AudioCircle
The Commercial Zone => Audio Shows and Events => Rocky Mountain Audio Fest => Topic started by: Pez on 14 Oct 2012, 02:36 pm
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Coming soon...
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:hyper:
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Anticipation, its driven me crazy!
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Breakfast pic... So very very sad.
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/B067908E-1604-46E2-9BAE-ABD0655B8591-4772-0000052ABEF9D0DF.jpg)
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...gonna be the dispenser of gas!
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... and here we GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! ... to close the SHOOOOOOOOOOOWWW!
(damn I wish I coulda been there this year)
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That looks like a breakfast full of GMO's and HFCS. :o
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(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/b69fde3aa53f83efab5b2171498dc5c1.jpg)
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/2e81aa3edde3764675304faf14109fda.jpg)
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/65593f82c8c3ed53527f96cc6c91ef49.jpg)
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/694475ec053ce7f85a03d6261367d207.jpg)
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/854bf0480294971a56423167a315f687.jpg)
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/637816e73b3ca722869415a6fb9506be.jpg)
Great imaging. Incredible actually. Almost a complete lack of coloration! Very good bass! These are absolutely incredible! Best single driver I have ever heard. Actually among the best I have heard period. A bit boomy in the bass. In positive it's the took size and of course the closeness to the speakers and listening position. Wow I hear no whizzer cone aberrations whatsoever. These are by far the most neutral sounding single driver speaker I have heard. Easily amongst the very best at this show. Ellen Taylor who has a very Leonard Cohenesque voice is big, but also boomy for sure. Again a curable problem in sure. All the positive attributes of these speakers far out weigh this negative. Scaling dynamically is effortless with these speakers! Wow 101dB efficient= run them with 2 watts no problem. Amazing. Outside of the sweetspot they still image relatively well!
Amazing and refreshing!
Tyson's Comments First room of the day and we are already disagreeing! Gotta love this hobby, where 2 people can hear the same system at the same time and come away with totally different impressions. I'd say this is a good system "for a single driver system". Way less tizz and hiss and shout I normally hear in widebander systems. Bass is still a bit too "big" and loose, but better than many, many SD systems I've heard. And big props for using room treatments. Very good sound for this type of speaker, but not my cuppa.....
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Great imaging. Incredible actually. Almost a complete lack of coloration! Very good bass! These are absolutely incredible! Best single driver I have ever heard. Actually among the best I have heard period. A bit boomy in the bass. In positive it's the took size and of course the closeness to the speakers and listening position. Wow I hear no whizzer cone aberrations whatsoever. These are by far the most neutral sounding single driver speaker I have heard. Easily amongst the very best at this show. Ellen Taylor who has a very Leonard Cohenesque voice is big, but also boomy for sure. Again a curable problem in sure. All the positive attributes of these speakers far out weigh this negative. Scaling dynamically is effortless with these speakers! Wow 101dB efficient= run them with 2 watts no problem. Amazing. Outside of the sweetspot they still image relatively well!
Amazing and refreshing!
I told my friend that my system equals or exceeds this one and he was very skeptical, until I took him back to my place to listen to it after the show.... then he agreed.
My system is the Omega Super 3 XRS with an EL34 SET amp.... :thumb:
edit: If you want to hear even better single drivers, at least on simple music, try the Feastrex room on the 11th floor. They played my sample of Bonobo's "Walk in the Sky" far better than anything at the show and definitely topped my Omegas on that track. The Feastrex drivers provide that "holy $hit!" reaction, it sounds so real sometimes....
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Stahl-tek
Atmasphere
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/dd52082df967b95e340f99615e55c61e.jpg)
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/bcea207353c56f0e6256cd979c805697.jpg)
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/ebb4dff5fd55ac1237c1defb7fa9cca3.jpg)
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/592e04c32fdb630c7b7c39160142a51f.jpg)
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/a7a557dc48dc77404e414d47c4790718.jpg)
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/a03443dce7001179a469ab95dfa7552e.jpg)
This room is very very nice! Vinyl right now. Very mellow and great sound staging and imaging. Damn! Nice dynamics. These speakers are pretty phenomenal. And I am flabbergasted that I actually am loving a system with atmasphere OTLs AND hrons! Very very big sound and incredible intimacy a little shouty at times right now they're playing some horrid symphonic nightmare piece and its unlistenable, sometimes these sound very much like your average horns and sometimes they sound very refined. I am off to a good start this morning... Two very good rooms right off the bat! Maybe ill pick up an RCA dog! 8)
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Lose Tyson somewhere?
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Lose Tyson somewhere?
He justwoke up and rolled out of bed. You'll be seeing his snarky off putting comments very soon.
Tyson here. I'm here now, had a bit too much wine and an awesome single malt scotch, Highland Park 18 (thanks Rim!). Feeling a bit tender this morning. But not too bad, perhaps just a bit more surly than usual.
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ListenUp
PSB Loudspeakers
NAD Electronics
AudioQuest
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/f15f13969d208279717ea8fb7f49977e.jpg)
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/f05c2ed33ec58aab57b957b2921d671b.jpg)
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/44c9f02a484d0c77e4a1cba2b6a40187.jpg)
On the Bach piece these speakers Do a pretty good job. They have a decent amount of sweetness and a touch of emotion, but nothing that makes me stand up and clap. :P on the Mahler t hey tend to compress the dynamics to a few dB for the most part, but on the huge dynamic passages they do very well to scale up. They just don't seem to have that microdynamic refinement. They sound pretty good on the Ani. They do well with imaging of her voice. There is some hollowness to her voice partially due to lack of room treatment. Onto thom. They again scale very nicely though obviously this track is pretty compressed. They are definitely overloading the room. I just realized this setup doesn't seem to really touch me in any meaningful way.
