com/audiofederation (http://facebook.com/audiofederation)
This might be great or this might suck. Don't say you haven't been warned! :-)
[We'll be taking hi-res photos too, just not as many as we usually do].
Now on with the show...
Good deal, I will try to take pics and post online also....
Anyone know if anyone will have an Hypex/NCore amp at the show?
Doug
-
Although we won't be there in person, you can listen to an AVA Fet Valve 400R hybrid power amplifier driving the Janszen Electrostatic speakers.
It seems like David Janszen has discovered our power amplifier is an ideal match for his awesome electrostatic speakers.
Enjoy the show!
Frank Van Alstine
Which hotel/room?
-
And this ladies and gerblstiens is why you go to THE Newport show. Class A tube amPs and hypex powered class D new technology side by side.
Indeed! Very big grin ;)
-
Janszen is in room 821 in the Hilton. AVA is not an official participant, its just that David Janszen likes our Fet Valve 400R amplifier enough to buy one from us to use in house and at shows like this. He also got a 240V version to use at the recent Munich show.
Frank Van Alstine
-
You are right Cheeseboy, everybody in Southern California (and the southwest for that matter!), should come to THE Show Newport.
And speaking of class A tube amps & Class D amps... I'll be playing my new Carbon 7 SE's with the lighter & faster ScanSpeak mid/bass driver & Illuminator AirCirc tweeter on both the old & new technology. Stop by room 923 @ the Hilton to check out my designs on Electra-Fidelity 300B tube amps & room 906 or 908 on Wyred for Sounds high powered Ice amps.
There's lots of other great gear and people on this floor. As always, take the elevator to the top floor of the show & then walk down the stairs.
I hope to see some ACer's at THE Show.
Thanks & Happy listening... Fritz Heiler FritzSpeakers
(http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll3/fritzspeakers/Carbon7SE700_zpsa512db14.jpg) (http://s284.photobucket.com/user/fritzspeakers/media/Carbon7SE700_zpsa512db14.jpg.html)
Can't wait to hear these Fritz. Always have loved your speakers.
-
Made it through the first day. Tired already.
Seems like there are fewer rooms this year. Not seeing as many with room treatments either. Only a couple of rooms sound good, but it's only Friday and I expect that many will dial it in and be much better tomorrow and Sunday (at least I'm hoping).
Staying at the Hilton (decent room), so It's easy to take a quick break. Gonna relax for a few and then figure out dinner.
Disappointed that PS Audio doesn't have a real presence - wanted to see and hear the new DAC.
..... and I need to win the Lottery so I can afford some of this stuff. :green:
-
Has anyone there listen to the Wavetouch Audio Grand Teton Monitors at the Atrium Hotel, room 231 ?
-
Made it through the first day. Tired already.
Seems like there are fewer rooms this year. Not seeing as many with room treatments either. Only a couple of rooms sound good, but it's only Friday and I expect that many will dial it in and be much better tomorrow and Sunday (at least I'm hoping).
Staying at the Hilton (decent room), so It's easy to take a quick break. Gonna relax for a few and then figure out dinner.
Disappointed that PS Audio doesn't have a real presence - wanted to see and hear the new DAC.
..... and I need to win the Lottery so I can afford some of this stuff. :green:
Check room 911.... Looks like they have a PS Audio DAC.... Maybe it's the new one?
I have only been through floor 10, and part of the way through 9.... I keep lingering and talking, and enjoying ;)..... Check out the nice looking and sounding Vapor audio speakers..... The ones on display, I thought they where 10's of thousands, they are $13k....
-
We are going to try something a little different with our Newport show report this year.
We are going to try and post the normal 500 to 1000 photos, in REAL TIME, as they are taken, on Instagram.
These will be lower resolution, but hopefully will give a more visceral feeling of 'being at the show'.
No need to login to Instagram or anything:
http://instagram.com/audiofederation (http://instagram.com/audiofederation)
Or, if you prefer, you can see the photos off of the instagram tab on our facebook page:
http://facebook.com/audiofederation (http://facebook.com/audiofederation)
This might be great or this might suck. Don't say you haven't been warned! :-)
[We'll be taking hi-res photos too, just not as many as we usually do].
Now on with the show...
I had to use the Instagram link THROUGH the Facebook link.... That worked well, the direct Instagram link kept refusing to load pages, and kept taking me back to the first page... Very frustrating!
-
I has to use the Instagram link THROUGH the Facebook link.... That worked well, the direct Instagram link kept refusing to load pages, and kept taking me back to the first page... Very frustrating!
thanks for this
-
Well here's some impressions of the first day. It was pretty GREAT. Pretty laid back and I had more fun today than at the other shows and yes, the rooms were difficult to get sounding good, but some of them sounded great.
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=100261)
The Nordost presentation was impressive. The system had good synergy to begin with, but when they started swapping out cables it got interesting. I'm sorry I couldn't keep track of each of the cable models. Basically I was there while they demonstrated each tier of interconnects just from the DAC to the integrated amp. None of them sounded bad. Starting with the least expensive and working their way up, the sound got better and better and it wasn't subtle. Particularly the third cable they put in the system - the red one - this was a dual monofilament copper coated with silver and an air dialectic. It seems this air dialectic really made the difference. Hey, and at just under $800 SHOW PRICE!.... stone cold bargain? Only you and your accountant can determine that. If you have any doubts cabling makes a difference, don't miss this demo. - - Oh, and they were playing an artist I hadn't heard before and she was really great - Kat Edmonson. She sounds a lot like Blossom Dearie.
