I wish I had a better grip on the parking and getting around. Tons of walking and on a bad knee I was worn after one day and didn't go back. Venue was sooooo much better and next year they are moving it back to October, which is better for me and a few manufactures that couldn't attend due to conflict. Overall loved the show and got to see a number of debut's and old faces. The debuts that caught my ear most were Sonus Fabers new Olympica Nova and the Vandersteen Quinto, although the Vandy's are out of my pay grade they are always nice to hear. The newest Revel Be series were also impressive but I had been waiting for a center channel in this series which is coming but way to big for my room. I didn't get to see the Rega RP10 but I would keep my P10 till I can afford something else anyway. Sometimes I miss the sound of my LP12 but never miss the complications that came with it. But back to the show the Gaylord offered elevators that worked, wider hallways and better views. Just too dang much walking. Can't wait till next year:)
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The a line goes between Union station and the airport, so you can stop at the resort/hotel from either direction. |
Also, I read this on the hotel's website, making it even more convenient to stay downtown. You can just take the train from Union station to the venue...
"RTD A-Line: Take the A-Line from the airport to the 61st and Pena Station; a free shuttle is provided to and from the resort to the station." |
I belong to the Colorado audio club (new this year), and I know the organizers had a ton of frustrations with the venue as well. Lots of trouble getting anyone to cooperate. Hopefully things will be smoother next year.
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I live in Denver and have attended RMAF for the last 10 years. I'm inclined to give the organizers a pass for this year's difficulties since they were making a big transition to a different venue, but there is certainly room for a lot of improvement.
THE GOOD
All in all, I thought the room acoustics were a lot better on the whole than at the Marriott. That's a really important factor for an audio show. I'd be curious to know if some of the sound improvement across the board was due to a new, more robust electrical system compared to what the old Marriott had.
Wider hallways. The Marriott was claustrophobic. Yes, you'll have to spend more time walking and the layout was a little confusing at first but I liked the space.
Rooms were spaced out and staggered from one floor to the next so there was less bleed over from other rooms and a lot less noise from the hallways.
Very close to the airport for those flying in.
Exhibitors finally seem to be playing less of the same old same old and branching out into a larger variety of music. I tried to tell every exhibitor who did that how much I appreciated hearing something different.
THE BAD
Far fewer exhibitors than usual. My understanding is that the switch to September caused conflicts for several exhibitors. Hopefully, the move back to October next year will solve that problem. The other factor was the cost to exhibitors to show at the venue. I know of at least three manufacturers who didn't show up because of the cost. My fear is that the cost will drive away a lot of the smaller audio companies and sellers of lower priced gear who simply can't justify the cost.
The line on Friday. Ridiculous. I can't think of a good excuse for not having the name tags ready to go for people who pre-registered.
Paid parking. I got out of the lot for free on Friday. A lot of people didn't. The Gaylord is in the middle of a field. Paying $18.00 to park in that location is total BS. That's the same rate as downtown.
Captivity. I basically hate resort properties so I'm biased. Mediocre overpriced food with no walkable options for anything else. The food trucks at the Marriott were great.
UNSOLICITED ADVICE FOR OUT OF TOWNERS
Stay in Denver. It's a great city with a lot to do and a killer restaurant scene. It's about a 30 minute drive from downtown to the Gaylord and from what I understand, the rooms at the Gaylord are expensive. The Gaylord is in the middle of a big flat field near a suburb that looks like every other suburb. Boring. I'd also recommend you make time for the mountains on at least one day. It is Colorado after all.
I'd give RMAF a shot next year regardless of some of the issues that occurred. I suspect they'll have things ironed out by then and if the exhibitor numbers go up it will be a good show.
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@pranabindu If you're at all handy, you might consider building your own Nelson pass design... https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/pass-labs/. Changed my life going there. And I came to a similar conclusion about the directstream. It seems like some people are sensitive to it in ways that others are not. It's very well loved, but just didn't work for me... And I have owned a perfect wave since 2011ish. Don't know what's going on there... |
Those Prana speakers are $35K, but the amps are all built in.
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I sat in the 3rd chair back of the Polk SDA demo.
