Rocky Mountain Audiofest 2015 - Feedback thread

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Gopher

Rocky Mountain Audiofest 2015 - Feedback thread
« on: 7 Oct 2015, 08:08 pm »
RMAF went as quickly as it came and I'm still trying to stop my head spinning from the action.  Overall, I felt we had a very successful show and with the sum of our respective contributions significantly outweighing the parts (synergy baby!).



We had a great assortment of gear and a better assortment of people and I look forward to working with this team in the future



A thank you to all who took the time to check us out--those who didn't, make sure to catch us next time.   :thumb:

Gopher

Re: Rocky Mountain Audiofest 2015 - Feedback thread
« Reply #1 on: 7 Oct 2015, 08:14 pm »
Stereophile kicks off our feedback with some nice observations from JVS.

Backed by mood lighting that continually changed color, albeit not in synch with musical content, LampizatOr North America partnered with a number of other companies to present a most imposing system. Thanks to room treatment from Resolution Acoustics, whose proprietor, Bart Andeer, specializes in custom-made acoustic panels tailored to unique listening environments, the system graced recordings by Frank Sinatra, Gillian Welch, and Beck with a beautifully even gorgeous midrange and lovely warmth.

Doing the honors were, when I listened, were Vapor Audio's Perfect Storm White loudspeakers ($45,000/pair), which were debuting in final form after shipping snafus at AXPONA), and Vapor Audio's Forge Aluminum rack ($5999); LampizatOr's Golden Gate Balanced DAC ($19,800), which made its world premiere, and LampizatOr's 211 Balanced mono tube amplifiers ($11,000/pair); a complete complement of Verastarr Grand Illusion cabling plus their Nemesis USB; VH Audio Plasmatron 3-tube power conditioner ($3999); Zen Wave Audio SurgeX SEQ power conditioner ($1999); and Resolution Acoustics room treatment (approx. $43,000 total). Note that Andeer is poised to relaunch Resolution Acoustics with exceedingly lower cost treatment that will make his services far more available to audiophiles who find the best of equipment and intentions sabotaged by nasty nodes of one sort or another.

Later in the show, the LamizatOr tube monoblocks were replaced by a big Jeff Rowland solid-state stereo amp. Alas, there were too many rooms I had to cover to allow a return visit.


Read more at http://www.stereophile.com/content/jasons-first-day-continues#ARxqUI5r5S06KLVV.99

Gopher

Re: Rocky Mountain Audiofest 2015 - Feedback thread
« Reply #2 on: 7 Oct 2015, 08:19 pm »
Rick LaFaver enjoyed the music we made.

Room 2024: Vapor Audio, Verastarr, Resolution Acoutsics And LampizatOr
The Vapor, Verastarr, LampizatOr room was one of the best acoustically-treated rooms at the show with panels and diffusers from Resolution Acoustics ($42,721 worth). The room featured the debut of LampizatOrs new Golden Gate balanced DAC ($19,800) and Vapor Audio's release of the production version of the Perfect Storm White ($45,000). This system had the tallest and deepest soundstage at the show, as instruments danced throughout the scale of an easily 10' tall by 14' soundscape. The enormous scale, along with a stunningly accurate tonal balance and low distortion even at higher than normally comfortable volumes, made for a unique experience. I kept asking the gentleman with the remote to crank up the volume until we got to the level of a live performance. With all of the aforementioned characteristics it was like sitting front row at a venue. The singer was dancing across the stage, the drums had the live visceral feel of a drummer sitting right in front of me (It was like I was back in the room with Michael Shrieve). This was a must see room and has to be considered one of the Best In Show. I didn't get a chance to ask about the LampizatOr DAC, but it appeared to be running some very exotic tubes so this may have had something to do with the level of refinement within the system as a whole. I would love to hear it in my own system!

