[klaus@odyssey]

Just to add my thoughts and my perspective and experience here from a manufacturer / exhibitor viewpoint, especially since it was so different than Montreal, HET, or the other high end shows:.

-  Timing :  the show is too close to the Montreal show.  After 2 weeks gone, just had a couple of days for business as usual before getting out to Lime on Thursday.

-  Good:  Lima is only 3 hoyrs drive away.

-  Bad:  No access into the convention center rooms at night,  so up up to the sleeping room the gear goes at 3 am.  Next morning down down into the exhibit room.  Ridiculous.

-  Really,  really bad:  the rooms in the cc.  The worst I've ever had after over 70 shows and seminars.  Idiotic shape, one full, solid wall of glass,  and a rattling air conditioning.

Really funny /  and sad:    Talked to the super about shutting off the air conditioning to avoid the rattling, then left for Walmart.  After coming back,  Marbles and I got into the room.  Yep,  the air conditioning was off, the rattling still there,  and the freaking room was a sauna.  

Really bad:  Initial sound of the room afer first setup.  Ordered 8 more drape areas to put in front of the glass.  Helped,  but the cc wanted to see serious green for their "services"

The best:  One by one seeing and meeting all the guys.  There was a universal "let's have fun" atmosphere without a single guy screwing up the fun and the mood of anyone.  Big props.  Marbles,  well,  Marbles is Marbles,  hehehe.  MGalusha, great to put a face to the voice,  and to see that there are guys bigger than me,  hehehe.  Mike is great.  Jason,  well, Jason asked for it all Saturday night.  Wanted to get into his fight club routine until I finally said ok to an arm wrestling match,  hehehe.  All others are cool as heck as well,  I truly had fun and felt comfortable  in each one of the guys company.  The group was mostly Wayne, Jason, Chris, Marbles, Rich MaxCast, Joe DOC Photo, Mike Galusha, Scott from TNT, and me.

Bad:  Those guys came over to my room a lot,  but they %^#$%$^@*& partied in Wayne's room all the time,  and left me stranded downstairs in the CC.  Why ???  Marbles smuggled his Kegs of beer past security into Wayne's room.  Any idea of the contrast of what this room was like when at the same time some sober and serious people try to demo in shitty rooms ????

The "competition":  Let me put it this way:  Wayne,  so helpful and very sweet.  You gotta love him.  Chris,  very thoughtful and gentleman like,  M.Barnes,  Very sweet,  much more open and genuinely friendly than expected.  These AC'ers all fit into the same, wonderful mold of great guys, which helps me as well.  As I always said, a job well done by anyone of us direct companies is a direct help in legitimizing each one of our businesses.

Sounds:  Don't really know.  As a one-man band I didn't get around and seriously listened to lot of systems,  but my general idea:  I'm still not a horn-freak,  but it was interesting.  Generally,  liked the small horns better, as in the Madisound room next door.  Obviously,  I have no clue as to the other components anywhere and the synergies.
Wayne's room was nice,  and the Teres table rivals the SL RG 6 in looks, no question.  Love these platter choices.  NOrh's room was interesting,  not set up for any high end music,  but to show technology,  and I'll buy the Soundcard thingy from M.Barnes this month.  Looks promising, and I'll try it.  Other than that,  I did a 10 minute quick run through several rooms while Rich and Marbles took over the Odyssey room.  Oh yeah,  by the way,  those 2 are really shitty salesmen.  Offered them big incentives,  and when I came back / no sales.  
Anyway,  to have a more realistic opinion,  I should have taken more time to listen.

Barfing up your breakfeast ridiculous:  The Chicago horn club.  Geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeez,  these guys are nuts.  In a good way,  I think ????
They were on the main lobby floor,  and when I came down from my room,  they've had the door open.  Nevermind that you could hear them running their 2500 inch sub system so loud that you could hear them in my sleeping room upstairs, clearly.  You get into the elevator, down,  and slowly increase the volume.  Out the elevator, around the corner, and you have to shield your ears,  10 doors down.  Going by the room,  I swear, you felt the floor moving.  Looking at the door,  it was open,  and it moved.  That freaking door moved with the air,  and we're not talking aboiut a Lowe's $ 30 bathroom door here.  that thing moved !!!!!!  In these 5 seconds or so that I stared into that room in disbelief, I felt my breakfeast coming up,  that's how much bass there was, and it was easily 110 - 115 dB.  Easily, and I'd belief 120 dB +.

