[Jonathon Janusz]

Here are my thoughts and notes regarding the rooms I visited at RMAF 2012.  I took the advice of Tyson and Pez in another thread and put together two CDs to wander the show with:

One of these was a set of five demo cuts of different music to test a system with and listen for different areas where a system could shine or come up short.  The other was a mix CD of various music from my collection, with the goals to more deeply check out a system in regards to my personal tastes and preferences, do a “quick” demo if my demo CD was somehow not appropriate or available, or just to have fun around the show just because.

For reference, the two discs:

Demo CD (5 cuts, 5 minutes total time.  I put the fulll version of each track on the CD too.)

“Is Your Love Strong Enough?” - How To Destroy Angels (female vocals) - Referenced in notes as HTDA
“Night Fight” - Tan Dun & Yo-Yo Ma, Soundtrack to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (speed, resolution, bass performance with drums) - Referenced in notes as CTHD
“The Riders of Rohan” - London Philharmonic Orchestra, Soundtrack to Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (large scale orchestral work) - Referenced in notes as LOTR
“Take a Look Around” - Limp Bizkit (micro detail and tone with electric guitar) - Referenced in notes as LB
“Want” - Disturbed (soundstage, imagiing, and torture test of continuous high SPL rock) - Referenced in notes as DIST

Mix CD

“Breath of Life” - Florence and the Machine
“Pennies in My Pocket” - Emilio Estefan
“Cumbersome” - Seven Mary Three
“Not Strong Enough” - Apocalyptica featuring Brent Smith
“Love Bites” - QED
“Come Undone” - My Darkest Days
“Innocence” - Halestorm
“You’re Going Down” - Sick Puppies
“Danse Russe” - Hurt
“Guilty” - Gravity Kills
“Black and Yellow (G-Mix)” - Wiz Kalifa featuring Snoop Dogg, Juicy J, T-Pain
“Still D.R.E.” - Dr. Dre
“Sam” - Massive Attack
“Darkness” - Disturbed
“Touchin’ On My” - 3OH!3
“Comin’ in Hot” - Hollywood Undead
“Perfect Insanity” - Disturbed

As a point of reference regarding my approach to room hosts in doing a demo, I would generally wait for the host to ask me if I wanted to either have a demo with my music or simply "play" some music (I kept my CDs in hand all weekend).  If approached, I would either offer up the demo CD - and do a full demo - or if something made it feel like the wrong move to do that, I would play a single track (or more if encouraged) from the mix CD, mark a few highlights, and call it a day.  I spent just as much time chatting with folks as listening, so I thought this approach would make things go smoothly. . .

[Jonathon Janusz]

Now, on to the rooms.  I won’t be doing a “best of” kind of ranking - the systems I listened to did things both well and not as well, and I would have a hard time ranking all but a few of them.  I will at the end note my “worst of”, which should be understood as such for obvious reasons.  There is one room I will discuss at the very end, on its own, again for reasons I hope will be clear in the reading.

Please note, of course that these are just my notes, my personal reactions and opinions alone, and only cleaned up a little for ease of reading as I was typing away on my blackberry to make the original draft of notes.  Sorry for the change of tense and sometimes rough sentence structure - this is more or less raw just as I put it down.


Iris - Modwright, Daedalus

I have no idea what’s wrong in this room, but I almost instantly got some sort of weird vertigo like feeling walking in.  I went outside, regrouped, and tried again. . . same effect.  I had to bail out ASAP.  Sounded good, what little I heard.

Day two, I tried again.  This time, the Orpheus was playing without the BOW.  Whatever was wrong before, is now fixed. . . but the room is ringing like a bell in the midrange.  HTDA was completely drowned out by the room ringing.  CTHD played big, wide, and deep in the soundstage with a huge sweet spot, but the drums again were killed by the room.  LOTR, again good except for the ringing.  LB guitar had body and ambiance, cymbals were a little recessed but very clean.  DIST was subdued sounding. . . almost a little tame.  Nice and deep soundstage, imaging was good but not over the top pinpoint.  The speakers didn’t crack under the pressure of the upper bass line at the end (nice to hear in particular without the BOW playing).  Good people running the show in this room - had fun with me even when the demo tracks went off the audiophile reservation.

