Audiocircle member RMAF 2010 show coverage.

vinyl_guy · « **Reply #200 on:** 18 Oct 2010, 05:07 pm »

I have posted comments/impressions to the pictures I posted Sunday morning http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=86946.msg850054#msg850054

DARTH AUDIO · « **Reply #201 on:** 18 Oct 2010, 05:26 pm »

Quote from: sts9fan on 18 Oct 2010, 03:32 pm

I love these reviews. Some of them are like watching Fox News. So bias it hurts. Nice pics though.

Oh, And what un-biased News do you watch? NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN or MSNBC?? Please, just keep the topic on AUDIO!!!

ltr317 · « **Reply #202 on:** 18 Oct 2010, 05:27 pm »

Quote from: ltr317 on 17 Oct 2010, 04:44 am

I will post photos and comments of rooms I visited today (Saturday) sometime tomorrow.

Paul Mah

I found all my notes and have added comments to my photos on page 4 in bold.

werd · « **Reply #203 on:** 18 Oct 2010, 05:33 pm »

Its a good thing i didnt go, everybody would've got sick. Right in the middle of bad case of bronchitis. Arithomycin ftw..... It wouldve been like, hey can you play this cd....hack cough all over the cd and gear.....

Good thing i didnt get air tickets i wouldve gone for sure......

sts9fan · « **Reply #204 on:** 18 Oct 2010, 05:34 pm »

I love these reviews. Some of them are like watching "An extemely bias news program". So bias it hurts. Very nice pics though.

I need to make it to this show sometime. I think it would be overload though. Sort of like going to a wine tasting with 100 wines. After 20 I can't remember the first so good.

TomS · « **Reply #205 on:** 18 Oct 2010, 05:41 pm »

Quote from: sts9fan on 18 Oct 2010, 03:32 pm

I love these reviews. Some of them are like watching Fox News. So bias it hurts. Nice pics though.

Gosh, Kris, not sure why we should bother saying anything then, if you just like to look at the pictures

We all have biases. Such is life.

After some prodding, I reluctantly shared a few thoughts, some VERY softened, and as a reward my inbox is stuffed with interesting love notes now, some from people I've never heard of. I actually had to look them up. Thanks all for that. Great entertainment for the next couple days. I feel smaller already for your wisdom and "compliments", which is a good thing

As usual, the best thing is to go listen for yourself and draw your own conclusions. Better yet, go to the show next year. It's really a lot of fun and meeting people as friends out from behind the barrier of the keyboard is terrific. Fascinating and unique people here.

I also suspect most have no idea how hard these vendors work at these shows to please all of us clowns. They are soooo intense. Amazing stuff, big frustration at times, mostly mixed results under difficult conditions. With a couple exceptions for FOTM situations, probably not too many direct sales either. But they remain passionate. Just watch Eric Hider in action some time - wow.

JakeJ · « **Reply #206 on:** 18 Oct 2010, 05:49 pm »

Another big thanks to all those who attended and put up photos and comments. Wanted to go this year but surgery and the ensuing bills kept me away. Next year...

targa02 · « **Reply #207 on:** 18 Oct 2010, 05:55 pm »

Quote from: JakeJ on 18 Oct 2010, 05:49 pm

Another big thanks to all those who attended and put up photos and comments. Next year...

+1

saisunil · « **Reply #208 on:** 18 Oct 2010, 06:53 pm »

Quote from: targa02 on 18 Oct 2010, 05:55 pm

+1

+2 for also sharing your honest feedback based on your personal preferences ... it is really refreshing ...
Super thanks all!

Tyson · « **Reply #209 on:** 18 Oct 2010, 07:32 pm »

Clearly, Big Red Machine needs to get reconstructive surgery done to his ears, so that they are shaped exactly like mine. That way he can start to "hear right"

Pez · « **Reply #210 on:** 18 Oct 2010, 07:53 pm »

Sorry for the picture double post, but this seems like the most reasonable way to do this. This years show was absolutely the best RMAF I have ever had the great fortune to attend. I think every year all the ACers get closer and closer, not to mention meeting people for the first time ever and having an instant repoire is simply great. And yes this years 'sound' was vastily superior to any other year.

GR Research -GR Research room was a lot of fun. Like Tyson said Danny is a great and accessible guy. The equipment looked great and sound great. I think for the most part I'll let what Tyson posted stand with one exception. While it was a little bright I usually forgive this at a show.

Fritz Speakers - Let me tell you a little about the kinda guy Fritz is. When I went by his room I listened to a few of my own cuts. I left the room forgetting one of my newly purchased discs. Not only did Fritz let other ACer's know to let me know he had it, he told the folks at the check in desk as well. I am infinitely thankful that he is such a great guy! If that weren't enough Fritz does among the best woodwork in the show on speakers with very expensive drivers and I'm sure crossover components. For the price he's charging I'm pretty sure he's losing his shirt. If you don't have Fritz get em!

