SEE YOU ALL AT THE RMAF

martyo · « **Reply #20 on:** 15 Oct 2007, 11:24 am »

Thanks John, I'm normally able to upload to my gallery, even tried something other than the pictures from RMAF and they uploaded fine. Apparently it's something with those pictures.

martyo · « **Reply #21 on:** 15 Oct 2007, 12:34 pm »

My brother keeps telling me what a deal I got. His 550exr6 a couple years ago was $2199, my Ultra 550 was $2199. His Transcendence DAC was $1599. My Ultra DAC was $1599. That's with the new chassis, upgrade to Ultra and upgrade to 6N1P's. Frank IS in business. If there ever are new faceplates, and there is a price increase, from MANY YEARS of experience I would bet it would be nominal. Frank will make his money on selling more units, not by marking up the price of new faceplates.

While I've been around here the topic comes up and I like that Frank listens.

And personally I really liked the gold on gold he had on the 550 at the show. Wish I could get my pictures to upload for you.

Toka · « **Reply #22 on:** 15 Oct 2007, 02:01 pm »

Looking forward to seeing the new designs! I always liked the original/current design very much (and I dislike the very 'ornate' designs that are out there), so hopefully the original will still be available and/or the new look is along the same lines...either way, it'll sound just as good.

SuperMart · « **Reply #23 on:** 15 Oct 2007, 03:15 pm »

Folks,

Frank exhibited with Jim Salk. The synergy was immediately obvious in their display, which was very professionall, driven by a SBIII, and the attention to detail just amazing.

These guys had a natural advantage. Mary, Jim's wife, is very beautiful, and stood smiling at the door - this was very helpful to draw in interested audiophiles, and Jim with his wonderful polite approach matched marvellously with the flamboyance and humor of Frank. Frank was extremely kind to us, and loaned us one of his wonderful UltraDACs, a reclocker no less of a type I know well from the design Ben Williams did with me, and the quality of everyone's sound was breathtaking. This is a man who defers to very few as he assesses systems, he knew good sound in less than a second.

At one stage a couple of speaker wires shorted on our rig, and the amp blew a fuse. Frank was there immediately to help, supplied them pronto, and the music played on. Thank you Frank, from the bottom of my heart......

Cheers,

Hugh

mark funk · « **Reply #24 on:** 15 Oct 2007, 09:26 pm »

Ya that sounds like Frank. I saw the new face plates (Martyos pics made it in my email ok), they kinda reminded me of Conrade/Johnson stuff? From what I saw they look OK. But I allways liked my T-5 in the small black box its too bad the 6n1p T-8 will not fit in the small box. I would like to see some more pics of the show too.

Toka · « **Reply #25 on:** 16 Oct 2007, 04:50 pm »

Some pics from the Salk/AVA room are here:

http://www.audioxsell.com/community/events/7/1358/Rocky-Mountain-Audio-Fest-2007/Audio-by-Van-Alstine.htm

They ain't the best but they give you a pretty good idea...looks like a cool alternate design, I like the little indentation accents (or whatever you would call it...beats me). The classic look still works for me, but I wouldn't be upset if these were on my rack either.

gjs_cds · « **Reply #26 on:** 16 Oct 2007, 06:58 pm »

Quote from: Toka on 16 Oct 2007, 04:50 pm

Some pics from the Salk/AVA room are here:

They ain't the best but they give you a pretty good idea...looks like a cool alternate design, I like the little indentation accents (or whatever you would call it...beats me). The classic look still works for me, but I wouldn't be upset if these were on my rack either.

I guess it might be time for a cosmetic "upgrade", but I rather like the current style.