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=100262)
The Von Schweikert room was awesome. This set up knocked me back on my heels. Were these really Dusty's amps? Wow, this from a class D amp is really impressive. I thought they were Constellations. I'll have to check that out tomorrow. It was fast and had major slam - yet no harshness whatsoever - smooth and detailed and organic all at the same time!
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=100263)
I love the idea of these Grimm powered speakers. I think these have a built in DAC and the NCore amps. They sounded pretty good and they're real lookers. The imaging was excellent, but there was an occasional edge at some frequencies. Worth another listen though.
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=100264)
DC10 - pretty horn speakers. Very fast and a sense of immediacy, like the artist was in the room, right in your face. Again, a little harsh here and there, but impressive
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=100265)
Rockport speakers, Brinkmann turntable - smooth, analogue, detailed - nothing not to like in this room.
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=100266)
Spacial speakers driven by Red Dragon D-Class monoblocks. Well, the sound was energetic, but not at all natural to my ear. But the price is good and the looks are good for that modern bachelor pad with the white on white furnishing - - baaaabyyyy!
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=100267)
Oh, this was a fun room! Aren't they great looking??? And they sound great. James Romeyn, codesigner of these speakers was explaining how they incorporate some of the Geddis (sp?) theory of subwoofer arrays, but it's basically built into the speaker. If I understand it correctly, he has two midrange woofers and the tweeter on the front baffle, and then two more of the same woofers mounted perpendicular and 180 degrees out of phase in the back pointing up. These supposedly will use the ceiling to offset standing waves or modes in the room. He could click them in and out and they definitely improved the sound, depending on the program material. I didn't notice anything on a solo piano, but on a small jazz ensemble, when he engaged the two extra woofers, the sound stage widened noticeably, some depth increased and the low end seemed, not tighter, but more controlled. James is great fun to talk to and loves to tell you all about it. You can spend a lot of time in this room, it sounds really good
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=100268)
Oh my, oh my, oh my! I've always liked Fritz's speakers, but he has taken a quantum leap with these Carrera 7's! This is the best Fritz speaker I've heard. He says he's using a new tweeter. I want these!
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=100269)
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=100270)
The other big WOW today for me was the Hegel room sporting the new Raidho TINY little speakers. I know you constantly hear it, these speakers went lower than they had any right to. But this time it's REALLY true! OMG - - I was looking around the room for the subwoofer and the guys from Hegel and Raidho were laughing at me. These little speakers were spread real wide and the sound was so exciting and thrilling. They went DEEEEEEP. I asked the Raidho guy (sorry, embarrassed I didn't get his name!) how the hell they did it. He said basically that the secret was NOT to push the little 4" driver too hard. Let it go as deep as it can comfortably because if you go further than that, the driver itself will be making so much noise that it will ruin it. Also he said the port was special. Still seemed like voodoo to me. I put on a song I was familiar with and while it sounded very good, I noticed it wasn't sounding like I know it should. The bass was not bloated exactly, but it lacked detail. But if you didn't know what was there, I don't know that you'd miss it. It also seemed to have some dips at other frequencies, but again not unpleasant. I'm not sure what's going on with this system, but it is SO impressive. That's it for now
-
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=100276)
Agree with you on this one. The Hegel room sounded surprisingly good. I got the sweet spot and could have sat there for a long time. My wife was towards the back of the room though and afterwards when we talked, I was surprised by her comments. She said she could not hear the more distant speaker (she was off center), so I'll definitely go back and wander around the room and see if it's an issue, but in the meantime, definitely the surprise highlight of the day.
-
The Nordost presentation was impressive. The system had good synergy to begin with, but when they started swapping out cables it got interesting. I'm sorry I couldn't keep track of each of the cable models. Basically I was there while they demonstrated each tier of interconnects just from the DAC to the integrated amp. None of them sounded bad. Starting with the least expensive and working their way up, the sound got better and better and it wasn't subtle. Particularly the third cable they put in the system - the red one - this was a dual monofilament copper coated with silver and an air dialectic. It seems this air dialectic really made the difference. Hey, and at just under $800 SHOW PRICE!.... stone cold bargain? Only you and your accountant can determine that. If you have any doubts cabling makes a difference, don't miss this demo. - - Oh, and they were playing an artist I hadn't heard before and she was really great - Kat Edmonson. She sounds a lot like Blossom Dearie.
Whew! Hard to edit on an iPad! Since I am not a big believer is cable differences, I guess I better check out the demo....
Give some love to the Pietra Audio room 903..... Nice guys with some good sounding speakers... And first time at the show!
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=100279)
-
Here is the Vapor Audio room 1001 (for you binary fans ;))...
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=100291)
Still figuring out how to import photos from camera and phone into Light Room mobile on the iPad, then post them here!
-
Day 2
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=100347)
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=100348)
Indeed, the Vapor Audio/Empirical Audio room. It wasn't sounding so great yesterday when I first dropped by, but today it totally turned around. This is a sweet setup. Empirical has come up with a new DAC and passive transformer. The DAC has already received great feedback and Steve said the latest iteration is even better. Great sound
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=100350)
Woo Audio makes amps that not only sound great but look great. They had a whole room dedicated to headphone amps. I believe this is the top of the line - Monoblocks driving the Abyss! Right out of Metropolis. Oh, and it sounded great too!
