New York Audio Show 2013

SET Man · « **Reply #1 on:** 14 Apr 2013, 03:26 pm »

Hey!

Thanks for starting this thread.

This year The New York Audio Show is at The New York Palace. I was there yesterday and will be heading there again today soon. Overall the show seems smaller, less people and I didn't feel lots of energy as last year. But let's see how is go today.

So far the room that I like are.... (not in any particular order)

Wes Bender Studio NYC

Wes Bender Studio NYC by setpower1, on Flickr

Wes Bender Studio NYC by setpower1, on Flickr

This year Wes and his team feature a more affordable speaker that seems to be just what New Yorkers with smaller apartment need. At $6.5Kpr these Marten sound was very good. They are triangle shaped, with ceramic driver. They do sound bigger than they are with good dynamic.

Wes Bender Studio NYC by setpower1, on Flickr

I have to say they did a great job with system there. It is one of the room that I can just sit and listen to music.

Another enjoyable system, Merrill Audio and Sander Sound System...

Merrill Audio / Sanders Sound System by setpower1, on Flickr

As for electrostatic speaker, I like these better than the Martin Logan. The downside would be that they are so beaming that they are pretty much a one-person speaker. Notice how the chairs was set up in roll for listener.

But there is one system that just took my breath away....

Kondo by setpower1, on Flickr

A full system of Kondo (Audio Note Japan) It is just simply beautiful. When I listen to a system I don't ask the typical audiophile question first like, how low is the bass? how loud it can play and etc. I just look for that "emotional connection" to the music overall. I could have careless how they measured. It is a "emotionally correct vs. measurably correct" This system was something of a rarity for me. It play music with human connection. They put on Pavarotti on CD and you can feel the voice, reminded me of the times I was at the Met Opera at Lincoln Center... bad cheap seat but the feeling of the show and voice pretty the same. I know they might not do some of the audiophile tricks but this system do a good job of connecting me with the sound, especially human voice. Definitely on my list to get if I won a big jackpot lottery.

Oh! And here's something cool....

Symbol by setpower1, on Flickr

Symbol by setpower1, on Flickr

By Symbol, a throw back to the past. This actually sounded pretty good, if you want something to play while you doing something or hosting a martini party or something like that. There is a subwoofer in the column there... pretty neat. I told the guy you should try to get it in "Man Men" BTW... that little guy is not included, yes I asked jokingly.

Anyway, I'm heading out for a bit more today, the last day. Haven't check out the big systems yet. Believe it or not to get in to MBL room you'll need to get a ticket from them and wait.

The rest of the pictures can be see here on my Flickr... (slide show feature also available on top)

http://flic.kr/s/aHsjEGVu6v

Take care,
Buddy

Audiovista · « **Reply #2 on:** 15 Apr 2013, 12:11 am »

Excellent quality of pictures. Great job Buddy! It was good seeing you again after a while!
Boris

minimus · « **Reply #3 on:** 15 Apr 2013, 02:32 am »

I was at the show both Friday and Sunday.

The biggest highlight, perhaps because it was unexpected, was the LessLoss room. The system consisted of a prototype LessLoss digital transport/DAC and Pass Labs monoblocs driving Kaiser Kawero speakers. That system was very musical, with incredibly realistic tone, a great soundstage that extended far behind the speakers, and a full-range frequency response without excessive bass. It was the best room I heard at the show. And I heard a few grey haired attendees saying the same to the two vendors in the room.

The biggest disappointment was the room with the big TAD speakers. The TAD's have gotten great reviews, but they sounded off to me, almost as if the system was out of phase. The second biggest disappointment was the Audio Arts room, where the Zellaton speakers were being exhibited. I thought they had a bit of mid-range zing to them that was fatiguing. Finally, the Audio Note room sounded mediocre to me, although this was likely a function of the room acoustics. I don't think Audio Note speakers are designed to be put in a 13 foot wide hotel room.

