Impressions....RMAF 2007

lonewolfny42 · « **on:** 15 Oct 2007, 09:04 pm »

What a nice show.....just goes too quick.

I'll post some audio impressions as I go along (feel free to post yours)....but the best part of the show for me......meeting all the AC members present there.

Its like one big Rave.....all good friends.....new and old....and I met a lot of people from all over.

RMAF is the most relaxed show one can attend....well worth visiting if you've never attended.

I'm already looking forward to next years show,which I hear will be Oct. 10,11,12, 2008. Plan ahead.....

Pete, Bryan, Chris, Rick....thanks for the music !!!

Chris

BradJudy · « **Reply #1 on:** 15 Oct 2007, 09:45 pm »

Yep, a good show once again. Sorry I didn't connect much with fellow AC'ers - I spent most of my time with HAL and some other folks who aren't really on AC.

When speaking with one of the guys from TAD, he said that before they came last year people told him it was the "friendly show" and he agreed that was true. He seemed to really enjoy it.

topround · « **Reply #2 on:** 15 Oct 2007, 10:22 pm »

I met a bunch of great AC people as well as non AC people.
In one room I started talking to a stranger about audio of course and next thing you know we were going room to room together, nice guy.

We share a crazy hobby and we love sharing it with each other.

Chris, it is like a big rave, really great people just hanging out and having fun.

I had a lot of fun and the vendors were great, really great. Very friendly and accommodating

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #3 on:** 15 Oct 2007, 10:30 pm »

Quote from: topround on 15 Oct 2007, 10:22 pm

I met a bunch of great AC people as well as non AC people.
In one room I started talking to a stranger about audio of course and next thing you know we were going room to room together, nice guy.

We share a crazy hobby and we love sharing it with each other.

Chris, it is like a big rave, really great people just hanging out and having fun.

I had a lot of fun and the vendors were great, really great. Very friendly and accommodating

You got it Mike....right on target...

What did your wife think of the show ?

topround · « **Reply #4 on:** 15 Oct 2007, 10:46 pm »

I asked if she would come to one room with me, I begged her to come to the MBL room, just one room , 5 minutes , but she said no. She has no interest at all and doesn't want to encourage me.

I got in a bit of trouble with her. I was supposed to meet you guys for dinner at 8pm, but was stuck at Steve's house. Honestly I didn't want to leave, I just wish I brought more CD's. I wanted to hear everything I own through those speakers.

Well, she was coming with me for the dinner at 8 that never happened, in fact sorry for standing you guys up but I was mesmerized

I guess I stood my wife up as well
It took a lot of I,m sorry's to get back to normal. \
Hey she wanted to come to RMAF! But that's another story

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #5 on:** 15 Oct 2007, 10:52 pm »

Mike....
Sounds like you need to stop by a florist or jewelery store....for a few gifts for her...

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #6 on:** 15 Oct 2007, 11:38 pm »

Photo coverage by AudioXsell.....

Enjoy The Music coverage....here....

Stereophile blog coverage......here....

ted_b · « **Reply #7 on:** 16 Oct 2007, 12:04 am »

I thoroughly enjoyed my first RMAF, as did my neighbor/good friend Rob (questfortone). If I could list the impressions, the first would be the people. I did not meet one single person, AC member, sponsor, manufacturer, dealer or fellow stranger, that had anything but the nicest attitude and the kindest words. It was a very low-key low-stress orgy of sounds and equipment. And the AC folks I finally got to meet (Zybar, Double Ugly, LoneWolf, DayGlowOrange, TopRound, Reefrus, PeteG, TomS, RodMCV, MGalusha, to name a few) were the nicest and most accomodating folks. I felt like I'd been to their Raves for years. Moreover, the manufacturers like Bob Smith at SP Tech, Dan Wright at Modwright, Dale Pitcher at Intuitive Design, Steve and Robert from RSA, etc, were most welcoming. They proudly showed their wares, but were clearly open to any and all feedback, be it kudos or constructive criticism.

The experience was very different from what I was expecting. I had attended the AKFest in Detroit earlier in the year and assumed this would be an order of magnitude larger, but similar. In fact, it was clearly 10x larger, but not nearly as disorganized or as incredibly crowded as the AKFest. The elevator wait times were no problem whatsoever, the rooms were usually only crowded enough to have a few minutes from center sweetspot chair worstcase.

