[Pez]

It was a long tough haul this year. I thoroughly enjoyed covering the show for all of my Audiocircle family. The march was arduous and at times even painful, but despite that I can't think of any other experience which is more fun than RMAF.

I would like to give some general thoughts on where manufacturers succeeded and where they, almost universally, failed.

Every year RMAF setups seem to get better and better. This year was no exception. What I saw that most manufacturers really 'got' was most brought speakers that were appropriate to the size of the room. Maybe it's because they think people are more likely to buy 'budget' grade equipment with the way the economy is. I'd like to think the real reason is because they realize the limitations for what they need to accomplish which is to create a lasting impression of a brand. Big speakers in a small room almost universally = epic fail.

Manufacturers as a whole were very friendly and easy to talk to. I made many new friends this year and about half of them were indeed manufacturers of high end wares I will never ever be able to afford. The AMR crew, First sound crew, Bolder cables, and Daedalus crew took some of us to dinner on friday and we had a blast. Thank all of you for that experience. Roger and Marco from YG acoustics actually took the time from their incredibly busy schedule to do dinner with us AC peons at Shannehans steakhouse and we had the time of our lives.

Many manufacturers showed an immense interest in what we thought of their setups and were very open to constructive criticism. In the AC manufacturers it was UNIVERSAL that they asked our opinions and were open to constructive criticism. And not just from us. I witnessed many manufacturers seeking the same information from many people in the room. This is what these trade shows should be about. Learning about your target audience. And target audience learning about your company.

That last point segues into my number one irritation of the show. There seems to be this nasty subculture of prickdom in audiophila. Especially prominent in the cost no object room. Often in these rooms you walk in and you are shushed, glared at, or ignored entirely. The worst offender by far was the VTL room. They were rude, dismissive, and quite honestly are the kind of people that ruin this hobby/pursuit for many people. It's intimidating enough to walk into a room with equipment that costs more than my condo and every other person who lives in my building COMBINED. It's even worse when you have some blow hard glaring at you and saying "SHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!" when you are whispering to your friend about how amazing the equipment is. They were not the only ones. Quite a few rooms in the Mezzanine had the same air of superiority. And often with no cause. Their systems are commonly among the worst performers.

Edit: Also these rooms rarely if EVER let you play your own music. They select the music that they think is good and they disallow any other material. I understand if a room is vinyl only, or if there is a music server of some kind that makes it difficult to download a CD. But in rooms where the equipment is capable, there is no excuse for that. One example is the Nordost room. They make 2 mistakes along this line. First they play one song and it sounds like garbage through their low end cables, then they play the same song through a mid-grade set of cables and it sounds like slightly more warmed over garbage, then they put in their uber cables and the system (low and behold) sounds listenable. This ridiculous process caters to those who already are cable converts so to put everyone through this process is unnecessary, but further more it completely eliminates the opportunity for those who brought their own tracks to listen. Again there are exceptions of course like Ray Kimber, his system is specifically put together to listen to isomike recordings. Using other material would just be silly.

Next point: Manufacturers here me now! Every trade show has shitty power coming out of the wall. Every trade show has bad echoey rooms, every trade show has limited time to setup, every piece of equipment needs break in.  To use any of these as valid reasons as to why your room sucks or doesn't perform up to what you believe it should is stupid.

First lets address the room. Maybe 30% of manufacturers use real room treatment. And no, ferns, couch pillows, or a big fat dude standing in the corner do not count as room treatment. There is a false belief among many manufacturers that their speakers are so good they shine even without treatment. Nothing could be further from the truth. almost 95% of the rooms I visited had terrible bass bloom, shoutiness at higher SPLs and a general lack of definition. All of which could be cured by real room treatment.

No self respecting audiophile would ever say that room treatment doesn't improve the sound in their system. Many audiophiles can't do room treatment for one reason or another and that is understandable. However I strongly believe that anyone would agree that room treatment is the ideal.Yet I heard from many manufacturers that their speakers don't need room treatment... And they were serious. In my opinion no manufacturer should complain about echoey rooms with boomy bass ESPECIALLY the ones who make such claims. It only makes you look bad.