There I am, green in my face, holding my stomach and ears,  still looking at the frigging door moving in the wind, then glancing over into the room.  A bunch of guys smiling and high - fiving.  What ????  Unbelievable.  Talking about love for a hobby.  Those guys had a great time,  and they deserved it.  Easily the most interesting show experience in years.

Non-existing, well, sort of:  Nightlife.  Enough said.

Food:  The bistro restaurant was actually fantastic.  As long as you've ordered something that was still available.  The availability of menu items was reminiscent of East Germany in the 80's.  Poor Mike Galusha got stiffed 4 or 5 times with "Sorry,  we're out".

The most amazing:  The room's AC voltage.  Through Friday,  the system didn't sound anywhere near normal.  The worst I've ever heard it.  Couldn't pin it on the room,or the warm-up of the amps.  Was totally different,  recessed and choked.  Not controlled, and solid state like.  So,  checked the AC,  and these nut cases at the Lima cc  ran the ac at 136 Volts.  136 !!!!!!So,  cover off,  meter out, rebiased,  and voila,  I've had normality after rectifying a 50 + % bias swing.     136 Volts  !!!!!!!  136 ,  that's in the danger zone for most amplification's power supplies at full tilt,  but it proved to be a cool acid test for me.

Thanks again for everybody's help,  especially Joe and Rich.  And I'll have to get to Denver one of these days.  these guys are great.

So,  in retrospect,  it was interesting.  Very little traffic compared to the bigger shows,  which had it's pro's and cons.  Less business potential,  of course,  but on the other hand,  you have peoples attention.  They listen for quite some time since there were only 20 rooms total,  while at the bigger sghows you're lucky if you have somebody's attention for more than a minute due to the sheer number of rooms.  At the MAF you have the luxury to talk to people and vice versa without time pressure.  And you have the big luxury of listening for hours at a time.  I've had quite a few people come back for 4,5, or 6 sessions.  You can't do that at the bigger shows.

As for the business side of it,  it was the cheapest show I've ever done.  that's the big advantage of the hobby m inded setup and the Lima location of the show.  At the end of the day,  I've had an amazing amount of sales that I didn't expect.  

All in all,  this was so completely different, and mostly more fun than all the other shows and seminars.  Part party and twilight zone with a dose of music reality,  hard to explain.  I'd definitely tell all you guys to somehow make the trip next year, at least for the atmosphere and meeting place function of the show.  As for me,  I already signed up for next year.

Good night,

Klaus

[Audio Al]

Thanks Klaus, I enjoyed your musings on the show.  I would have liked to attend.  I still don't understand why this event is held in Lima.  What the heck is there?
But let me say one thing to the event organizers... Don't plan the show during Masters week!   Obviously you guys are not golf fans.  But as far as I'm concerned you might just as well held it during Christmas.  Thou shall not violate the holy week!

[audiojerry]

Thanks for the insights, Klaus. You are one of the good guys!
Hope to see you and others there next year.

[MaxCast]

 I still don't understand why this event is held in Lima.  What the heck is there?
!

Not much!!  Only two decent restaurants if you count kewpee burgers.

I think the organizer, Mike Baker, lives there.

[Pez]

Just wanted to give props to Klaus.  I couldn't imagine a worse scenerio for setting up a system.  First day I went there it was easily the worst sound I have heard from anything Odyssey makes/sells, the second day it was among my favorites all because Klaus took the time to really really get things working.  To take a bad room and make it decent in one day's time is quite a feat.  Hell I lived in a house for a year that had sound that bad and couldn't get it to the level it the Odyssey room was at.  Any way I really enjoyed meeting Klaus.  

One thing he failed to mention was that I totally kicked his ass in our arm wrestling match.  I had to pay $200 to have the table we arm wrestled on replaced after I smashed his arm through it.   Oh well I hope you arm isn't as swollen as it was that night Klaus.

One last thing, here's a portrait Klaus drew of me that night.  



I'm going to hang on to it and let it appreciate in value

[Marbles]

Well I can vouch for the pic being drawn by Klaus, but that's not how I remember the arm wrestling match.

Jason, is your arm out of the sling yet?  

[Tyson]

After having known Jason for over a year, I can attest that picture is a good likeness.  

[Marbles]

 I still don't understand why this event is held in Lima.  What the heck is there?
!

Not much!!  Only two decent restaurants if you count kewpee burgers.

I think the organizer, Mike Baker, lives there.

Maxcast, don't be shy....tell them about the strip club that wasn't quite, and how there were more lesbians and bi-sexual girls than guys in the place!!

Don't forget to tell them about the bar with the Poor Boys Band. Actually they kind of rocked for a garage pickup band loosely based on Dan Ackroyd and John Balushi's Blues Brothers Band.

