[OzarkTom]

Ask my brother about his Bose system..."Supreme SOTA Sound"

Rodge

I forgot, Best Buy sells Bose.

[saisunil]

The best sound at the show ...


It is LIVE ... not recorded ... believe me when I say I saw the musicians on the stage - I was not dreaming 

The lead singer was thanking all the people who came to their show instead of the "equipment" show ... Paul Mah commented that nothing beats LIVE!

The hobby will never be able to achieve its objective ... as it can only create an illusion but not the real thing ... that is why it will live on and on and on ... to bring us ever so close to 100% but never quite there ...



On another note - even MBL sounded great today - no bass bloat ... they were playing my favorite moments of Wagner's Die Walküre ... nice ...

Then they started to play some hard core metalica ... I  am not into that ... but boy there was some energy there ...

I know I am missing coverage on a lot of rooms ...
Soundsmith - really nice sound from $3000 monitors hooked up to radio shack speaker cables
Da-Vinci - super detailed - but when I was there in the room - it was very bright - sounded hi-fi

We can kick Wilsons around ... don't we love to hate the big guys 
but seriously - those VTLs could not control the Sophia's bass - and why on earth would someone ... o well stop here - it is not very positive ...

Ya those swedish $999 a pair speakers had phenomenal bass - but it sacrificed top end and sounded too smooth ...



It was really fun to see those 30 year old quads with $10k OTL amps - making really nice music ...

this is what this hobby is all about - bringing our passions - this hobby is not about perfection ... even live music is not perfect - then how can hi-fi even think of achieving that ...

This HiFi hobby is about opinions that change and all about what we like ...
So while we are at it ... let's enjoy the music ...

My teacher Sathya Sai Baba once told us in an interview - "Music is the reflection of the soul ..."

For me music listening has transporting effect ... it takes me to places - deep inside me ... it is a time of reflection, contemplation and joy ...

Enjoy!

[OzarkTom]

I would still love to own a pair of those MBL's. Now how many people can make good sound coming out of metal footballs?

Even back in 1980, those metal footballs were the best of sound at the CES show in Chicago.

Many systems will sound the best on the last day of the show.

[saisunil]

Aurum Cantus room had good thingsgoing for them - but I did not like their ribbon tweeter sound ... it was calling attention to itself ...

I was more interested in their new Cayin series - retro wood looks ... 6L6 integrated amp, 300B monos and more ... I almost bought the 300Bs - but then I realized I need speakers to match with them ...   

I forget I want the 211s  why - cause I love the way the 211 and 845 tubes look - nice toob glow and of course they sound amazing   

[SET Man]

Great pictures Buddy and Sunil.  Thank you.  I'd really like to understand the business model for shows like this.  What percent of the attendees can afford this equipment?    There should be more encouragement for "cheap and cheerful" or medium-priced equipment at a show likie this.

Hey!

    Thanks Jim, I didn't use my Kodak Brownie cam this time

    Jim I thought that you would go to this show.

    Overall it was a pretty good show. Although I was there today and unlike yesterday there weren't many people today.

    Anyway, I took a few more pics today and will get them up and link to them soon.

Take care,
Buddy

[SET Man]

....
Next was KLAN WERK (no this is a misspelling ... which I am very capable of  ) ... swiss make $15 k - active two way - full range sound - nice - but not as impressive as Gradient Revs for $8k ... buddy was there ... what did you think ...

Hey!

    Well, they do have funny name.







    From what I've heard. They sounded very good with better bass extension than I expected for sure. With bigger sound field than their size suggested otherwise. Well, they are $15K a pair but you do get built-in amps with them. Still for that price I think I rather have something else... maybe a good pair of $10 speaker and $5000 integ-amp.

   But overall nice sounding speaker and I have to say that I do like the way they look. They got that Modern Art look to it.

   BTW... I didn't get to hear the open baffle one. 

Take care,
Buddy

[SET Man]

Hey!

   So, I went to the show again today Sunday the last day of the show. And to my surprise there were less people than yesterday.

   Anyway, I did catch a few rooms that I missed yesterday...





