[HAL]

Heading to RMAF today.

Want to see Danny's secret speakers and the new Tyler's.

Hope to see folks at the show!

[mzbrahce]

How about a report on those secret speakers--and pictures, too--for those of us who cannot attend RMAF 2008
Some of us stuck at home would like to know more.... aa

[HAL]

The secret speaker did not make it to RMAF.

The AV123 LS-9's were the center piece of the big room with Gary Dodd's preamp and big tube monoblocks.  The setup was sounding very good to me! 

[mzbrahce]

Sorry I wasn't specific enough
I was referring to the "something smaller and open baffle" in Danny's small room....

[arthurs]

Sorry I wasn't specific enough
I was referring to the "something smaller and open baffle" in Danny's small room....

Those did not make it either....

[stevecuss]

I went to the RMAF with my father in law and two young sons (5 and 7 yrs old.)  It was my first RMAF experience and I was concerned at how people would take to little guys being around very expensive equipment.

In short, I was blown away by the hospitality of these designers and business owners.  I'm talking my guys walking up to $35,000 speakers to feel the air pushing out of the bass ports, my 5 year old asking to have his cd played through $20k worth of tube amps etc.  These guys went out of their way to encourage my sons to enjoy music and experience it.  Of course at this age, they love it because I love it, but I can't say enough about the kindness of everyone at RMAF - it made a deep impression on me.

ok, onto sound.

so it turns out that some music can sound really average through really expensive gear.  I expected to be transported into another world by some equipment, but came away non plussed.  Meanwhile, AV123 and GR Research/Dodd room really rocked.  GR Research had some towers at $799 set up with subs hidden behind some curtain material, running through Dodd's battery preamp and monoblocks.  They sounded absolutely killer.  Just killer.  AV123 had some great line arrays that really sat you down as well.  I tell you, this audio hobby can be expensive for sure, but you don't need to spend sportscar money to get very good sound.

sadly, I missed Danny.  I wanted to thank him for all his help as I built my AV2s (and am now considering selling them to build some Neo1X bookshelfs.  The addiction is real and it runs deep....)

Anyway, my 5 year old came away with an XL GR Research t shirt, which he wore like a night shirt all through the hotel, so we're happy campers.

I'll be there next year, that's for sure.  its a wonderful event.

Steve

[Danny Richie]

Hey all,

Yea, we did have to resort to plan B in the ball room and then plan B again in my smaller room, and plan B in my smaller room would have been a bit different as well if I would have known ahead of time that I would have to go to a back up plan.

I had AV123 assemble a really nice looking set of Rosewood LS-9 cabinets that were sent over as prototype's for approval from the China factory. They looked great, but 4 days before the show still had no drivers in them.

So AV123 loaded them with drivers, ports, and No Rez and ran the wiring to two sets of binding posts on the back of the speaker.

The woofers were hooked up and played full range for a day or two before the show but the tweeters had never been played at all, so the whole speaker was really fresh.

Art was kind enough to let me borrow his networks (already well burned in) to take to the show and use with these speakers. Thanks again Art.

The whole thing worked out pretty well but still had a pretty fresh sound about them. At times it could be noted by the trained ear that the highs (any range covered by the tweeters) were not as smooth as they should be. By the last day there they were just starting to settle a little and just starting to smooth out.

Despite the less than adequate burn in time on the speakers most still felt like they offered some of the best performance and one of the best values at the whole show. So I guess it still went pretty well.

The first day I had a pair of X-Statiks in my smaller room at the Marriot. They also sounded like they were fresh out of the box and I must admit I was not happy with the sound of them the first day.

I was also missing the sub on the first day as it was a no show from my local customer. The box that he just built for them still needed another lacquer coat and polishing. So he brought over his Black painted MDF test box. This was too ugly to show and I nearly sent him home with it. I was severely disappointed.

But then I hooked it up and it transformed the system. The dual SW-1208's with the servo control was just outstanding. The bass was extremely tight and clean just as it should be. So I decided to hide the ugly sub behind the curtain used for room treatment. I also whipped out the Clio system and dialed it in with the X-Statik's in regard to phase and amplitude. Believe it or not it played flat to 20Hz in that room.

So day two with a little burn in time on the speakers and a full range sound we really rocked the second day. We heard a lot of feedback that this combo was one of the best sounds at the show and considering we were doing it with speakers that start off at a $799 a pair price point made it all the more impressive.

I must admit, I have designed and heard a lot of speakers and I really don't know of anything available from anywhere for under $1,000 a pair that can touch the X-Statik's.

Day three we dropped in the small monitors that I designed for Tyler Acoustics and dialed them in with the dual servo subs. They were a pretty big hit as well. Some felt this was the best sound that we had in our room all weekend.

Despite everything it was a pretty good show but I still felt a little disappointed at the lower attendance. In years past our room was full from the opening hour until well past closing time. This year there were moments when our room was empty then when l walked out into the hall and looked around I noticed it was full of vendors looking around in the halls for anyone to stop in. Maybe the week economy is already taking a toll.

What happens next year will really be interesting.

[Bill A]

Hi Danny,

It sounds like you had a good show even with the hurdles to get over.

Debi and I couldn't make it this year and we were disapointed that we couldn't; we love seeing and visiting with you guys.  It's probably a good thing we couldn't come though, you would not have been able to get Debi away from the LS-9's 

I don't know what we will do about Christmas cards this year.  I may have to photoshop something   aa

Bill

[JDarby - Stereomojo.com]

Danny,

It was great to see you again. Love the new "curls" doo, too. I didn't hear anything better at the show for $800/pr that beat the X's and the LS6 & 9's were impressive, too.

If you get a minute, check out our report (with a picture of your new curls) at Stereomojo.com.

Talk to you soon.

JD

[lonewolfny42]

Get that man a beer.....



Stereomojo RMAF report....

[Danny Richie]

Debi and I couldn't make it this year and we were disapointed that we couldn't; we love seeing and visiting with you guys.

Yea, we kept saying, has anybody heard from Bill and Debi? Where are they?

It was great to see you again.

Ditto.

Get that man a beer...

That would be a first.

[lonewolfny42]

That would be a first.

Maybe....an unopened beer Danny...

[brj]

Get that man a beer...

That would be a first.

You don't actually have to drink the beer, Danny... just pose with it while leaning on speakers!   You have to work up to it, however... not everyone can be as expert as Chris... start posing with a lite beer!


Good to see you again, man!  I tried to hunt you down again on Sunday, but never quite made contact.  I hope things settled down for your toward the end, as I think you definitely were king of the fire drills there for a while.  Give me a call the next time you're up here!

[Hank]

Uh-oh, I thought the long hair era was over for Danny
Danny, I hope you gain some business from the show and the effort and expense to exhibit