I came back to this room on Sunday to the Argos playing alone.  Much better!  Smoother, not as much room ringing.  Dan let me play today!  “Darkness” by Disturbed - vocals sounding very natural, acoustic guitar layered nicely with just the right mix of body and delicacy.  Hollywood Undead was fun and solid - Dan laughed trying to figure out what I was throwing at him. . . after making sure we weren’t scaring the neighbors too much.  The look on Lou’s face when he walked in on the two of us and two of his seriously shopping customers jamming out to “Comin’ in Hot” was priceless!   Argos + BOW + “Perfect Insanity” by Disturbed = WIN.  Period..  (. . . that is, of course, until Lou told the kids they had to stop playing around and get back to the paying customers. . . )  The intro drum solo to this track. . . you just had to be there. . .  Big THANK YOU again to you both, gentlemen!  Get that new big room dialed in treatment-wise, and you will easily OWN a good lot of the ground floor big rooms!

1117 - TAD, Tri Planar

I tried to get in to this room to check it out four times over the weekend.  The first three times I was met with a sign taped to the door saying there was a private demo in progress and to come back later.  On try number four on Sunday, the door was finally open and the room empty. . . except for some sort of employee meeting going on. . . that I guess couldn’t be interrupted. . .  Can’t give this room anything but a “did not finish” in the race.  Too bad, because I got to check out the other two TAD rooms, no problem. . .

1017 - Underwood Hifi, Emerald Physics

The MS2 monitors are playing.  Pretty paint work on the monitors.  Reminds me of Vapor’s aesthetic.  Using the new Antimode dual-core correction device with no room treatments.  Nothing overly bad, just nothing “wow” to write home about.

I tried one last time on Sunday to get a listen to the open baffle speakers. . . no dice with a private/industry people demo going on when I stopped by.  Bummer is that these were some of the few open baffle speakers at the show, and I was curious to hear them after reading all the discussion here on AC about them.

1021 - Wyred 4 Sound

The guys running this room are good people - enthusiastic, chill, and very welcoming.  The speakers playing had plenty of drive and clarity with the front end by Wyred.  The tweeters on the Paradigm speakers just didn’t do anything good for me.  After swtiching tracks to something with less high end energy, we had a good conversation about ICE and Hypex - I asked point blank if they had heard and what they thought of the NCore, and got some refreshing, level-headed, thoughtful commentary.  Cheers, gents!

[Jonathon Janusz]

518 - Silverline, Furutech

Funny story this one - On Friday, I sat down for lunch at the restaraunt at the hotel alone.  At the table next to me was another gentleman sitting alone struggling to get his order in.  We started a conversation, I moved over a table, and I ended up having a nice conversation with Alex Yun, Designer and President of Silverline. . . not that I realized it until he gave me his card after lunch and told me to stop by the room and check out his stuff.  Great guy - humble, soft spoken, hard working, down to earth.  I swung by the room on Saturday and spoke with Sal, his sales rep, and got a chance to check back in with Alex and demo the room on Sunday.  First thing’s first - I did a demo of a limited edition pair of mini monitors running off of the small form factor Parasound gear.  Alex explained that the speakers, made in America, with a hand applied true piano black finish, were all of $750.  That said, I played “Breath of Life” by Florence and the Machine, and there was a lot more deep sound than should have been coming from a  5” woofer.  Really nice balance and scale for a big orchestral track coming from a speaker that small was cool to hear.  Seeing as Alex and Sal are out of California, I decided to play a little Dre - bumped along smooth and clean, not super deep bass, but what was there was nice and clean.  All in all, a cool little speaker, a great value for fit and finish, and something the mini monitor guys out there should check out.

The Rosewood SR17 monitors use custom Dynaudio drivers.  Strong, tight sounding speaker with punch.  Not the end word on air, but does well not over extending itself.  This speaker is just the right size for the demo room.  Bass t raps are good to see. . . too bad the dealer rep didn’t want to hear from taking the treatments any further. . . there ARE ways to make this work!

514 - BMS

I got pulled into this room when I caught a glance of the speaker setup - all of the speakers were built in clear acrylic cabinets.  Very 80’s high-style industrial looking!  In my chat with the gentleman running the room, I learned that the reason for the clear cabinets was to underscore that he was in fact not selling completed speakers, but rather is the exclusive importer for BMS drivers here in the USA - the clear cases were to display the drivers completely while in use.  BMS is a british company, and the drivers play like it - nice relaxed, mellow sound.  The 12” triaxials I was listening to are built with a copper ring radiator tweeter, a ring radiator midrange, and a treated paper cone woofer.  The smaller tweeters in the MTM speakers in the room I was told were ceramic compression drivers with an integral 90 degree waveguide.  The triaxials retail for $1050 each, and I have to say that Pink Floyd was both a nice change of pace from the usual show music and sounded good on the speakers.  Danley was one of the OEM names dropped when I asked who some of the OEM client list was.  Worth checking out for the DIY folks.

