RMAF 2018 A.A. Show Report & Pictures

[Masterlu]

Gentlemen... thank you all for both the great photos and commentary!

[Soundmig]

Thanks guys! As I was not able to attend this year for the first time in forever, I appreciate all of the effort to bring the show to those of us who could not be there. Erstwhile ..... Greetings from Madrid, Spain ..... oh, and the Flamenco show this evening had dynamics an Slamm to spare - sounded very live :-) . How do those people move there fingers (guitar) hands and feet so fast ????

[Route 66]

Originally Posted by SL1800

The MBL speakers were more dynamic than I would have guessed. Also threw a soundstage larger than life.

MBL's have been my very favorite speakers for a long time.

I only wish I could afford a pair.

[audioguy3107]

So what were some of the best and worst sound at the show this weekend (all IMO of course).

WORST BANG FOR THE BUCK: the Verity Monsevalt room......was it impressive? Sure. Was it loud? Absolutely. Would it blow the average person's mind? Most definitely. Was it worth $1.4 million dollars? You've got to be kidding me.

BEST BANG FOR THE BUCK: the Dali/NAD room. A very simple NAD integrated amplifier coupled with a streamer/DAC and two new models from DALI....all for around $2500 I believe. Just stunning.

WORST SOUND AT SHOW: the Rethm speakers....they were just awful, at least in this setup.

BEST SOUND AT SHOW: the VAC/Von Schweikert room. This was the perfect balance between big yet not in your face and delicate sound. Totally smooth bass, extended highs and while the speakers were spaced too far apart, they still imaged almost perfectly. Only caveat here is that of course this should be the case for close to a million dollars.

REAL WORLD CHOICE FOR BEST SOUND AT SHOW: This would be the category of best sound while still keeping prices at a (somewhat) reasonable level.

The Tidal/Vimberg room. These speakers retail for $29,000 and sounded better than 98% of everything else at the show. They were in a medium sized room and played some of the most lifelike jazz I've heard. Simply perfect for the price.

[mtrot]

Originally Posted by audioguy3107

So what were some of the best and worst sound at the show this weekend (all IMO of course).

WORST BANG FOR THE BUCK: the Verity Monsevalt room......was it impressive? Sure. Was it loud? Absolutely. Would it blow the average person's mind? Most definitely. Was it worth $1.4 million dollars? You've got to be kidding me.

BEST BANG FOR THE BUCK: the Dali/NAD room. A very simple NAD integrated amplifier coupled with a streamer/DAC and two new models from DALI....all for around $2500 I believe. Just stunning.

WORST SOUND AT SHOW: the Rethm speakers....they were just awful, at least in this setup.

BEST SOUND AT SHOW: the VAC/Von Schweikert room. This was the perfect balance between big yet not in your face and delicate sound. Totally smooth bass, extended highs and while the speakers were spaced too far apart, they still imaged almost perfectly. Only caveat here is that of course this should be the case for close to a million dollars. Can't wait for some of these to start showing up on the used market, hopefully soon!

REAL WORLD CHOICE FOR BEST SOUND AT SHOW: This would be the category of best sound while still keeping prices at a (somewhat) reasonable level.

The Tidal/Vimberg room. These speakers retail for $29,000 and sounded better than 98% of everything else at the show. They were in a medium sized room and played some of the most lifelike jazz I've heard. Simply perfect for the price.

Agreed. My word, the Vimbergs were producing some sweet music. What impressed me most about them was the amount and quality of bass they were producing at very moderate sound levels. These would be so nice to sit back and chill out for hours listening to music.

[mtrot]

Originally Posted by audioguy3107

So what were some of the best and worst sound at the show this weekend (all IMO of course).

WORST BANG FOR THE BUCK: the Verity Monsevalt room......was it impressive? Sure. Was it loud? Absolutely. Would it blow the average person's mind? Most definitely. Was it worth $1.4 million dollars? You've got to be kidding me.