Tyson Notes[/u]
Mahler - More muted and distand sound. Everything sort of blah runs together.
Bach - OK, not great, sounds kinda distant and muted.
Ani DiFranco - Pretty good for midfi. Ouch, boomy hollow bass sounds on the guitar body. Not good.
Thom Yorke - Bass, well there is definitely sound coming out. My mother told me if you can't say anything nice.....
General Room Notes - I'm not really sure why we are in this room. I think it was a request from someone on AC. I think I'll implement a new rule regarding requests - we have the right to ignore them when they are dumb. PSB, really? That's like going to a high end show and listening to Paradigm. It's too bad, because Listen Up is a local hifi shop and I know for a fact that they have much better equipment to show off than this. If you are ever in Denver I recommend stopping into their shop.
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HEGEL
THIEL Audio
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/1fef4d22849f959fe6dac3350645547b.jpg)
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/e83ff1b7127702bb0d1656e560b18c09.jpg)
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/603b4080c4326a1aff5e1e2294e4b1dd.jpg)
Listened to a little Cohen. There is some room issues surprise surprise. Bass boom. Though normally I tend to think if thief as brightly balanced these seem to be more mellow. Pretty sugary sweet sounding on female vocals and somewhat metallic sounding on percussion. Sort of what one would expect from a poorly designed ribbon, but these ain't ribbons.
Tyson's Comments No ability to play our own disc, PC based only. Not sure how I ended up in a Thiel room, I normally really dislike these speakers. The good - large soundstage, spooky holographic, actually. Really catches the depth and grit of male vocals (Tom Jones). The bad - they are still metal driver based speakers. Although, they are much less hot and harsh than previous models. Actually pretty close to tonally neutral. If you are a detail freak you will love these speakers. If you are a tone freak you'll have to look elsewhere. But good god what detail! Female vocals are just ethereal. Again, not my cuppa, but I can see for others that this would be a grand slam.
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Hear No Evil
McIntosh laboratory inc.
Clarus
KEF
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/baa3d0adc88f6e6973cddb27c5b74fe0.jpg)
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/542319f45f4e129a411bf5dc7c0a0a76.jpg)
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/ff1b93f41232a58c9870afc2eb0a8c50.jpg)
The Bach VIOLIN haha is sound great for a speaker with metal drivers run by parasound. The Mahler scales much better than the last two rooms and has a confidence that they also lacked. Ani has great balance. The guitar isn't sounding overly twangy. I usually don't like parasound or kef. This room is very nice. Thom lacks the bass bump of a bigger speaker. There is a bit of boxiness to the sound that is pretty apparent. Pretty darn good despite my preconceptions.
Tyson Notes[/u]
Mahler - Surprise here, these guys get a really good sense of the bows striking and releasing on the cellos and basses. Pretty amazing for such small speakers.
Bach - Nice focus and clarity on the solo violin
Ani DiFranco - Guitar sounds coherent, nice and metalic and twangy on the strings (gee, I wonder why!). Only downside is her voice lacks the warmth and weight of the very best systems. Surprisingly not overly sibilant, but thumbs up on that!
Thom Yorke - Good bass, from what little I heard. Surprisingly good little speakers!
General Room Notes - Coincident drivers, always love the KEF stuff. In fact I'd say that the KEF's are the only metal driver'd speakers I actually like on a semi-regular basis.
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Ayre Acoustics
Vivid Audio Speakers
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/b13c25fa2b801ea874ec66ad6236ba1d.jpg)
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/93652f6c048f33ed0565f0a8351e5785.jpg)
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/b0501c89b9f7b757f9613ebaa3bcda60.jpg)
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/5a193898476dac5d6ea966aee5af0f28.jpg)
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/e64790c354364bb4208ae4867f3abd2e.jpg)
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/fadb74d01fc8409abc9a953d3b026f15.jpg)
This room already wins for best looking room in the show. We have been transported back in time to a place where shag carpet and lava lamps abound. The overall sound of this room is sooo nice. Great imaging sweet balance if a little hollow and slightly tipped up. I still think the sound is superb and if you threw in a tube amp this would be phenomenal. Great stuff here!
Tyson's Notes - General Room Notes - Hahaha, I LOVE this room - they totally did it up like a cool swinging bachelor pad. Nice!!!!!! I mean, I don't like the sound all that much, and it's almost certainly the fault of the Vivid speakers, they sound just as metallic this year as they did last year. But man, what a f'ing cool room. I want to just hang out here for the rest of the show - mad props to the vendor!
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Odyssey
GIK Acoustics
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/3547845da21eef1aad44fc034f26d3a7.jpg)
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/3637f85c14eeb072899afeba2154a928.jpg)
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/ca7aafc0069b9a3494d110fca70b9a95.jpg)
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/c02bf4ce9306ef05d1defa38294762c1.jpg)
Last year Klaus and Alex asked us to be honest with what I thought with their room. I told them they desperately needed room treatment. They actually listened, not only did they listen they brought in the very best room treatment you can get IMO. GIK and Bryan!!!! Damn!!!
