DaveC's Best of RMAF 2012

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic. Read 8959 times.

DaveC113

  • Industry Contributor
  • Posts: 4341
  • ZenWaveAudio.com
DaveC's Best of RMAF 2012
« on: 16 Oct 2012, 08:09 pm »
I had to think about this one, the biggest issue being the fact I could listen to my own tracks in some rooms and not others. Hearing my own music also gives me a point of comparison between all the different systems I hear. I understand that rooms that are constantly crowded can't play everyone's requests unless you're a pro reviewer or serious potential customer, but IMO playing requests WITH a friendly attitude is a serious positive attribute and makes me feel welcome and not someone who is inconveniencing the people running the room. Mojo audio and Wisdom in particular had a very negative attitude when I asked to play my test tracks. Peachtree, Daedalus, Bud Fried and many others were very friendly and welcoming, and I'd like to thank you for that. I have been to RMAFs in the past where it seemed like every room was happy to play test tracks, the attitude is obviously shifting and this is something that hopefully manufacturers will do a better job accommodating in the future. I am here to see the product, but if the person running the room is rude and condescending it makes for a much poorer experience and makes me much less likely to recommend your products. BTW, I am almost 40, dress well and always ask nicely if they can play my tracks.  :green:

The tracks I chose this year are ones I presently like a lot, I want to see if the system can get me involved in the music as well as judging performance. No, I don't listen to classical music at all and I do not own a turntable.
1. Bela Fleck - A Moment So Close (Live)
2. Bonobo - Walk in the Sky
3. Thievery Corporation - Lebanese Blonde
4. Beats Antique - Daze
5. Infected Mushroom -Becoming Insane

So with that said, coming up with top picks is very difficult, and rooms I could not hear my test tracks in are much harder for me to evaluate.

Nevertheless, my top pick this year was a vinyl only room. The gear is a good value for what it does. The speakers are very efficient and feature a tuned resonant membrane inside the speaker that returns backwave energy and increases the system's efficiency. The tweeter's horn doubles as a bass port. The sound is very coherent, imaging is great. I was really skeptical about the backwave resonant membrane, but it's completely transparent and actually increases sound quality and sensitivity. Here's dc10 audio and Tektron amplifiers:

http://www.dc10audio.com/index.html
http://www.robyattaudio.com/TektronProducts.htm








Next are the Hornings. Man, these things just kicked butt. They did a great job presenting music, but maybe lacked a bit of high freq. sparkle... all the detail is there but the paper cone tweeter is very laid back. It is still better than 99% of speakers with dome tweeters. The Puresound amps were great too, making for an awesome room. I just looked up the price of the speakers, $15k... ouch.



Oh, and how can I forget Merlin, one of the best speakers made. They are very neutral, sound great on all kinds of music and don't cost a fortune. They aren't cheap, but are really a good value for the performance. These are speakers I'd actually consider owning.



Feastrex gets a mention for the incredible reproduction of vocals and acoustic instruments in simpler recordings.





There were some others I thought were good, so honorable mention to Daedalus, Legacy, GR Research, Peachtree w/ TAD speakers, Rosso Fiorentino, Voxativ, Vaughn, and probably some others I am forgetting...




reel2reel

  • Newbie
  • Posts: 1
Re: DaveC's Best of RMAF 2012
« Reply #1 on: 9 Nov 2012, 06:57 am »
I own the Berlin Studio and I have never had such detailed and real sound in my man-

cave vocals are spooky real!! keep Diana singing and the scotch flowing! I have ordered the big mama "the Instrument" I hope the big ones sound as good as the Berlin..they better they're frigging $$$ I am doing American Walnut with white gloss cabinets going to be coool!!