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=100351)
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=100352)
The Devialet from France. I hadn't seen these before and they're a pretty impressive lifestyle statement. Maybe even more than that, I'm not 100% sure. I thought at first it was another version of a Synergistic Research Tranquility Base. It's actually a Streamer, DAC and integrated amp in this super thin mirror finished square form. I've never seen anything like it. They were demoing the monoblock versions, which is two of their 120 wpc amps bridged for mono. They have something like 4 variations differing mosty in power output from 120 wpc to 800(!)wpc. Apparently it has two amps, one class A amp that controls the output voltage and a class D for current. It also has profiles for specific speakers and does some DSP voodoo to feed the speaker the perfect signal for that specific speaker. Right now it's only doing this for 150Hz on down I believe. The remote is gorgeous, Apple - eat your heart out! It's got all kinds of connectivity, wired and wireless. I found it hard to judge the sound. They were feeding Focal speakers and they had that Focal sound. Nothing popped out at me as wrong, but nothing popped out as extraordinary either. I need to listen again - It's very cool and worth a look.
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=100353)
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=100354)
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=100355)
This was one of my favorite rooms. This is the Ginko room with equipment I've not seen or heard of before - except of course for that awesome Lampi. The sound was the most 3D I've heard at the show, it was like you were looking through a window into Billy Holiday's vocal chords. Well, maybe not a great image, but I hope you get the idea. Incredible depth and layers. The only bad thing I found was a little brightness, but nothing that hurt.
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=100356)
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=100357)
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=100358)
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=100359)
This is another favorite room for me. This is Sal Zambrano's Audio Summa room. His analogue front end was nearly perfect. The new Kuzma cartridge was a lot of bang for the buck. He was driving a pair of Silverline's $13,000 speakers (can't remember the model!!!!) with a BEL 1001 MkV amp, one of my favorite amps. BTW, he is now able to upgrade previous versions of the BEL amps to the MkV which is great news for BEL owners. The other cool thing he had in the room was this little system from HRT. That weird looking black thing is the DAC/Int.Amp. The sound was very impressive. Those little speakers threw out a huge soundstage.
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=100360)
The Sanders room was really good. Talk about big soundstage - these were huge, MBL huge. The low end was strong, maybe a little fat, but pleasant. Lots and lots of detail in the midrange and highs.
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=100361)
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=100362)
The Zesto room driving TAD speakers was another great room. Coincidentally they were playing Billy Holiday as well and it was really interesting how two different systems were reproducing her voice, which I think is a hard voice to reproduce without being harsh. This system had a little more body, while the Ginko room had more depth. Both were excellent.
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=100363)
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=100364)
The Napa room was showing off a sound system for one - a VERY near field monitor experience. True, it's decadent and certainly anti-social, but it's also pretty cool. They even had a home theater and video game setup with steering wheel & pedal controllers! The sound was - - good. High end? No. Seductive? Yes
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=100365)
These Silverline monsters win the prize for most dynamic, in the SLAM - POW sense of the word. If you like that, this is your speaker.
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=100366)
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=100367)
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=100368)
The Reite Audio room was super low key and unassuming. At first I was not particularly impressed. But the more I listened, the more it grew on me in a big way. I realized after a while it had it all. It wasn't a "LOOK AT ME" system. I'd describe it as organic and cohesive. I then realized it was the first time I really liked the YG speakers. There were at least two other rooms with these speakers and I just did not like them, they were flat and held back. But with the Reite electronics they really sang. Great room!
Some last notes for the day:
I got to listen to the ADL (Furtech) H-118 headphones and their $500 portable DAC/Amp and they sounded really really good! They have a new model headphone coming out at almost twice the price - not to my taste. Their IEMs were really good too. I was frankly surprised because I thought I had heard some negative feedback on these. But they're really good, I'd buy them.
I sat in on a Synergistic Research demo of their Tranquility base and they definitely made a difference. However this year, even though they were in the same room running top of the line gear, the sound was pretty harsh. But I'm convinced that was just a matter of not being able to set up the room properly and doesn't detract from the fact that this stuff really works.
And finally, I listened to a bunch of cuts recorded on the IsoMike. If you don't know about this, check it out at isomike.com. I ended up buying 3 discs, it's some of the best recorded sound I've ever heard.
-
If you are at the Show and have the opportunity for something a little different, stop by the Seaton Sound room for a multi channel/HT Demo that is absolutely insane. 5 Catalyst 8c's and 4 Submersives in a standard sized hotel room. Incredible regular demo where the impact was unbelievable, yet with a sense of ease and headroom.
.... but the 6PM demo where he turned it up? :o :icon_twisted:
The line from The Italian Job comes to mind - "What are you gonna do with your share?". "I'm going to buy Speakers that can blow the clothes off of a woman"
If I were in the market for a dedicated HT and had the budget, an absolute no-brainer. Sounded pretty good on multi channel music too!
:icon_twisted: :icon_twisted:
-
Can you please give us a report on the Wavetouch Audio speakers at the Atrium Hotel, room 231 :thumb: THANK YOU
-
Unlike most folks, I didn't snap a lot of photos but did have a chance to visit a lot of the rooms. I'm not a good note taker, so what I remember are the ones I liked. For me this is a sound that is extended, clean, dynamic, lacking bass boom and non fatiguing. I'm not good at long dissertations on each systems strengths and weaknesses. :roll:
I really liked the big horns in the USA Tube Audio room, that system made me happy and I visited three times. They had a couple of outboard subs in a finish matching the horns, the bass was extended but smooth. Like all horns they were effortless in the realm of dynamics and I didn't find any obnoxious horn coloration. Probably my favorite room of the show, not something I believe I've ever said about a horn based system before. I think they were called Tineo but that isn't certain.
