[The Ninja]

Here are Mrs. Ninja's impressions of RMAF 2009...

God I am tired after 3 awesome days with friends and music at the sixth annual RMAF audio extravaganza. As I am a woman, every year (and I have gone now 5 years) people ask my impressions. Every year I arrive home full of opinions but when it is time to explain them on paper, I lose it all. This year I am breaking that!

So overall impressions: First I am so glad to see women getting into the hobby. When I went to my first audio show I saw only a couple women there and they were in the industry. This year I saw single women, girlfriends and wives. Now I know some had been bargained or conned into going, but the number I saw giving input and asking for what they wanted to hear in the room was by far the most I have ever seen and I hope this trend grows. Women and men hear different and women often have better hearing than their male counterparts. I know the Ninja and I disagree a lot on what we like but when we agree it is magic.

Secondly, kids at the show. Of course those of you without kids I am sure would prefer to keep this outing adult only. I on the other hand was happy to see the kids and younger adults starting to learn about audio. One caveat though - if your kids don?t want to be there and are a disruption to the listening then they need to stay home.

Four years ago I brought our then seven year old to her first RMAF. She has never seen speakers the same way again. Her first love ? the Sphaeron Excalibur Horn Loudspeakers - at $438,200 a pair, 90 inches tall and over 1300lbs per speaker, I realized I may have made a huge mistake! Seven year olds do not have a huge grasp of money and she figured I could just put it on a credit card (right, the speakers that cost more than our house on our Am Ex).

On the same note she did not like the Vandersteen Quatro?s. Kids are funny and sometimes know what they are talking about, so bring the kids as long as they are well behaved. This is an excellent time to teach them about audio and start a family tradition/hobby you all can share. And if they know about sound maybe you can convince them to play something you would like instead of that young people?s crap hehe. I think my favorite thing I saw was a young boy maybe seven or eight coming out of CANJAM with his dad with his PSP and huge Sennheiser HD600's on to hear it. This kid will never be able to go to crappy Wal-Mart headphones again.

Finally, and this bothers me every year, let?s talk listening room etiquette...

Number one: if you need to talk to someone in great length please go out in the hall so the rest can continue to listen.

Number two: I know you may love the completely obscure record you found in a flea market so under priced it will forever be the envy of all, but remember most of us on a day-to-day basis do not listen in a critical manner or like we are at a demo so play something you?d play at home to get a real idea of what it will sound like. Now if you have to, have to, play your bohemian opera rap first pressing that you have one of only 3 copies of then keep it to the part you really want to hear and for only a minute or two. FYI your music may be awesome to you but it could also be driving customers away from the manufacturer if you keep it going too long. Be respectful.

Number three: Rotate. Do not go into a room and sit in the sweet spot for hours on end just having your own personal listening session. Let others have the spot and play their music. If you are there for over 30 minutes at a time you need to really consider how you can buy those speakers so you can do that at home all day long. Monopolizing the room is bad for the manufacturer trying to demo to everyone but also rude to the other participants because we will remember you year after year and an audio show without all the great people you meet can become very lonely. Holler to all my new buds I met this year for drinks and dinner after the show. See ya next year.

To be continued...

[The Ninja]

Mrs. Ninja's impressions continued...

Now the real part... Speakers and gear, what did Mrs. Ninja like and love:

Now there are a few that I want to mention not because I liked or hated them but I thought they were showing something unique and even though they may not be for me, everyone should have checked these out:

i-Fi is a company that has built a home theater system into a motorized leather reclining chair. This is near field listening folks. The speakers are connected to the chair (easily removable) and float about .5M from you. Full controls right on the chair for volume, bass, and shaker level plus an ipod dock make the system stupid easy to use. My favorite speakers were the leather side panel clad models with Sonus Faber esque rear panels. The sound quality was great and these seem perfect for those in apartments or condos or any place where room filling sound is not really doable. When you are not listening, the chairs double as some super comfortable recliners.

Vandersteen?s new model seven does not look like the old stuff nor does it sound like them. I myself have never been blown away by the Vandersteens of the past but this year they not only had a great look but a great sound. Partly I am sure that they had the most amazing room treatments I have ever seen. Almost hard to explain so here is a picture by my good friend Chris Cahill. I want the ninja to make me one and I have no idea what I will do with it, I just like it.

New this year was J-Corder Custom Reel to Reels. As the name says, a room of reel to reels. I don?t mean some R t R?s, I mean an entire room full of them! Expensive yes but so good sounding. Now here is a part of the hobby I cannot afford to get into no matter how much I would love it. It?s like vinyl on steroids it?s so good.

This year I liked a lot more than I have in years past. Maybe it has something to do with more companies using Duelund components, having Danny Richie do their designs or the fact that more people are going back to analog recordings to show off the equipment (I like me some analog). Whatever it was, this year was my favorite.

Boenicke Audio was recommended to me by some friends that had seen them at CES this past year. Sven the company designer is a good looking young man with a great potential in this business. He was showing the new SLS speaker and you would not believe the sound coming from this very thin and tall loudspeaker. Inside there are CNC precision milled chambers that must be part of the secret. Both the Ninja and I were taken aback because to look at them you did not expect much. They are so very wife friendly because of the size and slender design but so man approved with its balanced mids to highs and a powerful lower end that you could feel. A great speaker and I am very interested to see more of their stuff at the upcoming CES.

