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Also, I was really surprised at how many people would walk into a room, LOOK at the gear and just walk out, never listening to a note. I swear it struck me as the strangest thing. In any room I visited there would be 5 people in 30 minutes who did this - at least. I guess their expectations weren't met when they LOOKED at the gear. Weird. At least to me. I would just ask what was up and at least listen for a while.
AB - so are you the guy who brought his wife on Sunday? Or am I thinking of the wrong person? It definately did change sound all on it's own from day to day, every component had something that was still breaking in. I'm still shocked at how well those $1 per watt amps sounded. Maybe next year we'll just stick them in some massive case with lots of polished brass and bolt heads
Here's my take on the show:General Impressions: A mix of old and new technologies: squeezebox vs analog turntables and tape decks. There were quite a few turntables at the show. Analog is making a minor comeback. There were even two or three reel-to-reel tape decks. A lot of rooms were using a stock or modified squeezebox as the source. Generally, the sound quality was better than the CES, T.H.E. show, and Stereophile shows that I attended in past years. There were some unusual designs, especially with loudspeakers. Many loudspeaker cabinets were clad in exotic and expensive wood veneers, and the finishes on most of these were exquisite. I didn’t have enough time to experience every room (estimate 80% of exhibits), but of the rooms I attended there were nine or ten systems that stood out for me. I have and have had both tube and solid state equipment. My audio preference/taste tends to be slightly warm of neutral tonally, but at the same time enjoying good detail and resolution. The reader should bear that in mind when reading my comments that follow. Very Expensive: The system that “rocked my boat” the most was Swiss Da-Vinci electronics driving Scottish A.R.T. loudspeakers, imported by the Tangram audio group. Listening to CDs, what I heard was an absence of digital glare and electronic artifact that I normally experience in almost all digital playback equipment to a lesser or greater degree. While that in itself is commendable for the listener who likes the “analog sound,” what sold me was the amount of detail and resolution I was hearing from track after track of the demos I played. The system blended warmth and musicality, with enough resolution and detail, to recreate a presentation that I was listening to the performer(s) live, and not an electronic device. I played “Labour of Love” by Frente (Angie Hart), and “Falling or Flying” by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, and “Wheels on Fire” by the Magic Numbers. All three vocals sounded as real as I have ever heard them. Ed Cramer (fellow Acer) played a Dayna Kurtz and Noah Jones duet, and a Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds song and had the same reaction. The Da-Vinci turntable produced equally satisfying results. Expensive: To my ears, two other systems sounded top-notch: 1) the Merlin loudspeakers, Joule Electra electronics and Cardas cable room; 2) Avalon loudspeakers, VTL electronics, and Cardas cable room. They both gave a more hi-fi presentation than the Da-Vinci/ART system but both systems were still a thoroughly enjoyable listening experience. The Merlin/Joule/Cardas combo was slightly closer to neutral than the Avalon/VTL combo. Both Ed and I played the same songs that we used in the Da-Vinci/ART system. The Audio Notekit room was closely behind these two systems, and had the best dynamic range of any system at the show. I played the first four minutes of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No.23 (Appassionata), performed by Mari Kodama, which has the greatest dynamics (from soft to loud) of any cd in my collection. I almost fell out of my seat when it went from very soft to extremely loud. I’ve never heard a greater dynamic difference before in any system. Vocals were not as real sounding as the previously mentioned systems though still very nice. Relatively Expensive: There were several very nice sounding systems: 1) Roberts Acoustics/Vincent electronics had great punch and bass impact, great with the rock selections Ed and I played. 2) ACI/Korato/GIK/DH Labs room had a well balanced and musical sound. Very engaging sound. 3) Selah Audio/Moon Audio had extremely good treble and mid-range. Vocals sounded great generally, except for an occasional slight brightness. I think the room cause that though. 4) VMPS/Boulder Cable/GIK room sounded similar to the ACI/Korato room. Well balanced and engaging sound. There were a few other rooms that sounded really nice but I forgot to take notes: Salk/Van Alstine , Studio Electric/Benchmark Media, Triode Corp. Affordable: Virtue, the $249 Model One amp is a great value. Jolida had a reel-to-reel deck and played The Doors, “The End” which sounded great with their equipment. Grant Fidelity had good and musical sounding equipment in their room. The most disappointing system/component: Kef Muon loudspeaker. It sounded bland no matter what music was played. Maybe the room was too small for such a large speaker. I don’t know. I had heard a smaller Kef speaker at the NYC Stereophile two years ago, and I thought it was one of the best speakers at that show. The most unusual: Evanui Signature loudspeaker by Yokohama Baysidenet. ET has landed. The sound was okay, but I didn’t hear any real bass. This is not surprising since only a single 3” driver is used without a surround and housed in a bowling pin shape cabinet. For $60,000 though, I want bass! Workmanship is top notch. It looks like it takes many labor hours to construct the cabinet. Paul
Physicist Jack Bybee of Bybee Technologies has now licensed his quantum purification nanocarbon technology to David Caplan's new company, Bybee Wire. Distributed by Laufer Teknik, the new Bybee Wire cables and power purifier include Bybee devices that clean up quantum mechanical noise at the sub-atomic level. To these ears, the Bybee products made the happiest sound in the Tweek Geek room. There, Analysis Audio Omega speakers ($22,000/pair), which actually needed more room to breathe than the room allowed, Modwright SWL 9.0 preamp ($2500), Spectron Musician 3 Mk.II monoblock amplifiers ($7195 each), Bybee Wire AC Conditioner ($4500) and two AC cords ($2995 each), Stereovox Reference interconnect ($1995), and Elrod Remote Sense speaker cable ($1500) produced impressive full range orchestral sound that was very fast and clear. It also produced wonderful clarity (if not the most detailed presentation) on vocals. The system was silent enough to easily reveal differences in recording technique on recent CDs by two exceptional male choral groups: Chanticleer's wonderful new Mission Road, and Cantus' John Atkinson-engineered There Lies Home. Need I say which recording won the engineering award?