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/RMAF_2015/day2/

Gopher

Re: Rocky Mountain Audiofest 2015 - Feedback thread
« Reply #3 on: 8 Oct 2015, 03:36 pm »
From our very own Tyson:

Absolute Best of Show
Vapor / Lampizator / Resolution Acoustics


http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=137722.msg1465226#msg1465226

This room blew my mind. Quite simply put This was the best overall room again for me. I make special mention of the room treatments by Resolution Acoustics because this room had the best bass control, image focus, and dynamics I have heard at RMAF and I know a big part of that is the detailed work Resolution put into the treatment of the room. Other rooms like JTR did a great job of bass management, but didn't quite hit the mark on imaging or other factors. The Vapor system just did everything right. And scale was TREMENDOUS. I really feel like Vapor is the only 'top of the heap' price point company actually doing it right. All the mags are doing their readership a disservice for not touting these for the last 4-5 years.

Folsom

Re: Rocky Mountain Audiofest 2015 - Feedback thread
« Reply #4 on: 8 Oct 2015, 05:01 pm »
The VH Plasmatron isn't considered a power conditioner, their own words.

I need to hear those speakers some day!

Gopher

Re: Rocky Mountain Audiofest 2015 - Feedback thread
« Reply #5 on: 9 Oct 2015, 07:02 pm »
An Oasis award from David Robinson, Editor-in-chief of Positive Feedback online!   





Thanks so much, David!   :thumb:

Gopher

Re: Rocky Mountain Audiofest 2015 - Feedback thread
« Reply #6 on: 10 Oct 2015, 09:40 pm »
Another prestigious Oasis award from Dr. Robinson at Positive Feedback!




DaveC113

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Re: Rocky Mountain Audiofest 2015 - Feedback thread
« Reply #7 on: 10 Oct 2015, 11:59 pm »
Awesome!  :thumb:

sfox7076

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Re: Rocky Mountain Audiofest 2015 - Feedback thread
« Reply #8 on: 11 Oct 2015, 12:35 am »
I know vapor was the shiny new toy in the room, but would love to hear more re: the amps and the DAC.

Gopher

Re: Rocky Mountain Audiofest 2015 - Feedback thread
« Reply #9 on: 11 Oct 2015, 02:21 am »
We are very proud and excited to report Enjoy the Music saw fit to dub our room the finest at RMAF!   :thumb:


Best Sound Overall Home Audio



This year many exhibitors pulled out the stops, but one team above all other really outdid themselves. This year, the combination of LampizatOr, Antipodes, VeraStarr, Resolution Acoustics, and Vapor Audio put together a tremendous system and room. The system synergy was excellent with a soundscape that truly came alive when they added Jeff Rowland's stereo amplifier on day two. This room was packed the whole show! People either enjoying a cold one with the guys from many very sought after audio brands or marveling at one of the largest soundstages I have ever heard. The tonal balance of the system was right there at the bleeding edge, with it resolving detail right to the edge of where it would become fatiguing. Bass was tightly controlled and reached deep into the subsonic levels to give the overall sound a grounded presence. Only thing that could have made it more realistic is a drip of sweat off the lead singer to really come close to replicating that front row concert experience. Great show to all involved!

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/RMAF_2015/Awards/

Gopher

Re: Rocky Mountain Audiofest 2015 - Feedback thread
« Reply #10 on: 12 Oct 2015, 04:35 pm »
A wonderful video plug from the AVS Showrooms reviewers panel!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0h4aMjm03hk&t=1626 :thumb:


Gopher

Re: Rocky Mountain Audiofest 2015 - Feedback thread
« Reply #11 on: 14 Oct 2015, 03:54 pm »
RMAF 2015: ABYSS AND LAMPIZATOR, CLARITY AND FINESSE

"...CanJam had some amazing rigs this year, but I think Bruce and Joe may have had the Rocky Mountain reference system for headphones with this pairing. The Abyss always sound good, in my experience, but here the Golden Gate was as musical as it was resolving. Dire Straits “Money for Nothing” was spectacular.   Tremendous clarity, strong “pace”, and very musical, with an effortless, non-fatiguing sound. This was the best rig for cans that I heard this weekend!"

http://parttimeaudiophile.com/2015/10/14/rmaf-2015-abyss-and-lampizator-clarity-and-finesse/

wisnon

Re: Rocky Mountain Audiofest 2015 - Feedback thread
« Reply #12 on: 14 Oct 2015, 08:06 pm »
An Oasis award from David Robinson, Editor-in-chief of Positive Feedback online!   





