I enjoyed Pacific audiofest very much.
It had been 10 years since I attended any audio show.
CES audio show 2011 at Las Vegas was the last time that I did.
This audio show let me spend 30k$. 
6k $ on Margules pre amp which I bought just after the show close.
After listening to lot of exceelnt sound using Aurender music server, I auditioned N20 at home.
But I had decided to buy N 30 instead for further upgrade.
I listened to " Ketith don’t go" at many rooms.
I am happy to listent to the music at my home using new pre amp and N20 that I auditioned at home.😃
Thomas
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One of the component that I am eager to listen to is Lamphi Horizon Dac.
Von Schickert speaker driven by Vac amps with source of Lamphi Horizon Dac sounds clear and musical.
Then I asked the gentleman to play vinyl for comparison.
Wow vinyl sounds much more convincing from Cronus turntable.
Thus i got the feeling that as good as Lamphi Horizon Dac sounds,, it does fall short of best vynil playback in analog ease
But I do not mean that Lamphi Horizon Dac does not sound good.
Acora speaker driven by Vac amps with source of Lamphi Horizon Dac sounds clear with nice impact.
About 4 years ago, I had done comparison between MSB Select II and Cronus turntable in the same set up using same music.
MSB Select II match analog easeness of Cronus turntable at that time.
The only two Dacs that match best analog to my taste are Wadax and MSB Select II.
In the meantime you can tune the sound of Lamphi Horizon Dac through tube rolling.
Thus I will keep watching Lamphi Horizon Dac .
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I was there about 8 hours on Friday and about 6-7 hours on Saturday. It was a ton of fun - so glad to finally have something like this in the PNW! My observations match several that I've read in the above posts. Some standout impressions:
Genesis - the sheer size of the setup in this room was impressive, and it sounded great - plus Gary Koh is such wonderful guy and an avid supporter of our hobby.
Acora Acoustics - I'd never heard of these, but was very impressed with the sound - rich, seamless from top to bottom, really nice.
Vanatoo - Wow - an absolute bargain and very pleasing sound and energy. I brought a friend who's on the market for an inexpensive system with me on Saturday so he could hear these.
Linkwitz - Several have mentioned these above and also mentioned their unconventional look. I actually really liked the way they looked, but more importantly, I loved the sound. Sonically, I think this was my favorite room. This is not scientific, but I judge a system by how "real" it sounds to my ears, and the Linkwitz room was the one that did that for me more than any other.
I'd never been to an audio show before, so I can't compare it to others around the country, but I'm just glad it was here (I live in the Seattle metro area) and hope it was successful enough to be an annual event. My only minor disappointment is that there weren't more records for sale. In looking back over some early promotional material, I think the organizers were hoping to use a big room for music media sales, but apparently it didn't work out. (Just as well - I just would have spent more money!)
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During Pacific audiofest, I enjoy sound from vinyl than digital source.
This modest priced Modwright component with vinyl give very musical sound.
But I had quit vinyl 25 years ago, no turntable, phonoamp and vinyl.
Alas it may be too late to go back to vinyl.
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No doubt the Borrensons are impressive...I wonder what they sound like when they aren't being driven with a $60k front end that probably has been optimized to make them sound their best?
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I was there for all 3 days. The Borrenson book shelf speakers impressed me the most. Only a 5"" driver and wow what a huge musical soundstage. Preferred them over there 100k bookshelf and floorstanding speakers. Clearly my favorite room BUT 60k for bookshelf.
I was disappointed with the Kef Blade metas running on the new Parasound monoblocks and I am a kef blade owner. Surprisingly, the Magicos with convergent amps sounded very good and musical. Generally not a magico fan. Genesis never played the music loud enough for me.
The VS and Vac room was awe inspiring and impressive. Well you have my 2 cents.
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The Songer speaker is modern field speaker but in Vintage style.
I enjoyed its intimate and fast sound in Pacific Audiofest.
page description
songeraudio.com
5a3 push pull amplifier was also interesting.
http://whammerdyne.com/
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This room also gave very musical sound.
Well Audio is making excellent amps and dac.
I almost pulled the trigger for its new tube Dac called Cipher.
http://www.wellsaudio.com/cipher-dac
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This system sound very musical.
The most notable thing is the cost of amplifiers is modest compared with that of speaker.
Raidaho speaker cost 70k$ while Margules power amp and pre amp cost 10k$ and 7k$ only.
I got the feeling that Margules pre is good.
Thus I bought it at show discount price of 6k$.
After installing in my system, I am happy with it.
It use 4 12AU7(ECC82) and one 6922(6jd8) tubes.
Thus lot of room for tube rolling.
I replaced the stock Elextro harmonic tubes with NOS Amperex.
