Finally heard Accuphase

@thriftyaudio what did you find disappointing about the AN room? The Snell box designs are certainly very different from electrostatics. 

I've heard accuphase at Axpona, accurate but wasn't musical but again this was a show condition. Didn't stay for more than 2 songs but just did nothing for me. Now Airtight that was very special.

@clustrocasual So much at this show was speaker focused. I was unable to compare equipment due to the layout. Probably more my issue, because this was my first show and I had high expectations.

I had trouble staying in the Audio Note room for more than two songs. I was in the room for all three days, although the third day was essentially a walk in, don't like it, walk out experience. The sound was boring, missing soul, just blah.

I did make a nice show price purchase on a piece of equipment, so overall it was worth my time. Met a couple of vendors/manufacturers that I will keep in touch with and maybe buy from in the future.

@thriftyaudio By the way, I heard AN at a private dealer. I compared these field coils from the show ($65k) with their lowest end speakers of the same shape. I found the lower end ones (around $7k I think) to sound more emotional and soulful. The bass was looser but it just made things more enjoyable and lively. The wood cabinet seemed to vibe a bit more as well.

I thought their field coil was sonically denser but not as lively. That might have been what you were hearing.

Guess, my ears are very different, to me Accuphase and AN are end game setups. Both sound wonderful to me. 

AN to me is a bit overpriced, the gear look bland. Accuphase while also being overpriced, at least looks cool. I will say Accuphase tends to be more on the mellow side, everything tends to be more subtle.