2010 RMAF Analog Reports + Meet and Greet
The evening events and general info: The Friday evening Meet & Greet: The Meet & Greet on Friday night was excellent. It was great to meet so many music listeners/audiophiles in one concentrated location. Putting faces and names to monikers was an enlightening event. The conversations were civil and engaging. It was especially great to get to know more new faces at this event. There is no doubt that the Meet & Greet has become one of the highlights of the show the past three years. The Saturday evening tonearm listening session in the Galibier room: This event was another highlight of the evening for me. Again, the fun part was the interactions among the group in terms of conversation before, during, and after the listening session. I had already known about and lobbied for this to be a fun event and just a listening session. There was not supposed to be a serious tonearm comparison but merely a chance to listen to two very well designed tonearms on a newly designed turntable. The evening results could be summed up by me in the following way. Having dealt with both cartridges personally, I heard the resulting performance of the cartridges themselves. Both arms were able to display the general character of the cartridges very well. This, to me, gets down to one of the more important reasons of having a tonearm to begin with. I know this gives me a unique perspective having dealt with both cartridges personally but I feel it necessary to share this bit of insight. There were differences in presentation but again, I would attribute the differences to the cartridges being used. There were some noticeable setup preferences for both combinations which were also perceptible. Overall, I enjoyed the performance of both arms. Whether I preferred one setup vs. the other was for the most part dependent on the particular LP being played. Special Thanks to Thom Mackris for traditionally hosting an enjoyable evening listening session over the years. Overall, I enjoyed both evening activities greatly due to the interaction with all of the individuals and personalities present. For that I thank all who could attend the events. One more comment of note would be the Thales arm that Jeff Catalono brought along for the show. I think it should be known that during disassembly of the arm for transport, a piece was misplaced so the arm could not be assembled for RMAF. Obviously Jeff may have made an attempt to get the arm functional but later decided that with the misplaced part, it was not to be. The arm itself did not break. My understanding is that the arm merely missing a part that was required during reassembly. Dre |
Syntax, No, the Talea wasn't defective; the confusion comes from the fact that Frank and I were using different cartridges and phono stages. The attendees were expecting a straight comparison that didn't occur; and the room was really packed, which indeed created difficulties for some listeners (sorry, Lewm!). Joel |
This was my first RMAF as an audio enthusiast and as an exhibitor. I had a blast and want to thank every one I met there for helping me to have so much fun. Although I didn't have a chance to see much of the show, many exciting things happened there for me and more opportunities have developed quickly since. Yeah, I had a great time. To say that it was also educational would be a gross understatement. I think I met up with most everyone, but I regret not being able to attend the meet and great. Dre and I hooked up early on, but I apologize directly to Larry for not being able to look you up. Someday we'll meet up. |
Pcosta, I'm happy that there will be a less expensive and hopefully more robust Thales arm. I have a Bergman Sindre tt and love it. I introduced the designer to StillPoints Ultima SS isolation feet and will soon be trying them on mine. I was struck by Steve Dobbin's new turntable using the Reed arm. I wonder what a Thales would have added. |
Tbg It's a shame the Thales was damaged. I was looking forward to listening to it a little longer, and hoping to hear what Jeff said about it while using it in NY, but going into Jeff's room Saturday afternoon, it was off the table. Any other good analog sounds that stood out for you at the show? I tried a couple of times to listen to the Bermann table but no luck. |
Hi Dev, I'm just beginning to recover from the sleep deprivation we call the Audiofest. I think it's more appropriate that others chime in on this topic, but my take is exactly what I expected to occur - no clear winner, and how could there really be? This wasn't a shootout after all, and we used two different phono stages in order to accommodate the Soundsmith Sussuro cartridge that Frank brought to the party. Perhaps the biggest surprise of the day was the (scheduled for export only) Artemis Labs phono stage. One could hear all of that great Intact Audio iron in this LCR phono stage. Note that I'm not an Artemis dealer, and also that I'm a big fan of the iron that Dave Slagle winds. Due to other responsibilites, Frank wasn't able to bring this phono stage to the room before starting time, and everyone worked up a healthy sweat in a room heated by Atma-sphere OTL's, while we worked