442 - Angel City Audio, Channel Islands Audio, Melody

The Melody gear is very pretty.  I just can’t handle the tweeter in the Trinity speakers, but the woofers are excellent.  I’ve liked the woofers Hugh uses since my days of shopping with the old VA321, and had a rough ride with the vifa ring tweeter for just as long.

Sunday - I don’t know what’s different, but the tweeter was better to me today.  It gave me a chance to have a nice chat with Hugh about bigger and better things coming down the line.  Great to finally meet face to face, my friend!  Give a shout out to Nhan as well - I just didn’t get a chance to catch up with him over the weekend.

1102 - Bud Fried

I’m seeing a trend at the show of big-ish MTM towers with a pair of 7”-ish woofers.  These have a very smooth sounding tweeter, and a big bodied sound.  HTDA had nice tone, a little rolled off up top without a ton of air, and playing a little TOO big for what was supposed to be there.  CTHD was light in detail early but had plenty of sound overall and nice detail in the bass lines.  LOTR had a good, wide soundstage and delivered a big front-row seat presentation.  LB again was too big in scale.  DIST a little blurry at first but smooth, not a lot of stage depth and imaging was so-so.  The speakers held together at the end with just a little hitch of strain.

BRM and Nuance were very welcoming and it was great getting to meet and talk with the both of you!  Over the weekend, we discussed the TRL gear, Salk, AVA, the great state of Michigan. . . again, a pleasure to meet you both!  Nuance commenting something to the effect of, “Yeah, you know, Disturbed is really just necessary first thing in the morning. . .” (with admittedly no regard for the wake up call I was probably giving the neighbors. . . ) - priceless.

1107 - Salk Sound, Audio Van Alstine

On the small system that was playing. . . I am really not a fan of the tweeter.  On the Sound Scape 8 - I love the bottom end, the mids are very clean, but again not at all happy up top.  The AVA gear looks very nice, and I wouldn’t mind hearing it in a different system sometime.  The rumors are all true, however, in that Jim Salk’s cabinet work is art that you really have to see to believe.

1121 - Feastrex

This room had 5” driver and 9” driver models on display, the 5” models are playing.  They are beaming a bit on female jazz vocals (not my music), and were a little boxy sounding in the lowest bass, but are very nice in the middle.  Very coherent, even sound in the mids throughout the room save for the beaming highs.  With subs running the low end and a little room treatment work, I could get into the single-driver thing.  The gloss natural finish on the birch ply cabinets is gorgeous; they even have mitered corners in the exposed vertical plys in the corners for an artistic touch.  The rep for the room explained to me that the cabinet work was done by an artist that has also sculpted cabinets for TAD.  Nice.

[Jonathon Janusz]

1007 - YG Acoustics, Veloce Audio

Ok in the bass, really nice highs.  Ran through complex piano well in the higher frequencies.

1013 - TAD, Pioneer

This room has the exclusive dealer for the high end of Pioneer’s line showcasing the Pioneer S2 at $5K, with the $45K TADs in the room to demonstrate just how much of that awesome you can get for a lot less.  The S2 really did sound like “one speaker” in the mids - no separation between tweeter and midrange.  They have a little smaller presentation than the TADs overall.  A nitpick - the S2 got a little hard in the vocals of HTDA compared to the TAD.  Surprisingly, both speakers fell apart on DIST when the heavy stuff hit.  Very nice guys running the room - welcome to see them ask if I wanted to do a demo at all!

9000 - Odyssey, GIK Acoustics

This room is awesome, Klaus and Alex rock, and after a little emergency optical adjustment, I had a nice chat with the GIK crew.   This crew just plain did it right, and the room was one of the benchmarks to measure others against all weekend.  Arguably the bang for the buck winner.  The massive looking equipment rack is a steal at $1K for what you get.  I told Alex they don’t charge enough for their stuff, and Klaus explained the philosophy behind it. . . even on a business level, in today’s market, these guys again just plain “get it”.  I passed through the room throughout the weekend to give the team an occasional. . . break. . . from the normal show music.    Let’s just say this is the first (only?) room I visited where when my demo CD was ending, I got a resounding complaint when I turned down Disturbed. . . and then by request of the room cranked the whole track to 12 on the volume control and rocked out.  These were my kind of people, and was always greeted with a huge smile from everyone and rocking tunes.  Klaus singing along with me to “Cumbersome” by Seven Mary Three as if the rest of the show was on pause for about three minutes. . . from my heart, all my best to you all!  It was a pleasure sharing for a moment your passion for what you do!