On the Bach piece I have yet to here the detail and intimacy that I heard through this setup. Just really amazing. The Mahler piece has way more depth and such a nice level of scale. These speakers do dynamics well and there is 0 overhang, zero shout, zero filth here. Ani... Wow great imaging great sound staging. Among the best I have heard at the show. This system is so well focused its truly breath taking. Thom Yorke grabs you right off the bat. In a lot of systems this track can sound really bad. In this system it sounds totally absorbing and controlled beyond belief. Great panning effect, soundstage is enormous. Detail detail detail, emotion emotion emotion. Wow... This is probably the best of show. I am actually pretty much convinced it is and we have several floors to hit still. There is no other room at the show where this much attention has been payed to the room, not even close and guess what, it sounds better than any other room.
Listening to pink Floyd now... Depth detail wow this system is incredible. They're demoing the diffusers. They took them down and instantly everything sounds hollow just like a lit of other rooms. On to a pipe organ piece HUGE bass no overhang.... None! Stevie Ray sounds god damned great. I just want to sit here and listen, I don't want to leave. What an experience, literally soul touching.
Tyson Notes[/u]
Mahler - Oh, yes, speedy indeed. From the sweet spot, the strings go waaay back in the soundstage when the go pianisimo. I don't normally associate paper drivers and silk tweeters with a ton of detail, but they have it here, and not in an in your face way, but a natural way. Nice weighty sound.
Bach - Good focus, sweet sound. Very enjoyable.
Ani DiFranco - guitar and vocals are more integrated than in other systems we've heard (especially today). Very nice sense of space and depth of image.
Thom Yorke - Big sound, Hard to believe all of that is coming from these fairly small 2 way bookshelf speakers. Nice groove. Not only captures the different tonalities of the various drum sounds, but also captures their physically different locations. I think this is the first room that has been able to resolve this track this well.
General Room Notes - Last year the Odyssey room was good but was desperately in need of room treatments, which we told Klaus in no uncertain terms (over drinks, of course), and leave it to Klaus to not just address the issue, but come back with a completely over the top badass solution. GIK Acoustics is the nom de plum of room treatments IMO, and is the one vendor EVERYONE should buy from. And EVERY audiophile too. Without room treatments your room will NEVER sound as good as it should. You might disagree with me, but you would be wrong.
Overall I thought the Odyssey room was very good last year, and they took quite a big step up again this year.
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Very important to note that this room is $5900.
Great job Klaus and Bryan (GIK) :thumb:
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...gonna be the dispenser of gas!
:lol:
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General Room Notes - Last year the Odyssey room was good but was desperately in need of room treatments, which we told Klaus in no uncertain terms (over drinks, of course), and leave it to Klaus to not just address the issue, but come back with a completely over the top badass solution. GIK Acoustics is the nom de plum of room treatments IMO, and is the one vendor EVERYONE should buy from. And EVERY audiophile too. Without room treatments your room will NEVER sound as good as it should. You might disagree with me, but you would be wrong.
Overall I thought the Odyssey room was very good last year, and they took quite a big step up again this year.
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Nice review, fellas, and a sane system :thumb: :thumb: :thumb:. Odyssey make those speakers?
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Jim, do you mind removing the pic links from the post that you just gave the :thumb: ?
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ModWright Instruments, Inc.
Daedalus Audio
WyWires, LLC
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/34974410b34950c29cb57df82f13c50a.jpg)
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/be3812157276385e8c3814873d8d84ea.jpg)
Got a chance to listen to the Orpheus earlier this week and now we are hearing the same system wit the argos speakers. Great bass reach. Slight overhang in the room, that said imaging is awesome. Much tighter focus than the Orpheus. Dynamics are pretty incredible and the midrange is sultry baby. I think these might be Daedalus's best speaker. The timbre is much more pleasant than the Orpheus in this setup! Nice smooth top end and that fat but gorgeous midrange Daedalus is known for. Chocolaty and romantic. I keep looking at these speakers and wondering why I don't see more people making amazing looking speakers like this. Most other manufacturers paint their speakers with sports car paint. You know Ferrari orange and the like. The net result is a giant speaker that looks like a child's toy. When you look at the wood grain you can't help but think these are something that someone made who deeply cares about quality. Great room again, but better IMO than the Orpheus.
Tyson's Comment - New speakers set up in this room and we happened to be right by it (the room is very close to the Marriot Bar & Grill where we just had lunch). So we popped in for a quick listen before heading back to the Towers.
It's official, I like the Argus speakers much better than the Orpheus, just like last year I like the Athenas better than the Ulysses. Smoother and warmer, and don't really give up much in the way of detail. If you are a detail person, then you might put the ratings in reverse. But for me, the Daedalus room is much improved today over when we heard it with the Orpheus on Friday.
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Does somebody have a link to the speakers in the Odyssey room. With price and specs? Thanks!
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When this is over we should have a quiz about RMAF 2012. Sample questions: What type of music does Tyson like? What is Pez' favorite meal?
I wonder what 1st prize could be? :scratch:
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Not going to post more pics, just going to add an addendum to the stuff we wrote yesterday. We are back at the GR research room as per several requests. Apparently something was changed with the dac and people are insistent that the improvement is big.
