[chadh]

Well, I spent about four hours at AKFest this afternoon.  I heard many comments around the place that things were much slower than on Saturday.  But that suited me.

The good news was that I won a door prize.  The not-so-good news was that the prize was an LP, and I have no vinyl rig.  The bad news is that I don't think the "Honey, I'll just have to buy a turntable and phono-stage" ploy will work with my wife.

I didn't spend a whole lot of time at the show, unfortunately.  And to be blunt, I wasn't greatly impressed in general.  Maybe I'm becoming more discerning...or less tolerant of various problems that hotel listening rooms present.  But there were really very few systems that left a very positive impression.

Here are some observations of what I heard and saw.  I hope you'll excuse me painting with broad brush strokes.

First, a gripe:  salespeople who take us all for fools.  In a few short hours today I heard way too many salespeople magically claim that an apparent weakness of their system was in fact a strength.  The worst of these was from the Audio Note dude.  He was playing some Muddy Waters on vinyl.  By and large I thought it sounded pretty nice.  But, when Muddy Waters really let loose with some blues shouting, the system just didn't handle the dynamic contrast well at all.  Of course, this was obvious to everybody in the room.  So the salesguy announced that, "Those loud shouts he puts in there really cause most systems to fall apart completely,"  which apparently put Audio Note's "awful" sound way ahead.

There were a few disappointments for me.  One involved my first opportunity to hear Emerald Physics speakers.  They were showing their new CS3, a two-way using a tweeter mounted coaxially inside a 12" woofer, and then tweaked using a DEQX thingy.  Mr Emerald Physics (Clayton?  Something like that) was a nice guy and very forthcoming with information.  And he was pretty upfront about what this design had to offer.   But the design just left me cold.  Nothing wrong with it:  just not really anything I'd be too anxious to have in my house.

Another disappointment was the DeVore/Naim room.  The DeVore Super 8s are speakers I've often heard really great things about, and so I was thrilled to be able to hear them today.  But again, they just didn't grab me in any way.  Maybe it was the music that was playing.  But the sound just didn't connect with me.  I think this system suffered in the same way that the Emerald Physics system suffered.  There was no real life to the music - to me, just a pleasant, perhaps slightly sterile reproduction of sounds.

I think I'm finally coming to appreciate the strengths (and weaknesses) of my own system.  I use single-driver speakers from Omega and a 5w/channel SET amp from Music Reference.  Especially compared to what I heard today, I would have to say that my system sounds "coherent".  There aren't sounds or frequencies that jump out as being particularly sweet, nor as being particularly awful.  The single driver experience imbues the music with a sense that it is all produced the same way.  By and large, however, the systems I heard today didn't do this at all.  I felt like I heard a lot of sounds connected together to varying degrees.

There were, of course, some lovely exceptions.  Some of them were from names that will come as no surprise.

One of my favorite rooms was the Bamberg/Modwright room.  This is a system that could not be more different from my own:  3-way speakers, with 250w amps on the woofers and MW's new 150w/channel behemoth on the mid/tweeters, fed by the top of the line MW pre-amp and the MW transporter.  But even dealing with the compromises of the tiny room, this system certainly produced the same kind of coherency that I am used to.  Even though the system screamed "powerful", it was still able to pull me into the music in a very intimate way.  I would have loved to hear what this system could do in an appropriate room where the speakers could breathe.

Room to breathe was not a problem for the Salk/Van Astine systems.  Their room was huge.  I only heard the system playing the massive new speakers (HT4s, or "beasts" or whatever they will be called).  I think the word that immediately sprang to mind when I heard this system was "clean."  By that I don't mean "clinical" or "sterile."  Everything sounded great - powerful and dynamic and coherent and absolutely effortless - but absolutely no hint of anything murky impeding one's enjoyment of the music.  I always object to people using the term "neutral" to describe audio gear, since one would need to compare the reproduced sound with the original performance to know whether the reproducing system is truly neutral.  But this system made me want to describe it as neutral.  When I listened to music in this room, it was very hard for me to believe that it wasn't true to the original performances.