I had my Sony 4k video camera and used it in many of the rooms at or near the “sweet spot”.
I had brought it for my youngest kid’s wedding (main reason we were there) but decided to break it out for most of the rooms we went in.
Not sure what type of indication I’ll get of the audio reproduced but at least it’ll be something.
Just wish I had more than one day.
The SDA have that huge soundstage but seemed like something “musical”was missing to me.
Regarding the spokesperson for each room, I have to give the award to Andrew Jones.
Very informative, interactive, and humorous with the “audience”.
The Polk room was more formal and controlled.
The oddest presenter room goes to the “amp in a tube”, where the spouse of the tube designer was telling me what they cost when I asked for the specs.
She pointed at her husband and told me he designed these as she handed me a “tube” with the circuit boards inside.
Very nice lady but not what I would expect for the show. (the audio was just ok)
Late in the day we got to hear the Magico speakers with some high volume “non-audiophile” Billy Squier.
The last room we heard was just down from our abode and was my wife's favorite. (Crown and water beverage from one of the representatives might have had an influence)
Paradigm sounded very nice but they had the subs and ARC
Genesis setup.
All in all it was a great experience and hope to do it again.
Now back to my “lowly”
Revel Performa3.
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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 :-) |
@barts The Polks were $6k.
The reason for the 4 chairs only lined up in the center is that the SDA technology is designed for the sweet spot. However, it was a good test to sit off axis too because it showed that they performed just as good as others off axis.
What's nice is that even if you didn't hook up the terminals for the second set of drivers critical for SDA, you would still have a high end stereo speaker for a fraction of the cost of others with similar performance.
Fwiw, the guy running the demo was nice to me. In fact, I give him points for running a semi-structured demo and keeping things under control. So many rooms you go into and nobody says anything... You can't get a seat in the sweet spot and there's no description of what they are demoing. It's just a free for all.
I asked him several questions and was definitely skeptical when I entered, but those speakers convinced me. They did what almost no other speaker can do in terms of imaging.
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I liked the new venue, and thought all of the rooms sounded better than the Tech Center. I had no problem with the restaurants because I made reservations a week in advance.
I loved the YG Acoustics and Joseph Audio Pearl 20.20s. No one has mentioned the Rockports. Loved them. The Salks were great, especially for the money. |
@labtec
I had forgotten about the Polk room. You are correct the Polk SDA
imaged amazingly well and sounded great. Don't know what they cost.
They were playing in one of the suites at the end of a hall, big room.
The only weirdness was there were only four chairs and they were in
a line front to back (one row four deep). So, it appears the sweet spot
is very narrow. Several show goers attempted to move one of the chairs and the "gentleman" running the room rather gruffly told him to "put it back". I tried to talk to the "gentleman" and he was totally disinterested.
Not sure what was going on. Just calling it the way it happened. |
I attended the show with my kids, so I will make some comments from their perspective.
They wanted to spend most of their time in the headphone area - they loved the HiFiMan Headphones. They also thoroughly enjoyed the new Manley Headphone Amp. We met EveAnna Manley, who was super nice and patient - she knows how to relate to the younger generation.
On the way out we stopped in the PS Audio booth - I saw Paul, the PS Audio celebrity walking around, answering questions and being extremely cordial. Scott McGowan came up to my son who was looking at the Sprout. Scott was super, patient, answered all objections well. The merchandising in that booth was exemplary. My kids earn their own money, and the price of the Sprout is A LOT for them, never the less, they bought it. My son received his new Sprout 3 days later, brought it over a couple of days ago and is ecstatic with the purchase. I almost forked over for some of their gear - but really wanted time to listen. My kid said the Manley was the best sounding headphone amp by far, but could not afford it.
I am kind of looking at a streamer/dac and was looking at the PS Audio stuff - but I noticed almost every room was using the Blue Note - they must know something I don't - I am going to check them out.
I forked over for an Astell & Kern high res player.
We were all let down in the Wilson room, we have Wilson's and were expecting something better.
Magico was a letdown.
We all like Klipsch (we have their speakers in our movie room) but I think we have all outgrown them - they just don't sound good except in a multi-channel movie type application.
The new Vandersteen's were blah.