9014 - Merlin Music Systems

Very even, top to bottom, not overly aggressive anywhere in the frequency range they run.  Easy to listen to.  The years of refinement in this system shows.  I had a very nice conversation with the designer while relaxing in this room.  Only thing I can say on the down side, is that I kind of didn’t want to ask to do a “demo” of this room - it would have kind of felt like messing up the sitting room furniture in the parlor, if that makes any sense at all.

8012 - Martin Logan

The stats are very open and detailed without being harsh, articulate with great imaging and instrument placement.  HTDA was focused and forward sounding, and just a little hard.  LOTR had height and very clear separation, but was missing stage width.  The speakers wiggled a bit in the lower mids on DIST.  The little speaker in the room (an AMT tweeter and stack of cone drivers in a cabinet, priced at $2K for the pair) - articulate in the highs delivering a lot of what the stats have to offer for not a lot of cash, a  wide rather than deep soundstage, easy going and balanced sound.  One of the hidden gem bargain speakers of the show, in my opinion.

2000 - Von Schwikert Audio

This room is running the VR22 speakers.  They played very thick when playing heavy drums, and are a little overpowering in the mids.  HTDA was nice in the highs but plays with a “back hall” kind of recessed presentation.  CTHD also playing back hall with a shallow and wide soundstage and a wide sweet spot.  LB has nice detail in the drum kit.  DIST was plain flat.  Later in the show, they added back wall treatments behind the seats up against the rear wall. . . great idea!  Next time around, get a little more aggressive with the bass control in the room and pull the speakers out from the wall a bit, and they might be on to something.

2004 - TAD

Andrew Jones is a very bright, engaging person to listen to speak.  I would absolutely sign up for a lecture course in college if he was the prof.  A lot of fun to hear his stories.  The room sounded very good - treatments all around hidden behind white curtains.  I also like that this room is brighter than most at the show - less “man cave” and more “living room”.  Bottom line - this is a system that does a lot right, and nothing wrong that isn’t really just nitpicking.  My one personal nitpick is that the demo would have been better if done about 5-10dB quieter.

[Jonathon Janusz]

417 - Madisound

Two kits in the room - SEAS 10” kit (not playing) and a Scanspeak BE tweeter/7” Illuminator kit.  The Scanspeak kit was very even, easy to listen to, very smooth up top.  I’m kind of liking the BE tweeters, it seems.

422 - Teresonic

Wild looking speakers!  Stopped while passing by because it looked like the kind of setup I could have at home if I had that kind of cash.  I’m kind of digging the single driver stuff I’m hearing, but I don’t know if I could live with it long-term with most of my own music.  The room needs bass trapping badly; the thin side wall panels are just not cutting it.

441 - SVS

The highs were harsh BAD!  Probably the room killing the sound.  Had a  five channel home theater mini setup along with the 2-channel that was playing.  I think they would have been better off showcasing the home theater rig alone with the kind of sound I was hearing in the room.

470 - Pass Labs, Sony

Beautiful body in the piano plaiying.  Something harsh in the upper mid, though.  Diffusors were a good idea, needs bass traps that would have been easily hidden behind the signs that went floor to ceiling in the front corners.  Note that this is a preview at this show of a pre-release speaker from Sony scheduled to come out at CES according to the room rep.

485 - Purity Audio, Kaplan Cable, King Sound

King Sound full range electrostats running off the big Carver tube amps.  Beautiful woodwork and a very upscale look - definately looks like you get your money’s worth for $12K.  Very smooth sounding combo, very even sound throughout the room - nearly a room-sized sweet spot.  HTDA has a really nice tone to the vocals with no overhang on the  musical notes whatsoever.  CTHD has good body on the drums, not huge or super deep soundstage, but still good.  LOTR the horns are very nice - good size/scale on the horns, but the violin was playing a little too big.  DIST didn’t layer front to back or image with the hard pans left to right very well but the speaker held together strong at the end.  “Easy Listening for Metal Heads” is what I would call it.  One of the better rooms at the show.  I had a nice conversation with the gentleman running the room, and later in the weekend directed more than one person to this room to check it out.  Also, I met up with a press reviewer who described some low-cost upgrades to this system to take it up another level - worth the read if it hits print for anyone wanting to get even more out of an already fine speaker.