In another thread, Dennis Murphy commented on "super efficient big systems [at AKFest] with that wide warm sound that grabs tube types and leaves [him] a little cold."  I know exactly what he means.  I also realize now that I must be a "tube type."   Right next door to the Salk/AVA room was the Classic Audio Reproductions/Atma-sphere room.  It featured a big ol' pair of Atma-sphere monoblocks driving a pair of four-way horns that were the size of small refrigerators.  I loved this room, even though it was not nearly as "clean" as the Salk/AVA room.  However, the music in this room seemed to wrap itself around me in a way that nothing else did.  This is a truly full range system, and the speakers are efficient enough to be able to saturate the whole front portion of the huge ballroom with dense, luscious sound.  I thought this room was clearly the best sound at last year's show.  This year, it's not so clear to me that they were the "best."  But I think it's likely the sound that I personally liked best at the show.

Of course, I didn't see everything there.  I had wanted to hear the Alon/Nola room and the Snell room.  I missed them both.  I skipped the McIntosh room since I'd had such a bad time with their speakers over the past two events.  I did have the pleasure of meeting Steve Sammet of SAS Audio, though, and he was a gracious and interesting host, showing a system involving his 11a pre-amp, a pair of tubed monoblocks and speakers from Selah.

All in all, it was a decent day, with a small number of standouts for me.

Chad

[jamesgarvin]

I attended both days. I think Saturday was a little more crowded, but Sunday appeared to be a little barren because, I think, the mid-day raffles pulled a lot of people to the lobby. Last year's show seemed more crowded. I understand from talking to a dealer that there were two more rooms this year, but that some exhibitors canceled at the last minute. I presume that was due to the economy.

Its funny how we hear systems differently. I loved the Audio Note room. I loved it last year as well. I could spend an entire day there. I've described Audio Note speakers like old slippers. You know there are other models that are probably better, but they just feel so comfortable. I know they were having some difficulty with vinyl. I suspect what you heard were not the speakers, but rather the vinyl replay. I heard some Jet and Styx cranked up next door in the Audio Note kit room, and the speakers in that room, similar to the ones in the main room, handled the material very well. I believe the table in that room was a Lenco.

I also really enjoyed the Devore/Naim room. I listened to the Devores for four cuts, and they seemed to get better sounding every tune. I think they are speakers that you need to spend a fair amount of time with to appreciate. They are not speakers that immediately grab you. Having said that, I am not sure they are a bargain at $4,500.00. But I would like to hear the Nines.

I also enjoyed the Bamberger room. There seems to be a lot of engineering in the speakers. Salk had two rooms last year, and one big room this year.  I think his offerings sounded better this year because of a better room, but I think he brings too many speakers. Show conditions are notoriously bad to judge speakers, and I think forcing speakers to perform when they are crammed next to each other adds to the problems. Having said that, I think they sounded better this year. I thought the Songtowers a little too honky last year. They were smoother this year, with, I think, the same electronics, which goes to show you the importance of the room on the sound. The HT4s are to die for. They are absolutely stunning. I did not do a height test, but they appear to be shorter than the HT3, which I've still not heard. It is never playing when I am there.

Another exhibitor commented to me in another room that Salk tends to play the same three or four songs over. I'll not name him for fear of causing a civil war. I tend to agree. What I heard of the HT4 was damned impressive, certainly one of the better sounds at the show, but I'd like to hear some blues, jazz, or even rock with the speakers.

My first room, because it was the first room I happened into, was the Classic Audio/Atmas-phere room. I've decided that I do not like horns. Some musical passages sound too honky to me. I liked the Nola room. The viper reference is a sound that seduces you. Very, Very listenable. The first time that I had heard these speakers. And beautifully stunning. Everything sounded great on them. Snell had two rooms, one manned by Joseph D. Appolito. How cool is that? People were treating him like a rock star. The smaller monitors ran about $3,500.00, with little bass, but within their limits, were very listenable. The new Phantom was next door. It sounded very good, without overloading the room. But like a jaguar needs some space to run, I think these speakers do as well.

I think someone told McInstosh to cool it this year. I was in an AK member's room when they were cranking AC/DC on the behemoth's they brought to the show. Someone was about to die. This year they brought smaller speakers, but still, at $18k, seems way too high priced for what they deliver. The treat, though, was the 1949 tube amp they hooked up. A softer, rounder sound, but very musical. It makes you wonder how far we've come.

