You can stay at the Marriot or the Hyatt across the street where RMAF is also having some exhibits. Both are in the Denver Tech area. I rent a car as I like to spend my evenings in downtown Denver eating and playing. Not much activity in the Tech area per se .
To add to the suggestions above , I would get a map of the rooms and vendors and plan accordingly to what interests you . You cannot spend quality time in all rooms so pick and chose your rooms in an orderly manner so you are not bouncing all around and forgetting what floor you have seen . The lower floors have the larger rooms and you can often find the mega systems like Wilson , Acapella and Jonathan Tinns Evolution Acoustics as well as Ray Kimbers Iso Mike room { which is tucked away in the corner behind the Reference Recordings booth} . There is a tower that's easy to miss and rooms off to the right of the lobby but all in all, its easy ... just follow the people with bags . Take a credit card because there is dedicated room for cds , vinyl ect and its all audiophile stuff and you will spend 5 times what you think going in so be warned .
Take comfortable shoes , dress casual and light , take a water bottle with you and get your ears professionally cleaned prior to arrival. The air is thin and you can get a headache so you may want to bring pills for that.
I also like the relaxed atmosphere of RMAF . Its not uncommon to see some of our mentors stopping to chat with us no bodies : Jonathan Valin , Robert Harley , Jason Serinus and Clement Perry come to mind as those gracious enough to stop and be respectful enough to say hi . You will see the legendary mastering engineer Steve Hoffman walking the halls as well as so many you have come to know through the pages of your favorite magazines and webzines. Its a thrill if you ask me and RMAF is where you can mingle in peace . CES is such a madhouse.
I don't know what you are looking for but year after year , there are some reliable rooms to awe you . Wilson usually has a couple of great rooms and MBL had 2 last year and is always a delight . Whatever Audio Limits or GTT Audio is doing is worth hearing as well as Avatar Acoustics and Matrix Audio rooms . I would not pass up the Hansen room either . The Symposium speakers last year were amazing and for bang for the buck , see the Reference 3A room if they are showing the Grand Veenas. Rives Audio room last year was stellar as was the Audio Space room. Everyone should experience the Vandersteen 5 A s as well Dynaudio speakers . Hear the YG room while you are at it .
Sonics are the Achilles heel of the Marriot so understand this is a hotel and not your dedicated listening room so temper your expectations . Digital glare is the main culprit thus vinyl rooms tend to sound better . Take your favorite , best sounding discs . RMAF is known for the hospitality often missing at CES but don't embarrass the room by asking to play Ratt at 105 db at 10 am in the morning. The sonics improve Saturday and sound best by Sunday fwiw .
The room service is not bad and the breakfast fruit , yogurt , orange juice choice is very good and not over priced. For steaks, Brooks Steakhouse is 5 mins away by cab and is good . I however suggest going into Denver to eat but there are too many good places to list . Meet a buddy or two , split a cab and make a night out of it . I also encourage everyone to respect the Hyatt for joining RMAF and stop by and support the exhibitors there .
Once you go to the RMAF , you do not have to do CES anymore for the most part. CES will survive but RMAF will not without our support . See you all there .
Brent Rainwater