Edit: Even worse is when there is no room treatment like in the German Physiks room, yet there are Magical Doohickys that channel the inner demons out of the sweet spot. (note: these little conical dots were on the walls and ceiling and the mystery boxes on stands hiding slightly behind the ferns, those are supposed to do something very quantum order as well.)




Edit: Now I'm not knocking metaphysical stuff in audio. In fact I applaud it, but if you're going to put this stuff in your room and claim it does great things to your setup at least make sure you have covered the fundamentals like speaker placement and insuring your speakers are properly stabalized by your carpet spikes. 

"the ______ aren't fully broken in so there's a bit of glare" Absolute dumbest thing you can say as a manufacturer. Look I understand that things happen. The Empirical room had a tweeter go out on the YG acoustics setup, that was odd and neither YG or anyone else were responsible for it happening. They fixed the problem and made a system that sounded among the best in the show. For other manufacturers complaining that their system was 'not fully broken in' why would you bring equipment that isn't ready for prime time? And if you're distributors, you need to have a long hard talk with your manufacturers about sending you equipment that isn't broken in. This is not ok. Odyssey's speakers were honestly not fully broken in, but Klaus made the call that they were good enough to bring to the show. I would say that's a ballsy call and from what I heard he was right to bring them. Yet he didn't use them not being broken in as an excuse for any short comings. Perceived or otherwise. Good on him.

Last bit of info I want to discuss is opinions. Last year was the first year Tyson and I decided to give our honest assessment of what we thought of these rooms. We got a lot of flack, but then many other people posted their impressions, often impressions that were in direct conflict with ours. This is the nature of audio! it is subjective. I know what I like. I know what I don't. I don't know what you like and I can't listen with your ears. So please keep in mind that we give our impressions, not necessarily the one you want to hear.

I want to convey a bit of gratitude to everyone I met for making this experience so wonderful.

To those following our live coverage; rooting us on actually gave us the will power and strength to push forward beyond our exhaustion. We really wanted you all to experience the way we feel getting the opportunity to come here and see all these great people and great equipment. My only regret is that we could not possibly get to every single request. There were many I would have loved to get to myself, but every year this show gets bigger and bigger. I estimate we saw maybe 40% of the show. That said, I hope our inability to get to everything gives people reason to come to Colorado! I hope our coverage served to incentivize our fellow ACer's to get out and see it for themselves and to come say 'Hi' to us at the show.

Last sappy part, I want to say to Tyson, dude you are my best friend. Every year we go to this show I look forward to it and afterwards look fondly on the great time we had together. I couldn't have done all this great coverage without you, nor would I want to! RMAF is what it is because of the fun we have.

Peace out!!! 

Tyson Here

I'm tacking this onto Jason's thread because, well, I can

OK, here's my final thoughts on the show.  Kickin' it for 3 days with Pez in an audiophool's heaven is one of the highlights of the year for me.  Pez is my best friend too, but I'm not sure how much that counts when you consider that he's my ONLY friend

As for the show, here's my few thoughts, after having been to several of these in a row now.

1.  The playing field is level.  When we walk into a room, there is just as much chance for it to sound good as any other room.  We've had several rooms that sucked one year and kicked @ss the next, and we report it exactly like we hear it (ie, YG, Focal, AMR).  Other rooms go the opposite direction (Dynaudio, Hansen, Merlin).  Others are consistently great (GR Research, Fritz, Daedalus, JH Audio), and others are consistently bad (single driver speakers, OTL's, Nordost).

2.  The show gets BETTER every year.  It's funny, I look back and I see us posting each year "This is the best show EVER!"  Then the next year we say, "No, THIS is the best show EVER."  But it's true, every year the overall quality of the rooms improves, and sometimes dramatically.

3.  People who let you play your own music rock.  People who don't, suck.  How can anyone evaluate your system with music they've never heard before.  I know it's a pain, and lots of (other) people have really questionable taste in music, but it's perhaps one of the few times they will EVER have to hear your gear.  Give it up for 5 minutes!