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=100400)
I enjoyed the LampizatOr room quite a bit, more-so on Sunday that Saturday, the presentation was just a little more relaxed on Sunday. I think it was S/PDIF input to the DAC on Saturday and USB today.
The Brinkman/BAT/Nordost/Rockport system in the Cake Audio room was very nice, at least when I was there. They were playing vinyl and I stayed until the record was over, just loving it.
Friday I was able to visit the Border Patrol/Triode Labs/Volti room and snag the center seat, very nice indeed. Just a touch of horn coloration but of course the dynamics were off the chart. Talking with Gary Dews and Greg Roberts was a pleasure and they were playing some excellent, non audio show approved Jazz. :thumb:
The Sony DSD room was quite nice and I had serious amp lust for the one of a kind Pass Labs VFET amps Nelson Pass built for Sony.
I visited the dc10 room on Friday, while it was OK the sound was a bit too forward. I really liked their setup in 2013 at RMAF, one of my favorites of that show so I made sure to visit in Newport. OK but also kind of meh.
Of course a visit to the AudioKinesis room was in order. I was quite disappointed on Friday as the top end was decidedly rolled off. I wasn't sure what the problem was but an idea suggested itself to me this morning prior to leaving for the show. Sitting down for a listen was pleasantly surprising, all of the highs that were MIA on Friday was present, not bright or forward, just complete. i told James and the other gentlemen who's name escapes me at the moment that I found it sorely lacking on Friday and they said nothing had changed. I asked if they had been using 32 or 8 ohm mode on Friday and if it was different today, indeed it was in 32 ohm mode on Friday and 8 ohm mode today, with the 300B amp they were using, the impedance change may have caused the shift but it may well have been something else. I can say that what I heard today was very nice, well balanced, dynamic and had the great spatial presentation their LCS system provides.
I was able to hear the new speakers from Fritz Speakers, very nice but I have kind of a "thing" for larger speakers, so I wanted more. :)
If anything else comes to mind I'll post more but like all audio shows I've been to, meeting old friends, online only buddies and making new friends was the best part. I had the pleasure of meeting Fred A (gopher), Rob R (berto) and Russ S (Russtafarian) and spent more than my share of time talking with these guys. Wish they lived closer, good dudes to hang out with.
mike
-
Re. Duke LeJeune's AudioKinesis 46 loudspeaker I helped represent in the Electra-Fidelity room 920. First, my great thanks to Tony Chipelo of Electra-Fidelity for his wonderful hospitality and professional help in making our room a success.
The last block from my hotel room to the Hilton this morning I walked with Tim de Paravicini, one of the nicest people you'll every meet. He is frank and generous in his conversation about audio and the history of same regarding the people who invented it such as Blumlein and others. Of course I encouraged him to visit and he was ever so kind to sit down for a brief listen later in the day. His description as he left was, "Brilliant!" Hey, I'll take a half syllable from this gentleman!
Robert E. Greene awarded Duke/AudioKinesis his Golden Ear Award back in 2008 at TAS magazine. He visited yesterday briefly, then sat down for almost an hour today. He kept looking at his watch saying he should leave, but couldn't tear himself away. On the one hand I felt bad...OTOH I'm not kicking REG out of our room even if pays me! Robert is concert violinist in case you didn't know. We listened to music on which Robert performed, which was a great and rare treat.
Robert tutored Russel Crowe for Russel's violin scenes in Master And Commander (Russel actually learned to play), and besides being math PhD. at USC, Robert also was Russel's dialect coach for A Beautiful Mind. (Robert also works to solve world hunger in his free time.../sarc off) Robert said Russel is not the bad boy which some take him to be, but is rather one of the hardest working persons Robert has met. Robert made at least a dozen or more favorable comments about Zephrin 46. We hope for a review later.
Thanks for all who made time to visit our room, especially members here. Again, it was a great privilege to work with Tony and also the Electra-Fidelity designer/builder Jack Elliano, an "old school" guy who reminds me of the interesting guys I used to work with in the 70s and early-mid 80s in San Francisco.
-
Day 3
Kind of baked today and spent most of my time at the Headphonium's. And sorry, pics just didn't seem to happen.
Hifiman's new HE-560, the upgrade to the 500 is really really good.
ADL (Furtech) had some really nice inexpensive headphones and a gorgeous portable DAC/Amp that sounded great.
For closed cans, I was loving the Audeze LCD-XC and Mr. Speaker's Alpha Dogs
For custom IEM's, the JHAudio Roxanne's were excellent and the Noble Audio Kaiser 10 was outstanding.
For universal IEM's, you can get the Roxanne's as a universal. At the Noble table he had a couple of interesting universals, the FR and the PR. They're switchable so you can get two different sounds depending on your mood or the material. The R is for reference and it's very neutral and actually fairly lacking in bass to my ears, but very good none the less. The F is a little like loudness, adding in some bass. But it was a little muddy to me. The P was very exciting. While the F and R are single armature drivers, the P has two balanced armature drivers and and the impedance is increased from 30Ohms to 240Ohms. So you need some more juice for this setting but it really pays off with a much tighter, detailed and more fleshed out sound. I loved everything about it except the high end was a little bright for my taste. However, it wasn't painfully bright. It smacked of the Sennheiser 800's.
I won't go into specifics on the electronics only to say that Cavelli is my next headphone amp when I'm rich, Centrance had some seriously useful gear and Jason Stoddard keeps making better and better Schiit, awesome bang for the buck!