Ah hell, your right, there wasn't much in Lima........

[mgalusha]

It was great to meet you Klaus along with all the other guys. I consider meeting everyone the highpoint of the trip. While seeing and hearing all the different gear was great, it was the personalities that made the trip enjoyable.

Pretty damn tired right now, so not a lot to say. I've had enough of driving for a while.

Mike

[MaxCast]

I have to agree with you, Mike.  New amp, $1000; new speakers, $3000; new cables, $750; meeting your internet friends, priceless.  Glad to hear you made it home ok.

[Scott F.]

Hey Klaus!

Finally!!! Somebody that likes to listen to music at the same SPL's that I do    Considering the room you had, your gear ended up sounding pretty darned good.

I rolled your little speakers into the system tonight and let them warm up. These things kick some serious bootie for 5 bills.

Oh Jason, Klaus kicked your butt at arm wrestling BIG time  

JohnR, thanks for fixing my account so I can now post rather than just read  

Had a great time over the weekend. Met loads of great people and listened to some really good systems. Shame you couldn't make it out to hear some of the other systems. Especially the CAR room. The Heartsfields were sounding damned fine.

Wayne, Chris, John and Jasons room was sounding extremely good too. Waynes mods to the DIO made me want to spend more money than I should. Then there was Chris's table. Good greif, that one could be a home wrecker    

Enjoy,
Scott

[mgalusha]

Actually I fixed your account Scott. JohnR has returned to Austrailia, although I'm sure he would have enjoyed the show too. Happy to be of service.

I look forward to reading your report on the show.

Mike

[Wayne1]

Scott,

It was a great pleasure to meet you. I am very thankful for your loan to us of some of your vinyl. The Basie recording was what we used to hear the differences between the different platters on the Teres. The lead filled, Cocobolo platter was amazing in it's ability to give true life and dynamics to a 35 year old recording.

Spending time with Klaus was a high point of the show for me. After Jason managed to blow the power fuse on the Radii power amp by being too impatient, a fairly common thing for a 15 year old but I though Jason would have out grown it now that he has reached the ripe old age of 22 , Klaus was kind enough to send up massive quantities of replacement fuses from his room. I guess after meeting Jason he wanted to make sure it didn't happen again

We weren't the only forgetful folks at the show. Klaus needed to borrow a couple of power cables and I was very happy to loan him a couple of NITRO power cords. At dinner one night, he did say that he liked them, another high point

Klaus is very correct in saying that the small makers of direct marketed, high end gear should work together to promote this hobby. It worked that way in the microbrewing industry. We would all gather together at festivals to celebrate the great diversity of our products and to show the general population that there is an alternative to bland, industrial brewed beers.

It should work the same way in direct marketed audio. There is something better out there than what is offered at Best Buy.

[Scott F.]

Hi Mike,

Actually I fixed your account Scott. JohnR has returned to Austrailia, although I'm sure he would have enjoyed the show too. Happy to be of service.

Oops   Now that you mention it, you didn't have much of an Aussie accent, did you

Thanks for getting me up and running.

Regards,
Scott

[Scott F.]

Hiya Wayne,

Scott,

It was a great pleasure to meet you. I am very thankful for your loan to us of some of your vinyl. The Basie recording was what we used to hear the differences between the different platters on the Teres. The lead filled, Cocobolo platter was amazing in it's ability to give true life and dynamics to a 35 year old recording.

That is my favorite Classic Records release, just for that same reason. Phenominal sound quality. Too bad my Systemdek doesn't track it as well as Chris' Teres  

Spending time with Klaus was a high point of the show for me.

Me too. You know those crazy Germans!!

After Jason managed to blow the power fuse on the Radii power amp by being too impatient, a fairly common thing for a 15 year old but I thought Jason would have out grown it now that he has reached the ripe old age of 22

So Jason, have you been good and zapped by tubed power supply cap that decided you looked like a nice ground yet ?  

Klaus is very correct in saying that the small makers of direct marketed, high end gear should work together to promote this hobby.

Absolutely. It's you guys (smaller manufacturers) that I'm trying to focus on over at the website. Relatively un-recogognized companies that make killer gear for not much bucks. There are other manufacturers out there besides Musical Fidelity, Krell and B&W.

From the way Mike was talking over at A2, it sounds as if he may trim the "Fest" back to once every two years. Hope not but I would understand if he did. It's one helluva lot of work for just one guy to pull off.

It should work the same way in direct marketed audio. There is something better out there than what is offered at Best Buy.

