Pez and Tyson's Best of RMAF- the ultimate guide to awesomeness 2013

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic. Read 96957 times.

jhm731

It's basically performance and value vs. marketing and perception, and we're making some serious progress in the battle.

Hopefully you made lots of sales at RMAF.

Other than AC, I don't see any comments on the net about your room.

http://www.dailyaudiophile.com/

kp93300

I have been following the coverage of the show by Pez and Tyson on the other side of the globe..
I can sense the excitement of the show !

Many thanks to the two of you for the coverage

kp93300

AJinFLA

  • Industry Participant
  • Posts: 1114
  • Soundfield Audio Loudspeakers
    • Soundfield Audio
Another word of thanks for Jason and Tyson. I've known these two for over a decade now and I can say with certainty they don't kiss butt very well. They are telling you what they think, I am absolutely sure of it.

Mike, missed you on my shout out list, it was good to meet you.
I regret not being able to go see Duke/James, Danny, Ryan/Pete, Rick C etc. Would have liked to have met Klauss too, have heard his stuff locally. Ah well. Some shows allow for it, other not so much.
Maybe Axpona?

cheers,

AJ

poseidonsvoice

  • Full Member
  • Posts: 4016
  • Science is not a democracy - Earl Geddes
    • 2 channel/7 channel setup
All I keep thinking reading the coverage and show recap is what an amazing group of designers we have represented here!  It's safe to say that AC represents the best of the best, and choosing which is THE best is splitting hairs.  All of these incredible designers being under one roof is really resulting in us pushing the limits, and creating some fantastic options for customers. 

What's more, AC also has the absolute best show coverage from Tyson and Pez!  All the other 'paid' reviewers are still floundering trying to catch up, and what has been posted is nowhere near as insightful. 

It was a challenging show for us in many respects, but receiving the accolades made it all worthwhile ... and then some!  Normally at shows I get out of the room and say hi to all the AC'ers in addition to seeing some rooms, but my apologies this time for not being able.  It was non-stop problems in our room, that plus being at the Hyatt kept me pretty much locked in the room.  I really wish I could have heard some of these other amazing rooms  :(

Keep up the good work everybody!  It's basically performance and value vs. marketing and perception, and we're making some serious progress in the battle.

+ 100.

My favorite rooms (in no particular order) were: Vapor Nimbus, AudioKinesis LCS, TAD. There were a few others, but those 3 stood out judging by how long I spent in them  :thumb:

Very enjoyable.

Thanks,

Anand.

dminches

Chicago AXPONA not currently scheduled.  Looks like next Dream Maker LCS showing is T.H.E. Show, Newport Beach, CA, 30 May-2 June 2014.

AXPONA is scheduled for 4/25-4/27, I believe.


James Romeyn

  • Industry Participant
  • Posts: 3329
  • James Romeyn Music and Audio, LLC
    • James Romeyn Music and Audio, LLC
AXPONA is scheduled for 4/25-4/27, I believe.

Thank you, friend!  I meant we're not currently scheduled to attend...my bad!  I'd sure love to though! 

bpape

  • Industry Participant
  • Posts: 4465
  • I am serious and don't call my Shirley
    • Sensible Sound Solutions
We'd like to thank our great partners at RMAF - Klaus and Alex from Odyssey along with Ryan and Pete from Vapor Audio.  It's always a pleasure to work with people who are passionate about music and at the same time, offer outstanding performance at real world prices. 

I have had several people ask about the list of what was in the Odyssey room in terms of GIK products.  I've put the list in our circle here

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=120589.msg1268134#msg1268134

Thanks to all who stopped by both rooms. It makes all the hard work worth it.

Bryan

Jeffrey Hedback

  • Industry Participant
  • Posts: 105
  • Acoustical Design & Consulting
    • Acoustical Design & Consulting
and to Bryan/GIK,
That is such a wise approach of acoustic muscle and finesse (referring to the products and locations).  Great stuff

AlexG

  • Industry Participant
  • Posts: 223
Hey Jason and Tyson,

Just incredible...thanks again for picking the Odyssey/GIK room in conjunction with other "great company" as top of this year RMAF with Three Stars!!  :thumb:

While we work very hard every year to achieve the best we can do and believe me is not easy, we LOVE this show - and all the people involved that always include new faces, and the desire to listen and experience the emotion obtained in listening to good music.