   There was a long waiting line yesterday but today it was just one or two on the line. Well, seating were limited inside. As for the sound. I've heard MBL before. The sound was good with wide sound stage as you would expected from these speaker. But the seats was pretty close to the speakers. One thing that I noticed is that the bass doesn't blend with the top well... like Oh! there's the bass from those ports.

    If I can afford them will I have that system? I don't feel like they are my cup of tea. 



    The Quad ESL 57. This room was packed yesterday. I got to hear them a bit today. It was my first time hearing these classic Quad. Very nice indeed. Now I know why they are consider by many to be a classic.  Oops! I forgot to take wide shot of the system 



    I think this was in The Cable Company room. Good selection of headphones to compare. I have to say that my favorite is the wooden Grado GS1000. Well, maybe I'm a bit biased since I've been using Grado SR60 for over a decade and now SR125. 

   Well, it is getting late and I have to be up early tomorrow. But I will write more about a few rooms that I feel really stand out for me. Meanwhile here is the link to my Flickr with all the pictures of the show that I took yesterday and today...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8309248@N06/sets/72157629455137366/

   Or try as slide show...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8309248@N06/sets/72157629455137366/show/

   Good night

Take care,
Buddy

[TONEPUB]

Those quads were awesome....

[SET Man]

Hey!
   
    OK, so here is my final thoughts of the show and rooms that I enjoyed.

    Not in particular order....





   Wes Bender Studio NYC room. I spent quite sometime in this room chatting with Wes and Paul of Kaplan Cable. I have to say that I did enjoyed his system. Actually the system sounded better as the day progressed on Saturday. I got to play some of my LPs I bought over. It was fun to hear some my own music on that system. I stopped by on Sunday again, even though there were less people at the show Wes' room seems to get lots of foot traffic. Thanks Wes I will have to stop by your studio to hear those Hansen agian. 



   Audio Note UK room. OK, so they are boxy looking and stuck in the corner. I've heard Audio Note system a few times before at other show I've attended. And yes they sound a bit boxy but I do like them. Well, after all I do have SET at home.



    KEF Blade. This is the first time I've heard them. I thought they sound very good and the sound does seem to come from a single point pretty much like a Single Driver speaker. Impressive for 3 way speaker. A very promising 3-way speaker for a Single Driver guy.



   Music First Audio room. A pleasant surprised and real treat for me. No it don't have the size or impact like other big system I've heard around the show. But! What a great mid this little classic Roger LS3 speaker got was wonderful.  Some old stuffs really stand a test of time and is sure one of those. Very enjoyable little Brit speaker, lovely!



   Well, it was my first time listening to these classic Qaud ESL and it was sure a treat also. As TONEPUB said... awesome indeed. Better bass than I expected. Very narrow sweet spot but once in it very thing just locked in. Another impressive classic.



    Sjofn HiFi room. the clue.... so was these the least expensive speaker at the show at $999pr? Hmmm... I can't remembered seeing other at these price at the show believe it or not. Anyway, they do sound bigger than they look, with very good bass extension. And from what I've head from the rep they were designed to be place against the wall, a real world placement. But when I was there they did play them a bit too loud for me. So, I have no idea how they will sound at lower level. Pretty good for the price but than there are other many $1K speakers out there.

   Well, it was fun for me and it was great to see some of the old NYAR guys again also.

   For more pics...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8309248@N06/sets/72157629455137366/

Take care,
Buddy

[zacster]

I went to this show, after not paying much attention lately to audio except to turn my system on every now and then.  I had the same impression after this one that I had after the last one I attended a few years ago, and that is that almost nothing sounds all that great.  Yes, the rooms are difficult, yes the doors are distracting.  But for that kind of money I expect things to sound a whole lot better.  My favorites were the Woo Audio, headphones so none of the distractions were there, someone from Finland (Klanwerk based on the pictures), those white speakers, someone that was selling small speakers for 1k/pair that were made using pre-built boxes, the same boxes I used to build a pair of speakers, and those GT audio $2750 speakers.

I went home and turned my system back on and was a lot more satisfied, even with all its limitations.

[Don_S]

A big thank you to everyone who took the time to make thoughtful and balanced comments and post pictures. 

