Taters said, "I can't see any well respected distributor-slash retailer attending the AK-fest."
I have attended AK Fest 3 different years. I have heard the following speakers at those shows (amongst many others I don't recall)
Dynaudio- Excite x-12 and x-16, Confidence C-1
Joseph Audio- Pulsar
Dali- Helicon 400Mk2
Classic Audio Reproductions- T 1 and a larger model I don't recall
McIntosh- x100, x200
Audio Note- AN-E/SPe
Vapor Audio- Cirrus, Breeze, Aurora, Arcus
Ridge Street Audio Designs- Sason
Selah Audio- Game changer (curved line array)
Fritz Speakers- Carbon 7
Salk Sounds- HT3, HT2TL, Song Tower, Archos, Soundscape 12 and Soundscape 8
Vivid Audio- Giya G1
Odyssey- Kismet reference, Lorelei
Hawthorne Audio- Rainier
Harbeth- 30.1, 40.1
Bogdan Audio Creations- Petra, Catalina
Tyler Acoustics- Woodmere 2, D1, D2, D10, MM5
LSA Statement
Fried- Studio 7
Bamberg Audio- Series 5 TMW
I guess all of these manufacturers should be embarrassed according to you. Just to give you a partial clue, these all range from very fine to outstanding against any standard. Only a couple of them retailed for less than $2000 and many were over 10k retail. When you post something like that try backing your statements up with something resembling facts. I am certain that I missed a large number of excellent speakers as well.
As far as the members themselves, I found all of them I encountered to be very friendly and gracious. The DIY factor was present there big time and my impressions were like Mapman's from CAF. Some of it was really good and some not so much. I had multiple discussions with members about cables (initiated by the members), not one of them contentious. In fact I would call the attitude I most often encountered was curiosity in regards to cabling.
Many of the member rooms used vintage gear that they did not pay a great deal of money for. So what? They did the most they could with the funds they had available and I applaud them for it. Quite a few of those systems did a fine job of making music and that is what this hobby is all about. If that bothers you as much as it seems, just ignore it and stead of complaining about it.
I have attended AK Fest 3 different years. I have heard the following speakers at those shows (amongst many others I don't recall)
Dynaudio- Excite x-12 and x-16, Confidence C-1
Joseph Audio- Pulsar
Dali- Helicon 400Mk2
Classic Audio Reproductions- T 1 and a larger model I don't recall
McIntosh- x100, x200
Audio Note- AN-E/SPe
Vapor Audio- Cirrus, Breeze, Aurora, Arcus
Ridge Street Audio Designs- Sason
Selah Audio- Game changer (curved line array)
Fritz Speakers- Carbon 7
Salk Sounds- HT3, HT2TL, Song Tower, Archos, Soundscape 12 and Soundscape 8
Vivid Audio- Giya G1
Odyssey- Kismet reference, Lorelei
Hawthorne Audio- Rainier
Harbeth- 30.1, 40.1
Bogdan Audio Creations- Petra, Catalina
Tyler Acoustics- Woodmere 2, D1, D2, D10, MM5
LSA Statement
Fried- Studio 7
Bamberg Audio- Series 5 TMW
I guess all of these manufacturers should be embarrassed according to you. Just to give you a partial clue, these all range from very fine to outstanding against any standard. Only a couple of them retailed for less than $2000 and many were over 10k retail. When you post something like that try backing your statements up with something resembling facts. I am certain that I missed a large number of excellent speakers as well.
As far as the members themselves, I found all of them I encountered to be very friendly and gracious. The DIY factor was present there big time and my impressions were like Mapman's from CAF. Some of it was really good and some not so much. I had multiple discussions with members about cables (initiated by the members), not one of them contentious. In fact I would call the attitude I most often encountered was curiosity in regards to cabling.
Many of the member rooms used vintage gear that they did not pay a great deal of money for. So what? They did the most they could with the funds they had available and I applaud them for it. Quite a few of those systems did a fine job of making music and that is what this hobby is all about. If that bothers you as much as it seems, just ignore it and stead of complaining about it.