Other rooms were on a continuum, none matching the Kaiser Kawero's but still nice. The Coincident room was very good. The system did not grab me on first listen, but after about 10 minutes, I could understand the fuss, as they have an organic sound and are in no way fatiguing. The room with Vivid Giya's driven by Mola Mola amp and preamp was also quite good -- that setup had incredible dynamics -- although on some material, the bass seemed to overwhelm the room. I also liked the smaller GamuT floorstanding speakers in the Woodbridge Audio room on Friday -- very fast with very good low end extension, although maybe a bit too ripe. (The larger GamuT speakers, in use on Sunday, were way too big for the room.) The best monitor I heard were Raidho being driven by Merrill Audio Veritas monoblocs. For a monitor, it packed quite some low end wallop. It is notable that some of the better sounding rooms were using the new commercial Hypex N-Core amps from Mola Mola and Merrill Audio. If I were in the market for an amp, those would be on my short list.

I did not particularly care for the Sound by Singer room -- the Raidho floorstanders seemed to have an artificial midrange and were a bit bright despite being driven entirely by VAC electronics. I also thought the KEF Blades were only OK. Finally, I didn't really "get" either the Sanders or Martin Logan electrostatic speakers -- neither seemed to offer particularly good mid-range or treble and they were deficient in terms of bass.

topround · « **Reply #4 on:** 15 Apr 2013, 03:03 am »

I was there on Sat.
The Kaiser Kawero room was awesome. i went twice, tremendous layers of delicateness( is this a word?)
I liked the Raidho floorstanders with the VAC gear , massive soundstage with so many layers of refinement, big choral works...no problem, just a big smile.

Agree the Audio Arts Zellaton room was aweful. All transients and speed no texture, weight or harmonics. Heard my favorite record played awefully. But he is not catering to audiophiles, he is looking for fat whales with big bank accounts that bring their decorators to help design a system? He may be the smartest man in the room!!$$$

I liked the Gamut room, the big speakers sounded great with the better Gamut gear, the smaller speakers with the integrated was harsh, besides he was in a room way too small for both size speakers. Toe in looked too much..but worked! We audiophiles poo poo it but it definetly worked so what do we know except what we read from audiogon!

Tad room was aweful as well, did not represent high end audio in anyway when I was in the room.

The Blades were driven by Chord electronics, if you know Chord, you understand why they sounded so bad, but those blue lights sure are preeeety...no?

All in all a decent show. lacked the energy usually associated with the likes of RMAF or even last years NY show, but it was fun.

BTW Buddy ...great pictures! Good light

Bemopti123 · « **Reply #5 on:** 15 Apr 2013, 03:04 am »

Quote from: minimus on 15 Apr 2013, 02:32 am

The room with Vivid Giya's driven by Mola Mola amp and preamp was also quite good -- that setup had incredible dynamics -- although on some material, the bass seemed to overwhelm the room.

This is a shocker to me. I read from someone that the Vivid room was a disappointment, very bright etc... Perhaps it is a matter of tastes and what we are used to. I thought that it would be a highlight but the person who informed me about it, is a tube head, thus, his take was different than most. If Vivid would have been driven with a Class AB amp, then the presentation would have been different. I am curious about other rooms.

topround · « **Reply #6 on:** 15 Apr 2013, 03:08 am »

I am no digi amp lover but when I was in that room it sounded very good, they use metal tweeters so source material will be very important. When I was in there it sounded very nice very dynamic.
Perhaps your friend was in there when the source was not so good, it means all the world in terms of first impressions.
A bad digi recording from the 80's can kill an impression pretty fast

SET Man · « **Reply #7 on:** 15 Apr 2013, 04:22 am »

Hey!

Thank Boris and Mike for the compliment on the pictures. Was good to see you two and others at the show.

Well, I was there today again. Got to check out a few more rooms that I missed yesterday.

Talking about Gamut's room... I was running out of there as fast as I could today. Because they turned the sound so high...

Woodbridge Stereo/Video Room by setpower1, on Flickr

... so I have no idea how they sound. I did snaked back while nothing was playing to grab and took this shot. Man! Those speaker are big. Anyway, I have no idea how they sound.

As for Audio Art's room...

Audio Art by setpower1, on Flickr

Audio Art by setpower1, on Flickr

It was a beautiful room. I've been told that it used to be an office of Leona Helmsley. Anyway, the sound was good. But someone bought up a good point about the system, that he have never heard they play anything beside soft simple music... no rock no orchestra and etc. I was at his room last year and pretty was the type of musics was played last year also. So, that makes me wonder if they can handle wider range of music. The funny thing was that he tried to sell me a less expensive version of those speakers.... only $25Kpr.

Oh! Here's some interesting tweak I saw today...