I am not a Focal fan, but the big Focal speakers were simply stunning - I have never heard them sound so good.
My kids dragged me into the Parts Express room saying "you have to hear these" - they were playing music off a phone, through a $30 tube amp from Amazon, through a pair of $350 DIY speakers - IT/THEY SOUNDED INCREDIBLE - THE BEST BOOKSHELF SPEAKERS I HEARD. And if the RMAF show is the cream of the crop, then these are the best bookshelf speakers made. Of course, they wouldn't sell them.
Some of the best speakers we heard were the Warfedales - they were not out yet - were like $2500 for the pair - sounded GREAT. I am going to find the dealer and go listen to them, I can see purchasing them.
We all agreed that most rooms need to expand their musical tastes - there is plenty of good, contemporary, well-recorded music out there to demo. Hearing Pink Floyd, Dire Straits, Diana Krall, and Kind of Blue and the same sounding jazz - some did not have anything available to play other than dead people.
We had a ball and will go again next year.
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I've gone to countless shows over the years since the 90s.
The Polk SDA demo is one of the most impressive I've ever heard. I can't even believe I'm writing those words, but it's the honest truth. Every room I went into after that demo was boring and way overpriced for far less performance.
In terms of the big rooms, Alsyvox and the YG/VTL setups were as good as you will find at a show. That's 2 years in a row that Alsyvox caught my ears and I suspect it will continue.
Elac still makes awesome gear for budget prices that embarrass the big boys.
A few companies with new speakers were duds (i.e. that point array speaker that looked like it had a tumor growing out of the cabinet and especially the room with the midcentury modern style speaker was as bad as I've ever heard at a show). I won't name exact names of those companies, but you can figure it out.
One guy that's always at the shows and finally caught my attention with something was Steve Norber of Prana Fidelity. His new speaker with DSP sounded REALLY good although it is way overpriced. |
Sanders Sound Systems by far the best sound. The only speaker I wanted to take home. The least impressive looking room.
Focal Scala Utopia my next favorite speaker.
The Sigma Acoustics/AGD room was where I spent the most time. Sounded mostly beautiful but the soundstage was enormous, as was the speaker, and occasionally I heard a little stridence in the upper treble. I couldn't decide if I liked them a lot or not at all.
Most of the other rooms were perfectly acceptable with the following exceptions:
P.S.Audio. I was expecting a lot. I didn't care for what I heard at all. Way too tilted towards the middle bass.
Alsyvox/Omega Audio. Too hard and grating for me. I was not expecting that, don't know what the problem was.
Kii. A lot of bass out of a little box. Tonally they were fine but the imaging was not. I would have blamed the room, but these are supposed to correct for room problems.
Klipsch Cornwall. Too soft at the high end, although I suspect this room was way too small for this speaker.
Troy Audio Hellena Mk II. Not bad per se, but disappointing. They are based on the Great Plains/Altec drivers. I made myself a horn speaker with Altec drivers, and I love them. The Hellenas have a horn tweeter and they sell for $80,000 with internal crossover, $120,000 with the external crossover. My speaker cost $4,000 with an active crossover (half of that was the tweeter, I could have built them for less). My speaker is better. Significantly better.
I am a rank amateur, I should not be able to cobble together a speaker that is better than most of what I heard at RMAF, but apparently I have done just that. I made the speakers just to go with my 2 watt amps. I went to this show because I have heard pretty much none of the new gear that everyone talks about here, and this was a chance to hear almost everything in one place. Except for perhaps the Sanders Model 10s, ($17,000--with a Sanders amp! Possibly the best value in the show) there was nothing that made me want to throw away my Altecs and my Sound Labs (O.K., I have two really good speakers), my Levinson ML-2s and my (handmade, the first by me) single ended triodes. The speakers are 1960 vintage for the Altecs, with a new RAAL ribbon tweeter, and 1983 vintage for the Sound Labs. The ML-2s are from 1978. The triodes range from 20 to 2, but they could have been built in 1930. I have long contended that there has been no real advancement in audio technology for a long time. I stand by that statement. |
Were any of you fortunate ones able to checkout the new Klipsch Cornwall IV?