Marantz Room - Marantz, meh. (no edit necessary here)

Linkwitz Orion - Not anything to write home about IMO. They are very nice looking indeed, but I didn't have any connection to the "house sound" they provided. Either it was the blurry haze in the crossover region or the smeary imaging/soundstaging either way not something that really grabbed my attention.

Jones Amps - Surpise!!! All metal, metal, metal speakers do not suck! Not to mention the Jones amps are sci fi sexy.

YG Acoustics - I don't think YG sounded terrible last year. I think they sounded pretty good on my master of chinese percussion CD. Probably amoung the best dynamically. This year we only made it to the room with the Veloce equipment. I think they were slightly better sounding though obviously not as dynamic as the Anats. Overall though I didn't care for the sound.

AudioKenesis - Ok, when I said previously that ALL the Atmasphere rooms where bad, I completely forgot this room. Duke did a great job getting things to sound really really great. You gotta love the rooms that don't have $10,000 stands, room treatment and other tweaks yet still manage to pull off a great performance.

JBL Horn - I don't even remember hearing these.

Tri-Audio/Acoustic Zen - I agree with Tyson. Probably my best in show, with one glaring exception that I will write about later. A Japanese made 845 integrated amp for $6000? WTF? That's incredible!

will continue to add more later on.

Tyson · « **Reply #211 on:** 18 Oct 2010, 08:00 pm »

Quote from: James Romeyn on 18 Oct 2010, 03:54 pm

Yes. How's this for an analogy: Like designing a race car, then adding a shaft terminated with a "screw" and calling it a boat.

TYSON, regarding your references for best bass in the whole wide world: Just curious if you've ever heard, properly setup, something with humongous floor to ceiling stereo bass towers, with something like six-12" active drivers per side, in separate free-standing enclosures from the mid-treble range? Preferably in a large room? Just trying to get a handle on your prior references for best bass relative to your show comments.

Immense kudos to all show goers for your tireless efforts!

Yes, I heard something exactly like that last year at RMAF in the Empirical Audio room. Plus, I also have been over to ThomasW's house several times (from HTGuide forum and the Cult of the Infinitely Baffled), so I've been exposed to some pretty good bass systems (to name just a couple).

Nuance · « **Reply #212 on:** 18 Oct 2010, 08:02 pm »

That Tri-Audio amp is pure sexy, and it sounded good too. Of course, that could have been the speakers.

I'd have to say the Acoustic Zen/Tri-Audio room was my 3rd or 4th favorite. What's the retail price on those speaks?

James Romeyn · « **Reply #213 on:** 18 Oct 2010, 08:11 pm »

Quote from: Nuance on 18 Oct 2010, 08:02 pm

That Tri-Audio amp is pure sexy, and it sounded good too. Of course, that could have been the speakers. I'd have to say the Acoustic Zen/Tri-Audio room was my 3rd or 4th favorite. What's the retail price on those speaks?

Which model? No way I'm looking back for the image! http://www.acousticzen.com/speakers.html I really liked talking with the US distributor, great guy. I'll get the price fer ya. They are very reasonable for the product delivered, overall quality, etc. IIRC the stand mount is only about $3k/pr, maybe 3500.

audioengr · « **Reply #214 on:** 18 Oct 2010, 08:29 pm »

Quote from: Big Red Machine on 18 Oct 2010, 12:16 pm

Here's another way of looking at this room's sound - I think what salvaged the sound WAS the speakers given the all SS/digital sources & amplification in the system. Bryan had the room tuned pretty good. It was passable and some tunes were very fun to listen to. Stopped in there a dozen times and saw many folks turn their nose up at the tune selection and turn right around and leave. I've heard these speakers a million times and if we could have gotten the Purity preamp and a tubed dac in there we would have been over the top.

Unfortunately, the speakers were not broken-in before the show, so we had that to deal with. There was a LOT that was brand new in these speakers and the crossovers, so have you actually heard these speakers before?

We also used some Amarra EQ to deal with some room issues. It was too bright on Friday for my taste, a bit better on Saturday and cooking on Sunday. It seems like it always happens this way when several vendors share a room. All-in-all by Sunday it was sounding very live IMO. Certainly best sound of any show I have done. Capable of sounding like a large concert hall

Its a matter of taste. Some dont want the dynamic live sound. Others do. And BTW, the clarity, dynamics and low-noise was due to the electronics. I use the same electronics at home and it sounds even better with my various speakers. The JC-1 monoblocks are modded, not stock. Most showgoers attribute the sound totally to the speakers, but in fact it is much more a function of the source quality and entire system. The great dispersion and bass was a function of the speakers however. These really didnt have any sweetspot effect and standing SQ was same as sitting. Remarkable for this kind of speaker IMO.

