2008 RMAF Show Coverage From AudioCircle Members

zybar · « **on:** 11 Oct 2008, 04:13 pm »

Everybody,

Can we use this thread to collect all thoughts and comments on the show by AC members?

This way we have one place to look for all that great posts.

Thanks,

George

MaxCast · « **Reply #1 on:** 12 Oct 2008, 12:15 am »

bump

arthurs · « **Reply #2 on:** 12 Oct 2008, 02:04 am »

Great show, I just got home. It will take awhile to digest it all and gather my thoughts, but I'll post them as I get them together. Many of our AC Mfrs had terrific rooms and it was a real treat meeting so many people and putting faces to names....

Fire away with any questions in the meantime, I'll do my best....

mcullinan · « **Reply #3 on:** 12 Oct 2008, 02:06 am »

How did the room the SPTech gear sound... And what was the best sounding system at RMAF?
Mike

martinr · « **Reply #4 on:** 12 Oct 2008, 02:13 am »

Spent the afternoon in the Marriott going from room to room listening to a variety of systems. After awhile seems like sensory overload. I did spend some time talking with Klaus Bunge of Odyssey and listening to his latest lineup of products - the Kismet line. Kismet mono blocks and speakers are an upgrade to the previous stratos monos and lorelei speakers. The amplifier cases are a little smaller than the stratos and speakers are still two way bass ported but now sit on their own wooden outriggers and the wiring has been upgraded from the lorelei design. The amps and kismet speakers looked and sounded wonderful. At around $3200 per pair these speakers are a bargain. The soundstage with the Kismet upgrades were wider and deeper than the stratos/lorelei line....the system sounded great even in the hotel room. Thanks Klaus for continuing to improve your product line and keeping your prices looooow - one of the best values for the money IMO.
Others in the room seemed equally impressed. The good news for us stratos owners is the glass ceiling upgrade now available for the stratos brings the stratos to equal performance with the kismet amplifiers. I can see my bank account draining in the future for the upgrade.

- Martin

arthurs · « **Reply #5 on:** 12 Oct 2008, 02:15 am »

The SP Tech room was quite enjoyable and we spent some time in there with Mike and Ted B (good dudes)...the bass the Revelations put out is something else, that's a terrific speaker....nothing downright I'd find fault with, maybe some more treatment...but I have a new respect for how tough the shows and room situations can be for these guys...

Didn't really think of it in terms of best...there were many rooms I went back to repeatedly...Radiho really surprised me with how good their speakers were...the VAC/VS room was really something...Danny's big room at the Hyatt rocked, the UltraFi DAC is really special, Duke's room was sweet and had some of the best off-axis we heard, Vinnie's room and his new stuff with the WLM was very nice, Avalon and VTL sounded great, Rethm and AMR I liked an awful alot, Jim and Frank did themselves proud, Wayne's room was very nice...there was a bunch of good rooms too many to recall so I fear I'm leaving some off...

2gumby2 · « **Reply #6 on:** 12 Oct 2008, 02:29 am »

I came to RMAF with the intention of getting some ideas for my next speaker build project, but I ended up ordering a pair of the Odyssey Audio "Kismet" speakers. This is Klaus' new speaker design and it sounded great! I can only hope they will sound as good when I get them set up in my listening room. There are many other nice sounding speakers at RMAF, but I considered Klaus' speakers to be the best value at the show. Nothing even comes close at that price point.

bluemike · « **Reply #7 on:** 12 Oct 2008, 02:37 am »

Hi Art
Care to share some more details on the Ultra fi Dac and Amps
I imagine these were paired with the RSAD Speakers, How was the sound ?

2gumby2 · « **Reply #8 on:** 12 Oct 2008, 02:40 am »

Room 541 gave a demonstration comparing vinyl with SACD. I was surprised that I preferred the vinyl. I never expected that vinyl could beat out SACD in a side by side comparison. I recommend stopping by their room if you get a chance. Also, the Chario speakers in that room sounded VERY nice.

mcullinan · « **Reply #9 on:** 12 Oct 2008, 02:46 am »

Pics.. with commentary plz

Mike

arthurs · « **Reply #10 on:** 12 Oct 2008, 02:46 am »

I didn't spend enough time in the RSAD room to give a fair evaluation, but the UltrFi gear sounded flat out good....particularly when the DAC was in the big AV123 room at the Hyatt....how's that for subjective and lacking detail?

arthurs · « **Reply #11 on:** 12 Oct 2008, 02:48 am »

I took no pics, sorry. Also wanted to add that Bill Baker's new Purity Preamp is really great..it was in the AMR/Rethm room, very nice work Bill!

