[Cacophonix]

AJ,

Do you have the song list from the CD you were playing on saturday when i came by? I think you mentioned that it was a NY rave compilation CD ...

[AJinFLA]

Andre, nice meeting you. Easy to tell who you were by the pic .

Rajiv, a couple cuts were from the NY Rave 2006 & 2007 discs (on my HD of course).
Got them (+2008 & 09) from Lonewolf @ RMAF (thanks!).
Tracks you heard were probably Wynton Marsalis - "Feeling of Jazz" (Diane Reeves), Gordon Goodwins Big Phat Band - "Sing Sang Sung" & Olive - "Indulge Me". Might have thrown in some Klazz Bros & Arturo Sandoval. Can't recall.

cheers,

AJ

[sebrof]

If they are designed to be flat in a particular room, then heaven help you when you go to another room! ... and these guys have some special voodoo if they can design the speaker so that the room doesn't have resonance or detrimental reflections.  I have a hard time with that. 

Not to say they were designed to be flat in any particular room, just that they were designed to interact less with any room.
The rep showed me that the big drivers on top and bottom are actually 2 drivers (I believe the same drivers, not sure) nested inside each other. Something about how the rear wave cancels and the forward waves add or something like that. Anyway, I put my head behind the speaker while it was playing pretty loud and there was almost no music back there. That's what I was referring to.
The other thing to remember about these speakers is that there's a lot of electronics built in - Amp, some sort of processors, stuff like that. So compared to other brands of speakers $20K seemes very reasonable price-wise, assuming of course you like them in the first place.

[Cacophonix]

Thanks, AJ.

Chris was kind enough to PM me when he saw my question 

[Blooze]

This show has potential, but needs a strong driving force, behind it. Poor promotion is not a good starting point. At least it was a better turnout, than last year.

It always has had more potential, but is kept purposely smaller than some of the other shows.  Real promotion costs real dollars, which in turn costs people to attend in the form of fees as either a vendor or attendee, which has always been the opposite of why the show was formed ( I've been going since before it was in Dallas as well as have been on the steering committee for several years--in fact, the show would have ceased to exist several years ago if I had not volunteered to do it).  Self promotion is the motto of the show and interested vendors are told this from the get-go.  No other show let's you demo your wares, whether as a full fledged company or a DIY for nothing more than your travel and room costs.  Most of the people setting up have been doing it for many years, so it's more of a "family" get together with a few new cousins showing up every year.

On another note, I'm glad the turnout was improved this year and would like to personally see the show with about 35-40 vendors.  Not to big to be impossible to hear everything in two days and still small enough to let the little guy and DIY get heard.  I usually prefer the DIY side of everything because it appeals to my sensibilities and wallet.   Sounds like everyone had a lot of fun and I'm sorry I missed it this year, but those damn kids and their college tuition bills keep cutting into my fun money!!

[sebrof]

It always has had more potential, but is kept purposely smaller than some of the other shows...

This year was my 3rd consecutive attendance. I haven't been to bigger shows.
More than a few times I have heard someone at the LSAF comment on how much more laid back, friendly and in many ways more enjoyable LSAF is than the bigger shows because of the way it's set up. In a lot of rooms you're offered a beer and asked if you brought any music. I have never been denied a request to play a song at LSAF, the exhibitors are more than happy to play what people want. I have heard this isn't always the case at RMAF et al. I have experienced more stuffy attitudes in dealer showrooms than I ever have at LSAF.
Thanks Blooze for helping to keep this fest going.

[Jocko Homo]

It always has had more potential, but is kept purposely smaller than some of the other shows.  Real promotion costs real dollars, which in turn costs people to attend in the form of fees as either a vendor or attendee, which has always been the opposite of why the show was formed ( I've been going since before it was in Dallas as well as have been on the steering committee for several years--in fact, the show would have ceased to exist several years ago if I had not volunteered to do it).  Self promotion is the motto of the show and interested vendors are told this from the get-go.  No other show let's you demo your wares, whether as a full fledged company or a DIY for nothing more than your travel and room costs.  Most of the people setting up have been doing it for many years, so it's more of a "family" get together with a few new cousins showing up every year.

I get all of that. The problem is, when Danny (GR) is not there, the show is a dud. Other than Wayne (Pi), there are no exhibiting manufacturers, with a noticeable following, on the forums. So, outside of those 2 guys, there is no promotion. Look at the number of posts, in this section, compared to those in Danny's section. And the difference, in turnout, this year compared to last year.

