Best in Show!
I will post my choice for Best in Show tomorrow, along with many pics! :thumbsup:
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I have heard them all. Mine would be
1. Sony and emm room 2. Joseph audio with VPI and Jeff Rowland |
I'm partial to the Wilson xlfs with Thors Hammer... But I am very impressed with the Joseph audio and Bryston rooms. Oh.. And mbl! Scaena (sp?) had some amazing speakers at the Hyatt as well!
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Cost is no object room: Sony/Emm. Honestly, this is an easy call. Emm came out swinging.
Lots of great stuff under that... The Magico S1 / basic Krell room was probably the best - surprise - of the show for me. I wasn't expecting much musicality, but was VERY impressed for the money. I'll post on other stand-outs tomorrow after going through my pictures. |
...best of show is.....You, Ivan...for, once again, bringing the show to all of us AA's. Certainly one of the highlights of the year !
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This will be interesting.
Memorables for me: - Wilson XLFs - Thors - VTL - DCS - Lansches - Ypsilon - Vandersteen 7s - ARC - AMG - Lyra - Joseph Audio Pearl 3s - Rowland - VPI - Wilson Alexias - Doshi - Sony - EMM - Harbeths 30.1 (including the Bricasti DAC) - Raidho - Rowland - Volti - Patrol Good show! |
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http://www.audioaficionado.org/attac...1&d=1381674788
http://www.audioaficionado.org/attac...1&d=1381674797 http://www.audioaficionado.org/attac...1&d=1381674829 http://www.audioaficionado.org/attac...1&d=1381674835 http://www.audioaficionado.org/attac...1&d=1381674846 http://www.audioaficionado.org/attac...1&d=1381674856 http://www.audioaficionado.org/attac...1&d=1381674868 http://www.audioaficionado.org/attac...1&d=1381674897 |
Fab system. Extremely musical experience. A recording of pipe organ sounded sublime.
Need a very large space for these speakers. |
Pretty sure that room is more than I am worth :) impressive stuff. Love to has this in my studio for oh a year or so to take in...
Ivan thanks so so much for the great coverage. I know it is a lot of work and takes away from the time you could be asking more ??s and listening etc.. :thumbsup: |
Ivan I don't think pictures can convey how large those speakers are. For the guys that couldn't make it, I am fairly sure those speakers have either 2 - 15's or 18's built into the back of them.
Just noticed that you got a picture of the back. |
Over 6 feet tall and 880 lbs yes 2 18 subs. I think I JL sub not really needed :) 1/4 mill a pair I think as well :smoking:
http://hub.audiogon.com/wp-content/u...9.41.31-AM.png |
My favorite rooms were:
Harbeth with Metronome electronics and Bricasti DAC TAD room with TAD E1s and TAD electronics (with none other than Andrew Jones serving up the music) Zesto Audio with the new Bia amplifer (wonderful!) and TAD speakers. I was telling Caroline Counnas of Zesto that they should do a demo with the Zesto gear and the Harbeths! That would be an incredible pairing, IMHO. Honorable Mentions: Doshi tube gear with Wilson Alexias ARC room with Vandersteeen 7s Dynaudio Confidence C1s with T+A electronics |
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Oh My Goodness....
Those Lansche 8.2's are MASSIVE! |
These are good looking speakers, I wonder if they are affordable?
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Ivan, very good pics , the best i have seen todate, the pics posted on other sites were mostly superfluous crap, thanks for the detail pics ....
