[DaveC113]

Rocky Mountain Audio Fest has moved to the Gaylord Rockies Resort and Convention Center in 2019. This is a big step up from the previous venue at Denver Tech Center and should encourage both vendors and participants who disliked the previous venue to attend once again. RMAF's previous location was ok until a couple years ago when a remodel caused all sorts of issues with use of the Hotel's larger rooms and suites, and the normal sized rooms became much less suitable for audio use with built-in furniture and new AC units. Attendance dwindled with a lot of the big name manufacturers choosing not to attend, and attendees also dwindled. This year I saw more major players, some new up-and-coming brands along with established brands and I also saw great attendance as well, with some rooms having waiting lines! The down side is Gaylord is HUGE and I hope some vendors didn't get skipped too often, many of the rooms were spread out and there wasn't quite enough signage making sure attendees knew where to go... You often saw folks looking down long corridors wondering if there were more demo rooms down there or not! OTOH there were maps in the booklets and on every floor showing attendees where to go, and it was a good idea to use the maps as simply wandering around can lead to some lost time going down long hallways to nowhere. I can see a few simple signs solving this issue in future years.

I forgot to get info on exactly what's in every room and what the room number was, so I'll do more posting of pics and less commenting. In general, the rooms sounded really good. The contrast between 2019 and what was at RMAF a decade + ago is amazing. When RMAF first started sound quality was generally very poor, it was difficult to find good sound. Quality of gear was often questionable and the setup of said gear even more questionable. Over the year we've seen steady improvement in all areas, both gear and setup is so much improved it's truly incredible. I think audio shows have done a lot to improve high end audio since RMAF started and to give credit where credit is due, RMAF was the first of it's kind. I'm happy to see such a great RMAF event and hope the new venue will return RMAF to the forefront of audio shows. Munich is too far away, and I think the Gaylord venue is probably far better anyways...

Here's a shot of the inside of the Gaylord... this place is so large it has it's own indoor waterfalls, lakes and railroad car, probably it's own zip code!

[DaveC113]

Sonus Faber















High End by Oz











University of Colorado Surround Setup











Zu!















AlsyVox and Omega (Spoiler: Best in Show)

[DaveC113]

Well Pleased.... This was really good and featured Vinni Rossi's new All-In-One. Like the Lio, super clean and low-noise, extremely impressive sound!











Sigma Speakers and AGD's new GaN amp-in-a-tube. This was a super-impressive system, very well behaved speakers that are gentle giants. Sold by the pound!























YG with VAC amps. Wow! Certainly one of the best systems at RMAF this year!















Gobel. Big Speakers with the tweeter positioned oddly low. These speakers need a much lower seat at the LP or the speakers need to be on stands. The chairs used were too high. The display in between the speakers was FAR too bright as well. But, they sounded really good.  

[DaveC113]

Mac, sounding more forward and "modern" than I've heard in the past...















Vaughn and Wavelength, excellent as usual!















SR, I wanted to hear the Magicos but this was really a SR tweak demo. Not that there's anything wrong with that...







Martin Logan and Benchmark, not the speaker I expected before walking in, but surprisingly good!















Vivid and Rowland

[DaveC113]

Joseph and Doshi ( I hope! )















Thrax w/Thrax Integrated. Super Clear and Lit-Up sound, Excellent...











Manger w/Bending Wave Driver... Sounds like an electrostat, very fast and clear.



















Dali











ATC











Vienna, REL and Boulder... Very good, little too much sub...



 

[DaveC113]

Vivid and Lumin, Excellent!











Classe and Magico, Very Good!











Polk's new speaker... One of the 2 mid/tweet arrays cancels the opposite side's info so it reduces crosstalk like headphones. The result is imaging somewhat like headphones but not in your head, and it's also less sensitive to how far apart the speakers are. Very interesting! Sound wasn't bad apart from the tweeters lack of refinement. $6k/pair is CHEAP relative to everything else!











ELAC's new ribbon tweeter is pretty good. These vs the MLs? Both are surprisingly good speakers!















Troy and their GPA based speakers, really good sound!

[fredgarvin]

I have to say, awesome photos! They really make me want to hear the gear. What did you think of the ATC, they have a cool old school appeal. I imagine big $$$.
I'm  curious about the Polk Legend too.

[Steidl Guitars]

Great photos.

[AvsFan]

I have to say, awesome photos! They really make me want to hear the gear. What did you think of the ATC, they have a cool old school appeal. I imagine big $$$.
I'm  curious about the Polk Legend too.

I heard the ATC's at the end of the day, they started playing some electronic music at ridiculous levels but they did sound VERY good. Clean, warm, natural with good bass. Nothing overly emphasized in that room. 

[AvsFan]

And um yeah, the Alsyvox room was hands down the BEST speakers at the show. OMG! Seriously. I can say that it's the best speaker I have ever heard. Jean Pierre was a very cool guy too. What tracks did you hear in that room? I spent an hour in there right after talking to the ZU guys next door. 

The other rooms that stood out for me were the Joseph Audio room and the Troy room. Troy room was really good.

But the Alsyvox speakers ruined every other speaker for me at the show. After hearing and listening to music like that, everything else was, well boring in comparison.

[rollo]

  Thanks for the photos Dave much appreciated.

charles

[timind]

Posting these pics is a lot of work. Thanks for the effort.

[fredgarvin]

I heard the ATC's at the end of the day, they started playing some electronic music at ridiculous levels but they did sound VERY good. Clean, warm, natural with good bass. Nothing overly emphasized in that room.

It sounds like you had a great time.

[DaveC113]

I have to say, awesome photos! They really make me want to hear the gear. What did you think of the ATC, they have a cool old school appeal. I imagine big $$$.
I'm  curious about the Polk Legend too.

I liked them a lot, they looked well built and yes they are pricey... I think the system was about $65k and the speakers were active.

Sound is very clean, clear, resolving, slightly warm of neutral maybe... I could wish for more woofer, it was moving visibly with only moderate SPLs, but they do have a model 2x and 3x as large, the largest with 2x15" woofers... but I didn't ask the price.

[ArthurDent]

Thank you for the great pics Dave. Very much appreciated by we armchair audio nuts. 

[paul79]

Thanks for doing this Dave. Very cool of you. What did you think of the Joseph/Doshi room?