I was at CAF for several hours on both Friday and Saturday, and I had a chance to visit rooms of interest on multiple occasions. My reactions were somewhat different than expressed above. In general I thought the overall sound quality this year was pretty mediocre and not nearly as good as last year. I have no idea why that would be. Certainly there were no standout rooms like last year's Wilson Sasha/D'Agostino demo using Peter McGrath's live recordings.
The rooms this year that had reasonably good sound, in my opinion, were:
1. Audio Note room with both vinyl and digital
2. Command AV room with Devore Orangatan speakers
3. Deja Vu Audio room with Western Electric drivers in Jensen Imperial type cabinets
4. Dave Slagle's room with Lowther field coils in big Azurahorns (interesting but not really my cup of tea)
5. DC Audio DIY Club room with homemade electrostatics (interesting again, but not really my tastes)
6. Volti Vittora speakers---too loud and I didn't think they sounded as good as they did last year, but still much potential here.
I find it very interesting that Mapman and I reached such different conclusions about the rooms he named. The GT Audio speakers would have given me a headache if I had stayed there much longer. I was not impressed with the Classic Audio Reproductions demo---much too loud but beyond that the bass was thick and lacking in tonal differentiation. The Cathedral speakers might have sounded better in a much larger room, but at a 10' or so distance they were seriously lacking in coherency (same could be said for the Sophia speakers as well). Lastly, the Daedalus Athena sounded much, much better in Denver last fall in several rooms where I heard them. Based on that experience, I was really looking forward to hearing them at CAF without all the distractions and noise of RMAF. Unfortunately, they sounded too thin and bright each time I visited. I know they can sound better than this.
I had not planned frankly on commenting at all on this year's CAF show, but I have because Mapman's comments show that two enthusiasts can hear the same sounds yet reach quite different conclusions. I am not saying that my feelings are any more valid than Mapman's. I just find it interesting that we have such diverse reactions. I guess that's what keeps more than one audio company in business.
Despite my negative tone, I actually had a great time especially meeting up with people I hadn't seen for a long while. I truly hope that the show is a success and will continue for the future.
The rooms this year that had reasonably good sound, in my opinion, were:
1. Audio Note room with both vinyl and digital
2. Command AV room with Devore Orangatan speakers
3. Deja Vu Audio room with Western Electric drivers in Jensen Imperial type cabinets
4. Dave Slagle's room with Lowther field coils in big Azurahorns (interesting but not really my cup of tea)
5. DC Audio DIY Club room with homemade electrostatics (interesting again, but not really my tastes)
6. Volti Vittora speakers---too loud and I didn't think they sounded as good as they did last year, but still much potential here.
I find it very interesting that Mapman and I reached such different conclusions about the rooms he named. The GT Audio speakers would have given me a headache if I had stayed there much longer. I was not impressed with the Classic Audio Reproductions demo---much too loud but beyond that the bass was thick and lacking in tonal differentiation. The Cathedral speakers might have sounded better in a much larger room, but at a 10' or so distance they were seriously lacking in coherency (same could be said for the Sophia speakers as well). Lastly, the Daedalus Athena sounded much, much better in Denver last fall in several rooms where I heard them. Based on that experience, I was really looking forward to hearing them at CAF without all the distractions and noise of RMAF. Unfortunately, they sounded too thin and bright each time I visited. I know they can sound better than this.
I had not planned frankly on commenting at all on this year's CAF show, but I have because Mapman's comments show that two enthusiasts can hear the same sounds yet reach quite different conclusions. I am not saying that my feelings are any more valid than Mapman's. I just find it interesting that we have such diverse reactions. I guess that's what keeps more than one audio company in business.
Despite my negative tone, I actually had a great time especially meeting up with people I hadn't seen for a long while. I truly hope that the show is a success and will continue for the future.