Later in the day I got to hear CIA's new entry level amp on some Von Schweikert bookshelf speakers and it sounded great. The vocals were very forward and full. It was great gabbing amplifier and speaker design with Dusty over some excellent home brewed beer - He's a brewmaster in his spare time BTW!
I then dropped into the Walker/Raidho room. Wow! I'm not sure what to say about this room. The image was huge. Actually everything was huge, physically and aurally. Those two piece Pass amps were bigger than I'd imagined. There was an unfortunate low end standing wave that threw me off. I think there was just too much speaker for that little room, the low end energy it was pushing out was massive. Like the little Raidho's I heard on Friday, these too had a unique sound that I've not come across before. Had a real pleasant conversation with Frank Dickens about the sound and he seemed to understand exactly what I was talking about. He said it took a while to get used to the sound of this speaker, but he quickly became a true believer. I'd like to hear these in a bigger room. I couldn't fairly judge the Walker turntable ($105,000!), but Lloyd Walker himself was very impressive.
Kind of stumbling out of the room I crossed the hall and found myself in the Larsen Speakers room. Here were these wild looking, beautifully finished short floorstanders pushed up against a wall with a midrange driver angled kind of sideways and pointing up over my head and a tweeter crammed into the crease near the top of the cabinet pointing about 45 degrees sideways playing some (God forbid!!!!) Dianna Krall, no room treatment whatsoever and I was immediately entranced! Almost the antithesis of the huge image from the Raidho room, these were intimate and beautiful. Maybe it was the beer, but I really think these are special.
And then as I was leaving I stumbled onto the Seaton room that SoCalWJS mentioned and I think that was the most powerful - raw powerful - system I've ever heard. And like him, it was after 6pm and the volume went WAY UP - Stadium concert levels - Billy Cobham wailing on the drums - OMFG! That was a great way to end the weekend.
It was a great weekend meeting new people and catching up with others, great friendly conversations and so much fun to geek out on audio tech talk that I don't get to do in my real life! Thanks to ALL who made it possible!
-
Can you please give us a report on the Wavetouch Audio speakers at the Atrium Hotel, room 231 :thumb: THANK YOU
These?
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=100413)
I don't really like saying this, but they were not my cup of tea.....
They were very much on the lean side, lacking body on vocals for my taste in music. This was very evident when they played Simon & Garfunkel's Canticle. The other two members of my group that listened to them had the same opinion. We all came to the conclusion that we would have liked to play around with the setup a bit and seen if different positioning could have helped, but you have to trust the vendor to get them into the best possible location. We went through fairly late in the day on Sunday, so we'll have to assume that they were as happy as they could be and it was something that just couldn't be overcome in that particular room.
There were no room treatments that I saw (or photographed) and this may have contributed to the issue. (This was a bad trend - last year we noticed an increase in the number of rooms with good treatment - it looked like fewer this year :( )
-
I also heard the Wavetouch Sunday afternoon. Although not my cup of tea, I thought they did a lot of things right for such a small speaker. Dynamics and detail seemed to be their strong suit. Bass was good for a speaker of that size, but not memorable. Imaging seemed good, but it was a little hard to tell being off to the side. Overall it seemed like a fun little speaker.
-
Wow! What a great weekend. I'll post more comments later, but one of the highlights for me was hearing the Benchmark amp in my own system. Rory Rall graciously allowed me to take his back-up amp home Friday night. Paired with my DAC2 HGC, I was pretty stunned by what I heard. I expected quiet, resolution & transparency. What I didn't expect was the way the system relaxed and allowed the music to just flow. Playing the new Beck LP, the amp revealed a whole new layer of chorused vocals, reverb trails and swirling ambient space. Pretty impressive.
The other Benchmark moment I'll share was at Mark Waldrep's AIX table. Mark had an Oppo player sending identical feeds to a Benchmark DAC2 HGC and an Oppo HA-1 DAC/ headphone amp with Oppo PM-1 headphones plugged into each. Once levels were set, comparing the two DACS was as easy as swapping phones. After listening back and forth for a few minutes, I looked at Mark and asked "am I hearing what I think I'm hearing?" He just nodded and smiled. The DAC2 was doing a much better job of driving the PM-1's than the HA-1. Ouch!
Call me a fan boy, but the more time I spend with Benchmark products, the more I'm impressed. Thanks to Mal Kenney of Part-Time Audiophile for snapping this shot of Rory & I.
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=100423)
-
Another great show!
Made better because I won a Magules Magenta FZ47 phono stage in one of the drawings.
Some of the standout rooms -
The Katli Audio showing the new Usher X Towers, driven by Pas Labs amps. Very detailed, dynamic and great image.
The Vapor room. Very impressive this year, again.
The active Grimm Audio speakers were, beguiling. Very 3d image.
Pietra's 700 pound granite speakers seemed very neutral and detailed.
I'll post more of my impressions later.
-
Of course a visit to the AudioKinesis room was in order. I was quite disappointed on Friday as the top end was decidedly rolled off. I wasn't sure what the problem was but an idea suggested itself to me this morning prior to leaving for the show. Sitting down for a listen was pleasantly surprising, all of the highs that were MIA on Friday was present, not bright or forward, just complete. i told James and the other gentlemen who's name escapes me at the moment that I found it sorely lacking on Friday and they said nothing had changed. I asked if they had been using 32 or 8 ohm mode on Friday and if it was different today, indeed it was in 32 ohm mode on Friday and 8 ohm mode today, with the 300B amp they were using, the impedance change may have caused the shift but it may well have been something else. I can say that what I heard today was very nice, well balanced, dynamic and had the great spatial presentation their LCS system provides.