We are listening to some guitar right now and things are most definitely better balanced. So much so that there is now warmth rather than hollowness. The tipped up sound is completely gone. This is a huge change. I'm loving the warmth here. No doubt that this trio was worth it. Thanks guys for the suggestion to come back.
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GR Research
Dodd Audio
PI audio group, LLC
dB Audio Labs
Triode Wire Labs, Inc.
Tyson's Comments Revisited the GR Research room at the request of several people. They made a change to the filtering settings in the DAC. I already loved the speaker in most aspects, as was clear from my previous post, and I have to say that they are a lot better tonally today. Still not what I would call a warm speaker, but much closer to neutral than we heard yesterday.
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Did they change the amps and Pre at the GR Room?
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Merlin Music Systems
Ars-Sonum
Cardas Audio LLC
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/d1ab65db6fb21fd8e1178d6242df9c8d.jpg)
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/fa6b8b11424e44ca11fc1a7aade0e1b9.jpg)
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/198db775141b7aa1ffe1e9662b537fbf.jpg)
Ot year the Merlin room was not great. This year though they are back to their nearly perfect t rack record and again have an excellent setup. Easy to listen to smooth and very seductive. There is a bass overhang issue of course with these rooms and the paneling they are using do not seem to correct this but other than that very nice sound again!
Tyson's Comments Nice, more room treatments, vendors are really doing a better job of getting these terrible rooms under control this year! We always love the Merlin room (last year being the exception that proves the rule), and this year is are return to form. Tube amps and paper drivers with silk tweeters - a combo I love and this room is great.
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Wisdom Audio
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/7870252478b87c2f0f7b92480e6edb26.jpg)
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/27c9c8ec247a3b65523d39fd16e02228.jpg)
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My general impressions of this room are that the sound is verging on a metallic artifical sound very much what most think of when they think of a mediocre ribbon speaker. They aren't overly bright but certainly not my cup of tea.
Tyson's Notes - Very tall, very thin speakers. Those are some nice sounding ribbons. Do well all the things good ribbons do - transparency and harmonics and detail like mad. But surprisingly don't sound bright or hard, even in my current very near-field listening position. I'm 6 feet from the speaker and they are still nicely integrated.
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Audio Alternative
Audio Research Corporation
AudioQuest
Vandersteen Audio, Inc.
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/023fe03c08b20c9a8742869c394f7997.jpg)
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/00bf54bf5c4287f823d17ee32862eb72.jpg)
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Tyson's Comments - These might be really good speakers, but it's hard to tell because the room is not well treated enough. They have a bit of a tipped up top end, but I think it's the room and not necessarily the speakers. Probably could have been a great room, but it's not....
Pea note I agree with Tyson on this one... Photo bucket was giving me a hard time so I cinch have time to post impressions.
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Did they change preamps in the Daedalus/Modwright room?
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From the picture it looks likes they have both the LS-100 and the 36.5.
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Yup, and both are on! Wondering which was being used on friday and today.....
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German Physiks
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/c3103bd406c71242a1a6fc3e3cba140c.jpg)
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/146ce176610b0d90684a64b396ca3233.jpg)
As always German physics has a great soundstage. Pretty much a sit anywhere affair. Yet there isn't a lot of image focus. More disperse sounding. Tonal balance is pretty good. And there is a decent amount of intimacy. There is a bit of overhang again in this room due to inadequate treatment. That said the treatment really made a substantial difference from last year.
Tyson's Comments - Wow, yet another room with at least some treatment! I'm really impressed with the change we've seen with this over last year, and every other year. The GP room does what it always does best - massive soundstage and open sound. Not the most dynamic speakers ever, but I think they might be better integrated sounding than in previous years. Not sure if they changed anything recently, but that's what my ears tell me.
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Light Harmonic
Von Schweikert Audio
MIT Cables
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/d16a12f951227f85a5d9b218df013554.jpg)
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/6b6e2ba3c54210e8d23ae10010e026f2.jpg)
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Decent sound. A little harsh when piano gets loud. Good bass control from my chair... Not really a lot here that is blowing my mind.
Tyson's Comments - No female vocals in this room, just a piano track, but still pretty bright/hard sounding when those upper register keys are struck. I thought the VS speakers sounded bright with tube amps yesterday, and they still sound pretty much the same way today with Solid State amps. Moving on...
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Triode Corporation Ltd. - Japan
Twin Audio Video, Inc.
Nittobo Acoustic Engineering Co., Ltd
Acoustic Zen
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/6cb20d3c8bb7f5198acb47cf19b570ef.jpg)
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/3463db2a713b2bae06234d2e7c02e7c0.jpg)
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(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/4d02ec9930b27a7c33927fc303ccfad3.jpg)
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/285f72ffe8356627ff9348e26683a8c2.jpg)
Ok every year I love this room and I think this year they hit it out of the park. As much as I want to find something, anything that is not great about this room I can't. The warmth is easily best in show, the intimacy is among the best the diffusers in here look incredible! This room has finesse, control, refinement and the balls to really have great bass slam. Superb is the word here.
Tyson's Comments - Triode rooms sounds great, as always. We are not spending a lot of time here because we don't have to. They have great sound every year and today is true too. Big, bold, clear, emotionally engaging sound. Pressed for time today, so we are moving on....