The sounds were anywhere from fingernails-on-chalkboard to incredibly smooth and detailed, with the majority somewhere in between. My disappointments were in the MBL large room (wayyy too loud and harsh, sounding like a PA system), the Mark Levinson/Wilson Sophia room (brittle and one dimensional, even with vinyl) and to a lesser extent the Boulder/VMPS room (the V60/Larger sub combo was too large for the room and theorefore too boomy, but Wayne was very accommodating). Not to say these were the worst, just the most disappointing to me, based on reputation. My favorite rooms were the Harbeth/Resolution Audio (new HarbethModel 40's; this company's speakers always sound warm, musical and great), Emerald Physics/Cosecant/Modwright (many liked this room!), Avalon (2 channel, the surround demo was hideous), E.A.R room, Sooloos/Macintosh/Aerial room, RAM mod room with the Tonian TL-M1 Mk II speakers, among others. The only room, however, that gave me a complete WOW experience (other than the awe-inspiring SP Tech eveinng at Steve's house) was my last room visited late Sunday afternoon......the Wilson Benesch room. WOW. These little Trinity monitors with their space-age looking small round Torus infrasonic generator, hooked to some rather normal DeHavilland 8745 amps....blew me away with a musicality and rich tone that I couldn't believe were coming from this footprint. I've not heard Diana Krall or Leonard Cohen ever sound that good. However, the msrp of the carbon fiber monitors and "sub" is $21k.

Individual components that I loved were: Modwright Transporter (I'm next in production line), Modwright LS 36.5 new dual mono PS (time to send my pre back in to retrofit), E.A.R. Acute cd player, Sooloos digital system (best UI of the bunch, period), AudioEngine5 speakers (bought 'em), Acapella speakers (now that's huge speakers and huge $$ worth the $$), Emerald Physics open baffle speakers with DSP, Salagar active speakers (weird decision to not have digital inputs though, since internal amps are digital), and the SP Tech Revelation Mark III's!

The vaunted Memory Player was found in two rooms, and in neither could I discern how good it actually was. In its best room, mated with ASR and Scaena, it sounded good, but I couldn't listen to my own music. Why? They were nice enough to rip and import my comp cd, but it took so long (45 minutes) I couldn't wait any longer and only heard about 30 seconds of my first song. The next day one of the Nova guys couldn't find my files. No big deal, but clearly scored D- in user interface/ease of use. The other room was a disaster; a panel speaker that sounded like my shower (I know, shower singing usually sounds good). So, jury still out for one of the more controversial pieces out there.

All in all, a blast! RMAF is on my perpetual calendar now.

Daygloworange · « **Reply #8 on:** 16 Oct 2007, 12:17 am »

Quote from: ted_b on 16 Oct 2007, 12:04 am

The sounds were anywhere from fingernails-on-chalkboard to incredibly smooth and detailed, with the majority somewhere in between.

I totally agree. There was good stuff, really good stuff, really great stuff........and really, really bad stuff.

Money was not the barometer. Period.

Quote

If I could list the impressions, the first would be the people.

Totally agree. My fondest memories of RMAF were of hangin' with the fellow AC'ers that I had the pleasure of meeting, and spending time with.

It was the best!

Cheers

ted_b · « **Reply #9 on:** 16 Oct 2007, 12:21 am »

Another nice link...with HUGE pics (day one only, so far...and the unnamed speakers are the ingeniously flexible Proclaims)
http://www.audiofederation.com/hifiing/2007/RMAF2007/index.htm

topround · « **Reply #10 on:** 16 Oct 2007, 12:52 am »

Some dissapointments for me. Or just plain silly.

Amber Waves, a complete waste of money, big amps, little pee pee.

Emm Labs room .... snore

Moscode room with Quad panels, went in on FRi and Sat. I just didn't get it.

Serious stereo.... seriously....----

Marten coltrane supreme, sounded good when they played it above 67 db's, otherwise just a speaker to buy when your neighbor has Wilsons and you must out Jones him.

Some of those mega buck rooms sounds pretty bad to me. But that's how it goes

Remember it's all about the people, and we had fun

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #11 on:** 16 Oct 2007, 01:30 am »

I liked those Amber Waves Mike.....maybe because their so ....strange....

I did hear them last year at the show.This year while I was in their room, someone asked....

"How many of these amps do you guys have?"

"We have made six pairs..."

Then another question.....

"How many have you sold ?"

"Ah.....none"

Are they a good buy at $44,000.00 a pair.....guess not.

zacster · « **Reply #12 on:** 16 Oct 2007, 02:00 am »

What are those tubes?

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #13 on:** 16 Oct 2007, 02:23 am »

Quote from: zacster on 16 Oct 2007, 02:00 am

What are those tubes?

Here's a link.....AWA...