:banana: |
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I was lugging 30lbs of 2.8 glass. ;) |
Wow , thats alot of alcohol ... :)
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Not best in show but a few thoughts on RMAF: It seemed less crowded this year, which, as an enthusiast, is great for listening, though it is not encouraging for the vendors representing their wares. Seminars were educational, especially, Fremer's seminar on understanding the letters/numbers stamped in vinyl deadwax. Also enjoyed doing morning yoga classes for the first time with Jason Serinus and Michael Fremer led by Steven Norber of Prana Fidelity While listening is always a bit of a challenge at these shows, I found this one to be less chaotic and more relaxed. As many others were slinging cameras to document the gear, (thanks guys!) I was lucky to just listen. There were a few rooms that I missed despite being there all weekend. With 150+ vendors, you just have to shortlist to give any rooms some semblance of justice. That said, I was disappointed to have missed the Rowland, Airtight, Emm, and Audio Note setups. Next year? A few that I was looking forward to but didn't hear the sparkle I was hoping for: Wilson Alexia with Doshi sounded great with RtR but otherwise I was less impressed as I have been with earlier Alexia demos. These are superb speakers and I hear that they made some adjustments to the setup with some treatments midway but I didn't get back there to hear the difference. As an ARC obsessive and user, the ARC Vandersteen room was OK but not as outstanding as expected. Maybe the Vandersteen are just not my cuppa. I was excited to listen to the Absolare amps. The room setup was gorgeous but the sound wasn't stellar to me, maybe due to the Rockports. Frank had some great music in there though, live German jazz releases of the greats on the jazzhaus label. Will be looking for these ASAP. I would love to hear the Absolare amps with the Rhaido someday. Of the ones I did hear, there were several that I went back to as the sounds were addictive. Here are my favourites from least expensive to out of this world pricey. My favourite "budget" speakers would be the small Emerald Physics room. Next more expensive one would be the Devore 93 setup. Volti Vittoria's sounded very very good in the center seat and I think the system would have sounded even better in my home, as the room would have been less nearfield and would offer a little more dispersion. Wished that they had a vinyl source in there! Still remembering the Burning Down the House RtR in the MBL room. No idea how much it costs but I imagine alot (and these are the "little" MBLs). If I had a really giant listening room, Jeffrey Catalano's setup with the 900LB!! Cessaro speakers would be a dream system. Unfortunately, I would need to buy a new house first! Really was looking forward to listening to the Tron dedicated mono phono stage but it was damaged in shipping so was not in service for the show. The TW-Acustic table is gorgeous. Not sure how much this total system cost, but it would be well past $200k. In that same price range, a beautiful system set up by AudioArts was really impressive. At last year's show, their room made an impression on me with the Swissonor/Thorens table and Nagra gear. This year, with no room treatment at all, Gideon presented a real-sized system that would fit most listening spaces, and it sounded better each of the several times I went in. Gideon adjusted the vinyl source late on day 2 and it was beautiful at depth, dynamics and low-level retrieval. With brands that I have mostly never heard, or heard of (CH Precision, Trinity, Zellaton), I didn't calculate the total cost for this system but it was way past my budget. Buying my lottery ticket this week and when I win, I'm heading to NYC The VAC Tannoy room was very very good. I would likely pick different speakers but the VAC gear is wickedly addictive. I was interested to see that they have a statement phono out. Again, the system was huge, in a giant room and uber expensive. Fun to listen to though One thing for sure for me is that the rooms that kept pulling me back were not only great sounding but were also rooms that were playing great music that I liked. Not always music that I knew, but that I liked. I passed by many rooms that were playing Dire Straits and Diana Krall. I mean really how many times do we need to hear that as a demo? John DeVore, Jeffrey Catalano and Gideon Schwartz all had excellent music playing. Music that I want to listen to and that is magnetic, keeping my attention. This is not only great for the fun factor, but also good marketing as it keeps my butt in the chair. Of course, musical tastes vary and this is where shows become difficult, as patience elapses quickly for really listening to a system if the music is not to your liking. This is one of the best things about a show like RMAF for me, exposure to outstanding and uber-highend systems that I would not likely ever get to hear anywhere else, with a whack of brands that are not represented by my local dealers, or even in much of NAmerica!
A real treat to experience these sounds and kudos to all of the reps who put the effort in to do these shows for trade folks, press, and enthusiasts like me. |
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Got lost in that 5 times tunes , had to fix it ....:smoking: |
Is there a tl;dr version? ;)
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Ivan, did you get a pic of the woofers in the back of those beasts?
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:D |
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http://www.audioaficionado.org/attac...w-dsc_5019.jpg |
Ivan.......Are those two large power cords at the lower right?
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Ivan......what brand is that Red TT?
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Des http://imgs.inkfrog.com/pix/team201/TT1_001.jpg |
I liked it; hence all my pics of it. I can't really consider it though; I have an in bound VPI Classic 3 in Rosewood.
Then there are those beautiful Transrotor tables too! ;) |
Beautiful speakers!!
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OK, setting the systems with >$60k amplifiers or speakers aside...
Best in show? For me..., so close between the Wilson Alexia and Vandersteen 7. If/when I upgrade in this category, I would/will be very tempted to demo both. Interesting that both execute a similar driver arrangement and principle: sweet spot-focused time alignment of the midrange and tweeter. A single tweeter and a single midrange per speaker, a lower bass module. The sound of the Magico room will demand a listen to their bigger dogs whenever an upgrade is in the cards. I dare say, if Magico releases a speaker with the sweet spot-focused time alignment of midrange and tweeter, it might be the perfect speaker for me... For whatever reason, my ears prefer this sound to the line arrays or tall stacks. |
Did anyone go in the Vaughn-Wavelength room? Audio Beat chose that room as the best of show in Denver. Jim Vaughn was showing off his new Plasma speakers.. Plasmas are the best I ever have heard in the last 40 years. My friend is now using these in his system and claims the plasma drivers to be a game changer.
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