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Not going to post more pics, just going to add an addendum to the stuff we wrote yesterday. We are back at the GR research room as per several requests. Apparently something was changed with the dac and people are insistent that the improvement is big.
We are listening to some guitar right now and things are most definitely better balanced. So much so that there is now warmth rather than hollowness. The tipped up sound is completely gone. This is a huge change. I'm loving the warmth here. No doubt that this trio was worth it. Thanks guys for the suggestion to come back.
I don't know what those sounded like yesterday, but I got over there today and thought they were pretty great. Whatever they did was good. We've changed preamps (Melody P2688) and are generally more happy with our sound, so if you end up making back over to the Atrium at all it might be worth peeking your heads back in briefely. Great job with the marathon coverage guys.
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Bud Fried
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/34cad0ed6d8e3827f7d64b6afdce9c01.jpg)
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Ok so this is anothe refreshing room. Good amount of room treatment, great sound and quite honestly way more than what I expected looking at the gear. Not so fond of the Samson's blue color, but that aside this is incredible. Bach sounds liquid and sweet. Mahler just crushed it. Ani showcases very well on this setup. There is a touch of control issues with her vocals at times. Those Yorke is sounding very fun on this system. I love the boldness and incredible gusto this system has. There is a slight shoutiness like many other rooms, though to a lessor degree because of the treatment.
Tyson Notes[/u]
Bach - Good sense of air and space on the solo violin. A bit unrefined on the very high stuff, but overall good emotional engagement.
Mahler - Ah, now we are talking, really good sense of scale and reproducing a large orchestra. Horns and wind instruments are not grainy or gritty, which is hard to get right, let me tell you! Overall they are full in the mids and slightly thin in the highs. But they hit that crescendo very well, good dynamics on these guys.
Ani DiFranco - Ah that beautiful country twang of the guitar on this track, captured very well. Good emotional intensity with her vocals, a bit sibilant. Bass is overloading the room on this track. Good overall clarity and detail.
Thom Yorke - Oh, that bass just DROPS! Kickin'! Loving this track on this system. Perhaps not the most refined sound of the show, but it boogies! Nice soundstage and placement of the various electronic sounds.
General Room Notes - Love the dual carpets under the speakers, and the dual amps, they did a nice job visually presenting everything and making the speakers and amps look very cool. Fried Speakers are BACK BABY!
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Salk Sound
Audio by Van Alstine
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/2eccc646a1e0e81fdcca17d3f7629bc1.jpg)
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/92572f3459b224f7d1648e6ac344e3b0.jpg)
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(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/f2f6e46eaedfa95da363661ac8bc2fce.jpg)
(http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd370/pezacolypse/RMAF%202012/1f3c1ea9cbfd0ea0a3b8ad98e088b301.jpg)
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Listening to the big beauties. The sound is very nice if a little a little dry. The Bach piece was good with emotion but not great. I'm enjoying them and I think the main problem is the odd shaped room they're in. Though I can tell from the tonal balance that this problem is correctable. Ani sounds very nice a little over hang but nothing better room treatment and a better space wouldn't cure. The image and soundstage is slightly 2D. On thom Yorke the overhang issue becomes way more apparent. Though the panning effect is pretty damn good here! This system is what I would call close but no cigar in this setup. I don't know why but I know that this gear would sound WAY better in a better configuration. I said some negative things here, but my impressions area actually very positive. I like the signature sound. No ear bleeding problems, no midrange hollowness no bass boom issues. Everything I think is wrong with this setup has more to do wit h the room than anything else.
In another note these speakers are incredible. The finish and the look are on par with Daedalus, but obviously different in that these are veneered vs solid wood on the Daedalus. The veneer is GORGEOUS none the less.
Tyson Notes[/u]
Bach - Hmm, interesting. These speakers are bightly lit, but somehow not painful to listen to. I think it's because the integration between the mids and tweeter is absolutly seemless. Usually this track makes the tweeter "pop out" and make a nuisance of itself. Not here, stays even and clear, from top to bottom.
Mahler - Interesting, horns are again brightly lit, but are NOT thin. Horns have more presence here than in other rooms, but it's not unpleasant or driving me out of the listening spot (and given the ceramic drivers, this surprises me!). Those big woofers slam home the bass drum with authority.
Ani DiFranco - Hey, that's cool, there's harmonics just floating off her guitar, me likey! You can really hear the inflections in her voice, how she contracts her vocal chords to squeze out that anger and sorrow.
Thom Yorke - Very quick bass. Only criticism so far on this system - Thom's vocals sound a bit "croaky", and not like his normal whiney effete self. But on the other hand, if this system can make even Thom Yorke sound like a man, then that's gotta be respected :)
General Room Notes - OK, I'm saying it now - these are flat out the most beautiful speakers at this show. Perhaps the most beautiful I've ever seen ever. Yeah, pics do NOT capture the depth of workmanship that goes into these. Jaw dropping. Oh yeah, and the AVA gear looks good again this year with it's silve face plates and blue LED's. Understated, but beautiful.
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We are done folks! Thanks for tuning in. We will post final thoughts in a while!
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Awesome job! :D
Best on net. Thanks! :thumb:
Bob
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Thanks so much for y'all's great work this weekend. Bravo!