BEST BANG FOR THE BUCK: the Dali/NAD room. A very simple NAD integrated amplifier coupled with a streamer/DAC and two new models from DALI....all for around $2500 I believe. Just stunning.

WORST SOUND AT SHOW: the Rethm speakers....they were just awful, at least in this setup.

BEST SOUND AT SHOW: the VAC/Von Schweikert room. This was the perfect balance between big yet not in your face and delicate sound. Totally smooth bass, extended highs and while the speakers were spaced too far apart, they still imaged almost perfectly. Only caveat here is that of course this should be the case for close to a million dollars.

REAL WORLD CHOICE FOR BEST SOUND AT SHOW: This would be the category of best sound while still keeping prices at a (somewhat) reasonable level.

The Tidal/Vimberg room. These speakers retail for $29,000 and sounded better than 98% of everything else at the show. They were in a medium sized room and played some of the most lifelike jazz I've heard. Simply perfect for the price.

Agreed. My word, the Vimbergs were producing some sweet music. What impressed me most about them was the amount and quality of bass they were producing at very moderate sound levels. These would be so nice to sit back and chill out for hours listening to music. Cant wait for these to start showing up on the used market! Sorry about the double post. I tried to edit the first post, but something went wrong and I cannot seem to delete a post.

[cleeds]

Thanks for the great pics and write-up! You did a great job.

[Robc33]

Sorry for not chiming in earlier, but my dad was admitted to the hospital on the last day of the show, and I have been busy tending to him for the last few days. I brought him home last night, and he seems to be on the mend.
I just wanted to send a sincere thank you to Buck,(audioguy3107) for taking the lead, and getting us together, as well as for his pictures, and reviews of the various rooms. After almost 2 years on the forum, I still have not figured out how to post pictures here!
I also wanted to say how great it was to meet the guys from AA! I really had a great time, and thank you all for making my wife feel welcome in the men's club. I look forward to keeping in touch with you all, and if any of you ever find yourselves in close proximity to New Hampshire, please know there is a standing invitation at my place.
Thank you all, it was a wonderful experience, and I'll be looking forward to next year!
Rob

[audioguy3107]

Originally Posted by Robc33

Sorry for not chiming in earlier, but my dad was admitted to the hospital on the last day of the show, and I have been busy tending to him for the last few days. I brought him home last night, and he seems to be on the mend.
I just wanted to send a sincere thank you to Buck,(audioguy3107) for taking the lead, and getting us together, as well as for his pictures, and reviews of the various rooms. After almost 2 years on the forum, I still have not figured out how to post pictures here!
I also wanted to say how great it was to meet the guys from AA! I really had a great time, and thank you all for making my wife feel welcome in the men's club. I look forward to keeping in touch with you all, and if any of you ever find yourselves in close proximity to New Hampshire, please know there is a standing invitation at my place.
Thank you all, it was a wonderful experience, and I'll be looking forward to next year!
Rob

Thanks Rob, hope dad is ok! Please be careful with any further backhoe deliveries.

- Buck

[BillK]

Originally Posted by audioguy3107

This was the Von Schweikert, Esoteric and VAC room......this was actually hosted by a high end audio dealer way back near me in Atlanta. Everyone was impressed with the sound here, they were playing a couple tracks off Roger Water's Amused to Death, so of course it will sound good, but still, very nice. Look at how deep these speakers are, you better have the room for these guys.

Actually, I wasn't impressed at all. I thought they sounded like they looked - very tubby.

I sought them out as I am normally very impressed by Von Schweikert.

Best sound? I walked out in less than fifteen seconds.

My best sounds of the show were Ted Denny's mind-blowing Synergistic Research demo with a Dark Side of the Moon master tape copy, Philip's Gryphon room and the $87,000 (!) planar AlsyVox Botticellis.

The AlsyVox speakers are quite impressive, with all of the Apogee magic and none of their drawbacks, but for 1/3 the price I might prefer to get a pair of re-ribboned=, rebuilt Apogee Divas.

For those who missed them, here's a video from hifideluxe 2018:

https://youtu.be/vc7bN0akXRc