I again loved the big Quads. Someday I'll have a room dedicated to them. Audio Dimensions was getting some great sound out of Spendor monitors, Audio Research integrated amp, and Reference CD player. I was in the room with a writer who did not appear to care for the Emerald Physics speakers. I thought they sounded fairly pleasant, but I think he was disappointed that their front to back sound stage was compressed on every music played. Can't say I disagreed with him.

Dynaudio shared space with Wadia. The Wadia guys are really cool. The stuff is expensive, they know it, but are not condescending, as though they realize most people can't afford it, but still want you to listen anyway. In other words, they are not of the 'if you can't afford it, you can't listen to it' variety. The Dynaudio monitors were sounding great. I commented to one of the Wadia guys that I've read the reviews and accolades, and the speakers were every bit as good as the reviews. He jokingly replied that they do sound great, but to remember it is all the CD player.

I finally got to hear the Gershman Sonograms in the Manley Room. The Manley room is the funnest room to be in. I think his name is Tom, with great wit, even joining in the jokes from a group of guys when one of their group played a Celine Dion disc, with an encyclopedic knowledge and enthusiasm for music. I've written it before, if I not had a Music Reference amplifier already, I'd buy Manley. The dealer next door told me that there were times the Sonograms were overloading the room, and they were very close to doing so when I heard them. They appear to offer a lot of sound for the money.

May Audio brought Acoustic Soundwave Speakers. They were my wife's favorites on day one. I am not sure which model, but judging from the prices on their website, they seem to offer a lot of speaker for the money. I was also in the Blue Circle Room when Gilbert Yeung was being videotaped demonstrating the wares he brought to the show. He was wearing a shirt that he described as his 'politically incorrect' shirt. It was a t-shirt with a handwritten message. I think he was relieved that my wife was not offended. He is Asian, and speaks English with an accent. Funny thing is that he had written in marker on various pieces of paper describing the electronics with the same accent, only in written form. If there is a certifiable person in high end audio, it is Gilbert Yeung. But my wife and I never stopped laughing. The speakers were the Ohm look-a-likes, and they were very listenable speakers.

On the whole, I think the sound was better this year. Fewer 'too big for the room' speakers. The live music, again featuring Laith Al Saati, was a great treat.

[ted_b]

Any feedback on the Sonic Studios Amarra (software) demo/room?  Not sure who they were in with.

[timjthomas]

I spent all day Sunday the show and visited every room - some for only a few minutes.  My favorite rooms were Salk and Fritz Loudspeakers. 

In the Salk room, all of the speakers sounded great, but I actually preferred the Songtowers to any of the others.  I went back a 2nd time and confirmed this.

In Fritz' room the Carbon 7s sounded fantastic - as good as anything I heard at the show - and that was in a small room!

One last comment. . .  What surprised me the most was how good the SMAC member rooms sounded.  Many of these old beat speakers, sounded far better than new speakers costing thousands of dollars!!!  It just goes to show that you don't need to spend top dollar to get great sound.

[lonewolfny42]

jamesgarvin ....

Salk had two rooms last year, and one big room this year.  I think his offerings sounded better this year because of a better room, but I think he brings too many speakers.

Too many ? I didn't attend the show, but I'm sure many were impressed with the range of speakers that Jim offers, and to have an opportunity to hear and see them in person is a plus in my book.

Another exhibitor commented to me in another room that Salk tends to play the same three or four songs over. I'll not name him for fear of causing a civil war. I tend to agree. What I heard of the HT4 was damned impressive, certainly one of the better sounds at the show, but I'd like to hear some blues, jazz, or even rock with the speakers.

Simple solution....bring your own music.
I've rarely found any show rooms that would turn down a request...and if they did....just walk out.


Thanks for the show comments guys....

[nicksgem10s]

This is the first chance I have had to post any thoughts about AK Fest '09. 

Thanks for getting the thread started Chad.  I was sorry I didn't see you at the show this year.

Unfortunately I didn't have as much time as I would have liked to enjoy the different rooms as I had hoped. 

I was there for a few hours on Saturday morning and on Sunday afternoon.

This is not in any particular order.

Venus hifi / Soundstring:  Brian (Venus) is one of the nicest people that attends AKfest.  He was showing a pair of Spendor speakers (new model) paired with a Luxman class A integrated amp and Luxman source.  He was busy talking with some other folks and the Soundstring guy was trying to make a sale on his power cords when I was in the room.  I was sorry not to have enough time to visit with Brian as he is a really nice guy who always plays excellent tunes when I visit him at shows.  I need to check him out in East Lansing one of these days.  What I heard sounded nice but could not form a real opinion with the talking going on.