DaveC113

  • Industry Contributor
  • Posts: 4341
  • ZenWaveAudio.com
Re: DaveC's Best of RMAF 2012
« Reply #2 on: 21 Nov 2012, 05:50 pm »
Wow, that's a beautiful speaker! What amplification are you running with it?

dc10 is in Santa Fe, about 6 hours from me and I get down that way occasionally, I'd love to bring my own amp (EL34 SET w/ Aikido driver) and music down to check out the Briton and Berlin monitors they showed at RMAF again. And hear the Instrument even though there's no way I could afford them...  :green:

Post up some pics of your new speakers when you get them, I'd love to see them...  :thumb:

doctorcilantro

Re: DaveC's Best of RMAF 2012
« Reply #3 on: 26 Mar 2013, 06:50 am »
The Briton interests me. In these pics it seems to be using a Fostex. On the website it has a custom driver?

Are these the real deal? Did you get over to hear them at DC10? Some folks claiming these are going to have issues:

"Their cabinet will not have a flat FR curve. I will also be out-of-phase. As such, a resonating cabinet will add improper sounds to the room."

I haven't heard them, but most who do say they are incredible. Dave, can we hear more? Have you heard the Hoyt Bedfords?

cheers
« Last Edit: 26 Mar 2013, 11:02 am by doctorcilantro »

DaveC113

  • Industry Contributor
  • Posts: 4341
  • ZenWaveAudio.com
Re: DaveC's Best of RMAF 2012
« Reply #4 on: 27 Mar 2013, 02:26 am »
This was a vinyl only room, but from what I heard these are really good speakers. They may have changed driver since rmaf, IDK.

The tweeter integrates well with the fostex, xover point is on the high side if I remember right. The tweeter is a soft dome and sounds pretty neutral, much better than most dome tweeters, and it's possible the horn/port thing helps with this.

I have Omega Super 3 XRS with the latest driver and have heard the 6" alnico and 8" ferrite Omega drivers, the 8" was in older MaxHemps and is probably similar to Hoyts although I'd guess the Hoyts have newer and possibly better iteration of Omega's 8" ferrite.

I did not know about the resonator in the dc10 cabs before I heard them, and was surprised to learn they used it. You would think it would cause problems, but honestly if I heard the speakers blind and someone told me they were single drivers I would believe them... the way the tweeter and resonator integrate together with the fostex driver is seamless.

I can't really compare them to the Omegas I have heard because I couldn't play my own tracks in the dc10 room, but these and the Merlins would be one of the very few multi-way speakers under $10k I'd even consider. As far as value for the money, I don't think there is a speaker on the market that can even come close to the new Omegas with the RS5 driver... my Super 3s would compare favorably with literally any single driver speaker made regardless of price, and that includes Voxativ and Feastrex.

doctorcilantro

Re: DaveC's Best of RMAF 2012
« Reply #5 on: 27 Mar 2013, 04:25 am »
Interesting, I spoke with someone who went to RMAF and noted this room sounded so bad they didn't comment on it in their write-up (not a pro write-up). Now we all know those rooms can be tough, and it does look like they have a new driver on the Briton. Maybe those guys stepped into the wrong at the wrong time?

Would be interested if you do get down to hear the new Briton to verify what you heard at RMAF.

doctorcilantro

Re: DaveC's Best of RMAF 2012
« Reply #6 on: 28 Mar 2013, 09:16 pm »
I'm not saying these speakers aren't great but they won't answer emails nor will they answer their eBay auctions. Guess I'll call.

http://myworld.ebay.com/forte-auctions?_trksid=p2047675.l2559

David Counsell the founder of DC10audio has links to these eBay auctions all over his Facebook page. I'm not sure why they would list on eBay and Audiogon at half price.


DaveC113

  • Industry Contributor
  • Posts: 4341
  • ZenWaveAudio.com
Re: DaveC's Best of RMAF 2012
« Reply #7 on: 29 Mar 2013, 04:17 am »
I'm sure biz is slow these days, ebay is another way of gaining exposure...

you said in your 1st post most people who heard them said they sound incredible and that one guy said they didn't in your next post. Don't believe that one guy, these are definitely good speakers and the 102 dB sensitivity is really nice for those with flea power amps.