506 - Bob Carver

Room is running the big line array ribbons with the big tube amps.  Has potential but really needs room treatment and a much bigger room.  This setup was easily overpowering the room to unlistenable levels even on light rock music.  Next. . .

510 - Hsu Research

Played a demo of both music and home theater.  The treatments were good to see but really needed bass trapping to let the big subs shine on music.  They do deliver on overall output and the prices are very reasonable.  5-channels of speakers plus VTF-15 sub for less than $1800 all in.

517 - Vitus Audio

Beautiful art object cabinets.  I was surprised by the sound of the ceramic drivers. . . not sure if they are my kind of thing, though. . .

529 - Sanders Sound

Very deep soundstage, great imaging and instrument placement, tight and punchy on the drum kit, vocals maybe a little exaggerated.  Power and drive for days!  Nice ambiance combined with a front row presentation.

545 - Qol Processor

I read a bit about the Qol unit and wanted to check it out.  In particular, I wanted to hear what it would do with “Danse Russe” by Hurt on my mix CD.  Reason being that out of my collection, the first two Hurt studio albums are probably the only two that sound better when run through a 5.1 channel setup as opposed to a stereo set.  I wanted to see, based on what I read about how this thing works, if it could bring the life back into the recordings while in a 2-channel setup.  The Qol messed with the soundstaging a bit, but did bring it. . . closer. . . to the multichannel rig sound.  It also made the entire room one big “sweet spot”, and I mean the entire room - up against walls, corners, everything.  Down side is that the whole-room sweet spot isn’t quite as “sweet” as the real deal with the device disabled.  Good all around, but not great.  Would be a perfect gadget for folks who don’t do a lot of active, critical listening and or in a system set up in a great room concept home with folks all over the place wanting to share in good sound.

553 - VAC, Gershman Acoustics

Toe tapping sound on piano music, clean even vocals, wide soundstage but a little shallow for depth.  “Pennies in my Pocket” by Emilio Estefan sounded just a bit forward in the middle of the midrange, again a very toe-tapping kind of sound, wide soundstage, and the guitars sound nice.  Not the last word on crazy good imaging but a fun listen overall.  Speakers playing are too big for the room and are fighting it for every step.

571 - Tone Audio

Nice little setup.  Bummer it is vinyl only.  Didn’t stick around long.

573 - Tone Audio

Running JBL speakers with Mcintosh gear. . . made the ears hurt a bit.  Had to move along quick.

577 - Vapor Audio

I am still not a fan of that ribbon tweeter, I guess it doesn’t matter how many people rave about it, but I could listen reasonably here as opposed to the Salk room.  The combo of the gear upstream from the speakers and the crossover work in the speaker must be a good match, taming the tweeter to my ear.  Very pretty woodwork, the flame veneer is just sick!  The room overall looks very upscale.  Horay for room treatments!  Again, probably helping me out on the tweeter.  “Come Undone” by My Darkest Days - smooth, full body drums.  “Clean” is a good one-word description of the sound.  Bass guitar sounds very cool in this room.

593 - Vapor Audio, Empirical Audio

Spacious, ambiant hall sound from female vocals.  Sweet spot is decently wide.  Soundstage is shallow but wide.  Bass guitar is a bit out of proportion sounding leaning on the too big side.  Odd to say that a monitor speaker is overpowering the room, but this thing plays more like a stand mounted small floorstander than a monitor.  Fit and finish on the speaker is elegant in choice of finishes and really top-shelf.  Looks alone, these can hang with any of the megabuck stuff I’ve seen so far.

[Jonathon Janusz]

. . . and now, my two WORST of show, in no particular order:


550 - Von Schweikert Audio

This room is running the VR44 Passives with Unfield MKII (not playing) set up in a smaller side room - nice touch being able to put two complete, different scale setups in one show room.  Nice on soft jazz that was playing.  This is a very upscale demo room.  Good tone to the sound, very back-row presentation on classical music that was playing.  HTDA has nice vocals, clean and locked tightly to center.  CTHD sound nice but too polite, lacking punch/impact. LOTR has a very rich sound to the horns, very smooth violin, but lean on the micro details.  LB actually is better than I expected considering what I heard so far. . .