The question from your reports that stands out for me is WRT the Emotiva speakers. Seems like they were among the most positively evaluated speakers judging from your posts (say in the Top 10 or so). I keep wondering if this was a "for the money" impressed or a "holy moly! these play with the big boys" impressed.
Not a "giant killer" fanboy, but the positivity of that room stood out considering we are talking $1600 incl amps!
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thanks guys - excellent read and photos!
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Fantastic job Tyson and Pez.
I have been to over 20 of these audio shows over the years. These systems always sound the best on the last day of the show over the first and second day. So for first timers going to an audio show, don't expect immaculate sound the first day you are there. If your favorite company is sounding bad, go again on the last day. You will probably be surpised.
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Tyson/Pez
Thanks for the great coverage again!!! Hope to meet you both next year.
Mark
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Thanks so much for y'all's great work this weekend. Bravo!
The question from your reports that stands out for me is WRT the Emotiva speakers. Seems like they were among the most positively evaluated speakers judging from your posts (say in the Top 10 or so). I keep wondering if this was a "for the money" impressed or a "holy moly! these play with the big boys" impressed.
Not a "giant killer" fanboy, but the positivity of that room stood out considering we are talking $1600 incl amps!
Tyson - we have no idea how much anything costs in any room, so we report based on absolute performance, not relative performance.
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Your coverage is the highpoint of the year here on AC - thanks!
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Impressive. So those active Emotivas are the real deal, huh? Might have to take advantage of that 30 day trial policy...
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Thanks for your time and effort.
Larry
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Wondering about the MMG replacement that was going to be shown by Magnepan?
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Awesome work guys. Now go home and get some rest. This has to be exhausting, but satisfying as well.
BTW - how many rooms did you NOT get to at all?
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Fantastic! Thanks Tyson and Pez.
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We got to maybe 35% of the rooms.
Thanks for the appreciation guys! It is a lot of work, but also a lot of fun. I'm just glad I live here and can do this every year :)
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yes - much thanks to pez and tyson! :thumb: :thumb:
doug s.
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Superb coverage gentlemen! You really hit your stride this year. Suggestions for next year. Have scantily clad women carry you from room to room in sedan chairs. This will expedite your conveyance from room to room allowing more time for typing descriptions, and increase the number of rooms covered. Wearing fezzes, ascots, and cummerbunds would complete the overall effect.
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A high point for me as well, thanks guys.
It's always great to hear what you guys have to say unfiltered.
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Excellent work. A real marathon. My thanks.
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Next year maybe live video streaming? :D In all seriousness, great coverage. I bet you won't listen to those test tracks for awhile though!
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Did they change preamps in the Daedalus/Modwright room?
No they did not. They used the DAC in the LS 100 into the 36.5 line stage.
Laura
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We got to maybe 35% of the rooms.
Thanks for the appreciation guys! It is a lot of work, but also a lot of fun. I'm just glad I live here and can do this every year :)
I had no idea there were that many rooms. You guys covered most of the ones I was interested in. Thanks for visiting so many of the AC sponsors. It was much appreciated. Was Fritz there? From what I've read he always has a great room.
Thanks again guys!
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Was Fritz there? From what I've read he always has a great room.
Thanks again guys!
Fritz did not make it this year
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Superb coverage gentlemen! You really hit your stride this year. Suggestions for next year. Have scantily clad women carry you from room to room in sedan chairs. This will expedite your conveyance from room to room allowing more time for typing descriptions, and increase the number of rooms covered. Wearing fezzes, ascots, and cummerbunds would complete the overall effect.
Now THAT is funny! :D Although now that you mention it, there was a distinct lack of show babes there this year. Perhaps next year we should bring our own!
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Fritz did not make it this year
Thanks Laura!
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Now THAT is funny! :D Although now that you mention it, there was a distinct lack of show babes there this year. Perhaps next year we should bring our own!
I'm glad you enjoyed it and took it in the spirit in which it was intended. Again, great job! :thumb:
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A big thanks to Tyson & Jason for devoting so much of your time and energy for the AC community whom are unfortunately unable to attend this audio show. If I ever make even 1 audio show in whats left of my lifetime, it'll be RMAF. I love high altitudes as I've been there most of my adult life. :smoke: :wink:
Cheers,
Robin
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Great job guys :thumb: Wish we could have made it this year.
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Thanks again guys. For an RMAF veteran like myself, so distraught not making it this year, I was saved by your comments and coverage. And I think the running comparisons based on the four selections of music, was a great idea! Also, I think it works doubly well that the two of you have such different tastes, or at least different priorities when it comes to good sound. That way, when there is consensus one has to think that room/setup knocked it out of the park.
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Once again you guys hit it a home run, every year just gets better.
Wayne
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Thanks all!!! The kudos are really appreciated :D
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A big thanks to Tyson & Jason for devoting so much of your time and energy for the AC community whom are unfortunately unable to attend this audio show. If I ever make even 1 audio show in whats left of my lifetime, it'll be RMAF. I love high altitudes as I've been there most of my adult life. :smoke: :wink:
Cheers,
Robin
I am voting yes on Prop 64 to legalize recreational mary jane here. Almost passed 2 years ago, I think it will actually go through this year.