4.  This one is for the attendees - most of the time you are super cool.  But don't hog the f'ing sweet spot.  Unless you are buying a piece of gear, right now, today, then get the f' out and let other people listen too.  2 minutes, I love you.  5 minutes I like you.  7 minutes, OK move.  10 minutes or more?  I'm taking that 20 pound aluminum CD remote control away from you and beating you with it.

5.  RMAF is worth attending for the after-hour parties in the manufacturer rooms alone!

6.  This is a hobby of introverts.  Everyone is hyper the first day or 2, and completely zonked by the 3rd, from having to actually interact with other human beings for more than 48 hours at a stretch.

7.  Tool causes schisms.  Over 40, and you clear the room.  Under 40 and you ask "Who was THAT?"

8.  There's not enough hot show babes.  Really, if we want to be taken seriously at a national level, we need a lot more hot show babes, preferably asian.

9.  Room treatment.  Yes you need it.  Yes it's a pain.  No, your room won't be it's best with out it.  Contact Brian Pape on this forum if you can't figure it out yourself and need help.  Even giving out copious amounts of free beer or scotch will not make up for an untreated room. 

10.  Pez is da man!  Seriously, he carries around a heavy ass camera with a giant flash to get you all these killer pics, and an ipad to upload everything in real time.  And he NEVER stops working, the whole show.  And he never complains.  Oh wait, yes he does.  Constantly.  But then I b!tch slap him and he meekly starts uploading more photos. 

SAN DIMAS HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL RULES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[taoggniklat]

Well said.

-Jared

[Lyndon]

Pez said:

a big fat dude standing in the corner do(es) not count as room treatment

Why, Pez, I thought I made a BIG difference in the room ambience.
 






Good work, Pez.
It was much appreciated by all the AC members.
Lyndon

[morganc]

  to Pez and Tyson! We owe you a big thanks.   If ever you are in San Francisco, give me a shout or maybe we can meet in Denver in the future.  And above all else, Thanks for the honest opinions..that's what I love the most about AC.  We don't have to be politically correct here! 

[SlushPuppy]

Wow, all that coverage and you guys only saw 40% of the rooms? That's crazy. You did an excellent job balancing the affordable with the unobtainable. In general, I prefer to see product in my price range, but who doesn't have a weakness for loudspeakers and electronics that cost more than their house? I know it was a PITA, but I really enjoyed the rapid-fire updates instead of the once-daily "mega dumps" you typically see from these shows. It was very much appreciated. Great job guys!

[Big Red Machine]

You had me at "epic fail".








Good job guys.  Maybe next year we break it up so you only have to do a 4 hour block and have more contributors so you can enjoy the show yourselves.

[JackD201]

I can see why you two are best of friends. Your banter is hilarious! I can't imagine you two NOT having fun! Thanks a million guys!!!!!!!!!

[DEV]

Pez great final thoughts.

I said allot of the same in another thread in relation to a show called "Taves". This was a Toronto show that took place a while ago.

I heard endless excuses which just left me scratching my head  and in the end made no sence.

Thanks to both of you! 

[HT cOz]

You guys rocked it.  This is the best show coverage and I really liked the real time element this year.   

[decal]

I'm glad to see somebody has the balls to say what pricks some of these people are!!! Good job guys.

[dminches]

Pez, great job on the show coverage. I was there for all 3 days and I couldn't agree more with your assessment.

In some rooms they greeted me and said "what would you like to listen to?". In others they controlled everything and played horrible world music which usually meant about 1 note per hour. Huh?

In the room with the small Daedalus speakers we played our CD which sounded amazing and the vendor asked us if he could have the CD for the rest of the show.  Now that is someone paying attention to the customer.

All in all it was a fun 3 days.

[celebrat]

Hi Pez
I do want to thank you for your wonderful coverage. I missed attending this year. It was so refreshing to hear genuine opinions on what you heard in the rooms. The politally correct press coverage seems so dishonest by comparison. I certainly agree with your assesment regarding the need for proper planning if you are going to actually display in a hotel room. I have been there and the power is indeed a joke if we are lucky enough not to lose it all together.

As far as room treatments, without them you are left to the mercy of the room which is pretty merciless in most cases. You would think that when someone pays BIG money to display in one of these rooms that they would actually want to demonstrate their wares in the best possible light. We all know that common sense does not always prevail.