It really sound gracious.
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I only had one day, and couldn’t hit all the rooms. I thought these rooms were excellent:
- ACORA SRC-2 speakers with VAC mono blocks and preamp - Big room, and they presented an amazing soundstage and lifelike sound.
- Linear Tube Audio preamp and mono blocks with Daedalus speakers: Gorgeous sound and speakers (just beautiful wood and joinery). I am thinking of getting an LTA preamp. The speakers are very efficient, and a great pairing with the LTA 20-40W amps and integrated.
- LINKWITZ speakers - A total surprise. I know the name and a bit of the founder (RIP) but these speakers really surprised me. Amazing omnidirectional presentation, and a huge deep soundstage. The speakers really disappeared. They are odd looking, almost a homemade look but the sound! They come paired with 5 channel monoblocks (class D) so that each driver has its own channel. (The MBL Radialstrahler (120?) is a fancier omni that would have to be considered too.)
- Acapella Campanile horn hybrid - Lovely sound. I have little experience with horns, but was pleasantly surprised.
- MAGICO A5’s, Constellation Argo integrated, Berkeley DAC, Aurender streamer: Excellent overall. If I had $25-30k for speakers, these would be in the running.
- JOSEPH AUDIO Perspective (or Pulsar?) Graphene2 - Very pleasantly surprised. Gorgeous and lovely sounding. I didn’t get to hear their stand mount monitors which have gotten excellent reviews, darn it. Mr. Joseph is a charming fellow, in my brief chat with him.
I wish I could have gone back on Sunday to hear some of the rooms mentioned here. Next time I will spend 2 days. The hotel has a very odd layout which made navigating a bit of a pain.
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This speaker called Linkwitz looks funny but it sounds clear and holographic.
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I attended Friday and Saturday.
3 rooms were of note.
Von Schweikert Room. Big room and Huge soundstage. I found it hard to leave the room.
Linkwist room. Very tight and tuned sound. Not too crazy about the looks, but a very good sound.
The Pillium/Alsyvox Room. BEST OF SHOW! Incredible tonal balance, relaxed sound, clear soundstage and unbelievably toned, well defined bass. Never boomy (which I heard in many rooms as they are not the best rooms for demos). Several times, people looked around for "the subwoofer". No subwoofer.
Another thing I noticed- there were no room treatments! These are my dream speakers. The Pillium amp would be nice, too.
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A friend and I went yesterday and spent a few hours there.
A few highlights for me...
- Meeting Anne Bisson and buying an autographed copy of Blue Mind.
-Modwright. Meeting Dan in person was nice, he's been very helpful and kind. The sound in the room was very good. Small room, but it was set up really well for such a small space.
-Acoustic Fields "room". Sound was really nice and demonstrated the importance of room treatment.
-Joseph Audio. They had the Pulsar Graphene speakers playing. Amazing sound for their size. It was a large room and besides the clarity, imaging, and soundstage, the bass was quite impressive. A friend has these in a well set up room and they are incredible.
-Daedalus Audio. Really nice sounding speakers and beautifully made.
-Salk Sound. I don't recall which model they had set up (I think they were the Be Pure 2), but they were really dynamic and had great imaging.
-Spatial Audio Lab. That was my first time hearing open baffle speakers. Very nice.
-Linkwitz Audio. Weird looking speakers, but in a good way. Impressive bass for their form factor.
We didn't have a chance to see everything. Hopefully the show returns next year and I can plan better and spend more time there. Much appreciation for Lou Hinkley and Gary Gill and their team for pulling this together. It was a nice event.
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Estelon showed lot of promise in small room.
It sounds clear and dynamic.
It was driven by Kreall pre and power amp.
it would be worthwhile to try warmer sounding pre amp on it to give mor body on the sound.
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Who doesn't like the Vanatoos when they hear them?
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I went Friday all day and listened in most of the rooms. Someone pointed out the strange layout of the show but the way the hotel’s wings are set up, I don’t think they had a choice! Once I figured out where the "wings" were it was easy to get around.
Some stand out rooms... Acora was incredible. That those two speakers effortlessly filled the large space with lovely sound and soundstage without even playing all that loud was impressive. Joseph Audio’s Graphene speakers were also nice with a soundstage with no apparent "sweet spot" that tied you to one place in the room. Linkwitz, while having an unconventional appearance had great detail and deep stage. Lacked a bit on the bottom end though that might have been the room. The LTA room was awesome as I sat for several tracks. However the best value of the show for me was in the Venatoo exhibit. Their little speakers are real giant killers and if you’re looking to dip a toe into audio, or building an office system, you simply cannot go wrong here. I liked ’em so much, I’m buying a pair. I finally listened to several sets of Audeze headphones. I like that you can select a type of sound depending on the model you chose. A bit heavy though. Focal headphones were also good with a broad sound and deep bass.
