OK, back to normal / somewhat, hehehe.
Yep, the show was an unbelievable success for us. A couple of observations:
- The rooms were shitty / again. NY Hilton is a much, much better venue than the ST. Francis. It sounds better, it's actually cheaper, there's better access for us when trying to set up the room at 3 in the morning. Mostly, because the rooms were pretty boomy, which I suspect is a byproduct of the stabilizing construction of SF.
- However, every exhibitor had to deal with the same problems. So, can you imagine manufacturer blaming sound characteristics on the rooms ??? Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaw !!!! Bull. A good system should sound good in different environments.
- As the small system, we've had the new Etesian pre, all Groneberg Ser. III IC and LS cables, the book shelves, and the Khartago, which is the smaller Strato. I decided to do system sales, and this system is offered at $ 1,500. !!!! hehehe, it sounded ridiculously good, if I may say so. There were quite a few people who were shopping for more $$$, and they definitely had to rethink. I believe that this particular system (minus the CD, which was the 3K SL all the time) for these components was the least expensive system, and the comments were overwhelming. So were the sales, hehehe. Word of caution, the Etesian and Khartago now out of the box are back ordered at least 4-5 weeks already after the show.
Anyway, in this particular setup at the Westin I'd go head to head with 80 % of the systems displayed for $ 1,500. !!!!
- The biggest $$$ system I brought was the Lorelei, Tempest, and Stratos / cap upgrade. The room was so small, that there were only 3 chairs, and standing room for maybe 8-10 more. While the small system was fantastic in the dispersion and tonality, the bigger system was able to overload the room nevertheless. So, extreme SPL's were out of the question, but we could still run it pretty darn loud. The result ??? Hehehe. It's all coming together. Total synergy, and we also now sell this system, Tempest / remote, Stratos / caps, Quattro IC's & LS cables, Loreleis for a total of $ 4,500. as a system.
Anyway, the performance was great, and obviously the feedback for the systems and sales were phenomenal, which is also part of the reason why I had such a great time.
- Lastly, the bay area is my favorite place in the US. (nevermind the crazy cost of living / real estate) Just walking down the street or driving around anywhere in the bay gives me a feeling of vacation. In addition, without exception all of the people I've met / many customers and people here from AC, were simply friendly and real, and I've made a ton of friends. As for the food, well, I swear that this is the last show where I'll over-eat every night, hehehe.
Anyway, thanks again to everyone for the incredible experience,
Klaus