. . . and this is where the train comes crashing off the tracks.  They actually completely bailed on the Disturbed track!  With a groaning exclaimation from behind me somewhere in the middle of trying to listen, my CD got pulled abruptly and I was more or less politely shown the door. . .?  I was ASKED if I wanted to play a demo, I specifically advised the presenter loading my CD to bring the volume down from normal show ear-bleeding levels before hitting tracks four and five because they are far off the normal menu of what appears to be typical audiophile show music, aind I was not only told not to worry about it, but the presenter turned the volume UP . . The VR22 wasn’t quite my thing, the VR44 was nice and had some promise up to now, and I would kind of liked to demo the smaller Unifield setup. . . [a few less than polite thoughts diplomatically removed as I am trying to be polite about this. . .  ]  Humoring me for all of the 40 seconds it would have taken to finish the track, then asking respectfully what I was listening for in the track, hopefully mutually validating that I wasn’t just being counter culture for shock value’s sake would have maybe been a better choice?  If you are going to offer an open demo to anyone, and are confident your system can handle it, at least be stand-up enough to let it fly and see what happens; you asked for it.  If you would rather not have open demos - either because you aren’t confident the system can handle it, or for fear of shaking up some sort of sensibilities, maybe better to leave guests at worst disappointed with cookie cutter vanilla demo loops playing for three days?. . . and for the record, out of my five samples, the Disturbed track is the one most systems cracked under and was the one that really quickly and easily separated the “good” from the “meh”. . . [more less than polite commentary about potential customer demographics and the continuation of the hobby - read: industry as a profitable business enterprise - removed for brevity]. . . Sigh.  We’re done here.

490 - Magnepan

Before I go into this room, I want to state for the record that this room was near the top of the list of rooms I wanted to visit at this show.  In fact, before arriving, if there was one pair of speakers I thought seriously about purchasing based on the demo at the show, the “new” MMG was it.   I really (really!) wanted to like this room.  That said. . .

I gave this room’s demo a shot - twice - and it wasn’t easy.  This was the only room at the show that had a “demo schedule” set up I think at 30-minute intervals, with a clock on the door, a “next demo at” sign next to the clock, a very nice attendant assigning “tickets” to the demo at the door, and a closed door to the room all weekend.  After the first demo left me wanting for more information, I took the time to discuss things with the attendant at the door and another company rep that happened to be present.  I was told that I MIGHT be able to get the demo I was after at the very end of the show if I asked the presenter in the room, but it would be at the presenter’s discretion alone.  Even with the help of a Dagogo(?) reviewer I met during the second demo backing me up pressing for information (shout out to a nice gentleman; I ran in to him a few more times Sunday afternoon.  If I didn’t mention it before, check out his coming info about the King Sound speakers - it wiill be worth the read for owners looking for possible bang-for-the-buck system improvements!), this is all I got:

The demo was basically a marketing presentation.  It was explained that the dealer channel for distribution was drying up, and this being the case, the factory has decided to expand their current in-home demo program on the MMG speakers (quickly: $600 pair of speakers, shipped factory direct, with a money back guarantee for an in-home demo).  This was being expanded to include the “new” version of the MMG - RMAF being the first public showing of these speakers - along with a bass augmentation panel that is engineered clevely to look like a pseudo art-deco side table.  The bass panel being $800,. means all-in the client gets to check out the Magnepan sound for $1400 in home.  Sounds good, no?

After the presentation, which underscored in particular a catering and preferential treatment to any press who happened to be in the room suggesting they were intended to be the vehicle for the buzz necessary to get this program off the ground (funny I didn’t get a warmer reception in here; with the number of people all weekend who asked me who I was working for or what magazine I was writing for, I must have been doing something right - again credit to Tyson, Pez, and the rest of the folks here on AC for the guidance to make a first-timer come off as pro!), the actual demo started. . . The setup for the demo was a three-channel configuration (which we were told would not be changed due to wanting to give everyone in the room a proper “sweet spot” to listen to) consisting of: the demo set of MMG and bass panel, the $1200 CC5 center channel (roughly as big a speaker as the MMG mains), being driven by a Bryston 3-channel amp and SP2 pre/pro. . . We were guided through this setup by a brief selection of classical music , followed by a more “lively” 50’s (?) era rock tune, this being explained as classical being the only and greatest true test of a system’s overall capabilities.  There was no opportunity to demo any other music - either queued up in the system or brought in by the audience.

