[Daedalus Audio]

Pez,


Let me immediately be clear and emphatically state that I have no connection, affiliation or financial interest in the audio industry.  I am but a humble audiophile.

I did not state, nor did I imply that you or Tyson were in anyway on the "take" and I am very well aware that you are providing this service, as you have done in past years, as a free service. 

My point, as I stated, was that of all the many manufacturers at the show an inordinate number of best in show just happen to be site sponsors.  I also fully understand when you say that you prefer to visit and commensurate with AC vendors as you have a shared history with them.  Perhaps then, these skewed results are just a statistical anomaly and I should just leave it at that.

Let me also just say that I am a huge supporter and admirer of our cottage audio entrepreneurs many of whom are in fact site sponsors.  I have greatly benefited from their direct sales to the public, their willingness to personally assist and resolve audio issues. Furthermore, I also appreciate and understand full well the role AC provides these manufacturers as a venue to the audio world.

Perhaps, therefore, the issue becomes one of the title used.  You clearly state Pez & Tyson's "Best of RMAF" which of course very quickly gets converted to AC Best in Show.  In your preface to your post you mentioned the 100 Miss America contestants, 70 of whom never got a chance.  Reminds me of an old Russian proverb, Life is tough and then you die.

Once again I want to thank Pez and Tyson for their hard work and fair, (though honestly subjective) reporting.

As for the Site sponsors, the ones I know sponsor not only because it is good business but because we truly appreciate the un-biased forum which AC provides. On the 'credibility' issue, many magazines focus their attention inordinately on their advertisers, often based on how much $ they spend. I even had an online mag owner once say when I asked him why he wasn't including my gear in a show report that " you don't advertise with me". seriously!  Pez and Tyson are just a couple of audio enthusiasts like everyone else and have absolutely NO vested interest, because of that I find their show reports and the others which come from outside the industry to be my favorites.

Maybe I took you wrong but it seemed that you have inferred that most AC sponsors are "cottage industry", perhaps for a few that is true but this has been my sole source of income for over twenty one years, I commute a half hour each day to work in my 4,000 sf facility in a commercial park, maybe semantics but it sure doesn't feel like a "cottage industry" to me. I know many other sponsors who create jobs and this is their only income.

thanks,
Lou

[Daedalus Audio]

Oh, one other thing I noticed this year about the other people covering RMAF that was interesting.  The professional review sites weren't there to really do much evaluating of the systems, but quite clearly were there to pick up leads for possible reviews of equipment over the upcoming next few months.  They have no reason to work very hard covering the show since for them it's merely a place to get ideas on stuff to review and maybe build a relationship with a vendor. 

Thanks Tyson, you are spot on! I hope I don't miff any 'professional mags' but then I am very conservative on the whole review process anyway. 
It seems to me that this show review syndrome of the mags has gotten much worse the last few years, especially for the online guys. I think part of that is the lack of funds since 2008 to adequately and objectively cover the sound of rooms at the show? Overall I am very thankful for the 'indies' who cover the shows!

[standub]

Did you guys get any time in the Lawrence Audio room... I noticed that no one else has mentioned the room (maybe for good reason )... I was impressed with the new Double Bass speakers....

Anyone, Bueller......

So i'm not as eloquent as P&T in their room reviews, hey I'm an engineer I only know bad english.  However I did stop by the Lawrence room on Friday, personally they seemed very middle of the road for the show.  Not great, not terrible but ho hum.

[standub]

On the whole AC vendors VS. the main stream vendors there is a big sticking point.  Why don't the main stream guys use room treatments??? That alone would help their case a lot more.

[Tyson]

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. 

[Scottdazzle]

I had the good fortune to bump into Tyson and Pez a few times over the weekend.  By chance, we happened to be hitting some of the same rooms at about the same time.  They were working as hard as anyone there, manufacturers, vendors, and audio writers included.  I can't quibble with their judgments about the rooms and equipment and agree with them for the most part.

[david12]

 To second everyone else's thanks, or is it 101st, on behalf of those of us outside the US who can not get to RMAF at all, or only once, as in my case. The main thing of value is that you give an opinion and try to say how it is based and what your priorities are.

 The contrast with other sites is stark, mostly a collection of photos without any comment at all, sort of audio softporn.

 As for the report, you clearly said at the start you were cutting coverage to  a limited number, to make a more detailed assesment of the ones you were interested. You never claimed to be making a complete show report.

 So this is'nt flannel, your report is second best to being there, which I will try sometime, if I can just find a flight less than £600

[JoshK]

Thanks for the coverage Jason and Tyler!

One quick question.  Were you able to heard the AK speakers with and without LCS?  I am just curious as to the impact. 

[konut]

Chuck Norris could up his game if he tackled his work with the gusto of you two!

I prefer to think that every year Tyson and Pez emulate Rocky Balboa. 
                 
 They eat lightning and crap thunder. They have become very dangerous persons!

[dB Cooper]

Wow.  Where do I send the checks??

Seriously, thank you both very much.   And congratulations to Vapor Audio and Danny Ritchie.   

Duke

With the 'We know and everyone else is a dope' attitude that is so common in high end audio, it is nice to hear someone in the biz praise others' products (Vapor, GR, Salk) even when they obviously have a totally different design philosophy. Makes me want to know more about his speakers. I suspect they're pretty damned good.