Thanks for stopping by twice Mike, and thanks for posting your impressions.
I agree with your observation about the lack of highs in the 32 ohm configuration. That can be addressed by changing the resistors in cups on the back of the cabinet, but unfortunately I didn't come up with suggested resistor values for the 32 ohm configuration before sending the speakers off to the show. My bad. But glad to hear the 8 ohm configuration used the next day was working well.
-
I'll just add my two cents worth on the two rooms I found most noteworthy, and in completely different ways. First, Dan Meinwald in his Ear U.S.A. room had what I thought was the best sound I heard all weekend in one particular way. The instruments and voices in the recordings Dan played on the Ear system had more body, more flesh and blood presence of the musicians and their instruments, standing in front, between, around, and behind the speakers, than in any other room I visited. One could "see" the drumset, the stand-up bass, and the saxophone, fully fleshed-out, each instrument reproduced in 3D. In fact, I heard the buzzing reed in the mouthpiece of the sax, and the bell of the sax below, with the full tone of the instrument coming out of it. VERY lifelike. The sound of those same instruments sounded wispy, thin, and insubstantial in other rooms.
Then there was the Seaton room. I've played through a lot of P.A. sound systems in my life, and heard a lot of music from the other side of the stage, and the Seaton speakers/subs struck me as being nothing more than a really good, clean sound reinforcement system. Great for Home Theater perhaps, but for music reproduction? I don't think so.
-
That was fun. Thank you John ( SoCalWJS) and Anne for hosting again. Anne you have become quite the audiophile. John, your insights and keen ear are a great compass when attending this event.
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=100463)
-
It's late Saturday, maybe 5:30pm. Tony had just returned with a nice drink of whiskey in the requisite clear plastic cup employed for free drinks at shows such as this (a big thank you to that vendor). I quickly confirm the room number for this kind and generous vendor, and stop in our bathroom to wash my hands and head in that vendor's direction.
When I exit the bathroom, a new visitor sits in our sweet spot chair named Ira. Ira expresses high interest in Zephrin 46 to Tony Chipelo, who kindly points Ira in my direction. Ira has my full attention, telling me he has patent on a speaker like "this," and in this case, "this" happens to be a speaker shaped like a "cobra." Ira makes very clear he talks only about the external cosmetic architecture. I'm as happily relieved Ira describes nothing related to our LCS architecture as I am utterly baffled that he says Zephrin 46 replicates the shape of a cobra in it's pre-strike position. I ask Ira if he noticed the Z shape and the name Zephrin, to which Ira replies, "Well, people can say whatever they want."
It took only seconds for my experience with Ira to change from a desire to please to that desire for the pain to stop while the dentist injects his needle. So I did what anyone would do. I put it all on Duke, and directed him to the company called AudioKinesis. Ira holds up his hand as if he's holding an imaginary writing instrument in the air, and requests me to write down the name. My eyes role while I wonder if someone stuck a huge "WALK HERE!" sign on my back. I think to myself I'd as soon gouge my eye out as perform such favor, but I did point Ira toward the show system list on a piece of paper near the entrance. I stand up and leave to get my drink and never see him again.
Tony later told me that Ira asked Tony what happened to the gentleman (me), and Tony replied that he thought I left to get a drink.
I remember about forty years ago, when the Japanese started in earnest to make and sell V-twin cruisers, Harley Davidson tried to patent or trademark the look and sound of their bikes.
-
Along the Same lines. Thanks to Cliff (Shotoons) for helping me to understand the term "Peaty" as it relates to good scotch. I learned alot about scotch and headphones on this trip. So many to choose from.
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=100471)
I hope these are in my future
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=100472)
Powered by This
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=100473)
-
Hello all!
This is my first post here and thought I would share a couple of thoughts on my time at the Newport Show this year.
I live the LA area and was able to attend each day.
It seemed to me that with exception of the large event room systems almost every room had too much unbalanced bass energy and sometimes well into the upper bass/low mid. The Vapor room was sweet and expansive but still boomy. The horn speakers in the room directly across the hall (I could not find the name in my notes) were about as spot on balanced as you could hope for. I saw room treatment in most rooms that mostly altered how the room was 'unbalanced' (deadening) some frequencies. While trying to reduce standing waves they absorbed some of the life of the music. I didn't see enough high quality real diffusers, mostly just absorption, and not used properly which created other issues. Without room correction you're better off working with room boundaries more creatively and using less correction tools which can suck the life out of the music. The MSB room in the Atrium was tremendously natural sounding (when I was there) clear as a bell, expansive and completely not irritating. It had a lot of the relaxation qualities associated with good vinyl. The glass super8 was tremendous (again when I was there) maybe the best all around this year. But the price tag! Youch. Napa for a small inexpensive speaker was a price point leader. A friend bought a pair on the spot. Back at the Atrium just down the hall from the MSB room was the biggest surprise of the show for us. We visited this room several times throughout the day on Sunday because it was sound staging and creating palpable harmonic richness and depth with purity that (when we were there) was among the best I have ever heard ...in my life! This was a noticeably humble set up. The bass was more than satisfying and articulate, although the speakers were a bit small for the room. It may sound strange but perhaps having ten to twelve full grown adults in the room actually helped to load the room better for these diminutive speakers. But all things being equal, (With the better recordings) these small speakers were as convincingly realistic/ natural, articulate, dimensional/ palpable and non fatiguing as anything I ever heard from (any) small speaker. In fact my friend who bought the little Napa's also is ordering a pair these to ship back to St. Louis, MO. On the last visit to the room at the completion of one of the best new tracks I've heard so far this year (A high powered Spanish percussive, melodic work of art) as two gentlemen were leaving one turned around and told the proprietors there they had just heard that same track in a room that had $300,000 worth of gear "and this blew it away." We all were pretty impressed with what we heard. Back in the Hilton I was hoping to hear the big TAD's but too many people wanted the same thing. I will say that many rooms I wanted to get into were just too busy which is partly why we ended up at the Atrium more. Although it was just as busy most of the time it seemed to be more congenial and relaxed. If we had not gone back we wouldn't have spent as much time in the Wavetouch room. As a completion to my first post and brief show commentary I have to say that the other big surprise for me was the great food at the Hokkaido Seafood Buffet just down the street from the hotels, wonderful!!
