[mgalusha]

I spent yesterday helping Wayne from Bolder Cables get set up and observing all the other companies haul their gear in. I had forgotten just how much work goes into a show like this. If you are attending the RMAF you might want to take minute and thank your hosts as I can assure you they went to considerable trouble and expense to do the show. Just being a sort-of participant has provided some insight as to what it takes to pull this off.

I did get to meet some very nice folks yesterday before the show started and I have to say that everyone I talked to was very friendly and the sense of comraderie was great.

One product which I thought was very nice were the racks from Adona Corporation. Very nice looking and they appear to be very effective. The owner, Paul Lemonski (I think) was going around to the folks using his product and helping them assemble the shelves. It seemed very cool to me that he was trying to help as many people as possible.

I also hooked up with my friend Klaus Bunge from Odyssey Audio. Another one of the good guys in audio. Spent a couple of hours having dinner and chatting with him. Always a pleasure.

I did get to briefly meet Jim Hagerman and Dan Wright. A couple more of the good folks in this business. Both were very friendly and down to earth.

Hope to meet some of the other AC members at the show. I will likely be spending an inordinate amount of time in the Bolder and Odyssey rooms, so come by and say hello.

mike g

[rosconey]

glad klaus didnt have truck problems like he at at montreal this year

did you bring your official AC tee shirt

[BradJudy]

Mike,

I will be down on Sunday afternoon with a couple of friends.  I'll keep my eye open for you.

Brad

[MaxCast]

Hi Mike, say hi to all the guys for us that can't make it.  I was sooooo close to coming.
Anyway, have fun, take pics and check in with us regularly.

[zybar]

I will be there when the doors open at noon!  

George

[BradJudy]

I'll just follow up Mike's thread here with my pics and notes.  To be kind to low bandwidth folks, I'll put them as links instead of inline.  

I was only there for a couple of hours, but there was a LOT to see and hear.  Some excellent stuff, wild stuff and stuff I don't want to know the pricetag of.  

I didn't end up taking as many pics as I thought I would as I was in a bit of a dash to hear as much as possible during the time I had.  Here are some of them:

Cain & Cain room:

http://s94266093.onlinehome.us/RMAF/RMAF-1.jpg

Amps in the Cain & Cain room - some wild looking stuff, although this is a poor picture:

http://s94266093.onlinehome.us/RMAF/RMAF-2.jpg

Tyler Acoustics room (Woodmere speakers) - very nice sounding tape version of Scarburough Fair playing:

http://s94266093.onlinehome.us/RMAF/RMAF-3.jpg

JM Labs Electra speakers with BAT equipment:

http://s94266093.onlinehome.us/RMAF/RMAF-4.jpg

While my memory fails me on this one, they can only be Green Mountain Audio Continuum 3s:

http://s94266093.onlinehome.us/RMAF/RMAF-5.jpg

The amps driving the speakers above (now THAT is a tube):

http://s94266093.onlinehome.us/RMAF/RMAF-6.jpg

Sonus Faber Stradivari (don't recall the electronics) - very nice piano sound coming from these:

http://s94266093.onlinehome.us/RMAF/RMAF-7.jpg

Red Rocks amps and Teres turntable (forgot the pre):

http://s94266093.onlinehome.us/RMAF/RMAF-8.jpg

Ocean Acoustic single drivers with Experience amps:

http://s94266093.onlinehome.us/RMAF/RMAF-9.jpg

Chord source:

http://s94266093.onlinehome.us/RMAF/RMAF-10.jpg

Audio Federation - Marten Design Coltrane speakers and Edge NL Signature Ones amps:

http://s94266093.onlinehome.us/RMAF/RMAF-11.jpg

Epiphany 20-21 and E-cubes with Edge amps:

http://s94266093.onlinehome.us/RMAF/RMAF-12.jpg

My favorite sounding speaker at the show was the McIntosh XRT28 - very nice, although I still think their electronics are the least asthetically appealing out there.  

[BradJudy]

It was a pretty cool event - way too much stuff to see in the under 4 hours I was there.  Lots of stuff that costs more than I would spend on a car.  

Aperion was one of the few 'budget' companies there.  The Aperion folks surprised me by knowing who I was - apparently they keep an eye on various forums even if they aren't posting.  GR research and AV123 were there as well, but not showing their less expensive items (although GR did have the AV-3s out in one room).  Mostly a very high-end two-channel event.  Only a few multichannel rooms (Aperion, AV123, Epiphany).  

McIntosh got my vote for the best sound of the event, although the hotel rooms were less than ideal setups.  Many rooms sounded better if I moved up into a more nearfield range.

There was a good mix of vinyl and digital being played, along with a couple of reel-to-reel setups.