out the equipment placement in order to eliminate hum from this iron rich phono stage. It was a matter of shuffling equipment around to keep the Artemis away from the power supply of the Atma-sphere MP-1 preamp - not a trivial task with thick power cords and inconvenient outlet locations. While working through this, Wally Malewicz gave us a short talk on cartridge quality control. He's been studying sample to sample variance on SRA in various cartridge brands - yet one more reason why I argued against using "identical" cartridges in a session like this. It might lead to conclusions based on false assumptions of cartridge samples being identical. So, the end result? Quite a bit of beer and Tequilla flowed thanks to Dave Slagle of Intact Audio, new and old friends met, and two very fine tonearms strutted their stuff. I am honored that I was able to provide the platform for this session. I need to reiterate (especially since I sell both of these arms), that we could easily have included quite a few other arms in this session ... IF we had 6 or 8 hours for this. More than two arms in a three hour session is an unrealistic goal, and I think that the attendees would agree. We're talking about perhaps doing a phono stage comparison next year. Lessons learned for next year - nothing shows up on Saturday night that hasn't been fully vetted by Friday night. Time is short, and we need to be ready for show time. Cheers, Thom @ Galibier |
Tbg and Lewm, I completely agree with you that the Dobbins/MBL room was extremely good. Steve was kind enough to play two of my LPs while I sat front row, center. I went back to that room four times. I slightly preferred the A90 on "This one's for Blanton" bass/piano and female vocals. The "Beat" sounded awfully good, though it was tough to identify/isolate which components contributed most to the tremendous sound. The other outstanding room for me was the Walker/TAD CR-1 room but that table just had another big price jump. What did you guys think of the Durand Talea arm in the Galibier room down the hall? Name tags should include Audiogon monikers to identify us to each other. |
Tbg. I could not agree more. The Beat plus Reed plus either the A90 or the Puritas cartridge plus Allnic electronics plus MBL spkrs was one of the nicest systems I heard. I actually preferred the Allnic Puritas over the A90 (slightly). It just seemed a bit less mechanical. Perhaps we were in the Dobbins room at the same time. I would have enjoyed meeting you. In future, A'goners should have a secret handshake or wear a certain flower in their lapels, so as to be identified to each other. The TW Acustics room was similarly wonderful to experience. |
Pcosta, I sought out the Thales, but it was broken and no longer in use. I have heard it before and was very excited by it but not by its price. The good news I heard, however, is that there will be a much more modestly priced arm out soon, although probably not by CES. I was shocked by the new Dobbins tt. With the Reed arm and the Ortofon A-90, I just listened and listened. Were I able that would be my choice. Just outstanding! I heard the little MBLs there. They are the only MBLs that I can listen to. This was one of my top sound of the show rooms. |
Agree that the Raven/Thoress room was great fun and great sounding. TW is also a very nice unpretentious guy with a great sense of humor. I also enjoyed Steve Dobbins room with the Beat direct-drive turntable and "small" MBL speakers. The Beat cum Reed tonearm is a winner for sure. All the vinyl gurus I met: Thomas, Steve, Thom Mackris, Schroeder, etc, are unusually nice guys with a penchant for sharing their enthusiasms with others. I walked out of the tonearm comparison (not to say "shoot-out") at what must have been around 10 PM. I was stuck at the back of the room and could not hear any important differences between Talea and Schroeder, except to say that the differences I did hear could well have been due to the differences between the cartridges. Others with better seats had more definitive impressions. What the experience proved to me is that choosing among the tonearms and turntables we agree are among the best is largely a matter of personal taste and the availability of disposable income. There are so many excellent well thought out products; we are very fortunate. I am glad I attended finally. |
HI Dev The Thales arm is out of my league as far as pricing goes so no interest in owning one. Wonderful idea though. The Raven 10.5 is wonderful sounding arm, always in control, smooth high's with nice clean upper extension. Bass was deap and tight, nothing to complain about as far as usability. Build quality is second to none! It will accomidate many different cartridges according to TW. We listened to the 10.5 with Miyabi/47 on the TW Raven AC3, and the Ortofon Cadenza Black on the 10.5 and the TW Black Night. High Water Sound had two setups at opposite sides of the room, so different presentations from the two setups. Both very good. I will let Jeff from High Water Sound know I will be buying a 10.5 in the future. I have full rez pictures of both setups, I will post them on my systems page. I went to the shoot out later adnd it was still in full swing at 10PM and they were still going at it when I left. Full house BTW. Steve Dobbins was down the hall playing music in his room too, so I spent some time in there. The attmosphere was a lot more relaxed from my tastes. |