Audio Dimensions:  Harry & Jay are great people who have a cool local store that has been around for many years.  They had Audio Research integrated and source paired with a small pair of Spendor monitors.  The sound was very open and relaxed.  It was a very appealing sound and would be well suited for nearfield listening in a small room. 

Manley Labs had the Snapper monoblocks, Shrimp preamp, Bel Canto cd player, & Gershman speakers.  Albert is a really fun person to visit with and the system sounded great.  There were dynamics galore and no muddy bass.  That room proves every year that tubes can do bass very well.  I was able to listen to several nice tracks including some Pink Floyd and an African rock band with some killer guitar work.

AK member Squidward:  I am a member on Audiokarma but I really don't spend very much time on their website.  I should.  I usually don't venture into too many AK member rooms as I don't know too many folks.  Ed (Squidward) invited me and my brother Justin to come on in and have a seat in the sweetspot.  He was running a tube amplifier that he built himself along with a preamp he also built.  The speakers were vintage horns that I believe were Klipsch that had also been modified or improved.  He was one of the coolest people I had the pleasure of chatting with.  He was extremely friendly and played several tracks from Modest Mouse on a Denon cd player.  The system sounded great.  He was seriously rocking out on 5 watts from his DIY tube amp.  It was really enjoyable hanging out with Ed. 

David Michael Audio:  David is another local dealer I have gotten to know through previous AKfests.  He was busy talking when I stopped in his room on Saturday.  I made an attempt to get back to his room on Sunday but it was dark, empty, and he was gone.  I noticed he was also running the new Luxman integrated class A amp and I believe he had Harbeth speakers.  He always has very good sound but I couldn't tell you much about this year since he wasn't there on Sunday when I wanted to visit him.

Emerald Physics:  I am mad at myself for this one.  I owned the CS2 speakers when they first came out and bought them sight unseen.  I lived with them for several months and had the DCX modified to the max trying to get the last ounce of performance out of them.  I was excited to hear his new model.  I never got to sit down in his room.  I stood behind the listening area both times I visited and could not form a strong opinion on the sound.  What I heard while standing sounded very open and extremely detailed.  If I had the time I really wanted to have the chance to thank Clayton Shaw for introducing me to open baffle speakers.  I believe his system was also using a new product from DBX for room correction.  I will be doing more research on his latest efforts. 

SAS Audio:  I never had the opportunity to hear SAS gear before the show.  Steve was running his top of the line tube preamp along with his custom 25w class a tube monoblocks with Selah Audio floorstanding speakers.  I think the cd player was made by NAD.  I really enjoyed the sound in this room.  Steve had a purity and a sound quality that most rooms did not attain IMHO.  It was extremely musical and with very good bass.  There was no boom or bloat in this system.  That really stood out to me.  I didnt' get to hear too many tracks I was familiar with but I did get to sit in the sweetspot and enjoy the system.  I believe his preamp & tube monoblocks are serious electronics.  I would love to hear the tube monoblock amps in my own system. 

These next two rooms were the highlight of the show for me for different reasons.

Salk/AVA:  Jim Salk is a great person and incredibly talented speaker designer/manufacturer.  Jim showed off his HT4/beast speakers in one of the larger conference rooms on the first floor.  There was no shortage of seats in the sweetspot for this system.  The dynamics were top notch and the percussion was very lifelike.  The midrange was open and airy and the highs were extended.  I was not familiar with the tracks I heard when I was in the room.  Frank Van Alstine had his latest and greatest electronics powering Jim's speakers.  The sound was very good.  I don't know why Marantz had to be right on the other side of this system showing off bass/home theater explosion tracks.  There was a positive buzz about the sound of this room heard all around the show.  I hope it was a success for both Jim & Frank.
Kudos to Jim and Dennis (did Jeff B also help with these?) for a job well done on the new speaker.  I would love the chance to hear them at Jim's place or another domestic setting.

