[Tyson]

OK, starting Saturday in the ballroom area where Headspace (ie, canjam) is held this year.  Holy crap did I mention this place is huge?  Look at the size of the lighting.  Jesus! 










My favorite sounding headphone amp at RMAF.  I asked the vendor who made it and he said (I kid you not) "Some guy named Glenn".  Hahaha, only at RMAF!
Pez: I missed hearing this but I did get the opportunity to gawk at them. The ZMF table was a hot spot this year for sure. Lots of options and a great group of folks who work for ZMF. Nice to meet Zach and Rennick.



Walking outside of the Headspace ballroom, this is what the damn hallway looks like - HUGE!!!







Attendance was actually pretty good - many rooms had standing room only. 








I don't remember the name of this room or these speakers, but I had to post this pic because they are so crazy big - Jason is 6'2" to give you an idea of the scale.
I don't know why I always do this... I have to check out the back of a speaker... Every damn time. People always give me this befuddled look afterward. Any way, these one's had terminals on the back, I verified it.








Sonus Faber - nobody can do beautiful finishes quite like these guys.  Just stunning in person.
Sonus is second to none when it comes to the sheer beauty of their cabinet design. Just gorgeous wood work and metal work. A+++








And you can't have an RMAF without an absolutely over the top reel-to-reel player.








One of our favorite rooms today - if you sat 20 feet back from them, they sounded absolutely incredible.  Fast, dynamic, transparent, adjectives fail.  Oh yeah, check out their ALL DUELUND crossovers!  These things were massive.  Massive:
Dancing the go go. Man this room rocked. I really enjoyed the gear and the avant-garde design of the Dueland pancake stack passive crossovers... Yummy!!!!











Stunning, art-deco like magnetic planar speakers from Alsyvox.  Sound was good, but the real story here was they made planar speakers actually look sexy!
Another Great room. I think by this time Tyson and I were on amazing room overload. Simply awesome sound and incredible gear!









A 360 setup from (oh shit I forgot their name).  Not just 360 on a single plane, but also higher/lower too.  Not circular sound, spherical sound.  It was like IMAX, but for your ears.  Very, very cool room.










At last, a big system that sounds as impressive as it looks.  One of the very best rooms at RMAF this year.  For such big speakers, the didn't do only big/bruiser sound, they also were very graceful.  Maybe the surprise room / discovery for this year. 
Of all the big budget systems this year, this on took the cake. A speaker that Emperor Palpatine could be proud of, coupled with sound that was surprisingly delicate and nuanced.








Sexy.








Sexy!!!  lol, j/k.
I stole the show.... What can I say! I'm waiting for my royalty check/free gear from Boulder...









Its amazing how many outright physically imposing speakers were at RMAF this year.  I call these the "Darth Vaders", because these are undoubtedly the choice of Sith lords. 
The Empire would be proud this day. These speakers fucking rocked too! Big rooms really performed well this year. A+!










I don't think I've ever seen line arrays like this.  It's a tweeter/mid/bass setup in dual planes.  Crazy.
DAYUM!!! Dynamic as hell! And not just scale, but instantaneous dynamics from no where.









MC Audiotech room.  My favorite at the show.  Planar Magnetic drivers from 100hz to 20kz, then DUAL 18" woofers per side for everything below 100hz.  And all open baffle.  Really big, really beautiful sound from this room. 
I'm gonna have to disagree with Tyson on this one. For me, this room was merely ok. I just didn't connect with the soul of the sound. Did very little for me.









Coolest turntable I saw all show.









Last year I heard the Forte III with Mumps technology, liked them so much that I bought a pair for my 2nd system.  This year, the Cornwall had the same Mumps midrange update for the IV version.  Honestly, a little disappointing.  I actually think I like the Forte III better. 
I think the Cornwalls go a bit too far into that classical horn sound. Sort of unbalanced and can be a bit shouty. Pretty much exactly what I normally expect from Klipsch.









Better sounding than usual, but still un-engaging sound, IMO.  Still needed to post the pic because they look like sculpted pieces of art, which I love. 
Another Sith Lord speaker. Except this one is dark and nasty. Dry, brittle, un-involving, like a stale cracker.








For some reason Jason flipped off these speakers.
That's actually for you buddy! Glad I could help!









Vinnie Rossi room, always one of the very best rooms at RMAF.  I'd say it was the 2nd best room today, for me. 
OK easily one of my top favorites as usual. This room was sonically different that every other year for Vinnie because the the QLM speakers. Loved the integrated amp and the way everything sounded. And as usual, seeing Vinnie was a treat.









Final room today was the "Whole System for $500" from the Colorado Audio Society.  Powered speakers, $300 for the kit from Parts express.  Lamp cord for cables.  iPhone for source.  $200 mini tube preamp.  Sound that was WAAAAAYYYYY better than it had any right to be. 
Parts Express and an Smart phone... How can you go wrong? Very well done Colorado Audio Society!