Thanks for reading!
-
Robert made at least a dozen or more favorable comments about Zephrin 46. We hope for a review later.
Other than the Harbeth M40s, what speakers that REG has given a favorable review have been a commercial success?
Just in case you haven't seen it, here's his listening room:
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=100475)
-
Next year we should have a designated time and place for the Audiocircle people attending THE Show to have a meet and greet. Perhaps one of the more popular AC vendors could allow us to use their room. So many of the posters here that I'm seeing I have the utmost regard and respect for their opinions and knowledge.
We can do this better next year.
-
You bring the wine and we'll donate the room. :)
Next year we should have a designated time and place for the Audiocircle people attending THE Show to have a meet and greet. Perhaps one of the more popular AC vendors could allow us to use their room. So many of the posters here that I'm seeing I have the utmost regard and respect for their opinions and knowledge.
We can do this better next year.
-
Next year we should have a designated time and place for the Audiocircle people attending THE Show to have a meet and greet.
I'm pretty sure that's called "The Atrium Bar."
-
Can we "reserve" a Cabana at the Atrium? Music in the background. Newport Beach Air all around, comfortable couches....
Although the room Michael had Friday night would serve as a good base in conjunction with the nearest Cabana. :thumb:
-
Can we "reserve" a Cabana at the Atrium?
No idea. I just stole them when nobody was looking.
-
Hopefully, the next location will have something nicer. :)
Can we "reserve" a Cabana at the Atrium? Music in the background. Newport Beach Air all around, comfortable couches....
Although the room Michael had Friday night would serve as a good base in conjunction with the nearest Cabana. :thumb:
-
abernardi, I am glad that you stumbled upon the Larsen room and found them to be enjoyable. I am glad to see them making a little bit of headway in the US marketplace, and to see them at the last couple of shows(Las Vegas and this Newport) is even better.
I have owned the smaller brother to the Model 8 you heard, the Model 4, for almost two years now. It is quite a fantastic little speaker, easy to site and has a very expansive soundstage, and very good image depth for a wall boundary type speaker. Just a fun, musical speaker.
I think some may get put off by its quirky looks, and also maybe its different approach and sound right off, but once you get acustomed to it, very hard to go back to "normal" box type speakers. I hope more people give the Larsens a chance!
Also, no affiliation with Larsen or US distributor, Audio Skies and Michael Vamos are great to work with. Shameless plug I know...Tim
-
Other than the Harbeth M40s, what speakers that REG has given a favorable review have been a commercial success?
Just in case you haven't seen it, here's his listening room:
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=100475)
Thanks for the picture. Evidently Robert believes in aggressive toe-in. Me too.
Speaking as a designer, I'd rather have a thumbs-up from Robert E. Greene than Harbeth-class commercial success. Incidentally I was a Harbeth dealer for a little while, and imo they're truly great speakers. Harbeth is among the lines I dropped so that I could put resources into my own venture. Maybe I'd have made more money as a Harbeth dealer, but it wouldn't have been as fulfilling.
-
No idea. I just stole them when nobody was looking.
It appeared that most of the time they were "open seating"
-
These?
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=100413)
I don't really like saying this, but they were not my cup of tea.....
They were very much on the lean side, lacking body on vocals for my taste in music. This was very evident when they played Simon & Garfunkel's Canticle. The other two members of my group that listened to them had the same opinion. We all came to the conclusion that we would have liked to play around with the setup a bit and seen if different positioning could have helped, but you have to trust the vendor to get them into the best possible location. We went through fairly late in the day on Sunday, so we'll have to assume that they were as happy as they could be and it was something that just couldn't be overcome in that particular room.
There were no room treatments that I saw (or photographed) and this may have contributed to the issue. (This was a bad trend - last year we noticed an increase in the number of rooms with good treatment - it looked like fewer this year :( )
Be careful saying anything other than these are the best speakers you will hear as the owner/designer went bullistic on me on another board when I said I had heard them at a dealer during my travels and found them lacking. I didn't like their high end and yes, they were very lean for me. He even called me a liar and was very unprofessional. I wonder if he'll get upset with you can claim that they weren't set up properly.
He can't complain about the room since he claims the room doesn't matter because of how that lens works or something like that. I hate to say it, but I'm glad that I'm not the only one who is willing to put it in electronic print. These speakers don't stack up with so many great options in their price range. Thanks for the honesty.
I'll be getting to hear the Gingko stuff on Monday as I'm stopping by to see them on my way from CT to Philly. Hopefully they have arrived back from the show in time for me to hear them, lol. Great coverage and entertaining. Thanks so much.