After the “demo”, there was a brief opportunity for questions.  When I asked for particular details about the new speakers (as in, the brand new, never before heard, focus of the new marketing program, theoretically star of the show speaker the presentation explained was the driving force behind the new marketing direction. . . and what I would assume one would want the reviewers to have a positive enough opinion of of start making the buzz happen to get folks interested in doing the in-home demos), I was told that Magnepan would “rather the reviewers [like the folks specifically pointed to by the presenter and basically given kind of obvious preference throughout the “demo” - emphasis mine] form their own opinion as to whether the changes we have made to the speaker are worth while”.  This is what they would rather do than go into detail about any technical particulars about what makes this speaker different or better than the previous model, or anything about what was going on under the hood for that matter.  Best I could get by way of inferrence is that the speaker has a series crossover following the rest of the current model lineup as it was explained that the speaker is not bi-ampable as an electical impossibility due to the circuit design.  I was also (playfully?) scoffed at a bit when I tried to take some detail photos of the speakers - close up front, sides, back - to try to at least piece together some details about thiem, in the continuously barely lit demonstration room. . .

So, in summary. . .

What I hoped for:  a demo of a new pair of $600 Magnepans I might like to buy.

What I was told they were doing there:  launching a new in-home trial program of a $1400 system, hoping for feedback from power users and press to get buzz to start it off, this demo hopefully being a leaping off point for customers to get into the sound and seek out a dealer demo of the higher end stuff.

What I got:  a demo of a just sub-$10K-ish system that didn’t match at all anything one would get from the stated goal in-home demo, and less technical information than one would get in even a one-sentence press release.

So, what did I think of the sound?  The bass was actually very nice.  The center channel pretty much overpowered everything else from the lower midrange on up, killing most other notable aspects of describing the sound, and didn’t do the mains any favors in killing any sort of vertical off-axis response.  As to what I think of the “new” MMG?  Honestly, I couldn’t tell you - I didn’t get a chance to hear them.  I might still like to sometime, but I can’t justify floating $600 on my credit card to make it happen based on this demo.

[Jonathon Janusz]

. . . and finally, the one odd duck. . .

2024 - Danny, Dave, Eric, Gary, Pete, Ruben, Danny’s most gracious lady, and a whole lot of other kind-hearted crazies. . .

I did not formally demo this room, and am not going to go into any listening details.  I am admittedly a bit biased, and I was along for the ride as folks discussed the room and how it was run (living basically next door all weekend was quite the happy mistake !), so it honestly would not be at all fair.  That said. . .

I came to RMAF with basically three objectives.  One, was to get a chance to sample what is considered the absolute “top” of the line - both price and performance - and experience for myself exactly what the top of the mountain looks like.  Two, compare this to examples of well put together gear that IS within my pay grade, and determine how much awesome I can really get for the money I have to invest, as well as determine exactly where on the monetary scale I want to cap my adventures in audio - both as a perspective check and establishing/maintaining for myself a grounding in a balanced life.  Three, and probably most important, take a chance to “meet a group of old friends for the first time”.  There are a number of folks I have got to know - either through get-togethers, phone calls, emails, or here chatting away on AudioCircle.  This was my first, best chance to put faces to names, and shake hands in the real world.  I can only hope I was able to present myself in such a way as to come into the show with some people I know, and leave the show with a group of friends.  I’m not a groupie (), just a  guy glad for the chance to hang out with genuine, good people.

I wanted to make two quick mentions.  To the event staff, volunteers, and volunteer coordinators:  unofficially, it was an honor.  (If any of them read the forum, they will know what I mean).  To S.Clark - I am sorry I lost you somewhere on the way to the Wilson room - I wanted to take some more time to chat, as you’ve been very kind and helpful to me and you are one of the folks I was looking forward to meeting.  Maybe next year sometime?


At the end of it all, I know I achieved goals one and two.  I can only hope I came close enough on number three that you all kindly enjoyed my company.  My thanks to everyone - old friends and new.  It was fun and worth the trip!

[Tyson]

From one RMAF reporter to another - GREAT WRITEUP!  I almost felt like I was there!  Oh wait...

[vinyl_guy]

Jonathon,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts of the various rooms you visited. I thought the Daedalus, ModWright, Wywires room sounded very good on Sunday with the Argos playing and I agree with you about the Odyssey room. I listened to vinyl in the room and was very impressed with the sound and Alex's new phonostage. I visited the room on Sunday after listening to the Wilson VTL room and thought the Odyssey room was much more musical and emotionally engaging. As to your demo CDs, I have to admit that other than LOTR and Florence and the Machine I have absolutely no idea who the other artists are or what kind of music they play. I have never heard of most of them.