ASi-Tek FritzLoudspeakers:  Fritz was at this show last year with Madisound.  I didn't really get the chance to hear his designs last year as Madisound were playing different models the times I visited.  This year Fritz paired up with Doug from ASi-Tek and that was definitely a great pairing.  The various speakers were used with an ASi modified Panasonic XR 55 digital receiver being fed a digital signal from an ASi modified Wadia i170 transport.  The Wadia was fed uncompressed digital files from an Apple iPod touch that uses flash memory.  The source was completely battery powered with ASi OTM (off the main) power supply.  This system revealed more detail than most of the systems at the show.  The modified Wadia provided an excellent digital signal to the XR55 receiver.  The sound was big, bold, and dynamic.  These were some of the only monitor speakers I have heard that really do not need a subwoofer.  I am a big bass fan and the Carbon 7 monitor speakers did the job very well.  This system sounded really clean without sounding sterile.  When I was leaving the room on Sunday, a reviewer from one of the online magazines was asking a lot of questions and taking notes for the show report which sounded like it was going to be very positive.

I also had the pleasure of meeting Carusoracer after reading and exchanging posts on AC for a longtime.  I wished I had more time on Saturday.  I was also lucky to run into a good buddy Pardales at the show.

It was fun just wish I could have had some more free time.  Maybe next year.

Where was Bigredmachine?  I usually can count on him to be around Salk.

-Nick

[timjthomas]

Here's a link to the few pictures I snapped: http://picasaweb.google.com/timjthomas/AKFest2009#

[Steve]

Yes, Nick, the cd player was NAD, but I must admit I did an upgrade of the power supply and bypassed the analog gainstage and mute sections. I obtained the output signal directly from the DAC chip (with impedance protection) and feel I removed nearly all, if not all, of the digititus. I am offering the upgrade for others who wish to improve the sound of the 521/525 models.

Thanks for the nice comments Nick.

Steve

[jamesgarvin]

  Too many ? I didn't attend the show, but I'm sure many were impressed with the range of speakers that Jim offers, and to have an opportunity to hear and see them in person is a plus in my book.
 

If the purpose is to show everyone the range of speakers, that is fine. But I am not sure anyone can argue that speakers sound better when not stacked next to each other three across. So, sure, people can see the offerings, but cannot hear them sound their best. My vote would be to hear them at their best.

Simple solution....bring your own music.
I've rarely found any show rooms that would turn down a request...and if they did....just walk out.

As I recall, on the HT4s, Salk was strictly using a music server, without a disc source, so if the music you want to hear is not plugged into the music server, you are at the mercy of the person who programmed the server. Requesting music is much easier if you can just hand over a compact disc, and can pop it in the player, and listen.

Ed (Squidward) invited me and my brother Justin to come on in and have a seat in the sweetspot.

We met Squidward at last years's show. I'd be remiss if I did not mention that my wife drew the picture which Squidward pasted on the glass of his room. If I did not know better, I'd swear there is something goin' on between them.

[MaxCast]

The HT-4's did have a CD source but it was shared with the Archos U70 system. 

[rockadanny]

timjthomas - nice pics! Thanks!
Can you please identify the speaker in pic #4?

[dangerbird]

Nice pic's,, thank you,, that Tyler is one big a$$ speaker,, were you able to get your ears on em'?

[chadh]

timjthomas - nice pics! Thanks!
Can you please identify the speaker in pic #4?

That's the speaker that Classic Audio Reproductions brought.  I think it's called the T1-3, or something like that (being the 3 iteration of the T1 line).  It's the size of a small refrigerator.

Chad

[rockadanny]

chadh - thanks! sure is purdy. sure would like to hear them some time.

[fritzspeakers]

Start saving up your $$ ($37,000/pr I think), those babies sounded great!!  Field coil drivers.

[rockadanny]

$37,000/pr

 
My first house cost $45,000 ...

[chadh]

$37,000/pr

 
My first house cost $45,000 ...

In a pinch, you could just about live in these speakers.  And I'm sure they sound a lot better than your first house.  I agree with Fritz: these speakers sound glorious.  Less spectacular than the Salks in the next room, but this system really did "it" for me.

Chad

[yooper]

I truly enjoyed reading your well written impressions Chad.  Thanks for taking the time to sum up your thoughts.

I could not make it out this year due to a prior obligation.  I really wanted to see/hear the HT4's, visit with Jim and Mary and meet Dennis too.  Of course, It would have been nice to see you, Pete, Nick and a couple other locals whom I have had the pleasure of conversing with in the past.

I hope to see you guys at the the get together that we have talked about for the past two years

Take care,

Mark