According to Mike Garner, it was actually my (as yet unnamed) $799 power cords with integral power conditioner that powered those Spectron amps.Everybody knows that Kaplans with a 'K' are far superior to Caplans with a 'C'.Regards,Paul (Kaplan with a K)
Yep, your cords were feeding the Spectron amps and I'm sure they were helping them to perform their best. I figured you could name them Occam's Lazer - The power cord that set's your AC straight. I should have tried on the source, maybe I can convince Mike to bring one over. mike
Quote from: TurboFC3S on 15 Oct 2008, 05:56 pmAB - so are you the guy who brought his wife on Sunday? Or am I thinking of the wrong person? It definately did change sound all on it's own from day to day, every component had something that was still breaking in. I'm still shocked at how well those $1 per watt amps sounded. Maybe next year we'll just stick them in some massive case with lots of polished brass and bolt heads That was me, probably. Not many wives around the Marriot during Audiofest. And your room will forever be remembered as the room "with the candle".
According to Mike Garner, it was actually my (as yet unnamed) $799 power cords with integral power conditioner that powered those Spectron amps.
QuoteRethm Saadhana: I was really looking forward to these speakers but something was off in the room when I was there. I must have been the room as the bass was flabby. With mushy bass, the mids and highs just don't click in. I would love to have heard these in a better room. They are not as big as I envisioned. Just curious when you heard these speakers. There was an issue early on but was taken care and the system really came around. This was one of the rooms in which our Musica Bella Purity preamp debuted in.
Rethm Saadhana: I was really looking forward to these speakers but something was off in the room when I was there. I must have been the room as the bass was flabby. With mushy bass, the mids and highs just don't click in. I would love to have heard these in a better room. They are not as big as I envisioned.
Mike,Wow! That's a great name. May I please use it?Mike Garner hasn't had a chance to evaluate the source version of the cord/conditioner yet (the one with the fuse). I think you'd like them. The most frustrating part of this whole process of developing a conditioner, has been the realization of how much of an impact the cord and connectors have, regardless of how effective the conditioner may be. After many an hour of evaluations and experimentation, I found a combination that not only gave (IMO, as well as among others) a lower total end user price as well as better performance than other alternatives. I'm considering offering the cords without the built in conditioner for those components that actually deal with conditioning issues internally, like my CAT preamp and your modded DCX9624.Occam's Lazer Dang, I like that!
I spokw with Wes yesterday about his Hansen show experience. I haven't seen much discussion here about the sound in that room. Stereophile had a picture (with big Wes standing there looking like a bass trap) and a great sound comment that was buried in the many pages of coverage on their website. Wes thought they may have been overshadowed because the big Clearaudio TT and Focus speakers were in the room next to him. So, any comments on the Hansens?Bob
Hi gang, i had the privilege to stop by the b-p-t room two days in a row with extended listen on each. day one impression.: the first thing i noticed was the clarity and accuracy of the raal ribbon. this is the first time i can say that i heard high that were extremely detailed and yet non-fatiguing. i felt the mid-high blend and transition was not clicking,and i wanted a touch more juicy/warmth but there was a good overall tonality. ryan already heard my take at the show so this is no surprise to him. i did fall in love with the midbass. it matched my cd pretty well. when i played tonal bass (upright, acoustic, percussion) there was no problem. when i played the lows it did not bottom out but it rolled off and grcefully showed it's limits. it did have an ability to pop you with it's impact . that was good. so day one was about an 8 out of 10 due to the midhigh issiues i mentioned earlier.day two. all the previously mentioned good parts, were there. and then the warmth and mid/highs seamlessness locked in. a little change like that made the sound more lifelike and enjoyable. break-in can make a big diff. then they also addd the subs from the other system. then i felt like it was money. it scored a 12 out of 10 because it just gotme in my goodspot. if it ain't broke then don't try to fix it. good job ryan and chris.
Hey Steve, thanks so much for posting your thoughts! And it was a pleasure meeting you at the show. We didn't know each other before the show, but I'm honored to have earned you as a fan. That day 1, I remember it well ... we talked down in the lobby afterward and you said to me "that midrange just wasn't happening". That struck me as strange since I just wasn't hearing what you were. But then day 2 I came into the room and it was very different sounding, V-Caps all over the place and other stuff breaking in will do that! After about the first 30 minutes of listening day 2 it was apparent how much more body and richness there was. And it really didn't hit me till you came back later that day and said how much better it was, but I thought to myself "that dude's got some good ears". Seriously my man, come over anytime and help me voice stuff out!