I'm thinking I prefer the black face plate. My 2 cents...

rlee8394 · « **Reply #27 on:** 16 Oct 2007, 07:27 pm »

I do like the indented panels \____/. I first saw the photos on http://www.audioxsell.com/. I could make out the gold stuff, looked a lot like C-J equipment to me. Once I did the free registration, I was able to see hi-res photos. The black on black looks real good to me, maybe becasue of the indented panel design. But the more I look the two-tone stuff is starting to get my attention. Maybe Frank will post some more specific photos and we can "vote" on them if he needs to make a decision.
Ron.

martyo · « **Reply #28 on:** 16 Oct 2007, 07:42 pm »

Yeah, those pictures don't do them justice. The 2-tone plates grew on me over the course of the weekend. I still really like the gold on gold on the 550

warnerwh · « **Reply #29 on:** 16 Oct 2007, 08:14 pm »

I'm happy with the classic look of my amp just fine.

cornelius · « **Reply #30 on:** 16 Oct 2007, 10:17 pm »

Thanks for the tip to register in order to see the hi-res pics... I immediately thought of C-J, when I saw the gold faceplates. I generally prefer silver over gold (gold can be a little cheesy sometimes) but the C-J look is pretty nice. Also, the all black, with the indented panels is an improvement over the flat panel, IMO. Although I have Ohm Walsh speakers, I still like my gear to look hip - hope to see more pics...

Quote from: rlee8394 on 16 Oct 2007, 07:27 pm

I do like the indented panels \____/. I first saw the photos on http://www.audioxsell.com/. I could make out the gold stuff, looked a lot like C-J equipment to me. Once I did the free registration, I was able to see hi-res photos. The black on black looks real good to me, maybe becasue of the indented panel design. But the more I look the two-tone stuff is starting to get my attention. Maybe Frank will post some more specific photos and we can "vote" on them if he needs to make a decision.
Ron.

Listens2tubes · « **Reply #31 on:** 16 Oct 2007, 11:36 pm »

It was great talking face to face with Frank after all this time. I had wanted to meet the man behind my Super Pas 4i pre, that I purchased back in 1997 and was upgraded to T8 status last January, for a long time. It was also a pleasure to meet Jim Salk, I think his speakers are a perfect compliment to the AVA gear.

I had been to Franks room a few times over the three days but they were usually packed. On Sunday the crowds had thinned so I headed to Frank's where he was asking if anyone had a Cd to play. I handed him Bruce Jackson's "Don't Sleep on Your Dreams" which we listened to a couple tracks. It was a highlight of my trip.

Neal

martyo · « **Reply #32 on:** 16 Oct 2007, 11:55 pm »

Thanks Tubes, finally a good picture. Big Red Machine was able to post some of mine on the Salk thread RMAF and the HT3's.

Yes, we were finally able to meet the legend

. Very classy gentleman, and real. He's as excited about all this as we are. Very gracious.

We're buying the HT3's in the picture.

Toka · « **Reply #33 on:** 17 Oct 2007, 12:22 am »

What speaker pair is that in the far left? Don't recognize 'em...

zybar · « **Reply #34 on:** 17 Oct 2007, 12:24 am »

Quote from: Toka on 17 Oct 2007, 12:22 am

What speaker pair is that in the far left? Don't recognize 'em...

Those are a prototype that is currently being worked on.

I'll let Jim provide the details...

George

Listens2tubes · « **Reply #35 on:** 18 Oct 2007, 01:09 am »

OK how about the new look we saw at the show. Well here they are:

I like the black on black and the gold on black.

Toka · « **Reply #36 on:** 18 Oct 2007, 02:45 am »

Quote from: Listens2tubes on 18 Oct 2007, 01:09 am

I like the black on black and the gold on black.

Same here...and thanks for posting the cool pics!

I still think the all black look really works for this equipment, but that is just me! Good that people may have a choice...Frank, any more details/feedback from the show?

TomW16 · « **Reply #37 on:** 18 Oct 2007, 02:50 am »

I am partial to the gold on black theme. It looks really good! Great pictures.

Tom

Ryan45872 · « **Reply #38 on:** 18 Oct 2007, 02:58 am »

I like the Ultra ec preamp on top

. I like black but I think the gold gives it more class.
Ryan

Wayner · « **Reply #39 on:** 18 Oct 2007, 01:09 pm »

I like the black brushed on mat black back. I also like gold brushed on black mat but the gold brushed on gold mat looks good too! I guess with those 2 front and 2 back panels, you could get quite a few different looks. 4 different combinations. Wow!

Wayner aa