Lessloss by setpower1, on Flickr

Those are hotel's paper coffee cups used under the cables. I told the guy to paint them black and sell them for $100 ea.

Anyway, it is getting late. Got to work early tomorrow. I'll write and post some more pics here tomorrow. But I uploaded some more pictures from today... (slide show feature on top right)

http://flic.kr/s/aHsjEGVu6v

Take care,
Buddy

BobM · « **Reply #8 on:** 15 Apr 2013, 01:14 pm »

Great pic's! Went there Friday afternoon and wasn't very impressed with much of anything. Maybe because it was the first day. I'm sure things changed later int he weekend. There were really only 3 standouts IMO:

Merril's room was sounding very nice.

The little utler speakers (from London) were sounding very nice in the Care Audio room.

Coincidentely, both these guys are NY Rave members!

The third room I liked a lot were those pixie shaped curly topped Vivid's.

Oh Yeah, and the MBL demo was not to be missed, but it left me a little deafened. Glad I did that as the last thing before I went home.

And those Woo Audio 300B headphone amps ... mmmmmmm.

minimus · « **Reply #9 on:** 15 Apr 2013, 07:12 pm »

Quote from: Bemopti123 on 15 Apr 2013, 03:04 am

This is a shocker to me. I read from someone that the Vivid room was a disappointment, very bright etc... Perhaps it is a matter of tastes and what we are used to. I thought that it would be a highlight but the person who informed me about it, is a tube head, thus, his take was different than most. If Vivid would have been driven with a Class AB amp, then the presentation would have been different. I am curious about other rooms.

The Vivid/Mola Mola room sounded better on Sunday than on Friday. But it wasn't bright either time I was there, and I am pretty sensitive to that sort of thing. Philip O'Hanlon, the vendor in the room, was playing a much wider array of music, including rock, blues, jazz, and classical, than was the case in most rooms. So your friend might have visited when he was playing something that was poorly mastered at high volume. Then again, ask your friend what he thought of the Kondo room. If he liked it, we just have different tastes, as I thought the Kondo setup sounded anemic and boring.

What other rooms are you interested in?

mjosef · « **Reply #10 on:** 15 Apr 2013, 07:44 pm »

I visited the Vivid/MolaMola on Saturday...to me it sounded like something was out of phase, very expansive soundstage with no center image.
The Care Audio room was on the 'hot' side to me. There were two AudioNote rooms, I liked the one with the corner speakers more than the other where the speakers (different model) were positioned more into the room.
Liked the Japan AudioNote/Konda room.
The Saunders room powered by Merrill Audio was good too, sounded better than when I heard it a few months ago @ CES/The Show(different amp then).
Wes Bender Studio/Marten room had ugly bass/mid-bass when I first visited, but a few hours later I stopped in again and the sound was transformed...the word was a tube change to Bugle Boy was the kicker.
THe Audio Doctor/Waterfall glass speaker was interesting. The big KEF sounded better than last year.

I didn't get to MBL or any of the big rooms on the 4th and 5th floors.

teetee · « **Reply #11 on:** 15 Apr 2013, 09:22 pm »

I was there on Sat. It was a small scale of audio show as to RMAF.
I visited the Vivid/Mola Mola too, it did not sound right to me too, the small room was overpowered by the bass ouput from vivid and no center image.
Here are few rooms I liked:
1.Kondo room, Audio Note Japan All audio note electronics and beautiful speaker. Very good sound stage, image and have to agreed with Buddy it has "emotional connection" with the listener.

2.Merrill Audio with Sander Model 10c. The sweet spot is narrow so only 3 chairs at the center. I got the the front center seat and asked for female vocal track. I was so closed to the the singer and feel she was just infront of me. Voice floating in the dead center. No harsh sound from SS amp and great bass. enjoyed this system.

3.Beauty of Sound/Laufer Teknik. It was playing LP only, but the sound is so balanced with great clean bass.

4.Coincident System was good too

5.Care Audio with TRL Dude Preamp and Mono block was sounding nice too, suprise bass from small UK speaker with 6" woofer.

Didn't go to the MBL, I don't want to wait in their front door.