My roommates wanted the sound really loud also, so that was hard to mediate. I think some just liked it that way....

It's too bad that we didnt have tracks that satisfied everyones tastes. When someone requests R&R, the others in the room usually clear-out. Same thing can happen with classical. The best thing is to request a music genre when you enter the room. We had a large collection of good tracks, from 44.1 to 192.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

ltr317 · « **Reply #215 on:** 18 Oct 2010, 08:36 pm »

Okay, after getting home really late because my flight was delayed, I'm sufficiently conscious now to add photos and comments from some rooms I visited on Saturday. Like on Friday's coverage, same

and

rating for rooms I enjoyed most.

Vincent electronics feeding Wharfedale speakers. Whafedale is importing speakers again to the U.S.
Decent sound.

Sjofn HiFi featuring "The Clue," a small monitor speaker which the importer claims the bass can go down to 28 hz on a 3 3/4" mid/bass driver. He demonstrated bass with some bass kick drums cd, which sounded clean and articulate. Overall, "The Clue" produced clean sound, with decent imaging. Show special price: $999 pr.

JIB cables imported from Germany. This is their top of the line speaker cable. OK sound, but expensive.

Simon Yorke TT S9 Flamenco turntable, CAT signature preamp and amp, Ayre QB9 dac, and Lansche #3 speakers. The sound was organic and smooth, but with nice detail, making it a nice musical experience.

This is the new Von Schweikert VR 33 speaker. The brouchure states: "For the first time ever, own a $15,000 speaker for only $3,750." It's a bold statement, but you listen and be the judge. To my ears, the system produced a nice tonal balance, and was very listenable.

The other Von Schweirkert room with the VR 35 speaker also sounded very nice.

Roger Sanders electronics and electrostatic speaker. This system produced a broad soundstage, with fast transients and punchy bass. Roger set up his speakers diagonally in the room because he found the soundstaging work best that way.

YG Acoustic speakers. If you like a nice Hifi sound, then you'll like these.

Bryston electronics and PMC speakers - Nice balanced sound with good but not etched detail. The PMC speaker is the IB2.

Thor Audio electronics and CD Duevel 'Bella Luna Diamante' omni-directional speakers. The speakers are imported from Germany. This system's sound grabs your attention. If you want a more laid back presentation, get something else. Sound was extremely clean but not harsh, and lightning fast. The soundstage presentation was large and a bit forward, while image specificity was a little vague, which is fairly common with omni-directional speakers.

Onedof turntable. This is a beautifully made TT, and the sound was quite nice.

deHavilland electronics and Sonist speakers. This was one of my favorite rooms last year, and it is again this year. Excellent sonics, regardless of price!

Modwright electronics and Daedulus speakers. Another fine sounding room. Tonality was superbly balanced, and resolution was good but not etched. In the photo, Dan Wright is telling me about the mods made to the OppO BDP-83 DVD player. Both the OppO and a Sony cd player uses 2 6SN7 tubes as part of the mods.

Sunday's coverage in a little while.

Paul Mah

saisunil · « **Reply #216 on:** 18 Oct 2010, 08:45 pm »

Paul - man you are a bonafide review and reporter

Great job!

vinyl_guy · « **Reply #217 on:** 18 Oct 2010, 08:58 pm »

The Oppo in Dan's room and a few others is the modded Oppo 83 SE Blu Ray/Universal player. After hearing it in several rooms, I told Dan to put me on the list. This will be my next purchase to replace my Denon 3910 so I can watch & listen to Blu Ray concert videos and listen to the occasional CD that gets played in my system. Dan's mods to the analog output of this unit produced a very, very nice sound (for digital

)

ltr317 · « **Reply #218 on:** 18 Oct 2010, 09:16 pm »

Quote from: saisunil on 18 Oct 2010, 08:45 pm

Paul - man you are a bonafide review and reporter
Great job!

Thanks Sunil. I appreciate the sentiment.

ltr317 · « **Reply #219 on:** 18 Oct 2010, 09:21 pm »

Quote from: vinyl_lady on 18 Oct 2010, 08:58 pm

The Oppo in Dan's room and a few others is the modded Oppo 83 SE Blu Ray/Universal player. After hearing it in several rooms, I told Dan to put me on the list. This will be my next purchase to replace my Denon 3910 so I can watch & listen to Blu Ray concert videos and listen to the occasional CD that gets played in my system. Dan's mods to the analog output of this unit produced a very, very nice sound (for digital )

Hi Laura - Great to meet you finally and talk for a spell. I'm thinking of asking Dan for a loaner to demo at a few NY audio club meetings. I thought the modded OppO produced a warmer sound than his modded Sony. I was impressed with the modded OppO in his room and in Fritzspeakers' room.