Thanks so much, David!   :thumb:

And to Bruce as well!

Mossback

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Re: Rocky Mountain Audiofest 2015 - Feedback thread
« Reply #13 on: 19 Oct 2015, 03:48 pm »
My friend entered the room so I followed not overly interested as it wasn't on my "list".
In all honesty best sound.  :thumb:
This was the setup I heard.


Gopher

Re: Rocky Mountain Audiofest 2015 - Feedback thread
« Reply #14 on: 29 Oct 2015, 03:19 pm »
Dr. David Robinson's formal write-up and pictures for Positive Feedback have been posted!

First up:

The Vapor Audio/LampizatOr/Resolution Acoustics/Antipodes/Verastarr Cable/VH Audio/Zen Wave Audio room (stop for breath here) was a most pleasant surprise to me. Knowing that LampizatOr was there attracted my attention…I knew the extraordinary quality of their Golden Gate all too well, since we have the GG here in our reference listening room…but the rest of the audio chain in this room was new to me.

The sound was a knockout! Full-range and powerfully authoritative music, with the exceptional resolution of the LampizatOr in play, all transparently rendered. I stayed here for a while, either listening to the music in contemplation…

…or talking with Lukasz Fikus, the design genius behind LampizatOr, and his highly congenial North American distributor, Fred Ainsley. In the photograph above, you see the balanced version of their acclaimed Golden Gate DSD DAC on the right; we have the unbalanced 300B/845 version here.

Lukasz is a very passionate, very solid designer, who has produced one of the very finest DSD DACs that I've heard. And with tubes! Tube lovers, take note:  The LampizatOr Golden Gate in either its balanced or unbalanced configurations is a killer product.

The combination of a stellar source with the rest of this audio set produced a real Audio Oasis! Award experience for me. Terrific stuff.

Award given!

http://positive-feedback.com/show-reports/impressions-rmaf-2015-show-report-audio-oasis-awards/

Gopher

Re: Rocky Mountain Audiofest 2015 - Feedback thread
« Reply #15 on: 29 Oct 2015, 03:22 pm »
Dr. Robinson awards with the prestigious Oasis award here!

Going into the Puget Sound Studios/LampizatOr/JPS Labs/Cavalli Audio was another visit that led to a very fine surprise for me. I've already said that I knew that a room with a LampizatOr in it would be a superior place, and I also know that this was Bruce Brown's Puget Sound Studios room, which meant that the quality of the sources would be top-notch.

I was right on both counts.

But although PF's Michael Mercer has been gonzo about Cavalli Audio's Liquid Gold headphone amp for quite a while now, I had never had a chance to hear it. Likewise unknown to me were the JPS Labs Abyss-1266 reference headphones…in fact, at first I didn't even make the connection between Abyss and JPS Labs…sorry, Joe Skubinski!

The Abyss AB-1266 headphones, Cavalli Audio LAu headphone amp, and LampizatOr Golden Gate (balanced configuration)

Regardless, the result of this combination was an unbelievably full-range headphone experience, especially with the really deep bass…thus the name “Abyss.” In the relatively short time that I had them, the 1266's were very comfortable, reasonably spacious, and amazingly dynamic. The Cavalli LAu's 9 Watts (!!) drove the Abyss ‘phones wonderfully. In fact, I don't know that I've ever heard the sort of deep reach via headphones that I heard in this room.  Not only was this audio chain worthy of an Audio Oasis! Award, but I have made arrangements to audition the Abyss Headphones/Cavalli Audio LAu with our very large reference library here at PF Central. I am certainly looking forward to the results with up to Quad DSD recordings!

Meanwhile, a richly merited Audio Oasis! Award to this room.