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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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The parking was a mess at the show. One day I paid $18, another I stayed late and the gate was open $0. The last day was $8. The parking should be free for event attendees. In general I thought the PS audio speakers were pretty good. They played a track that I was very familiar with and they had great imaging, treble was good but there was a thickness or veil in the midrange that wasn't quite right. I understand they are still tweaking the design. |
I'm really surprised by the positive reactions here to the PS Audio system. I've been saving up for a DirectStream DAC, but my time in that room caused me to rethink that. There was something very harsh about the sound of the system. I enjoyed their new speakers better at last year's RMAF when they were still being worked on. I'm going to assume that there was something awry during the time I visited the PS Audio room, because the reactions here don't match up at all with my experience there. I was really bummed.
On the plus side, the show convinced me that the amp that replaces my VTL ST-85 absolutely must be a Nelson Pass design.
Did parking really cost $30 for the day? I was so offended by that price that I parked offsite and walked to the hotel. |
For $150K, I do expect the speakers to sound good. :^) |
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I thought by far the PS Audio room was the best. Paul McGowan's new floor standing speakers were just incredible sounding. They really played neutral and the built in subwoofers were so articulate. They were not slightly boomy and the mids and highs sounded colorful but not over done. These are the kind of speakers you can sit and listen to all day without any fatigue. Paul really knows what he wants to hear and he knocked things out of the park this time.
The one thing I always noticed is how most systems are being played through $20,000 to $100,000 systems. Almost any speaker is going to sound when pushed with that much clean power. It would be nice for them to demo speakers hooked up to something most of us can afford like an affordable $3,000 to $5,000 integrated amplifier.
I was also really impressed was the Extreme Audio. The Sigma Accoustics MAAT Vector XAC floor standing speakers were breathtaking in sound. They were also one of the most efficient speakers at the show being driven by AGD Productions
GaNTubeTM Sound Tube monoblocks. I couldn't believe these two tiny amplifiers could drive those enormous size speakers and make them sound so incredible. $15,000/pair for that sound was a real steal.
However, I was very frustrated with check in. Only two people there to check in. It took forever and they didn't know how to efficiently check in preregistered guests. They also should have marked the registration door with an arrow because I walked the full length of the hall and then had to walk all the way back to the registration table. They had a bunch of flags where the exit door was located, but no sign with an arrow pointed to registration entrance. Parking also cost me $18. My two day pass cost me $15. I was in shock and I thought this was in really bad taste. It in fact really ticked me off. They should have opened the gates for this show. Last year there was free parking. Won't attend next year if they charge for parking. |
I attended all three days of RMAF, the venue is beautiful, as in very well appointed. I did not
stay at the hotel so I can't comment on pricing. I had no trouble eating lunch at the Mountain
Pass sports bar on premises, but I tend to eat early.
Have to agree with the OP of rooms to check out. The one that stood out to me was the
Bryston Room. Not exactly inexpensive, but sounded really good. The Goebel room was
the best as far as I'm concerned. At $225K those speakers should sound that good.
I also thought the Audio Research/Sonus Faber sounded excellent, they had no digital it
was all vinyl. Again $200K plus speakers.
The biggest disappointment was the Wilson room, seemed like a half-hearted attempt to
me. I'm not a Wilson fan, but this was really poor.
The PS Audio reveal of their next iteration of the AN3 speaker (still pre-production) was a
game changer for me. For a "paltry" ~$15K those speakers imaged so well I couldn't make
them stop imaging. Sounds a little crazy, but most speakers I listen to develop an image
that's gets better as I listen. These powered speakers (700w each) instantly create an
image and if I stare at one of them attempting to disrupt the image it just won't collapse.
No, I'm not a shill for PS Audio. They just hit a very sweet spot. Granted they had $50K of their gear running them. Too bad they are going with a direct sales approach, so the final design won't be available at a dealer for a demo.
Interesting to me is that both the PS Audio and the Bryston rooms were the only two that
were using all of their own equipment and both of them sounded excellent. I didn't go in the
Sony room, but I suspect they were using all Sony gear. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
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East Texas guy here. I was there all three days.
The YG room was just fantastic. Incredible imaging, clarity, dynamics, realistic sound.
