[steve f]

I only went on Sunday. The show was definitely winding down. I was a bit disappointed with the sound in most rooms. Some systems were set up overly bright, and many had one note boomy bass. Of course you have to expect that in a show. People bring stuff to the show to sell, not entertain. What was unusual were the number of rooms with the sound turned off. That's a mistake.

I met James Romyn, Klaus, and missed Duke. I also ran into a few old friends. I wonder how many ACers passed each other in the halls. We're buddies online. I wish we'd find a way to attach faces to the posts. Looking at a couple of pics, I think JLM wandered by a couple of times.

I went through most rooms, and have a few favorites to share. I thought Sanders Sound was the best of show. Great electronics, ESL panels, and a well designed TL for bass. I wish I could afford them.
Second place to Legacy. They always are a top choice at any show.
Third Odyssey. I loved Klaus' system and can see why his amps have such a following.
Fourth Audio Kinesis. The 46s are a nice design. The Atmasphere OTLs hurt the sound a bit. They needed better amps.
Zu was my fifth choice. Not the most accurate but loads of slam & fun.

I also noted two small speakers:
The Linkwitz LX Mini is very nice.
Transparent One by Vanatoo would be a great desktop or dorm room speaker.

More when I get back home.

steve

[roscoeiii]

I only went on Sunday. The show was definitely winding down. I was a bit disappointed with the sound in most rooms. Some systems were set up overly bright, and many had one note boomy bass. Of course you have to expect that in a show. People bring stuff to the show to sell, not entertain. What was unusual were the number of rooms with the sound turned off. That's a mistake.

I met James Romyn, Klaus, and missed Duke. I also ran into a few old friends. I wonder how many ACers passed each other in the halls. We're buddies online. I wish we'd find a way to attach faces to the posts. Looking at a couple of pics, I think JLM wandered by a couple of times.

I went through most rooms, and have a few favorites to share. I thought Sanders Sound was the best of show. Great electronics, ESL panels, and a well designed TL for bass. I wish I could afford them.
Second place to Legacy. They always are a top choice at any show.
Third Odyssey. I loved Klaus' system and can see why his amps have such a following.
Fourth Audio Kinesis. The 46s are a nice design. The Atmasphere OTLs hurt the sound a bit. They needed better amps.
Zu was my fifth choice. Not the most accurate but loads of slam & fun.

I also noted two small speakers:
The Linkwitz LX Mini is very nice.
Transparent One by Vanatoo would be a great desktop or dorm room speaker.

More when I get back home.

steve

I liked those Vinatoo a lot too. What a surprise they were.

[csmgolf]

This is the third straight year I have been to this show. I thought the sound was overall pretty good. I attended Saturday and Sunday. Some of my overall impressions;

Saturday was very busy, with many rooms not even able to get in to let alone sit down. There was entirely too many conversations going on in the listening rooms. The first time I went into the Audiokinesis room, there were three very loud conversations going on all at the same time. One was the dealer, and two of the other were manufacturers (not Duke BTW). It was absolutely impossible to listen to music. This was a system that I really wanted to hear and after 15 minutes, I left, exasperated. Fortunately, I was able to get in that room again Sunday fairly early and was able to get a good listen with some of my own music.

I thought the Zephrin was a terrific speaker, especially given its price and adjustability. An incredibly well thought out and executed speaker. It should be able to work well in a large variety of rooms. Duke is also a humble, true, gentleman. I had a nice conversation with him after listening to his speakers. That is one of the really great aspects of a show like this being able to talk to the designers.

I echo some of the comments of others. There were too many rooms with the high end tipped up and became quickly tiring. I have found boomy bass to be a common theme at these shows. I wonder if it is a combination of cheap construction of the rooms and playing the system too loud for what the room will support.

I thought Odyssey was very good from the upper bass on up, but they were not exempt from mildly boomy bass. Between these and the Zephrin, it would be tough to go wrong for the money. They both sounded much better than quite a few more expensive speakers. The Jantzen speakers were once again well balanced. The Acoustic Zen Crescendos were outstanding as they have been every time I have heard them. I have heard the Legacy Aeris twice before this weekend. It must be the newer processor, because they were a significant step up from the previous times I had heard them. I missed the opportunity to hear the V though. There were two that stood out above the rest to me. First was the Mosaic Acoustic Illuminations. I have been a fan of Dale Pitcher's speakers for some time and have owned a couple of his older models. They were augmented with the Scaena extenders. Fully fleshed out, extended at both extremes, fast, detailed without etch, and excellent imaging. I was also able to have a conversation with Dale. He is truly a genius and makes incredible products.

