[DaveC113]

This year I just tried to chill and take in the music, didn't play my own tracks for the most part, and so I won't get into commenting about the sound as much since I can only give an overall impression without careful evaluation using tracks I'm extremely familiar with.

On to the pics! 

Daedalus and ModWright keeps getting better year after year. This year I heard an especially beautiful tone on Rodrigo y Gabriella's guitars and more controlled bass, though the room hasn't been completely tamed it's 1,000x better than just a few years ago. The woodworking in this room is extraordinary!







Aaudio Imports showing Wilson Benesch speakers with Ypsilon Amps, phonostage and linestage and Thales TT/arm, Ikeda cart

I liked the sound a lot.

[DaveC113]

High Fidelity Services showing Verity Audio Lohengrin IIS speakers, Verity electronics, TW Acustic tt/arm/phono pre, Ortonfon cart.

Spolier... this was Best of Show imo. 








Audio Den showing Thrax with Antipodes music server. This was a great system, I've heard the MtMs without the bass cabs, which are optional, and this is even better. These speakers are very flat and accurate sounding.

[DaveC113]

Zu and Peachtree... Zu gets better and better, it retains it's characteristic sound but is more refined than ever. They are fun to listen to and can achieve high SPLs with no strain.








Gryphon. Beautiful speakers, laid back sound. I prefer a bit more of a "lit-up" presentation and I thought the tweeters were curiously low, but the system did a lot right.

[DaveC113]

Von Schweikert VR55s... Excellent as always... a small(ish) speaker that plays big!








And next door, Endeavor E3s... just in case the VR55 is a bit out of your budget.    These are a bit softer and more fcciving vs the 55s or their big brother the E5 while retaining good resolution.

[genjamon]

Not sure why your pics aren't showing, Dave, but I'm looking forward to them!

[DaveC113]

Not sure why your pics aren't showing, Dave, but I'm looking forward to them!

Ok, looks like a problem... got the same on another site. I'm going to stop here until this is sorted out. I'm linking from Google pics and every pic shows up for me, idk what could be the issue. SO frustrating...

[MttBsh]

Ok, looks like a problem... got the same on another site. I'm going to stop here until this is sorted out. I'm linking from Google pics and every pic shows up for me, idk what could be the issue. SO frustrating...

The revenge of the dreaded Photobucket?!!

[DaveC113]

The revenge of the dreaded Photobucket?!!

Just imbedded links from Google, I lost all photobucket pics when they first attempted to extort money from everyone. I'm not paying them $400/yr.

I just uploaded pics using AC's functionality for the 1st post but they are all smaller.

edit: all pics should work now, please post if not... sorry they are smaller than the 1200 pixel images I intended but at least they won't disappear at the whim of a flailing photo hosting company.

[genjamon]

 

[DaveC113]

Ok, I'm trying one more pic hosting svc to see if I can get larger pics, it's on the 1st post right now... if anyone CAN NOT see pics on the 1st post please post or pm me.

[genjamon]

 

[DaveC113]

Ok, hopefully that's all figured out.. 

VAC and Tannoy. This is the best I've heard from Tannoy, it sounded really good.






Piega with Soulution, Accuphase, Air Tight, Transrotor, Reed, CMS and the new Pitch Perfect Sound footers

This was also a very nice sounding system, seemed accurate and resolving without being fatiguing. I was only in for a short time as the room was crowded and I didn't get a chance to go back unfortunately.

[DaveC113]

Audio Alternative showing Martin Logan Neoliths, Clearaudio, Audio Research. I liked this system a lot with some caveats... midrange and treble clarity were exceptional but don't quite match the character of the cone woofers. This effect was reduced towards the back of the room, it's likely the Neoliths just need a larger space to truly shine.







Classic Audio Loudspeakers, Atmosphere amps. Field coil midrange compression drivers with Be diaphragms, T500 tweets and big woofers... hard to go wrong there! Very nice sound.

[DaveC113]

Wilson and Constellation... this was excellent, had a very nice smooth presentation with good clarity and soundstage. I could wish for a bit more woofer though, the bass didn't quite do the mids justice imo.





JERN... Cast Iron speakers from a casting company that makes turbo housings for high end BMWs among other things. This is an excellent lifestyle system and was shown as such with a iphone as source, but this surely didn't do them any favors. Still, sound was good for the size and price. 

[JakeJ]

Awesome photos, Dave!  Keep 'em coming.

[DaveC113]

Pure Audio Project. Ok, if I didn't build my own speakers I'd seriously consider these. Even though I prefer a boxed woofer this makes up for a lot by using 4 per side. The appeal of this system over, say, the AudioKenisis speaker is it's modularity and ability to swap in different panels for the mid horn... you can use a full range driver, a different horn, whatever... and the xos are accessible and interchangeable with a model setup for prototyping. If you're a DIY guy who doesn't want to build from the ground up or just like messing around with different drivers and configurations this is a unique and excellent offering. You can get this speaker for about $10k! Some assembly required...








J Corder showing with the Technics Reference System. Excellent sound, even though they were playing digital when I went in. Lots of awesome classic gear on hand to show off and for sale, very cool!

[DaveC113]

ELAC Adante... very neat design, there is a 6.5" driver behind each 8" passive radiator forming a 12dB acoustic crossover. The mid/tweet covers >200 Hz and is concentric. Excellent value at $5k and honestly hard to touch at that price. I felt the presentation was a bit soft, and at $5k I can see that as a good decision over a speaker like my Pioneer S-1EX... The S-1 was also designed by Alex Jones, which besides costing 2x the price are quite ruthless and won't accept lower end electronics unless you want to hate your stereo. The Adante is likely to be a lot more fcciving.






Next was the new Revel speakers which are a rung down from the top end lineup, but sound very similar imo... they have a Be tweeter but the other drivers use coated Al cones instead of Ti. Price is $10k and compared to the previous ELAC Adante are on a whole 'nother level as far as resolution and clarity, but will probably require much more expensive electronics for a decent result.

[DaveC113]

Avantgarde Unos... AG is getting better and better too. A friend has an older pair of Unos and comparisons to the Bose Acoustimass system might be warranted, but no longer. These sounded very nice.





Swan Song showing their 18" 2-way horn system powered by 6SN7 amp... 5 triodes in parallel make up the output with 1 for input. 3.3W of signal tube magic! I liked this system a lot too but it is enormous and the horns could be a bit prettier. It was a lot of fun to listen to though, and if you have the space the bass is excellent.

[DaveC113]

Voxativ has also improved a lot over the years, and the system is now quite good imo, with more of the "single driver magic" that makes the format worthwhile to some.






Magico M6... I don't blame them for the static display, they're meant for slightly larger rooms...





And at the end of the 2nd day, Troy speakers featuring GPA's Altec 604 repro with a helper woofer and T500 tweet. And.. little resonators by J Trillo. I got a demo of them on and off the speakers and was surprised to find they lend a nice clarity to the sound. I normally don't find the 604's mids and treble to be all that refined, but the resonators and the T500 tweet work to make this a pretty exceptional implementation of the 604.  Electronics were also excellent with Triode Corp amps, Sonorus rtr, Garrard tt, Metronome cdp.

Anyways, I'd like to see if a resonator on the tip of my midrange driver's phase plug will do the same for my speaker as the Troy.

[Phil A]

Dave - thanks for sharing the pics