I think the show overall was fun. Keep sticking to audio and let someone else handle the video. Could use some more vinyl vendors though I understand the logistics of transporting cases of heavy product only to take most of it home.
Good time and informative all in all.
Happy listening.
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@shkong78 Thanks for these videos!
The Voxativ / Spatial especially interesting in comparing the same presentation.
I preferred the Voxativ, but not by much, and at 2 1/2 time more expensive, that puts the Spatial in a very good light.
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Acora speaker sounds clean and detailed driven by Vac amp and Lampi Horizon Dac.
It use Scanspeak drivers including berrilum tweeter.
It's inert cabinet using real granite contribute to clean sound.
Considering its weight (250 lb for each) and expensive driver units, it does not appear to be expensive at 27000$.
The most important thing is that it's sound is enjoyable.
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My favorite overall was the Alsyvox/Pillium system. This was the only system that I would happily replace my own system with.
I was actually really disappointed by the Genesis system, although it could have been the material they were playing on the two occasions I stopped by. I'm going to try again tomorrow morning before I leave.
The Vanatoo system, at $599, was stunning for what it could do for the price. This would be a killer system for a small apartment or dorm room.
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I expected to be impressed by the big VAC / Von Schweiker rig and I was. But two other systems were also impressive without me having any preconceived expectations going in. They were the Acora speakers and the Joseph Audio / Doshii system. Honorable mention to Acapella / Audio Note system.
Happy listening.
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This room also give clean and neat sound.
My guess is that LTA amplifier works well with Spatial Audio speaker.
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I dropped in Voxative room expecting to listen to their field coil full range speaker.
Instead they display Hagen full range unit (96db/W) supplemented by Alberich subwoofer.
They also have black box which contains Dac streamer and amplifer which need to be connected to laptop or tidal.
Cost of Hagen and Alberich is 18k$.
But even with blakc box, the total cost is 22k$.
To me the sound quality is up to audiophile standard.
Hagen which is run full range without any netwoerk give nice details while Alberich subwoofer. give nice woomph.
It is worth as serious total package.
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The sound is coming from smaller speaker which cost 400$ which include internal Dac and amplifier.
All you have to do is to connect USB from your laptop.
It also has bluetooth connection
STEREO SYSTEMWITHOUT THE NEED FOR A GIANTVANATOO SPEAKERS MAKE YOUR MUSIC BIGWITH MUSICFILL YOUR HOMESHOP NOWSHOP NOWAWARD WINNING SOUND, KILLER CONVENIENCETRANSPARENT ONE ENCORETRANSPARENT ZEROSHOP NOWCLEAR SOUND FOR DISCERNING EARSAND SHIMMERING HIGHSWITH FULL DEEP BASS, CLEAR ARTICULATE...
 vanatoo.com
The larger one cost 600$.
This kind of speaker wil be good for young people.
Thomas
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Overall Goebel system driven by CH precison amp wth Wadax source is the most authoritative and balanced sound.
But to me Genesis gave more excitement.
I will get back to Goebel again on Sunday.
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Full day at the show. Lots of nice people and nice stuff. It wasn't crowded at all but was spread out really weird. One veder was giving out Tequila shots with dried mango.. I could of stayed longer but had to drive.
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Asylvox speaker in rather small room still sound organic and textured as excellent planar speaker.
It was pleasure to meet Bob.
I had used Apogee Duetta Sig from 1990 to 1999.
Asylvox seems to sound better than Duetta in texture and relaxed harmonics.
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The most intimate and musical sound is from Kroma Julieta speaker (white one)
I had planned to attend all three days.
But I am too tired after dropping more than 40 rooms today.
I will take a day off Saturday and be back to it on Sunday.
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I had gone through all the rooms today.
it was lot of fun.
Half of them sounds good.
30% of them so so.
20 of them problematic.
The best sounding speakers is Genesis system driven by Merril Audio pre and power amp, source was VPI turntable.
In very large room, this huge Genesis speaker gave live sound of big band with clariry.
Thomas
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Yes, these amps where designed and hand built by a friend of mine. I have heard this system and it sounds wonderful, you will not be disappointed. Be sure to check them out in the Whammerdyne / Songer Audio room.
Monoblock Relentless GM 70 triode SE amplifiers fully DC coupled 33 watts a channel +Circuit Salad 60 watt a channel hybrid, Equi-tech power balanced line conditioner with Songer Audio S2 Open baffle filed coil 10-inch speakers with 15-inch AE bass driver and active field coil power supplies of their own design.
Whammerdyne Heavy Industries
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