Hi Pcosta, so any input in relation to the Raven 10.5 and the Thales arm you were going to look at. Anything else interesting in relation to vinyl you care to share. You being an exsperienced AC owner for a while now so you are use to it's over all sound what are your thoughts in relation to the sonic differences compared to the Black Knight. |
My favorite rooms this year were the Avalon room with the Rowland 625 driving the new Transcendent speaker, the Gamut room and the Playback Designs/DarTZeel room. The VTL/Wilson room was also very good, with the Wilson Sophias sounding as good as I've heard any Wilson sound. Soundsmith always has wonderful analog sound. All these rooms were very musical and I could be very happy living long-term with any of these systems. However, the Avalon/Rowland combination was my absolute favorite. Oh, off-site, Soundings had a great Boulder/Vienna Acoustic room. This was my fifth RMAF and, by far, my favorite. The key to my enjoyment was leaving the rooms that sucked immediately. There's no need to be nice, because all you're doing when you stay a second longer than needed is literally injuring your ears. The truly bad set ups (it's often due to the room, but that's not my problem)can be heard in seconds. Sitting in there for five-minutes just to be nice and just because the people seem nice only hurts your ears. It not a sacrifice worth making. The best times to go to the best rooms is early Saturday and Sunday, before the crowds really mount. Early you can often have the room to yourself, with the AC off and no one talking or the door constantly opening and closing. I used Friday to scout a bunch of rooms overall and decide where I wanted to spend more "quality time". |
Here is the list of LPs I brought along with me: Linda Ronstadt - What's New Stevie Ray Vaughn - In Step Sara K. - Water Falls Charlie Byrd - The Guitar Artistry Rossini - I'Italiana in Algeri, Sinfonia Rickie Lee Jones - Girl at Her Volcano Ry Cooder - Jazz Anita Baker - Rapture Paul Simon - Hearts and Bones Kenny Burrell - Midnight Blue Thorens - 125th Anniversary LP Shelby Lynne - Just A Little Lovin' Townshend, Lane - Rough Mix Tyrone Brunson - Sticky Situation Herbie Hancock - River: The Joni Letters Sphere - Flight Path Solomon Burke - A Change Is Gonna Come Herbie Hancock - Future Shock Dre |
As an FYI the CanJam room dedicated to headphones will be up again this year. As a disclaimer I helped put it together. If you get a chance check out Jerry Harvey's set up. The JH 3a is a portable tri amped active crossover portable amp and in ear monitor rig. We'll also be holding a free product give aways for those interested. I'm not a manufacture just a guy that helped set up the room thus year |
I'm not sure and they were not giving out any free info. I did realize that this happened on a trip to the LSAF and not CES and I actually pulled a Genrad 1203 out of a bag and carried it on in Dallas when I exceeded 50 pounds for a bag on my way back. the whole story is below. http://hifiheroin.blogspot.com/2010/05/home-again-home-again-jibbity-jab.html |
I'm bringing along: 1. Ray Anderson - "Blues Bred In The Bone" 2. Count Basie - "88 Basie Street" 3. Benny Carter - "Meets Oscar Peterson" 4. Ellington - "This One's For Blanton" 5. Art Farmer - "Big Blues" 6. Buck Hill -"This is Buck Hill" 7. Milt Hinton - "The Trio" 8. Oliver Jones - "Requestfully Yours" 9. Leroy Vinnegar - "Walks Again" 10. AC DC - "Back In Black" 11. Broken Bells 12. Cocktail Slippers - "St. Valentine's Day Massacre" 13. Gutter Twins - "Saturnalia" 14. Damien Jurado - "Saint Bartlett" 15. Menahan Street Band Subject to change |
Excellent Dan - I'm bringing: ZZ Top - Degüello Zappa - Apostrophe Mimicking Birds - S/T Allen Toussaint - The Bright Mississippi Mozart - Complete Wind Music Vol. 1 (Decca wideband) The Honeydrippers - Vol. 1 John Hartford - Mark Twang Budd Johnson And The Four Brass Giants all subject to last-minute changes. I've given up on trying to appeal to the crowd and instead just bring what I want to hear or whatever has been in frequent rotation over the past couple of weeks...see you in a couple days. |
In the past month, people have called me asking about flying with benign things like tonearms, tubes and transformers. I usually carry on all kinds of valuable yet odd looking things and check the obscene. I occasionally get the second check but it wasn't until leaving a short "gambling with mom" layover in Milwaukee that I realized the true threat! As things usually go I get flagged for a second screening which takes about 2 minutes and is generally a quick swab of my palms for "forbidden stuff". When leaving Milwaukee, I got the flag for a second search and presented my hands. The TSA dude said "No sir, we need the bag opened, is there anything pointy inside?" I replied that I was Flagged at LaGuardia for a digital caliper which appeared "weapon-like" to security but once identified I was on my way. This wasn't what they were after. The TSA dude quickly rifled through my messenger bag and pulled out the box of vinyl I was carrying. He quickly opened it up and proceeded to dig to the middle and swab Lou Reed. The test failed and I was pushed to a larger table where everything could be unpacked. They swabbed several other random things which all passed yet repeats on the vinyl failed. To make a long story short, I'm not flying with vinyl anymore so bring some for me :-) see you all at Garcia's dave |