The Revel room actually demoed the new F226Be, the smaller brother to the F228. Amazing the amount and quality of bass they get out of a relatively small tower, which seems to be the same size as the F206. I want the new F328Be!
Prana Fidelity. This was one of the best rooms in the show, fantastic sound, and I kept coming back to listen more. He was demoing a new powered tower speaker. Just, wow!
Salk demoed the new SS9.5, which sounded great to me. Great for full scale orchestral music, with its deep and impactful bass response.
The hotel is incredible, but expensive. I attended RMAF last year at the Tech Center and I thought the sound was noticeably better this year.
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How was the sound in the rooms in general? The last few years at the Marriott, it was pretty bad. I've read many posts here and other places that registration was a nightmare, huge place with rooms a good distance apart, bad sound, etc.. Would you go again at this new location? |
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I so badly want a pair of the Debut Reference, because it really should be the "standard" by which all bookshelves must compare themselves in terms of "minimum viable product". If your speaker is over $1,000 and it doesn't sound significantly better than the Debut Reference, then you can be certain you're paying for exotic veneers more than good design.
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My first time to RMAF. The venue was not really to our liking. Waits for the various restaurants were always 1-1.5hrs. Captive pricing was in full force and I found myself grabbing Ubers to get the heck out of there. Also, the hotel thought it would be a good idea to do all the tear down on Sunday night 2am to 7am moving furniture and causing a ruckus. Not a good night’s rest for sure. One positive, the water slides were cool, but then they messed up our bill and so infuriated my wife we will likely not go back. The show as good but spread out a lot. I also noticed Dynaudio was listed but not present. I had a hard time getting in the ATC room. They would lock door at random times during the event and not let folks in with no explanation. Anyway, on to the good stuff. Pretty much visited every room a couple of times. Sunday was the best day in my opinion because there were less people and you could request music on the systems. Some rooms I probably didn’t like more because of the music they played and Sunday helped change that a bit. Here are my picks for what its worth 🙂
Top Rooms:
- Vienna Acoustics Imperials + REL Stacked Sub Array + Boulder Separates = Phenomenal sound. They played a track from a Tool album (not my pick) and it was awesome. Totally listenable and engaging. No harshness whatsoever even though this is a metal band. Felt like I went through a transcendent experience.
- Hegel Room: H390 + Sonus Faber Electa Amator III = Super simple system that took total control of the small room. Kept looking for the sub that wasn’t there.
- Revel Room: F228BE + Mark Levinson Integrated = Crystal clear balanced sound with no fatigue at all. Nearly full range with chest thumping yet tight bass. Detailed highs. I want a pair.
- Sonus Faber Room: Olympica Nova Vs + can’t recall the gear stack = Slam in spades. The image was a little larger than life but great soundstage and dynamics. My wife wants a pair but they are not in the current budget.
- Acora Room: SRC-1 two way made of granite using Scanspeak drivers. Run with ARC separates. Sounded real. Like there was a violinist in the room.
Other Standouts:
- Salk Room: Beautiful and great sounding speakers.
- Elac Room: Great standmounts for not a lot of dough. Carina gives the Kef LS50s a run for the money and are hundreds less too boot! Debut Reference sets a new standard for $500 standmounts.
- Kanto Room: Tuk two way actives with ATM tweeters are a real gateway into HiFi. They have a remote control, built in amps, DAC, Bluetooth, and phono preamp. Plus there is a switchable crossover for adding a subwoofer. These were really quite good at $700.
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hometheaterhifi.com has a very nice write-up on RMAF 2019.
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First audio show for me. I liked it a bunch although the wasted time for registration sucked.
I stayed at the venue and thought it was nice but “nice” price as well.
We were above the Z review room.
Didn't go there. Loved Revel but wanted to hear the bigger 328 but it wasn’t available.
Elac bookies were impressive.
The AlsyVox were very impressive as were the YG Acoustic.
Wanted to hear the Maggie’s, none there. Wanted to hear some Electrostatic, none available.
Dynaudio room listed, not there.
Disappointed, Magico and Zu Audio
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astewart8944,
I’ve heard some vivid speakers sound pretty spectacular at a show.I auditioned the Oval, have heard the Kaya extensively, and have heard the Giyas at shows.