Gordy · « **Reply #12 on:** 12 Oct 2008, 02:54 am »

Hi Art,

Was UltraFi showing the IRoc or their new dac? Thanks!

TomS · « **Reply #13 on:** 12 Oct 2008, 03:13 am »

UltraFi was showing their new DAC in RSAD and AV123 with the LS9's. It is a big time keeper for sure. The best sound I heard was probably a tie depending on tastes - between the Scaena line sources and the Kaiser "Kawero!" that used the awesome RAAL ribbons from Serbia. The Scaena room had the new DCS DAC with a monster VTL amp and subs. All three speakers I heard with the RAAL's, including Ryan's at BPT were sounding very good. One big surprise was the new Krell speaker and KAST electronics. Not dark and sterile like the Krell of old. Easily the best bass I heard, though the top end didn't quite measure up to it (still very good).

DaveC113 · « **Reply #14 on:** 12 Oct 2008, 05:03 am »

A few I liked...

Tidal Speakers / Lamm hybrid monoblocks were maybe the most neutral system I heard... they were also incredibly resolving yet very easy to listen to. It was a close tie with the Merlins driven by Joule Electra OTL monoblocks though. This was another very impressive system in terms of neutrality and the ability to disappear and let the music come through.

Oswalds Mill Audio had some solid cherry speakers using a 15" woofer, a ribbon tweeter w/ waveguide, and a midrange compression driver in a solid cherry horn. Driven with a 2A3 SET amp. This was the most startlingly real sax I have ever heard reproduced, and the dynamcs were incredible. They had no digital front end though.

MBL... huge sound, pretty cool

ViV Labs evanui speaker... a 3" single driver BLH covering 50-30k Hz @-6 dB. It has no surround, but just floats in this gasketed chamber. The cone weighs almost nothing, I'd guess a gram or so. Sounded great.

Feastrex.... a very wide range single driver. The 5" field coil drivers sounded great, as did the Maxxhorns, which have unbelievable bass response. Very cool speakers.

Selah Audio... new line arrays with 32 little woofers and 8 ribbons. If you like line arrays, this one is very fast and detailed and has exceptional dynamics.

SP Tech.... they deserve their growing reputation. I just heard the minis and they sounds a lot bigger than they are, and they're a good value as well.

I only saw a small fraction of what was there, but there are a lot of nice systems.

seriousjazz · « **Reply #15 on:** 12 Oct 2008, 06:01 am »

I second the odyssey room. One of the two best sounds at the show. I ended up buying the complete Kismet system and my brother in law bought a Lorelei Stratos system. The sound in this room is unbelievable.

Nicolas

Martin, it was nice to talk to you.

pardales · « **Reply #16 on:** 12 Oct 2008, 10:08 am »

Sounds like an amazing show this year with excellent rooms and lots of new, breakthrough products.

DaveC113 · « **Reply #17 on:** 12 Oct 2008, 11:45 pm »

I also have to give a big

to

The BIG Van Schweikert speakers. These things are exceptional.

Ridge Street Audio and UltraFi. Clear, transparent and neutral. Did everything well.

zybar · « **Reply #18 on:** 12 Oct 2008, 11:53 pm »

Quote from: DaveC113 on 12 Oct 2008, 11:45 pm

I also have to give a big to

The BIG Van Alstine speakers. These things are exceptional.

Ridge Street Audio and UltraFi. Clear, transparent and neutral. Did everything well.

Big Van Alstine speakers???

Do you mean the Salk HT3's?

George

DaveC113 · « **Reply #19 on:** 13 Oct 2008, 12:04 am »

Sorry, its all a jumble

I meant the Gigantic Van Schweikerts in one of the big rooms on the 2nd level of the tower. The Salks w/ Van Alstine gear were a great value, but not quite on par with the speakers costing 100x more. I am considering auditioning a Van Alstine dac among a few others...

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