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Yes! Thank you guys for all the coverage and effort! Coming from a guy out here in Canada. :thumb:
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A big thanks to Tyson & Jason for devoting so much of your time and energy for the AC community whom are unfortunately unable to attend this audio show. If I ever make even 1 audio show in whats left of my lifetime, it'll be RMAF. I love high altitudes as I've been there most of my adult life. :smoke: :wink:
Cheers,
Robin
:lol:
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Tyson/Pez, it was really great to meet you guys - my wife and I enjoyed dinner with you both and all the other Audiocircle guys/gals Friday night. Thanks for the great show coverage.
The live performance of Fan-Ya Lin Saturday night on the Steinway was simply incredible - I was in tears most of the performance.
Tony
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I have to admit it was interesting seeing your posts the last few days. Thanks...
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Thanks again guys. For an RMAF veteran like myself, so distraught not making it this year, I was saved by your comments and coverage. And I think the running comparisons based on the four selections of music, was a great idea! Also, I think it works doubly well that the two of you have such different tastes, or at least different priorities when it comes to good sound. That way, when there is consensus one has to think that room/setup knocked it out of the park.
Yes, Jason is the soundstage and imaging guy, will I am the more tone and dynamics guy. Not that I don't like sounstage and imaging, but rather it's just not me raison d'etre. And the inverse is true for Jason.
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I am voting yes on Prop 64 to legalize recreational mary jane here. Almost passed 2 years ago, I think it will actually go through this year.
this is something i have never understood - alcohol is so much more dangerous than marijuana, and wasn't a constitutional amendment needed to make it illegal? :scratch: seems to me that marijuana's being illegal is blatantly unconstitutional...
doug s.
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When the wonderful government imposes a tax it'll become legal, all about the money.
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If you guys get my RMAF coverage thread binned because of a political discussion, I will hunt you down and kill you. Stop it, and stop it now.
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After seeing the prices of stuff out there and in the new issue of TAS, think I'm happy enough just to stay home and enjoy the music. But, thanks for the great coverage, P&T.
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If you guys get my RMAF coverage thread binned because of a political discussion, I will hunt you down and kill you. Stop it, and stop it now.
sorry, tyson; i was quoting you, tho... :oops:
doug s.
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Fantastic job Tyson and Pez.
I have been to over 20 of these audio shows over the years. These systems always sound the best on the last day of the show over the first and second day. So for first timers going to an audio show, don't expect immaculate sound the first day you are there. If your favorite company is sounding bad, go again on the last day. You will probably be surpised.
You are right of course. I was thinking about that and maybe we should skip Friday and Saturday next year and only go on Sunday. :P
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After seeing the prices of stuff out there and in the new issue of TAS, think I'm happy enough just to stay home and enjoy the music. But, thanks for the great coverage, P&T.
Lol, that's for sure. There were very, very few pieces of gear I'd consider a good value there. Peachtree was good, dc10 speakers, believe it or not, Sonus Faber's $1200 monitors had great mids to highs for the money... DSPeaker processor, Legacy speakers and a few others were decent values for sure. Most gear is severely overpriced IMO.
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How did you like the DSPeaker processor (the Dual Core, right?), I have a major woody for it at the moment.
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How did you like the DSPeaker processor (the Dual Core, right?), I have a major woody for it at the moment.
I got to check out the setup after hours Saturday at the Legacy room, and listen to a speaker with and without it's correction up to 200 Hz. It works as advertised and the bass correction was very noticeable and had a huge effect on improving the sound. The USB is limited to 24/48 though, if it had a 24/192 asynch DAC I'd be all in...
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Nope, it's currently 24/96 and more in the pipe with firmware. People have reported running 24/96 just fine.
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"all in"
Given your system and experience, I'll take that as it sounded awesome :thumb: I already have the battery and charger on my Warpspeed, that will go right into the Dual Core.
Were they on battery or wall wart at the show???
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Nope, it's currently 24/96 and more in the pipe with firmware. People have reported running 24/96 just fine.
It's 24/96 via toslink or spdif. 24/48 via USB. This is direct from one of the guys who helped design the unit. Sorry, I should have mentioned it's different via USB vs. spdif. He did mention the unit may be upgradeable, so you may be right IDK...
24/192 is nice, but honestly most of what I listen to is 16/44.1. The benefits of using the DSPeaker as a DAC are likely to outweigh the negatives of not hearing full resolution from a very small minority of my music collection. Most systems can benefit from room correction to a large degree, and the DSPeaker is capable of processing room correction for up to 2 main speakers and 2 subs. From checking out the before/after freq. responses of the speakers we used, very large suckouts can't be fully corrected for, so it is best to get the best setup you can before using the processor to set the eq. Starting with 2 speakers and at least one well placed sub will probably get you a very flat bass response, with 2 subs it would be withing a couple dB from however low your system will go throughout the bass freqs. If you have a 4 subs and set them up carefully then the DSPeaker is less helpfull, but I prefer my subs x-overed at 50 Hz and the DSPeaker addresses Bass in mono up to 199 Hz and stereo up to 500 Hz (to account for side/floor reflections individually), so the room correction goes a lot higher in freq vs placing a bunch of subs in the room.
Also, there is a software program for free download so you can hook it up to your PC and download freq response and eq charts from the processor, which is a great tool.