I say it before and I will say it again..."you don't need to spend a fortune in equipment" to enjoy listening to music! This is Klaus and our objective and will remain this way for years to come.

Also and very important...were are absolutely sold in using "room acoustics"! We would never even come close to the complete synergy we had without room treatments. Thanks a bunch to Glenn, Bryan and the rest at GIK - you rock!

I like to thank all the AC's bunch (nuts) and everyone else that stopped by the Odyssey/GIK room this year.

All the best to everyone.

Alex

 

roscoeiii

Chicago AXPONA not currently scheduled.  Looks like next Dream Maker LCS showing is T.H.E. Show, Newport Beach, CA, 30 May-2 June 2014.

Sad to hear. I was really hoping to get a chance to hear 'em here. Guess I will have to add RMAF to the calendar for next yr...

Eugene2

  • Jr. Member
  • Posts: 132
Great report, I enjoyed many rooms, I have to agree the rooms that caught my attention were Vapor, both systems despite problems with the electronics on the Joule system.  I thought the sound was simply amazing especially at their price point.  Odyssey/GIK Klaus is a genius and comical.  I was simply astounded by the sound of the Final Pandora Headphones and AK120.  Grimm Audio and Lawrence Audio rooms were excellent also..  Best of the best for me were Vapor Audio and Odyssey I just felt they sounded more like music especially under show conditions.
Headphones I enjoyed were Final Pandora, IFI's stack, JH Audio and Cardas. :thumb:

SlushPuppy

And we do try to focus on the smaller guys if possible.  I mean really, this show is one of the few shows that a lot of the smaller guys go to.  And people want us to hit Dynaudio or Wilson?  They are already available for demo in every major city in the country.  IMO, it's an absolute waste of time to put our focus there.

You guys do a great job. Don't change a thing.

audioengr

For what it's worth, the Wilson demo was fairly impressive on several fronts, many having to do with the people involved as much as the gear.  I've definitely heard Wilson systems that I didn't care for, but this wasn't one of them.  (And the fact that I will never be able to afford the system displayed did nothing to diminish my enjoyment of the demo.)  David Wilson flew to Denver in July to scout out possible rooms, performed acoustic measurements of the room in which they ultimately demoed, and selected the system to match.  The intent was to bring a system that they felt highlighted the limits of what is possible the realm of audio reproduction, and to that end they chose to play select songs intended to spotlight particular areas of focus (sound stage, imaging, etc.), rather than open it up to walk-in music.  Some of the selections were recorded by David Wilson himself, which are starting to get released again.  The U.S. Air Force wind band piece recorded in the late 70s I enjoyed in particular, and the conductor was actually in the audience later that day.  During the session that I attended, the audience included John Curl, who designed one of the microphone pre-amps used in some of the recordings as well as the Parasound amps used to drive the subs, and 3 different recording engineers.  (They were rather notable ones from what I've been told, though I don't know the profession well enough to judge myself.)

There were positives and negatives to the scheduled, fixed demo approach they selected.  To be frank, I was slightly annoyed that they were running late, as I felt that they should keep to their schedule if that was their chosen format.  In addition, had I actually been looking to buy, I definitely would have been frustrated at the inability to play my own music, though I suspect some accommodation could have been made had that actually been the case.  As it was, I was happy to be exposed to several new high quality recordings that I hadn't heard, and on a system that was certainly impressive even if it might not be everyone's personal choice.  The biggest benefit in my mind, however, was that I could actually hear the music.  No one was talking during the demo when the music was playing.  Perhaps T&P didn't have to worry about that thanks to their press badge, but I can't tell you how many rooms I walked out of during the show because the room proprietors, much less visitors, were talking over the music.  And besides enjoying the music, the experience was further accented by the chance to talk to some of these long-time audiophiles to learn of their rather interesting audio journeys from within the business.  (Despite Wilson's current success, for example, I found it interesting to learn that the company was surviving at one point thanks solely to having its costs spread across 17 credit cards.  I'm no more or less likely to buy a speaker because of this, but I do admire perseverance.)