[zacster]

Yes, the Clue.  Those were made in pre-built cabinets, the same cabinets I used once.  When I walked into the room I immediately recognized them, and got up to take a close look.  The vendor started talking about them when asked about bracing, admitting they were pre-built.  I chimed in to basically say they're built like a tank.  I brought my DIY speakers to a rave at Paul's place but nobody was interested in small speakers that day.  They have a similar sound, not surprisingly.

And one other story.  The guy in the KEF room talked about the speakers for a good 10 minutes, telling us all about the virtues of the "New" KEF, and the history vs. B&W, the R&D cost, the price, etc...  He then proceeded to put on the most dreadful piece of music I've ever heard, something like a Renaissance poem put to slow music with a guitar background.  He couldn't have put on anything less exciting.  And it wasn't even a great recording.  The vocals were too hot.  He walked out of the room at that point too, so there was nobody there to read the reaction of the room. 

In another room, after a short spiel, they put on a live recording of Hotel California.  The empty room quickly became packed.  It was the biggest crowd I saw.  It also sounded great.

And I said this before on a forum somewhere, sometime.  The best audio component I ever bought was a grand piano.  No piano music played at the show compares to the sound of it in my house.  It isn't even close.

[cornelius]

Funny you mentioned piano recordings played at the show - I felt the same way.  The Harbeth C7's did a better job with piano than a lot of the uber systems, IMO...

[ltr317]

How did the Berning-Zellaton speaker room sound of Audio Arts?

Hi Tom,

The room was playing a Johnny Hartman LP when I was there, and I thought the system captured his baritone voice correctly (I have the same LP).  I went back a second time and though I wasn't familiar with the music the sound was smooth and sweet.

Paul Mah 

[ltr317]

The best sound at the show ...


It is LIVE ... not recorded ... believe me when I say I saw the musicians on the stage - I was not dreaming 

The lead singer was thanking all the people who came to their show instead of the "equipment" show ... Paul Mah commented that nothing beats LIVE!

Hi Sunil,

It was nice bumping into you at the concert and spending some time together in some of the rooms afterward.  If anyone is interested, the singer's name is Amber Rubarth.  She just recorded an album on Chesky records.  Except for the cellist, the other musicians don't usually perform with Amber.  In fact, they were rehearsing one of her songs a few minutes before the concert started.  The concert was my favorite part of the show.

This is what this hobby is all about - bringing our passions - this hobby is not about perfection ... even live music is not perfect - then how can hi-fi even think of achieving that ...

   I agreed to a large extent.  I'm happy when my audio system can achieve a close facsimile of a live performance. 

Cheers,
Paul Mah

[TONEPUB]

I ended up calling Wayne at Quads Unlimited after the show and putting a deposit down on a pair...  Should get em in a few months!  Can't wait.

[jtwrace]

I ended up calling Wayne at Quads Unlimited after the show and putting a deposit down on a pair...  Should get em in a few months!  Can't wait.

What's the cost of them?

[OzarkTom]

Hi Tom,

The room was playing a Johnny Hartman LP when I was there, and I thought the system captured his baritone voice correctly (I have the same LP).  I went back a second time and though I wasn't familiar with the music the sound was smooth and sweet.

Paul Mah

Thanks Paul. I heard that all the audio reviewers were all clamoring about getting to review the Berning-Zellaton combo. There is a lot of history behind Zellaton and their hand-wound drivers.

[OzarkTom]

I ended up calling Wayne at Quads Unlimited after the show and putting a deposit down on a pair...  Should get em in a few months!  Can't wait.

I took a pair in on trade back in the mid-eighties. You could still buy a pair for about $650 on the used market. I hooked them up to a Musical Fidelity A-1 integrated at $375 retail. The musical content floored everyone that walked into my shop.

[ltr317]

Thanks Paul. I heard that all the audio reviewers were all clamoring about getting to review the Berning-Zellaton combo. There is a lot of history behind Zellaton and their hand-wound drivers.

I would have asked to review the combo too, but I have a $10k ceiling for electronics and $20k ceiling for speakers.  Maybe one of the other reviewers at Stereo Times is getting them for audition.