My wish list is 24/192 asynch USB, active EQ and a full size chassis with a larger LCD screen. Maybe a high quality tube output section... There is a new Pioneer car audio head unit that processes cabin correction with a mic (like the DSPeaker) + has active eq with hi/med/low analog outputs. And it time corrects, which the DSPeaker can do with the subs as well, which is a huge plus.
http://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-DEH-80PRS-Receiver-Crossover-Alignment/dp/B006Y44DAY
But overall, I think the DSPeaker is probably a good choice and they do have a 20 day audition period. I don't usually make impulse purchases, especially in audio, so I need to think about for a while.... but it seems like a great idea and I will probably try one the next time I have a free $1200 or find one used.
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Well, my material is all CD, so I'm in no hurry to move to the questionable hi rez arena just yet. Seems there are some kinks yet to work out and my Emotiva ERC-2 sounds My-T-fine indeed, oh yes. I read a snippet that said higher resolutions are definitely in the works and that they are aggressively updating the firmware, apparently at least a couple times a month since launch.
I'm "all in", I just need to free up funds after paying for my NC400's this month.
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What were the brands from reply #7 (first room today)?
Glad you guys could sprinkle in some "real world" priced gear in there. :thumb:
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These Tyson/Pez "dispeners of shows" threads are really really good!
You guys actually out do just about the all the pro's with swiftness and... very important: the truth, as you guys see it/hear it!
Because boy do people ever write different stuff about some rooms!!! Like between the lines, trying to land a review, would like to buy afterwards, nudge nudge and so on!
Imp.
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After seeing the prices of stuff out there and in the new issue of TAS, think I'm happy enough just to stay home and enjoy the music. But, thanks for the great coverage, P&T.
There's an amzing amount of reasonably priced gear at RAMF, but as they (Tyson and Pez) wrote that's not really very interesting for the most part, and not where their focus was. If that's what you want to check out at a show, though, then RAMF is definitely the place to go. I was also again impressed by the amount of expensive gear that seems worth the money asked (by how much better it sounds and/or is built) compared to the less expensive stuff. And of course there was plenty of stuff of the "how can they ask that much" category. So kind of like 3 separate shows all mixed together.
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There's an amzing amount of reasonably priced gear at RAMF, but as they (Tyson and Pez) wrote that's not really very interesting for the most part, and not where their focus was. If that's what you want to check out at a show, though, then RAMF is definitely the place to go. I was also again impressed by the amount of expensive gear that seems worth the money asked (by how much better it sounds and/or is built) compared to the less expensive stuff. And of course there was plenty of stuff of the "how can they ask that much" category. So kind of like 3 separate shows all mixed together.
I agree, affordable gear isn't the main focus of the show, but there's a lot of it there. Many, many speakers at $3k and under...
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If you stick to the stuff published in Stereophile you will always hear praise for the big boys (Wisdon, MBL, Wilson, Magico, TAD, Thiel, etc.). It is nice to have an unbiased opinion of these vendors that seems to match my own whenever I hear them - nice, sometimes just OK, sometimes just bad, but usually not a sound that could even come close to justifying their price and hardly best of show (although maybe the MBL's do steal the show on occasion).
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I'm sure Wisdom would love to be counted among the "big boys", but in reality they are still a relatively struggling start-up. Their sound could definitely use some improvement over what I heard at RAMF.
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Gents,
Fantastic coverage as always. You don't get enough credit for what you do, and that really sucks. With that said, thanks for what you do, and I look forward to your adventures next year. Oh, and it was good seeing you both again this year. :thumb:
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Gents,
Fantastic coverage as always. You don't get enough credit for what you do, and that really sucks. With that said, thanks for what you do, and I look forward to your adventures next year. Oh, and it was good seeing you both again this year. :thumb:
Thanks man, much appreciated! Great seeing you too, lookin' good bud. Reminds me that I need to hit the gym again.
Last year I'd have agreed with you re: the credit, but honestly the outpouring of recognition and support from people at the show this year was surprising and very gratifying! Besides, I don't think we really "do it" for that as much as it's one of those things that Jason and I can share as part of our friendship. Some dudes go fishing or golfing together, we do RMAF. Cause yeah, we're nerds like that.
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Thanks man, much appreciated! Great seeing you too, lookin' good bud. Reminds me that I need to hit the gym again.
Last year I'd have agreed with you re: the credit, but honestly the outpouring of recognition and support from people at the show this year was surprising and very gratifying! Besides, I don't think we really "do it" for that as much as it's one of those things that Jason and I can share as part of our friendship. Some dudes go fishing or golfing together, we do RMAF. Cause yeah, we're nerds like that.
I really think your rolling RMAF coverage, postin' as you go, made the biggest difference Tyson. I know it had me locked to your thread coverage all day and the thread was loaded with members following your coverage. It had the AC folks more involved during the course of the day seeing what room was being reviewed & posted next. Last year, I'd visit the thread once at the end of the day and I was done with it. Minimum involvement was all that was necessary.
So I know that for myself, your on the spot posting format made all the difference. :thumb:
Cheers,
Robin
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Hi Tyson.
Sorry I didn't make it this year, or last. Last year was trying to get out of Atlanta, unsucessfully, and this year, health mostly.
I'm pleased to see both of you tell it like you hear and see it. It was a very good job and I'm glad it was enjoyable, because it was obviously a lot of effort on both your parts.
I seem to remember someone referring to me as opinionated at the 2010 show, as I didn't find much to like at the show, save a couple of them....Looks like maybe I tought somebody something?
Hope to see you guys next year.
Frank