JansZen Model One?s Electrostatic loudspeaker I liked. I have never liked the look of electrostatic loudspeakers - they are big and flat and usually black or grey - but these are completely different (to me at least!). The back has a curved wood grain making them much more interesting than any other electrostatic I have seen. They have added a color coded light system that keeps the voltage to the panels while keeping the load on the amplifier within reasonable limits.

Jolida?s Glass FX Series FX10 Integrated Amp is so cute and stylish that I want one. Are they good? Well I didn?t like the speakers they were using to demo but they did have The Doors? masterful The End on reel to reel which was so fun to hear. I could totally see Skiing Ninja Stuff in these types of glass and metal boxes housing our external crossovers. Plus a price tag of only $450 too was great!

German Physiks HRS-120 was my second favorite of the show. I must be getting into my I want my speakers to look like anything but speakers stage cause these are appealing not only in the sound but for the conversation I would be having every time anyone walked into my house and saw them. These octagonal cabinets with the carbon fibre DDD driver (I like things triple D) on top look as interesting as they are engaging to listen to. So what about them did I like? Well for one the top end was so easy to listen to and many of you know women (and me especially) are very sensitive to higher frequencies. I am really getting into the omni-directional sound with the openness and no need for sweet spots. I loved listening to these speakers and could for very long periods of time without ever getting tired of it. I must also mention that when listening to them I could do nothing but think of them in my living room in which it is possible for them to be in the middle of the room sending out their omni directional heaven toward me in the kitchen. In fact I was in a remembrance fog and have no idea what the speakers that we went to listen to after that even sound like. Now where is that $33K I put?

Gary Dodd of Dodd Audio is a good friend of mine (well he is very nice to me and I like him too so I would call us friends) and in past years he has had the most gorgeous monoblocks that I just fell in love with the first time I saw them in their shiny blue glory. He even offered to make me some (price way too much for me right now) in my favorite Home Depot orange. But this year I have a dream come true; a Dodd amp in a price range I can afford and they still are the most beautiful things you will see in a tube amp. To top it all off they are battery powered and the most silent thing you never heard. I mean in my house I already have enough things making noise it will be nice to have something quiet besides the Ninja (you know cause ninjas are very quiet). If you didn?t get a chance to go to the GR Research/Dodd room (Room 2016) you missed the affordable hit of the show. Of course if we all had $200K+ we would go crazy and buy the really expensive stuff but for the rest of us this room was the best quality and sound the rest of us can afford. So when I get mine I promise a big write up. Reminder Ninja you need to get on that!

My favorite of the show is the Hansen Emperor. When the Ninja and I first went in the room it was for the reason we heard Pink Floyd the Wall playing and to my happiness it was on Vinyl. After the song ended we expected then to do the whole switcheroo to another disk and song ask the room if anyone wanted to play something but NO they left it on and played the whole side. AAAHHHH what a relief to listen to. I mean these things are easy to listen to; no fatigue, they are not too bright, to forward, or pain inducing on the top. So far I am in heaven. The next day I go back with a good friend of mine (Chris Cahill) to listen again and the magic of these speakers came out to me. This time I got to not only hear the Floyd again but unfortunately someone came in to hear all their favorite songs on some opera record. Blech. Any time this happens in other rooms I am so turned off that I usually start hating the speaker but not this time. My love affair survived the road trip and I am still so happy with them. Now the down side? $60K. Why does it always have to be the speakers I love cost more than a house in North Michigan?

Sean falls in love with Danny Richie's Super-V DIY kit for a mere $2495 plus cost of getting cabinets made. I mean for that price I could have 24 pair for the price of one pair of mine. So while I do not see these in my future they will always be in my heart just like last year?s favorite - BD Designs Oris Swing MkII.

This year I think I saw manufactures start tightening the belt. For some, money even in tough economic times is never an issue and we still saw speakers for them at this year?s show but we also saw manufactures bring the more affordable stuff - not the biggest or spendiest. My daughter?s favorite horns which I had seen every year for the past five years were replaced with a smaller version - Violon MKIV at 2/3 the price. Sign of the times or has this time given us time to think the best can come in any package even smaller less costly ones? I was trying to go this entire time without mentioning the best part of all? the blackout/fire alarm. Now keep calm everyone. Good times.

Till next year, Mrs. Ninja

[vinyl_guy]

First I am so glad to see women getting into the hobby. When I went to my first audio show I saw only a couple women there and they were in the industry. This year I saw single women, girlfriends and wives.

Mrs Ninja,

This too was my 5th year at RMAF. The only other women I met in 2005 were a couple of wives accompanying their audiophile husbands. I kept thinking "surely I'm not the only woman passionate about sound." Each succeeding year I met a few more women, including a few who were into the hobby. This year there seemed to be more women than ever and I met two who seemed to match my passion for good sound (and vinyl), and had great systems. I don't understand why more women aren't into this hobby and passionate about good sound.

I hope to meet you at RMAF 2010. The dates are October 15-17.

Laura