I think our hobby already suffers enough in our own homes without proper treatment. I have seen this happen all too often in many private listening rooms where the cost of the equipment is huge and the actual performance is mediocre or downright poor.  I truly believe a modest system in a properly treated room will ALWAYS perform better than a  much more expensive system in a poor or improperly treated room.

I do need to comment on the "little black boxes" and the "round doohickeys" on the walls.  I immediately recognized those as Stein Music "Room Harmonizers" and the accompaniying "Diamonds". I have them in my own room and I can truthfully say the are indeed a room accoustic treatment and that they work extrely well. They are the real deal. They are expensive. They are controversial because the technology is not easily explained or even understood. They work wonderfully with other room treatments. They make a VERY audible difference that is easily demonstrated by removing them from the room. They are not leaving my room.

Thanks again. Next year I hope to be there. I will try to find you and thank you in person.

[orientalexpress]

All i have to said is,Your Guys are the Best  ,don't expect Xmas cards from those guys.



lapsan

[jriggy]

So nice to come home from a camping trip and have such a nice organized few threads to review and catch up on, as opposed to sifting through many for the goods! Good stuff guys!

I would like to see others that were in attendance, maybe 'reply/quote' from any given rooms original posting and give their opinions as well... I would hate to think the great coverage from Pez and Tyson is holding others back from posting their thoughts...

Crazy to hear y'all think you only heard/saw 40% of the show... It must be bigger than I imagined...

Thanks!

[BobMajor]

Thanks to Pez and Tyson for a very enjoyable and informative tour of RMAF. I was checking back in every few hours to follow you and greatly appreciate your efforts.

[jimdgoulding]

Pez, thanks for the beautiful and funny trip and the work it took.  That goes for Tyson, too.  And the summary, don't know how you have any energy left.

[lonewolfny42]

Crazy to hear y'all think you only heard/saw 40% of the show... It must be bigger than I imagined...

It is........that's why more of you fellows need to go...you'll have a great time, and see and hear some excellent equipment.

[AJinFLA]

First lets address the room. Maybe 30% of manufacturers use real room treatment. And no, ferns, couch pillows, or a big fat dude standing in the corner do not count as room treatment. There is a false belief among many manufacturers that their speakers are so good they shine even without treatment. Nothing could be further from the truth. almost 95% of the rooms I visited had terrible bass bloom, shoutiness at higher SPLs and a general lack of definition. All of which could be cured by real room treatment.

No self respecting audiophile would ever say that room treatment doesn't improve the sound in their system.

Hi Pez, we'll have to agree to disagree there. Wish you could have made my untreated room. My perspective is that a heavily treated room shows an alarming problem with the acoustic sources, or a preference for the sound of "stereo", rather than any semblance of the real thing. I challenge anyone who prefers that presentation to attend some live music (perhaps for the first time) with me and point out any of those stereo construct attributes. I remarked to Gary Gill at CapFest (at the band playing), that it should have been mandatory for all exhibitors to attend the live show in the lobby, not to hear john Atkinson on bass (not too shabby), but to hear real instruments for the first time, not emanating from a stereo...and point out that pinpoint/ultra precision studio construct imaging. It might be a real ear opener for many, to hear the real thing.
To each their own of course. Not going to tell you which to prefer.

That last point segues into my number one irritation of the show. There seems to be this nasty subculture of prickdom in audiophila. Especially prominent in the cost no object room. Often in these rooms you walk in and you are shushed, glared at, or ignored entirely.... And often with no cause. Their systems are commonly among the worst performers.

cheers,

AJ

[Pez]

I would like to see others that were in attendance, maybe 'reply/quote' from any given rooms original posting and give their opinions as well... I would hate to think the great coverage from Pez and Tyson is holding others back from posting their thoughts...

That is an excellent idea! I will post this in all the other threads! 

[AJinFLA]

It is........that's why more of you fellows need to go...you'll have a great time, and see and hear some excellent equipment.

Good to meet you btw. Glad you stopped in. You still left me with an excess of beer, but the pic made up for it

cheers,

AJ