Hello!
Back from RMAF - was great fun as you'd expect. Thanks to all who dropped by the display!
No pics but here are a few notes from the show:
Highlights included:
Spending time with Dave Slagle and Jeffrey Jackson - we shared the display and they had tons of fun stuff in the booth. The new field coil compression driver they are making should be awesome - the horn flare is part of the driver so you avoid the nasty transition from driver cavity to horn expansion. Also we had the Field coil Lowther (see below) along with an assortment of Dave's other autoformers and transformers - take note anyone who's tired of waiting for my step-ups that Dave can make a really fine step-up for you I am sure! Also an array of cool tubes and custom built gear from both Jeffrey and Dave. There is a small pic of the corner of the display at the bottom of this page:
http://enjoythemusic.com/rmaf_2009/friday/page2.htmDave's Web Page is here:
http://intactaudio.com/and Jeffrey Jackson's page is here:
http://jeffreywjackson.com/Other Highlights included:
The Field Coil Lowthers in the Lowther America / Pass Labs room. I may be a bit biased since Dave Slagle has made these Field Coils - but these did sound really good. I am not the worlds biggest Lowther Fan - I have owned PM2A's in the past and still have some REPS drivers in front horns I use sometimes. These sounded way better than I ever got my PM2's to sound - more even balance like the REPS and better than them at doing that spooky good immediacy thing Lowthers can do.
The new RAAL speakers. Wow..... I actually got quite emotional and was getting all teary when I saw them. Once in a very long time I see a product that is just so elegant in the way it is designed it really affects me that way. Both from an aesthetic point of view and from a speaker design point of view he just nailed it. Very cool thinking with the small drivers in the tweeter magnet assemblies that form a kind of horn for the ribbons - just amazing to have rolled all that together design wise in that elegant little satellite. Oh - and they sounded remarkable too. Since I returned home I am constantly looking at where I can sneak a pair of those into my home. They'll be around $4K with 6 channels of amp and crossovers. He's going to sell a ton of them. Did I say wow? Pic here:
http://blog.stereophile.com/rmaf2009/raal_solajas_lifestyle_bliss/Plasma Tweeters in the Acapella Horn's. I am familiar with plasma tweets from exhibiting with Lansche Speakers (
http://www.ib-lansche.de/ ) - Man they can sound good.
Danny From GR Research has some dipoles that were really fun - I think they can be had as kits and I am sure they would be great value.
One thing about having a display is you don't get time to look around at everything - so I missed tons of stuff that I am sure was fun and very good sounding......
Last but not least was meeting up with folks I had met in the past and meeting so many new people who are really having fun with things audio.
Thansk!
John