-
Thanks for the picture. Evidently Robert believes in aggressive toe-in. Me too.
Speaking as a designer, I'd rather have a thumbs-up from Robert E. Greene than Harbeth-class commercial success. Incidentally I was a Harbeth dealer for a little while, and imo they're truly great speakers. Harbeth is among the lines I dropped so that I could put resources into my own venture. Maybe I'd have made more money as a Harbeth dealer, but it wouldn't have been as fulfilling.
You made REG's Top Five:
http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/2014-newport-beach-show-report-speakers-under-15k/
-
I'm really looking forward to hearing Duke's and James' creation.
-
Compared to last year, show coverage this year has been sparse at best ... what's the deal I wonder?
-
Compared to last year, show coverage this year has been sparse at best ... what's the deal I wonder?
There are too many shows IMO. It gets old for us (at least me) to see the same crap show after show. It must get old for the people that have to write about the same thing over and over. :duh:
-
There are too many shows IMO. It gets old for us (at least me) to see the same crap show after show. It must get old for the people that have to write about the same thing over and over. :duh:
Hard to disagree with that, we're certainly feeling the effect of too many shows. Without the online coverage afterward however, the value of shows from our perspective drops greatly. I'm just surprised at the stark difference in Newport coverage from last year to this.
-
Newport is suffering from being a week or so after the Munich show, which along with RMAF is starting to emerge as the key shows covered by the Audio Rags. Stereophile only sent Jason Victor Serinus (who did heroic and exhausting coverage, and Mikey Fremer was there doing his analog thing but overall, stereophile didn't focus on Newport, I haven't seen anything from Dagogo (perhaps understandably since their SF show is in 2 months), nor anything from StereoMojo, nor anything from Pez and Tyson, or anyone in general. Absolute Sound was there in relative mass, including their publisher, but they don't focus on companies that don't follow the normal sales process of having retail outlets (which are also becoming fewer and fewer) sell their products. Absolute Sound for the most part has ignored the home grown direct to consumer manufacturers, with the sole exception of Odyssey, which is an issue I raised with their publisher at Newport.
I agree that there are too many shows, but as a consumer of this type of product, I am challenged because I can't hear this equipment any way else. While the SF Bay area has a number of very fine audio stores, even between them, they do not cover the true gamut of products that are available.
Much like the computer industry, of which I am part, I see enormous changes happening in the world of high end stereo, and I am not sure that an acceptable new sales model will appear before the death of the old, retail based sales model happens, and I don't know anyway to get products in front of consumers without doing this type of show in a variety of different locations, even given the challenges of traveling, equipment set up and dealing with uncooperative rooms.
-
Hard to disagree with that, we're certainly feeling the effect of too many shows. Without the online coverage afterward however, the value of shows from our perspective drops greatly. I'm just surprised at the stark difference in Newport coverage from last year to this.
Hi Ryan,
I, for one, went to Newport this year as an attendee rather than as a writer. It's a lot of work covering a show as big as Newport, that's why I only wrote about my favorite rooms last year. It's a lot more relaxing and pleasurable as an attendee, even if I went to every room at the show. As with last year, your room was among the best I heard, but you know that.
Cheers,
Paul Mah
-
I see enormous changes happening in the world of high end stereo, and I am not sure that an acceptable new sales model will appear before the death of the old, retail based sales model happens, and I don't know anyway to get products in front of consumers without doing this type of show in a variety of different locations, even given the challenges of traveling, equipment set up and dealing with uncooperative rooms.
Agreed, the death of Brick and mortar causes real problems for the audio industry. Very few people want to buy high end equipment without auditioning/listening and not many want to buy on trial basis because it is extremely difficult to compare items since you essentially buy them. At least I can't afford to buy two sets of anything I want to compare.
-
Hard to disagree with that, we're certainly feeling the effect of too many shows. Without the online coverage afterward however, the value of shows from our perspective drops greatly. I'm just surprised at the stark difference in Newport coverage from last year to this.
Agreed. So will you continue to do the shows, even as Press coverage diminishes? This is what I'm struggling with right now. Steve Davis wants me to sign up for my room at AXPONA now, and pay 1/2 down. I can't make that decision this early, I need to see how the rest of this year goes. On the other hand, if I wait, I may not get a good room, and I'll have to pay more for it. I'm glad I'm not the only one noticing the decrease in Press coverage at the shows.
Greg
-
Agreed. So will you continue to do the shows, even as Press coverage diminishes? This is what I'm struggling with right now. Steve Davis wants me to sign up for my room at AXPONA now, and pay 1/2 down. I can't make that decision this early, I need to see how the rest of this year goes. On the other hand, if I wait, I may not get a good room, and I'll have to pay more for it. I'm glad I'm not the only one noticing the decrease in Press coverage at the shows.
Greg
I will say that even with your terrible room at RMAF 2013 it sounded sweet. :thumb:
-
Exactly.
There are too many shows IMO. It gets old for us (at least me) to see the same crap show after show. It must get old for the people that have to write about the same thing over and over. :duh:
-
I spoke with Marjorie Baumert (RMAF) this past weekend and she said the press has made it clear their budgets don't allow for sending people to all the shows, simply too many. They are looking for new product introductions, something that is worth covering, which rather goes along with jtwrace's comment about seeing the same old thing every year. The takeaway was if you have a new product to show, do a press release ahead of time saying it will be premiered at the XXX show, this will help entice the press into attending and covering the new product.