Seriously, I think you guys should consider promoting this as more of a DIY affair, than something akin to RMAF (but with a more laid back atmosphere.) If you want more commercial exhibitors, I wonder how many small mom-and-pop hi-end companies are within 8 hours drive, from Dallas? I wonder how many the organizers have contacted? If you don't reach out to them, how are they supposed to know about it? Certainly not from reading about it here.

Come to think of it, there were some DIY outfits, that did not come back, from last year. $200, and $4 gasoline, is a bit much, for someone to just come, and "hang out". Especially if your last memory is the 2011 version.

[Andre2]

this was my first time at LSAF.  But, there were many manufacturers at Dallas in addition to GR, just check all the photos.  We had Legacy, Ravem, Pi group, Audiofield, Paolo, high fidelity cables, oddwatt audio,  stereo clarity, vanzyl audio, polkaudio, crescendo, etc...

http://lonestaraudiofest.com/exhibitors.html

[Blooze]

I get all of that. The problem is, when Danny (GR) is not there, the show is a dud. Other than Wayne (Pi), there are no exhibiting manufacturers, with a noticeable following, on the forums. So, outside of those 2 guys, there is no promotion. Look at the number of posts, in this section, compared to those in Danny's section. And the difference, in turnout, this year compared to last year.

Seriously, I think you guys should consider promoting this as more of a DIY affair, than something akin to RMAF (but with a more laid back atmosphere.) If you want more commercial exhibitors, I wonder how many small mom-and-pop hi-end companies are within 8 hours drive, from Dallas? I wonder how many the organizers have contacted? If you don't reach out to them, how are they supposed to know about it? Certainly not from reading about it here.

Come to think of it, there were some DIY outfits, that did not come back, from last year. $200, and $4 gasoline, is a bit much, for someone to just come, and "hang out". Especially if your last memory is the 2011 version.

Well, your opinion of course.  If you think that the show revolves around whether Danny is there then you've missed the spirit of the show.  Danny's stuff sounds very good, but IMO I've heard better there.  Not everyone thinks that Danny's stuff is the best..look at the Polk forums as I'm sure they thought the Polk stuff was the best    Personally I've liked Kim's electrostats, the Altec's that John Busch occasionally brings, Jim Griffen's arrays, Duke's DreamMaker's, and the horns from Classic Audio with the field coils better than any others through the years. There are usually quite a handful of small mom n' pop companies as Andre2 listed some above.  The 2011 version was by far not the smallest one that has happened.  And you're assuming that the only people who would go to LSAF would read about it here.  There are many other audio forums out there.  To put actual ads on a lot of them you have to shell out the $$$, it's been done before, to no better response.  To have a truly bigger show,someone has to write a check for the rooms, before anyone commits to coming, as well as writing the check for the adverts, etc...I've talked to other show promoters and they've all told me the same thing...they write a check with a lot of zeros and hope people come and are willing to pay an entry fee, because you'll have to charge one at that point.  Wayne got shafted the for the cost of the remainder of rooms in the "reserved" block one year ( the economy tanked that year and no one was traveling or showing at the smaller fests)  and it hasn't been done that way since.  It's hard to come up with $3-4K to pay for unused rooms when you're just an average Joe.

Trust me, the contact list for asking companies to come is extensive (100's).  I've done it before, hundreds of emails, follow-up emails, and phone calls (when needed).  Big companies don't want to waste money coming to a small show with little chance of selling anything, and small companies are cash strapped many times, but you keep asking up till the hotel special rate expires.

I've been to the bigger shows, the gear is incredible to listen to and see, and the crowds are thick and annoying to the point that most of the time I couldn't actually listen well to the rig.  I can walk into any room at LSAF and they will play any music I want and people move to let you in the sweet spot so you can hear your song.  Half the time at RMAF I couldn't get past the doorway.

What I suggest is that anyone that wants to make it a bigger, better show get in contact with Wayne or Fred and help do the work.  The exhibitors who come seem to want the steering committee to do all the work for them, with no compensation.  Trust me, I helped for two years and it took a LOT of my off time and opportunity for extra income, to the point I decided not to do it again.

[Steve]

Do you have an idea of the attendence?

Cheers.