Laura

[S Clark]

Nice write up.  Yep, I think I got caught talking to Dave E instead of getting into the Wilson room. Next year we'll make time to grab a beer or a cup of joe. 

BTW, unlike most of the guys, I really liked what I heard of the big Wilsons when I finally did get there.  Granted, it was playing solo piano, an instrument that I spent everyday practicing for years when I was a kid.  For the most part, a convincing illusion of a 9ft concert grand was created.  Have no idea what it sounded like on anything else- crowded room, no option to hear my music, soon departed.

Scott

[HAL]

Jonathan,
It was good meeting you as well!

Very nice write-up of the rooms. 

I am still trying to figure out how the biggest line arrays were in one of the smallest rooms! 

It is always a good time at RMAF and hope to see you again next year!

Rich

[rbbert]

Nice write up.  Yep, I think I got caught talking to Dave E instead of getting into the Wilson room. Next year we'll make time to grab a beer or a cup of joe. 

BTW, unlike most of the guys, I really liked what I heard of the big Wilsons when I finally did get there.  Granted, it was playing solo piano, an instrument that I spent everyday practicing for years when I was a kid.  For the most part, a convincing illusion of a 9ft concert grand was created.  Have no idea what it sounded like on anything else- crowded room, no option to hear my music, soon departed.

Scott

The "big" Wilson's at this show were in a little room (Doshi's).  The Wilson's in the big room are one of their smaller models.   .  So I'm not sure to which Wilson model your post refers.

[DaveC113]

Thanks Jonathon!

[trackball02]

Jonathon, very thoughtful reviews. I really like the demo CDs that you made and have similar music tastes. I was at The Show in Newport this year, and wish I had something to demo. I would love to get a copy, please PM me if you are willing. Thanks.

[satfrat]

A very good read Jonathon, thanks for taking the time to share your RMAF experiences. You accomplished something I've always wanted to do, meet & rock out with Klaus Bunge of Odyssey Audio.   

Cheers,
Robin

[S Clark]

The "big" Wilson's at this show were in a little room (Doshi's).  The Wilson's in the big room are one of their smaller models.   .  So I'm not sure to which Wilson model your post refers.

They were the Alexia model in room 2030. Sorry for the confusion, as I wasn't aware that they were set up twice. If these were the smaller version those others must have been monstrously large.  People seem to either love them or hate them.  I loved what I heard, and hated that I couldn't hear more to get a better idea of what they could do.

[Meicheng]

One of my biggest impressions of RMAF this year was that almost everybody used a computer for the front end feeding their systems.  I would like to do this myself, but the options are kind of daunting for a non-techno person, I'd have to send all my CDs to a service to be ripped to a hard drive, I don't know what software (or hardware) to get, and my music room does not get a good wifi signal (computer and router at the other end of the house).  So it seems like a big project to undertake without the help of a knowledgeable computer person. 

[jhm731]

Jonathon,
As to your demo CDs, I have to admit that other than LOTR and Florence and the Machine I have absolutely no idea who the other artists are or what kind of music they play. I have never heard of most of them.

Laura

I've never heard of any of them.

[Big Red Machine]

One of my biggest impressions of RMAF this year was that almost everybody used a computer for the front end feeding their systems.  I would like to do this myself, but the options are kind of daunting for a non-techno person, I'd have to send all my CDs to a service to be ripped to a hard drive, I don't know what software (or hardware) to get, and my music room does not get a good wifi signal (computer and router at the other end of the house).  So it seems like a big project to undertake without the help of a knowledgeable computer person.

We used the SalkStream player in all 3 setups this year.  It absolutely worked flawlessly in our room.  It is basically replacing your computer as it has a hard drive in it for the ripped music and outputs a USB signal to the dac.  It can be configured with a SPDIF output as well if you do not have a USB dac.  So it stands alone and does not require communication with your house network except for some control device, like an iPad or even your Droid phone.  While we used the iPad with the mPad app, Brandon was able to download and install a similar app on his phone and could, within minutes, take control of the music library including volume control.  All you need is a router attached to the Streamer and you can talk to your library remotely.  I was like a kid in the candy store because the mPad app worked so fast with no glitches we could jump from track to track faster than most CDP's change tracks.  So you still need to rip your CD's to flac, but the streamer does not require a laptop as it basically is a stereophile's laptop as the only function it provides is streaming.  No additional clap trap or apps running.

[rbbert]

I've never heard of any of them.

+1