For whatever reason, they never did sound quite as pleasing as the first time I heard them.
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I've attended two previous RMAFs. I am local, live in Littleton. Venue is to far out of town for me to go multiple days. 50 minutes each way. Venue was nice but difficult to find rooms, I'm sure many were missed. Much lower attendance by vendors than years past. Most of the rooms were not great sounding, mostly for poollr music choices and booming bass. Okay, rant done. Berreson sounded great, one of the best. United home with the reel to reels, YG was very good. New PS audio loudspeakers were very respectable. Nola is usually great but their enormous speakers overwhelmed the small room. Hope need yeast is much better |
astewart8944
Paragraphs, subheadings and punctuation are your friend... |
@prof I understand your point about the Vivid sound, except that the Vivid/Rowland/Grand Prix room at AXPONA 2019 and the Vivid/Rowland/Grand Prix room at RMAF 2019 translated in a different way to my ears. For whatever reason, IMO this combination on two occasions this year has walked the line of pleasing resolution without sacrificing "musicality." Because I know we both are partial to the Perspective/Pearl sound, I would have liked to have heard your take on those rooms. The Pearl 20.20s at RMAF were exhibiting greater clarity than Pearl3s without giving up any "musical" ground whatsoever (IMO).
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The star of the show for me wasn't even a loudspeaker, it was the
M-Upscaler from those awfully nice chaps from Chord.
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b_limo I haven’t heard a speaker that used Seas Excel drivers that I didn’t like. Same here. And I'm wary of crediting too much sound to a driver, given all the variables involved in making a speaker. And yet, speakers I've heard featuring certain Seas drivers seem to have a similar smoothness that draws me in. |
@gadios so what did mr. Hegel answer, why are their amps better than competitors!?
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@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... |
FWIW, since the Kayas were mentioned: I've heard the Vivid Kaya numerous times in a nice set up. They have that "vivid" sound to be sure: super clear, clean and extended. A "right there" immediacy and clarity. And they can rock when turned loud too.
As it happens they didn't grab me musically. Mostly because I found their sound too analytical and lean in the midrange - missed the richness and organic tone I hear with some other speakers.
But if you want to hear evertyhing on the recording...
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@b_limo Thanks for the time to write your feedback. I have narrowed my speaker choice between the Persona 3F and a Vivid Kaya 45/90 (?). You are the second person who liked the Persona a lot but preferred the Kaya a little more. I have heard both but will do another long demo with the Kaya.
One thing that I have to do is place the speaker close to the front wall. The Kaya can accommodate that due to the tube inside the speaker cancelling out the back sound wave (or something like that). This was feedback from Vivid. Interesting that they had the speaker out in the room at RMAF. |
2019 Denver RMAF Short Report
Preface:
Why did so many big names opt out of the show this year?
-The Airport venue location? A Gaylord hotel room is no larger than anywhere else so sound quality is the same you get in any little room.
-The doubled exhibitor rates? Some makers sent products to be used by others Magico for example. Fair enough but not a good look for the bigger companies with no rep present. Others were complete product no shows-Spendor.
-The story I was told by exhibitors in a couple rooms in which speakers present but not connected was that their room was an "Exhibition" room. Come in and look around. Personally I can do that online. I came to hear sound!! Tannoy/Spendor
But "Something is Rotten in Denver" as the expression goes. -The 2 hour line for prepaid attendees to pickup their badges was ominous foreshadowing of what was to come. The line to buy tickets was 1/4 the size. Boy Scouts lost that one. -15-30 minute waits to be seated for lunch. -No staff tending the main bar. Table service? Forget that. Go stand at the bar to order. -The building is so oversized and out of scale with the environment. The place needed moving sidewalks. The Hotel staff was very friendly. If the event producers wanted to be near the Gateway Airport, then why not hold it at the Westin? It is an integral part of Gateway. No cab required. Airport menus pricesare nothing compared to GayLord's Resort "Captive Audience" pricing.
End of "Rag, momma Rag!!"
Highlights:
Hegel- An older hippie dude gave a wonderful answer to my question "What makes the Hegel's sound better than the competition" His answer ran about 3 minutes and convinced me. The new $6k model 390 is the hot ticket.