It's amazing how little the general public knows about good sounding gear. It's all about exposure. Trouble is, with the brick and mortor stores struggling at best, if they go by the way of the Condor the general public won't have a clue that quality gear actually exists. Scary thoughts.

Regards
Scott[/quote]

[mikebake]

Hello Klaus;
 I got a kick out of your comments; it appears that you grasped that for the costs involved, the event was a bargain. I think you should have pointed out, however, that you didn't even contact me to participate until 7-10 days prior to the show, and that we were sold out of rooms. Most of the room complaints you mentioned are a result of the fact that we stuffed you into the lineup at the last minute. The negatives come with the territory.
As for timing with other events, I casually watch for them but the planning was based entirely on avoiding Easter of other holiday, and finding which weekend was still open at the Civic Center. I frankly don't think MAF is any kind of competition for other events; we're just a little weekend party for audionuts.

"-  Bad:  No access into the convention center rooms at night,  so up up to the sleeping room the gear goes at 3 am.  Next morning down down into the exhibit room.  Ridiculous."

It's a function of money and your late registration.

"-  Really,  really bad:  the rooms in the cc.  The worst I've ever had after over 70 shows and seminars.  Idiotic shape, one full, solid wall of glass,  and a rattling air conditioning."

See above



"Really funny /  and sad:    Talked to the super about shutting off the air conditioning to avoid the rattling, then left for Walmart.  After coming back,  Marbles and I got into the room.  Yep,  the air conditioning was off, the rattling still there,  and the freaking room was a sauna."  

Really bad:  Initial sound of the room afer first setup.  Ordered 8 more drape areas to put in front of the glass.  Helped,  but the cc wanted to see serious green for their "services""

8.50 per section. Normal pricing. Try pricing it in Denver.




"Bad:  Those guys came over to my room a lot,  but they %^#$%$^@*& partied in Wayne's room all the time,  and left me stranded downstairs in the CC.  Why ???  Marbles smuggled his Kegs of beer past security into Wayne's room.  Any idea of the contrast of what this room was like when at the same time some sober and serious people try to demo in shitty rooms ????"

Worse; Getting called at 1:48 a.m. to see if you can get in the Civic Center.


"Sounds:  Don't really know.  As a one-man band I didn't get around and seriously listened to lot of systems,  but my general idea:  I'm still not a horn-freak,  but it was interesting.  Generally,  liked the small horns better, as in the Madisound room next door."

Madisound had the identical room to yours, said they liked it quite well.


"As for the business side of it,  it was the cheapest show I've ever done.  that's the big advantage of the hobby m inded setup and the Lima location of the show.  At the end of the day,  I've had an amazing amount of sales that I didn't expect."

That's good. My financial experience with the event is not so glowing.

"All in all,  this was so completely different, and mostly more fun than all the other shows and seminars.  Part party and twilight zone with a dose of music reality,  hard to explain.  I'd definitely tell all you guys to somehow make the trip next year, at least for the atmosphere and meeting place function of the show.  As for me,  I already signed up for next year."

We haven't made any plans for future MAF's.
As I have indicated, based on the rather large pain in the ass this event (I don't call it a show) is/was, and the fact that at the rates charged make us no money, I haven't decided whether to try #3 or not. Rather doubtful would be my official answer.

MBB

[mikebake]

Thanks Klaus, I enjoyed your musings on the show.  I would have liked to attend.  I still don't understand why this event is held in Lima.  What the heck is there?
But let me say one thing to the event organizers... Don't plan the show during Masters week!   Obviously you guys are not golf fans.  But as far as I'm concerned you might just as well held it during Christmas.  Thou shall not violate the holy week!

Doesn't matter what weekend you pick, there is always a conflict; NCAA tournies/final four, Easter, Aunt Ednas birthday, etc.

[Ernest]

Mike,

I'd be willing to pay much more to attend the show than you charged this year.  I don't know if people in general would do so but I thought the rate to get in was very low.

I really hope you do another next year.  I was only there for 7 hours on Saturday but had a great time and really wished I could have been there for the whole weekend.  I was planning to make sure I could go for the whole weekend next year.

Ernest

[mikebake]

Mike,

I'd be willing to pay much more to attend the show than you charged this year.  I don't know if people in general would do so but I thought the rate to get in was very low.

I really hope you do another next year.  I was only there for 7 hours on Saturday but had a great time and really wished I could have been there for the whole weekend.  I was planning to make sure I could go for the whole weekend next year.



Raising prices substantially also raises expectations, and that is where it is possible to fall short. We are already out of space at the event, or nearly so, and also are not in a major metro area, so drawing a crowd is tough.