HAL · « **Reply #14 on:** 16 Oct 2007, 02:42 am »

I may not hang out here that much, but I did get to spend alot of time with BradJudy and alot of folks from over at the AV123 Forum.

I did see lonewolfny42 walking around alot the show. Spotted him in The Lift on an occassion.

Did have lots of great music and audio conversations in that facility.

Just wish it were a bit longer to get more listening time on systems. Hard to get to hear everything in 2.5 days.

Hope that Danny and Gary did not get to tired of my demo disc

Hope to see everyone there again in 2008.

Carlman · « **Reply #15 on:** 16 Oct 2007, 02:44 am »

I too liked the Amber Waves... In fact, that was one of my favorite overall rooms.

I had a bad morning and a great afternoon Saturday... I was all disorganized and sort of lost in the morning and then found the 5th floor of the Atrium at some point and really enjoyed a lot of those rooms.

I also liked:
The Usher BE-718's... I knew they'd be great and they were.
The AKSA room was quite nice, a pleasure listening... and of course, it was a greater pleasure meeting and talking with Hugh Dean, Martin, and David Ellis. Great folks.
The Emerald Physics speakers were quite nice
The Merlin floorstanders were awesome
The Halcro room was pretty good
The Moon Audio/Selah Audio room was really nice

I didn't take notes or put a lot of effort into analyzing the rooms... I was there mostly to socialize... and socialize I did.

In fact I was deeply dissappointed that 'topround' missed dinner... I owed him for the previous night's dinner.

One day...
I also wish I'd gotten to chat more with MGalusha, Daygloworange, Klaus, Wayne, and well... anyone I only talked to for a few minutes or less. RMAF was like being at a huge party and I was only there for a short time. I'm already looking forward to going back next year.

I'd like to extend a very special thank you to Bill O'Connell, who hosted a nice late-night listening session with incredibly good drinks, tunes, and entertaining stories... Captain Humble helped in the story-telling department who was a joy to be around as well. Hanging with Bill, CH, Lonewolf, Richidoo, and BRJ was a real treat.

From the time I entered the hotel to the time I left was as entertaining as I think is possible... I was a kid in a candy store and felt welcome. What a joy. Thanks to everyone I met for making this a fun event. If I had any dissapointments... Socially, it was just that I didn't get to talk to as many folks as I'd hoped.... Sound room wise... well, there were a few truly dissapointing rooms...

The Audience/McCormack room was pretty dissapointing because I was so excited to go there. I met Steve McCormack which was very cool. Unfortunately, the Audience speakers just didn't sound good at all to me... so I couldn't really hear the rest of the gear... So, I was a bit deflated.

Worst of show (probably for me only) goes to McIntosh. I know the gear well, I own it and have friends that own more of it. It sounded a bit harsh with no imaging. The rep 'Ron' was a cocky SOB... who mocked my music throughout the 10 seconds he let it play... and I got the impression he was ready to say, 'scram kid, I got real customers here'.... That experience annoyed me to the point I wanted to ditch my McSystem. I don't think he/they want to target my demographic at all. That was the only 'audio snobbery' I ran into at the whole show... So, it really stood out... plus it was one I was excited to see, it was the first room I went to, etc... So, I was surprised... but I regrouped, got coffee, breakfast, then went on to have a supremely nice day and night.

My photos are here...
-Carl

jhm731 · « **Reply #16 on:** 16 Oct 2007, 04:58 pm »

Anyone hear the new PSAudio transport?

Big Red Machine · « **Reply #17 on:** 16 Oct 2007, 05:21 pm »

Quote from: jhm731 on 16 Oct 2007, 04:58 pm

Anyone hear the new PSAudio transport?

It was only a show-no-go display unit. Internals are due in next few weeks and it will be released Q1 2008.

Big Red Machine · « **Reply #18 on:** 16 Oct 2007, 05:25 pm »

It was good to put some faces to names. Now I can rattle their cages and they'll know I have a sense of humor in my posting.

I plan to stay over until Monday next year, or ride out and drive back with Jim and let our wives fly.

martyo · « **Reply #19 on:** 16 Oct 2007, 05:41 pm »

Quote

It was good to put some faces to names. Now I can rattle their cages and they'll know I have a sense of humor in my posting.

That will be good because when I read your posts before I thought you were a big _____.

It was good to meet Big Red and Lonewolf and DeadFish, all good people.

And Frank and Jim and Mary Salk, and Rich Craig, and Danny Richie, and Bolder Wayne and others I'm forgetting. All were very helpful and hospitable and just as enthusiastic as us.