[brj]

Those first speakers were in the Sonus Faber room and were part of their reference line - the SE17, I believe.

The 360 degree sound room was affiliated with the University of Colorado.

[ArthurDent]

Cool. Thanks Gents for sharing. 

[Russell Dawkins]

The 360 degree sound room was affiliated with the University of Colorado.

And the speakers appear to be JBL 305P or 306P Mk IIs.

[Nick77]

YeAh there back, thanks guys!   

[Jonathon Janusz]

Thanks for cruising through the show again and sharing, guys!

Assuming RMAF settles in for the long haul at this venue, on one hand I see how it could be a lot harder for companies to put together rooms with great sound, considering as big as the spaces in the venue are, how much bigger/more of everything as far as room treatment goes companies might need to invest in so that the rooms don't sound like caverns.  On the other hand, it looks like this venue is actually big enough with enough big spaces to be had that the ultra-mega-buck guys with the huge speakers finally have an honest chance to have those speakers do their thing well.  For all the six and seven-figure brands that every year got caught in the trap of way too big of speakers in a tiny room, trying to market that gear to people who have that kind of coin to spend, they all now have a chance to be able to set up a room fitting and comparable to the dedicated listening mansions their products are intended to be in.

For everybody else... well... at least it looks like most of the furniture in the sleeping rooms isn't bolted to the walls anymore. 

It was cool to see the new Cornwall - I was wondering how long it was going to take them to bring that midrange horn and 15" woofer combo in to the consumer line, as they've had a couple similar models in the commercial line for a while now.  I also wonder why they didn't package it in the Chorus cabinet rather than the Cornwall though, as that midrange seems a bit wide a departure from the core tenants of how Klipsch has said in the past on their forums they intended to maintain the spirit of the original PWK designs trying to keep them as close to the originals as possible.  Cool to see nonetheless.

Also, from the pictures floating around on AC so far, I have to tip my hat to Bryston.  They look like they're showing an active speaker setup that I think finally looks like something the average (for around here) modest audiophile used to seeing/using a traditional passive setup (or the average consumer looking to dip in to the audiophile hobby) would put in their living room.  I don't know if the sweet spot is really as wide as the couch in their room pictures, but theirs looks like a tidy, inviting little setup.

[witchdoctor]

That 360 setup looks just like my media room, any other info on the vendor?

[Cappy]

Tyson and Pez,

I went to the first RMAF, but haven't been back since, so I look forward to your coverage every year.  Thanks guys!

Maybe I missed the reference, but what are the speakers referred to in the post above:

"At last, a big system that sounds as impressive as it looks.  One of the very best rooms at RMAF this year.  For such big speakers, the didn't do only big/bruiser sound, they also were very graceful.  Maybe the surprise room / discovery for this year."

[Bill Baker]

Can't wait to go through all the coverage of the show. Thanks for continuing coverage Tyson and Pez. Wish I was there.

[FullRangeMan]

Fantastique photos, thanks for all the effort in this job

[Mike B.]

Excellent. I was worried after you announced your retirement from doing your reports. Nice you reconsidered and did it again.

[Pez]

 
Hang on to your asses and grab some popcorn. We’re performing more feats of sheer will and inhuman strength. 

[Pez]

Those first speakers were in the Sonus Faber room and were part of their reference line - the SE17, I believe.

The 360 degree sound room was affiliated with the University of Colorado.

It’s University of Denver I can’t recall the name of the company along with them. Here’s a fun pano I did of the room.

[SlushPuppy]

Thanks for the coverage!

[dminches]

My favorite sounding headphone amp at RMAF.  I asked the vendor who made it and he said (I kid you not) "Some guy named Glenn".  Hahaha, only at RMAF!

His headphone amps are amazing.

[Rusty Jefferson]

His headphone amps are amazing.

Whose headphone amps?

[dminches]

Whose headphone amps?

Glenn Rechnitzer.  You can find him on the head-fi thread 2359glenn.

[SteveFord]

Glad to see this continuing.
I always felt that your coverage was the highlight of the year here on AC.

[Tyson]

Tyson and Pez,

I went to the first RMAF, but haven't been back since, so I look forward to your coverage every year.  Thanks guys!

Maybe I missed the reference, but what are the speakers referred to in the post above:

"At last, a big system that sounds as impressive as it looks.  One of the very best rooms at RMAF this year.  For such big speakers, the didn't do only big/bruiser sound, they also were very graceful.  Maybe the surprise room / discovery for this year."

The company was Sigma Acoustics, it was the MAAT Vector XAC Loudspeakers (jesus christ, where do these hifi people come up with these names).

[FullRangeMan]

His headphone amps are amazing.

What Telefunken diode is that?