[taoggniklat]

What!!  You didn't love the new speakers I just bought??   

sorry I wanted to like them again.

[avahifi]

Pez and Tyson, thanks for your kind comments regarding the Salk/Van Alstine room

You heard the new Salk Exotica speakers with my highly regarded little Ultravalve 35W/Ch tube amp which we thought would be a great match for those 91 dB efficient speakers.  It did a great job for you with the "small" sound tracks, but not as well with your big powerful tracks.

On Saturday morning we switched so that our big Fet Valve 600R 300W/Ch hybrid amp was driving the Exoticas.  We assumed it would be overkill, but what the hell, lets try it.

If you had heard it with this amp driving it (both were using our new Fet Valve CF tube preamp) I bet it would have rated a straight A.  The Exoticas did like the Fet Valve amplifier more than I would have anticipated and very pleasantly surprised us.

I can also mention that lots of reviewers from John Atkinson to Robert Harley heard the Fet Valve - Exotica combination and we and Jim have lots of review sample requests to fill.

Frank VA

[AJinFLA]

Some others dropping off next year are the Linkwitz room

Hmmm, that's interesting coming from a dipole guy. I'm curious .
That was one of the few rooms I had a chance to sneak out and visit...liked what I heard.
There were a bunch of "Can't play your CD, so let us play some more elevator music and show you what are speakers are really capable of".
The other rooms (IMO) that were getting good sound, were my main man next door, Fritz (look ma, no treatments  ), Grimm Audio (active DSP speakers) and the JBL room with the M2s (though I told the exhibitor I thought they would sound better with heavier toe-in).
Oh and btw, though jilted, I do enjoy you fellas coverage. Makes for good reading, don't see how anyone can mistake it for anything other than two audiophiles giving their honest opinions and having a blast, covering a boatload of stuff.

Why don't the main stream guys use room treatments???

They often do! Those larger rooms do a great deal to mitigate poor off axis, etc., increasing the ration of direct/reflected sound intensity. Plus not everyone wants their room to look like an isolation ward, especially with a bunch of audio lunatics running around.....

Thanks to all the AC guys that stopped by, nice meeting a few new ones (JT, Anand, Noah, Sunil, Fritz etc) and the usual suspects (Triode Pete, Scott D, Woodsyi, HAL, Paul M, Hugh, Jonathon J et al)

[Duke]

One quick question.  Were you able to heard the AK speakers with and without LCS?  I am just curious as to the impact.

I don't think they had time for that, but could be mistaken. 

Josh, if you don't get a response here, try the posting your question in the thread over on my forum (in Designer's Corner), you may have a better chance of catching relatively unbiased listeners who heard it both ways there.   

[jtwrace]

I did.  Huge impact.  Like black & white.

[Duke]

With the 'We know and everyone else is a dope' attitude that is so common in high end audio, it is nice to hear someone in the biz praise others' products (Vapor, GR, Salk) even when they obviously have a totally different design philosophy. Makes me want to know more about his speakers. I suspect they're pretty damned good.

Thanks!  You get my vote for best moniker. 

Too many times I've had my pre-conceived notions destroyed by a speaker that looked all wrong to me at first glance.  There's this little niche of things I can do with some competence, and I do believe in it, but I've heard too many really fine systems that take a very different approach to wax confident about having all the answers.

Gotta also mention Lou Hinkley of Daedalus.  I didn't make it to his room this year, but every time either my wife or I hear his speakers, we go, "oboy, there's our competition!"  And his cabinetwork is just killer.

I'm just really glad to be counted among designers of this caliber.  And I really gotta give credit to Jim Romeyn for his role.  Not only was the initial idea his, he then spent countless hours listening to many different variations (major and minor) of his concept so that he could tell me where the goal posts are.   

[Duke]

Oops double post sorry! 

[DaveC113]

Duke, I think that's a great attitude. Everyone has different priorities in audio and few if any systems are truly "no compromise". I caught a bit of Sigfried Linkwitz's spiel on why his design is superior to "box speakers", and his system did sound good, but it isn't as good as many other folk's box speakers (your's included) for my preferences.

Slightly OT regarding dB Cooper's comment about attitude, I do agree and this kind of social perception is something I study a bit. If you get into social psychology it's a little bit discouraging how most people form their perceptions about other people, and how much the need for acceptance alters behavior. Sometimes I like to change my appearance and body language to see how it changes how other people perceive me, and I did at RMAF this year... Friday I wore casual clothing, basic jeans, western style boots and a button down workshirt, on Sunday I wore nice jeans, black dress boots, a drapey black tee and a very nice tailored blazer... and there was a significant difference in how I was treated. In general, folks seemed much more eager to play my test track and much more interested in comments I had as well. It's discouraging that the human race is so superficial, but it is what it is...

[*Scotty*]

The old adage, dress for success is actually true.
People really do judge books by their covers.
Scotty

[jtwrace]

Thanks to all the AC guys that stopped by, nice meeting a few new ones (JT, Anand, Noah, Sunil, Fritz etc) and the usual suspects (Triode Pete, Scott D, Woodsyi, HAL, Paul M, Hugh, Jonathon J et al)