Salk-Jim had his Top of the Line side mounted woofer models playing rock and roll. He introduced a prototype-a beautifully finished smaller 2 way due out in 2020. A favorite stop. Jim is a sweetheart. His room is always busy. His artwork is worth the wait.
Fyne- This newer company now has official USA distribution. This was their first "Show" as such. This company is composed of a huge brain trust who left Tannoy after the 2015 takeover. They had a huge corner suite with the entire line. About 8 different models as I recall ranging from $500-$1000 stand mount speakers to 3 floor standers from $1,000-$2,500. Capped off with a $10k model. They look like players going forward.
PS Audio- Knows how to display their booth. Great Merchandising. Even better the speaker concept they have been playing with is actually starting to sound good. Paul is a dedicated and stubborn dude.
Elac- Was playing a tiny desk top Speaker which listed about $1,000. Not bad sounding.
Innous- This company has added a separate Clocker piece. About $3,600. It does things I can't begin to explain. These people believe that if you load your CDs in any of their machines for storage, the playback can be better than the original CD. $4,200 for model I covet. These people are the undisputed leaders.
Sanders- Still the most moving, realistic sound I hear. Shutup about small sweet spots. This is one spot worth sitting in. Dali- They had speakers in two rooms. The Euphonia replacement at $20k was killer!! Even in a closet-sized room. Hooray to the Dali Boys of Denmark.
Tekton- Eric Anderson was playing his big Moabs in Blue. Very Tall and very flashy. The room was loaded with people.
Borresen- Okay I admit I am in love their $35k Floor standers. Lars Kristen Kristensen gave a very detailed 6 minute lecture on the technical build incorporated in their product. Equipment was all Borresen as well. Check Youtube for a complete explanation.
NAD- Has a new Integrated with Dirac correction built in. $2,800 and it looks as good or better than the Naim product they modeled. Very Cool approximately 3" x 3" color screen on the front. About 1/4 the size of traditional gear.
Vinnie Rossi-One of the few rooms that understands good sound can be enjoyed at 75db and lower. Showed his new Integrated Tube Hybrid. Quite lovely. The $10k QLN Speakers are smooth. Mr. Rossi is a gentleman and a scholar.
Schiit- Displayed the new $800 TT. Looks cool and they will sell a ton of them no doubt. They were another check writing firm that couldn't make it to the show.
Disappointments-Sonus Faber, Vandersteen, Klipsch and ZU Audio. Don't ask me why but those rooms sounded like crap.
I bought one of Mark Waldrep's DVD recordings. Beyond special what he does with a microphone. Acoustics Sounds also had many temptations as did the friendly lady who sells imported Chinese music employing some instruments you may find as captivating as I did. Enjoythemusic.com Most tables had headphones so you could "listen before you buy".
Disclaimer: I did not go in every room. Opinions may vary. |
I saw a video of Scott Walker Audio’s setup at Axpona last week, and playing ACDC. Just incredible sound. |
I really enjoyed RMAF as well. I REALLY liked the new venue+++
The one that surprised me was the Boenicke W8's. I hate tweeky stuff but wow these little guys really fill a room with beautiful sound!
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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 😵 |
I basically agree with this list (although not the order), with one exception, although I didn't get close to listening to very room. Instead of the Revel room, I would replace it with Goebel/CH Precision/Kronos/Nordost room.
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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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@b_limo What did you think of the Vivid speakers? I have heard them demoed with Bryston cubed gear but not Rowland. I know they were demoed in Munich with Rowland. Any comparison of the Vivid to your favorite speakers at the show. |
I’ve read some things from Stereophile mainly but not a lot out there yet it seems.
IT looked like your typical show. The new venue seemed to go over well other than the cost of the rooms.
I have not read anything particularly new different or earth shattering so far. Mostly just more very expensive stuff that most cannot agree on and will never be able to afford.
I do hope to make it to Capital Audiofest yet again this year. I am usually able to find at least a few things at these shows that I am interested in and end up buying sooner or later. I give most 5 digit cost components a quick listen for anything new, different, or particularly good usually then just move on. |