 My favorite at the show though was the Muraudio room. I am surprised that no one has mentioned them yet. I had about a half hour listening period Sunday afternoon where I was the only one in the room. I could walk anywhere in that room and not have the stage fall apart. They combined the best of electrostats with the best of omnis IMO. If I had the money, my speaker search would start right there. It would quite possible end there too.

I am in agreement with others about the entire 12th floor. WTF? That was my first stop on Sunday. I listened for 4 songs to the Magico Q7. When you pick out the individual elements, they do it well. Hi-fi trickery...check. They are over built to the max. And they are absolutely less than the sum of their parts. They were playing music that was intended to be emotional, and I was completely unmoved. I would never consider spending any where near that price (200K) even if I had that kind of money. The 125K M series left me with the same feeling. The big Sonus Fabers did not do it for me either.

Overall, I really enjoyed the show and will likely attend again next year. I got to meet a couple of AC members at the show this year and agree with the idea of having some way of identifying members at the show to put faces with names.

[JLM]

How did you find the tweeter? Felt a touch hot to me,  but that could have been at least somewhat due to what they were playing when I was in the room.

roscoeiii/dminches, I can only veto speakers under show conditions (unknown room/associated gear/music and all that noise makes definitive impressions near impossible).  Add to that old ears (that could use some extra spice on the top) and I couldn't really say.

steve f, that must have been an imposter (lots of older balding guys drawn to audio).     I was only there Saturday.

The only speakers that I thought might be displace mine, all cost 5 times as much (Tannoy Definition DC-10A and Daedalus Poseidon V.2). 

Yeah, I missed Duke too.

[Big Red Machine]

Three of us can sit side by side in a room and hear different things.  Just goes to show that what I like means nothing.

[JLM]

Three of us can sit side by side in a room and hear different things.  Just goes to show that what I like means nothing.

+1 

We probably averaged 2 minutes per room; rarely sat at all, let alone in the ideal location; most of the music wasn't familiar or the music wasn't good material to audition with; most of the rooms were squarish (either in plan - the bedrooms, or height/width - the lobby/lower lever rooms); ears fatigue after a few samplings.  Need more excuses?  It was a cloudy day, I missed breakfast, I'm short so you tall guys block my "aural view".   

[klamka]

It's true that one should not judge the system at show conditions but what's the alternative ? Flying all over the country to listen to perspective contenders? Also if for understandable reasons you band with other manufacturers to share the cost better make sure it's really worth it. Even though I used the harsh description of my impression of  certain rooms I have no doubts that all the pieces in those systems are potential contenders just if some manufacturers are able to get consistently good to excellent sound in the show rooms YOU CAN DO IT TOO , and if you can't find somebody who can.
The press. They should have no badges , no accommodations, no special treatment and at least pretend to anonymously mix within the crowd to save some tiny amount of credibility some gullible people still credit them with. Instead when any of those clowns appeared in the room I thought that Patricia Barber showed up topless.
And Lastly ZU Company
They didn't produce remarkable sound in their room , but among 99% of car dealers pretending to be an audio salesmen this bunch of young guys really showed what this hobby is for. Two decent cheap turntables and a DJ playing selection of  music all day long . If I had a spare day and was not an audio hardware nut I would park right there and smuggle a bottle with fish and chips . And , I would buy anything from them to keep THAT kind of company on  the market.

 

[jtwrace]

And Lastly ZU Company
They didn't produce remarkable sound in their room , but among 99% of car dealers pretending to be an audio salesmen this bunch of young guys really showed what this hobby is for. Two decent cheap turntables and a DJ playing selection of  music all day long . If I had a spare day and was not an audio hardware nut I would park right there and smuggle a bottle with fish and chips . And , I would buy anything from them to keep THAT kind of company on  the market.

   The "DJ" is usually Sean the owner. 


 

[TomS]

   The "DJ" is usually Sean the owner. 

Indeed it was. One of the good guys.

[gbeard]

Hey Tom,

BRM, DM, & others... Sorry I missed meeting you. I did run into JLM, Triode Pete, Chris VH, Gopher, Ryan and several others. I picked JLM out of a AC line up.  Pictures say a thousand words and I picked him out in a crowd to say hello. My badge told him who I was....(Badges, we don't need no stinking badges!)