For what it's worth, I enjoyed some of the recordings in the IsoMike room as well, which was also not accepting walk-in music.  (Though I would have enjoyed demoing the DAC2X they were using...)

For perspective, I went to the show to meet both new and old friends and wander where my interests took me.  I had only a small number of "target" rooms, and the rest were opportunistic.  TAD, Marten, Bryston, Emerald Physics, GR, Daedalus, AudioKinesis, Vapor and Odyssey were all on my hit list, for example, whereas Wilson initially wasn't.  Those rooms covered everything from the modest to the mega-buck.  I wasn't researching any specific gear besides room treatments and the occasional DAC, and I wasn't looking to buy, so I wasn't carrying music and didn't have specific demands or expectations of the vendors.  I'm always interested in what sounds good, however, and if the approach leans in a different direction than my current philosophy, then I consider that exciting and a chance to learn.  This made for a fun, relaxing weekend.

Take it for what you will...

I was annoyed that they wanted the Vapor room next door to not play ANY MUSIC AT ALL :scratch:

I think they really believe they are the music gods and the music police too.

dBe

  • Industry Participant
  • Posts: 2181
    • PI audio group, LLC
I was annoyed that they wanted the Vapor room next door to not play ANY MUSIC AT ALL :scratch:

I think they really believe they are the music gods.
They were not very friendly last year either.  Too bad they believe they hung the moon.  Personally I hear/see their gear as sterile, uninvolving and ugly.

Just me, I guess.

Dave

Triode Pete

  • Industry Contributor
  • Posts: 1424
  • www.TriodeWireLabs.com
    • Triode Wire Labs - Affordable Audiophile Cables
Thanks Pez & Tyson... you guys did an awesome job (again)!

I do think the sound quality, in general, was way up compared to last year...

Good seeing everyone from last year plus it was great to finally meet Mike Galusha!

When I briefly went over to the Hyatt (where I was staying) during lunchtime, the Vapor Room sounded really good with the Arte Forme tube amps... During the demo, I did hear a few "sonic booms" crossing over from the Wind River (Wilson) room. Cool thing about the Vapor Room is that everything looked very expensive in terms of build quality & sonic attributes but was merely a fraction of the cost of the components next door!

The Scaena speakers in their glorious chrome sounded good too...

Tried to get in the Wilson room but it was locked... I did sneak a piece of the exotic chocolate they were handing out... so be it!

Hopefully see some of you in Chicago (Axpona) in April!

Cheers,
Pete

Vapor Audio

  • Industry Participant
  • Posts: 2023
  • Building Audio Bling since 2007
    • Vapor Audio
I was annoyed that they wanted the Vapor room next door to not play ANY MUSIC AT ALL :scratch:

I think they really believe they are the music gods and the music police too.

Seriously?  I didn't hear that ... wish I'd have known, we had plenty more volume we could have given it  :icon_twisted:

Pete Schumacher

  • Industry Participant
  • Posts: 591
  • It's all in the pursuit
    • Vapor Audio
Seriously?  I didn't hear that ... wish I'd have known, we had plenty more volume we could have given it  :icon_twisted:

Indeed.  I believe it was Wilson's daughter who showed up as we were setting up, either Thursday night or Friday morning, and asked if we were going to be playing music.  She sounded genuinely concerned that we'd pollute their rarefied air.  They thought our room was only for static displays! 

TomS

Perhaps you should have politely asked her to pay hush money for your exhibit room and all related show expenses. Take the cash and fly a few serious prospects back home instead and not have to deal with that kind of nonsense  :green:

Vapor Audio

  • Industry Participant
  • Posts: 2023
  • Building Audio Bling since 2007
    • Vapor Audio
Perhaps you should have politely asked her to pay hush money for your exhibit room and all related show expenses. Take the cash and fly a few serious prospects back home instead and not have to deal with that kind of nonsense  :green:

... speaking of which, we'd love to have you here  :D  Guest room is always available. 

jhm731

They were not very friendly last year either.  Too bad they believe they hung the moon.  Personally I hear/see their gear as sterile, uninvolving and ugly.

Just me, I guess.

Dave

Yes, it's just you.