Bumping this thread to the top!
I hope everyone who is attending RMAF today has a great time!
Parking is in a marked side lot. Don’t park in front of building materials. Gates will be open when you leave so parking will be free!
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@Astewart8944,
my impressions were very similar to yours! I very much enjoyed Joseph Audio, as I always do, and Jeff Rowland as well. Pretty much the same experience at Wilson Audio! Thanks for al the details you added :-)
After driving for an hour and a half, I was not about to stand in that line for what looked like it was going to be 2 hours (and miss 25% of my show). That line was absolutely ridiculous. I went back and paid when no one was in line at noon. There was no excuse for that line. Super disorganized and slow and the workers weren’t expediting in a manner which reflected 500 (?) people in line. There were like 6 people working at a snails pace...
Apart from that, the Hotel / convention center are beautiful. I walked around the grounds after the show and before afterhours and the hotel is really pretty.
As for the show, Joseph Audio, Jeff Rowland and and Revel were the ones I loved! I may go back tomorrow now that I’m thinking about it... |
Z reviews room was great! The whole Z review crew were there and just as nice, personable, and fun to be around as his you tube channel suggests.
The room was set-up fantastically. Zios would quickly and easily, play any music you requested on any speakers you wanted to hear.
His room was spot on. The set-up in the room must have been ridiculously complex. He’ll of course say otherwise, but thats the kind or response that you get when you ask someone who’s knowledgeable about something they are passionate about.
I really can’t say enough kind words about my experience in his room. He’s more of a perfectionist and audiophile than his channel will lead you to believe! |
I wasn’t that impressed by them (the sound) The people running the room were great though. They provided after hours from 8pm-?
I went but wasn’t that impressed. I have only done after hours at MBL and it is a completely different vibe. Everyone just gets lost in the music and it takes on a vibe like you are at a friends house. Everyone has a drink, lets the hair down and just get immersed in music. |
So take this for what it is, I heard Giyas before and they didn’t grab ahold of me. It may have been the associated equipment or maybe my tastes have changed a little, not sure.
The Kayas this year sounded really dang good. I do love Jeff Rowland equipment and it seems to always have a delicate, refined sound with plenty of guts. Rowland gear my is some of my favorite. This room was in my top 5.
I saw so many rooms, its hard to remember everything. I feel like I heard the Kayas in a room before Rowland and they sounded as good... were there Kayas in another room?
If I rated the rooms:
-Alsyvox
-Joseph Audio
-Revel
-Vivid
-YG
I missed some rooms though. Nola was one...
The Rowland room was really narrow but deep. The Vivids were pulled way out from the front wall pretty far. They had one of the deepest / most holographic soundstages I’ve experienced.
On a side note, the Paradigm Personas that I have loved since day 1 were falling short when compared to the above speakers... I have heard personas on many occasions with different equipment in many rooms and loved them. I guess I just needed some Joseph Audios for perspective, no pun intended.
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Yeah, I forgot to mention Goebel. They sounded great as well.
There was a lot of good sounding rooms to me this year. I was pleasantly surprised by the all McIntosh room too. Those speakers sounded good to me as well.
I was actually offered to take the Goebels for free if I was able to move them out of the room by myself... I have a bad back so I wasn’t able to move them. I think they are close to 1,000lbs 😵 |
@prof... and everyone else, I do think that it’s much harder for me to get into a musical groove in most rooms at RMAF due to uninteresting music, people talking or those dang jingle bell lanyards everyone has on. Due to that, it’s difficult for me to say whether certain set-ups are “musical” or have good tone. Most of the time, detailed, clear “analytical” sound grabs me quickest at the shows. If it happens to be a great sounding set-up and they are playing good music, I’ll stay for 30 minutes or longer in a room. Thats happened to me with MBL, Alsyvox, Vapor.
I haven’t heard a speaker that used Seas Excel drivers that I didn’t like. I seem to like Accuton and Raal and plasma tweeters also.
@yyzsantabarbara, I hate to sway you from Personas because I do love them, but I don’t know if thats what I’d personally buy in that price range... |
I got lucky with Parking and got out for free. They opened the gate up Friday night. It was a shame that I was walking to the parking lot with 2 guys that just paid $20, then the gate was open.
Honestly, since no one informed us that we were going to pay for parking, I would have hoped the damn curb on the way out.
I hope someone is listening and makes some changes for next year, otherwise I may not go either. The new venue is an hour and half drive for me, whereas the last venue was a 45 minute drive.
Between the poor signage for rooms (some rooms were by themselves all the way down a long, quiet hallway and then around the corner.). Some rooms were difficult to find.
Also, that registration line was ludicrous. And to have to pay $20 to park, then god knows how much to eat there, I may skip next year unless I know ahead of time that parking is free and registration won’t take more than 15 minutes, like years past.
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Dang it, I can’t believe that I missed the SDA room... ugh
I always like to find something at RMAF that I can get excited about in my price range... this year it was those Wharfedales coming out soon. The $2500 floorstanding speakers... they sounded fantastic and are some that I will definitely consider purchasing in the future. Cool to hear about your story attending RMAF with you kids! 👍👍 for being a great Dad :-) |