Here are some pictures:

KEF R-Series

Dupuy Acoustique/ Mod Wright tube Oppo 95/ Modwright 150SE power amp

Coincident system

Coincident Line and phono preamp

Woo Audio headphone tube amp

Care Audio/ TRL Dude balance premap/ TRL Hypex 1200 Mono power Amp/ Small UK speaker/ Musica Pristina server

PI audio Uberbuss(left)/TRL Mono block 600(center)

TRL Hypex Ncore 1200 based mono 600 1x XLR 1XRCA input

TRL tube balance preamp Dude 2XLR and 2 RCA inputs 1x XLR output and 2 RCA output

YG Acoustics /Soulution /Kubala Sosna

Audio note UK

Merrill Audio/ Sanders Sound Systems Model 10c/ 4 Veritas Hypex ncore 1200 mono block driving Model 10c

Merrill Audio/ preamp and processor

Merrill Audio/ Veritas mono blocks

YG Acoustics and Veloce

Gamut wiht S5(small one) and S9(big one) speaker/ All Gamut electronics/ CD player/Integrate/Preamp/power mono blocks

Vivid speaker/Mola Mola preamp and processor/Hypex Ncore 1200 mono block

Mola Mola mono blocks

Kondo/ Audio note Japan

Audio note power tube amp

Beauty of Sound/Laufer Teknik

6C 33 C SE Tube Amp

the clue

SteveFord · « **Reply #12 on:** 15 Apr 2013, 09:45 pm »

Did you get a chance to listen to the Woo/Stax combo?

minimus · « **Reply #13 on:** 15 Apr 2013, 10:56 pm »

Quote from: SteveFord on 15 Apr 2013, 09:45 pm

Did you get a chance to listen to the Woo/Stax combo?

I did. The rig pictured above (Stax SR-507, Woo GES, mysterious Korg DAC/processor playing DSD tracks) sounded great. It was the best headphone rig I heard all day.

The second best headphone rig I heard was the Sennheiser HD800s with a new Fosgate headphone amp. That was the only headphone amp I heard that brought the HD800s to life, with a full sound with really good low end frequency extension.

ramsubr · « **Reply #14 on:** 15 Apr 2013, 11:39 pm »

Some more random pics. Most of the rooms have been captioned in the above posts - so wont bother repeating.
Rooms I really liked were (in no particular order)
- The clue (Amazing Holographics)
- Gamut Speakers (Smaller ver Floor Standers)
- Broadmann Speakers (V7)

SteveFord · « **Reply #15 on:** 16 Apr 2013, 12:32 am »

Minimus,
Thanks for the reply, that headphone combo is on my bucket list!

low.pfile · « **Reply #16 on:** 16 Apr 2013, 01:05 am »

keep the impressions flowing from the NYAS going. Thanks for the posts so far!

Berto · « **Reply #17 on:** 16 Apr 2013, 01:36 am »

I was impressed by the Reimyo monitors , they were very small and sounded very big. There 75k of electronics prob helped too. Those monitors were 8k. Just a great sounding room.

I liked the vivid room of course they were playing a DSD of the Doors Riders of the Storm and I liked that a lot. I know digital amps is all the rage and they did sound nice but have IMO a more artificial sound then tubes done right. Of course if you take size, heat into the equation I can see them as a competant alternative.

Also thought the my audio designs aka MAD speaks sounded a lot bigger then they looked and had great balance. I thank Sunil for letting me hear the dude into the allnic amp, it was a fun combo.

I guess like Buddy said if you listen for sonics the kondo room might not be for you. But if you want to hear how old Johnny Cash was when he sings a song the Kondo room will tell ya. The emotional connection had me shaking my head. There was not enough big SET glass at the show (for my taste) so I spent a lot of time in this room. The sheer purity and organic quality of the music was an experience I will not forget.

enjoythemusic · « **Reply #18 on:** 16 Apr 2013, 07:39 am »

GREAT pics SET Man! If I may ask, what camera are you using as those pics look great!

Finished posting my coverage at www.enjoythemusic.com/new_york_audio_av_2013/

BobM · « **Reply #19 on:** 16 Apr 2013, 01:19 pm »

Does anyone notice that some of the speakers that the magazines tend to praise are rarely on anyone's best of lists, like the YG's? They just never sound good to me. The big KEF blade was just booming, as it has in past shows where I've heard it, but the little KEF monitors did sound very nice. I have yet to hear Tidals or Magico's at a NY show, but by reports from others whose ears I trust they have been less than impressed with Magico's at a show elsewhere. Tidal's aren't prevalent in the US yet, but I would like to hear them even if I can't afford them.