RMAF 2008 - Your impressions,...


I know there's still few hours to go but I was wondering what my fellow Audiogoners think of RMAF 2008. What equipment left great impression, even what was a bit of a let down...As for me, it was my first year and my time was very limited, but I have to point out Emerald Physics for their CS1 and CS2, which are great speakers, selling for much less (esp. CS2) than you would think. They sound a bit different than what most of us are used to due to their unique design. Unfortunately their need for two amps make it little difficult to integrate them in my system, otherwise they'd be on top of my list. I also have to mention AV123 and GR-Research whose X-static speakers must be one of the best bargains on the market (I know, we all have heard it before...), anybody looking for a $1000 dollar speakers (and even much more) need to give these a listen.
branislav
Jazdoc remined me of Sound Smith's strain guage and moving iron cartridges. I actually bought The Voice, Peter's top moving iron choice. Not only was the vinyl very impressive, but little two-way minis gave a big musical sound.

An extra treat for me was to hear Jon Pousette-Dart and Sean McGowan play my guitar. For those that didn't see the live performances, Peter usually started with a cut of John Hart playing my guitar, "Spot", made by master luthier Ken Parker. Believe me, that was a very realistic sound.

Dave
Thanks Drubin for the reply. I was hoping to get some more impression before I make up my final decision.

Kenneth
This was my first RMAF and I enjoyed it a lot. I got to about 80% of the rooms. My favorites included:

Lansche Speakers with Wavac pre and power amps and phono state. This was a captivating sound I could comfortably live with. It was simply dreamy, although maybe one should expect as much given the cost of the system $$$.

Focal Grande Utopia EM, driven by Boulder electronics and DCS front end. This really was impressive, and my favorite of the cost-no-object rooms. I was less impressed with the Lamm/Marten Designs room and the Acapella Trillon Excaliber/Einstean room, and also less impressed with the MBL room, despite the fact that I own MBLs. The bass from these Grande EMs was probably the best I've heard - absolutely complete and effortless IMHO.

Another expensive system I really enjoyed was the Verity Lohengrin II room driven by Artemis Labs electronics with two Schroeder-designed turntables and Scrhoeder arms. The sound from this system was soo effortless, nimble and sensual. I was transfixed. But, this was the case only with the vinyl front-end in play. With the digital source on (Nagra transport and some Berkely labs DAC?) the sound was far less inviting, unfortunately - even with my choice, familiar recordings. It leaves me wondering if and when I can get my hands on that Schroeder reference arm.

For the less expensive systems, I was quite taken with the room where the Teres turntable and Art Audio Jota monos were (caveat - I own a Teres table, so I may be biased). They were driving some panel speakers. The sound was to-die-for. We listened to the same track back-to-back on CD vs. vinyl. The vinyl was a little more complete to me, but even the CD sounded soo good. The bass was largely absent from these panel speakers, but what was there was really good.

The GR Research line-array setup sounded pretty amazing, and hard to believe for the price of the speakers, although those Dodd amps looked crazy expensive ($50k I think?)

Speaking of Dodd, they had another little room with the little new Tyler monitors playing with the Dodd battery powered pre and their relatively affordable monoblocks. The sound was very good. I was mighty impressed, but I did learn that there was a servo sub hidden behind some sheets in the corner, which really helped.

I liked the Harbeths too. The room might have been too small for them to breathe properly, but they still sounded very good.

I liked the Eben room, driven by Burmester gear, all wired up with Nordost Odin cables. The sound was super engaging. i could have stayed in that room for a while.

I'm not a horn person, but I quite liked the sound of the Maxhorn speakers I heard. I really didn't like the Duo Omeags I heard though - I gave them just a minute and then I ran for the hills.

One key point I'd like to make is that many rooms seemed to be playing 'music' that was closer to sound effects, to my ear. I heard lots of snare drums and even some tap dancing stuff - crazy. Also, I heard some music that always sounds great no matter what (Jacintha, for example - should be banned from shows like this ;-) It makes it too difficult to judge equipment).

Anyways, there were almost too many highlights to mention. If anything, the show made me realize that with careful attention to equipment choices and room setup I think I can achieve a sound i'm very happy with without breaking the bank.
Jazdoc & Pubul57

Glad you liked the Oswalds Mill room some much it is nice to hear it. I was lucky enough to be able to supply all the cabling for the room, Tel Wire, though I couldn't be there it is great to hear that it worked out so well! (thanks Win & Jon)
Outlier, it's always interesting to see the show reports of a show that many attended. You loved the Utopias, but I thought that they were amongst the worst in the show. I focused on the presentation of Jennifer Warnes' and Mark Knoffler's voices. The sound effects music ran me out after about four cuts. Still, I understand where you come from. The bass was indeed big and powerful.

We all have different perspectives and focus our listening differently. This highlights the need to listen for yourselves and attend these kinds of events if you can. When you rely on the reviews of others, then you'll need to get real familiar with the reviewer to find anything of use.

Your summary was great Outlier.

Dave