Choosing Music LPs? What are you bringing? As the days get nearer to the RMAF, 3 days remaining, I’m looking through LPs to bring along. Like years past, I try to bring music that allows me to observe what’s going on with the system being listened to. At the same time, I want to make sure that the music is something that is enjoyable for others listening while I’m listening to my music. That is not always an easy task. This year I know a couple LPs I’m bringing are not going to be in that category but necessary nonetheless. I'm working through, Shelby Lynne, Anita Baker, Solomon Burke, Herbie Hancock, Kenny Burrel, Pete Townshend, Sara K., a dose of clasical and some others to get started. With that said, what are you bringing along with you this year? You are bringing LPs with you, right!? Dre |
Looks like next year for us. We have some close friends nearby and mabe I will send them on a recon to check it out, Their son loves music. BTW, if anyone is going, Please stop by the Octave room and check out thier stuff. I would like to hear what others in North America think of their stuff, besides me, the lone ranger here in Germany. Ciao, Audioquest4life |
For you first timers there are rooms spread out over the entire hotel. I always like to go to the big and expensive rooms on the main floor. Don't miss the rooms behind the bar area with the TV's. That would be off to your right as you head toward the bar. Then there are rooms behind the elevator to the 5th floor tower. These are the rooms around the atrium area. The you can take that elevator up to those floors, I think there were about three floors there. Then down towards the tower at the North end where all the crowds tend to go first and you can go up to the top and work down, don't miss the mezzanine level. If your ears are not screaming at you for a beer by now then you should reconsider this hobby and get into therapy. Have fun. Jim |
Lew, Sundays are indeed great, especially the morning. One other show hint (for all three days): work your way down from the top floor. Being in the top floor of the Tower, we're not all that busy for the first hour of the show. The majority of people work their way up from the bottom floor (herd mentality), and you can get some better listening sessions in by going against the flow. I just completed documenting the room lineup for the three rooms I'll be in: http://www.galibierdesign.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=155. Cheers, Thom @ Galibier |
Lew, They are still going strong on Sundays. All rooms and seminars are still going on. Personally I use Sundays as the day of verification and getting back to rooms I passed up due to missing them completely, room full when I stopped by, or a recommendation from friends. Sundays are also good because most of the systems have started to settle down and slight adjustments may have been made over the past couple days. Additionally, the crowed will thin out a little which will allow you more time in the room of choice with your own software. You are bringing your own music right? There was one year I left on Sunday to go home and I regretted it. I’ll never do that again. Even with three days, I don’t see how you could visit every room. I’m not saying that you would want too though. If you can do all three days, I think it’s worth it, especially given your additional interest in the frontend equipment. Dre |
Saturday night Schroeder and Durand Tonearm festivities - the tonearm play session in suite 1130. It dawned on me that there will be some "down" time if Frank and Joel choose do do a cartridge swap. If this is the case, I'll fill the dead air with a presentation on using an arc protractor to perform your geometry setup. I'm sure we'll involve whoever isn't involved in a cartridge setup at the time (Frank or Joel). Depending on how much dead air we have, I may give a humorous presentation entitled "Navigating the High End Mine Field" - a talk I gave at the Colorado Audio Society in January. When: Saturday evening 8:30 until we drop Where: Suite 1130 in the tower Cheers, Thom @ Galibier (dealer & manufacturer disclaimer) |
Hi Ecir38, At our Saturday night after hours tonearm play session with Frank Schroeder and Joel Durand (suite 1130), we'll have a few very nice phono stages, including my reference - the Atma-sphere MP-1 (whcih will also be one floor below, in the Daedalus room - 1030). Frank Schroeder never fails to impress, and has promised to bring a "radical" phono stage. I'm not sure if it is a retail product. While the Atma-spheres will be running throughout the show's duration, anything Frank chooses to bring will only be in my room for the Saturday festivities. Cheers, Thom @ Galibier (dealer & manufacturer disclaimer) |
