RMAF 2019 A.A. Show Report & Pictures

[audioguy3107]

Ed - How exactly did Marc and I get you in trouble with Ted Denney? . I was in the back of the room drinking a beer watching him fumble around with his dots!

- Buck

[For The Love of Music]

Originally Posted by audioguy3107

Ed - How exactly did Marc and I get you in trouble with Ted Denney? . I was in the back of the room drinking a beer watching him fumble around with his dots!



- Buck

[emoji851]

[Masterlu]

[jdandy]

Gentlemen.......Fabulous coverage and commentary of the show. Thank you.

[JemHadar]

Thank you all, you intrepid Reporters, for this great coverage.

[2fastdriving]

I have some thoughts on the show. I definitely liked the new venue, however it was double the price for attendees (as well as vendors). Not exactly a compelling reason to go every year like I have done in the past. EVERYTHING is expensive...the rooms, the food...a bottle of water is 5 bucks.

Despite that, there was a decent turnout. I think it was probably only 60-70% of the normal turnout. Same with vendors...maybe about 60%.

It was a mixed bag in some ways. We saw Borreson bookshelves in a room that was at LEAST 20x50, while Nola Reference Grand was in a room the size of my walk-in closet. Probably because some vendors could afford the nice conference rooms and some could not. Also, since it was SO spread out, you could easily miss stuff. In the old show, you could (basically) go to floor 11 and just walk down and hit every room and not miss a thing.

Best of show for me was a toss-up between the Vienna/Boulder room, the YG/VTL room, and the Wilson/VTL room. it occurred to me that over the last several RMAF's, my favorite rooms have nearly always had VTL Siegfried amps. Maybe that's my favorite amp of all time and I Just didn't know it. Well....I can't afford it anyway

Thankfully, nothing sounded AWFUL to me this year. Nearly every room had something I liked, but many were missing a good mid-bass or midrange. To me, that's where the music lives, and the hardest thing to create in loudspeaker. So many speakers get this wrong in my opinion. I am clearly biased, but this is the main reason I like Wilson speakers...to my ears the midrange is the key.

Appreciate Buck, Marc (mtrot), and Tony adding so much to this thread. I took some pictures but I don't really need to post them, they covered everything so well! Cheers to our little AA RMAF contingent, it's really a great group of guys (and some cool wives/girlfriends too)!

[audioguy3107]

I read a couple of blurbs about the show online and they mentioned that the turnout was fantastic. Maybe like you guys said it was spread out more so we just couldn’t tell. I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough. I suppose it really boils down to whether the manufacturers think the exposure is worth the price of admission. Look at it this way (and maybe Doug White will read this somehow ).....If he hadn’t been there last year, there wouldn’t be 4 or 5 of us going crazy about Tidal/Vimberg and how great they are. If we were all looking to buy right now, he would’ve done a great disservice by not being there since we would probably have been first in line.

- Buck

[audioguy3107]

I read this on the Stereophile website as well.....something that all of us (me included) need to remember when spending a weekend going from room to room:

“To repeat: What I heard was so obviously and strongly influenced by the room that I can't draw conclusions about the equipment’s sound. It's not that the room was terrible; it just didn't give up many secrets. [Editor's note: This is very common at shows, even typical, which is why, to the chagrin of a handful of our readers, Stereophile refrains from all but the most basic sonic commentary in show reports.—JCA.]” - Stereophile

[2fastdriving]

Originally Posted by audioguy3107

I read this on the Stereophile website as well.....something that all of us (me included) need to remember when spending a weekend going from room to room:

“To repeat: What I heard was so obviously and strongly influenced by the room that I can't draw conclusions about the equipment’s sound. It's not that the room was terrible; it just didn't give up many secrets. [Editor's note: This is very common at shows, even typical, which is why, to the chagrin of a handful of our readers, Stereophile refrains from all but the most basic sonic commentary in show reports.—JCA.]” - Stereophile

Very true, and good to keep in mind. However it does provide a mostly level playing field for everyone, except some of the rooms are better than others (size, acoustics, etc)!

One more thing I forgot to note in my commentary: The Wilson XVX is an incredible work of art. Even though we couldn't hear it (it's not ready), I think it's important to note that Wilson is truly advancing the art of speaker technology and manufacturing. If you spend any time looking at the details it become clear that we aren't just talking about "a box of cones". It's stunning.

[audioguy3107]

Originally Posted by 2fastdriving

Very true, and good to keep in mind. However it does provide a mostly level playing field for everyone, except some of the rooms are better than others (size, acoustics, etc)!

One more thing I forgot to note in my commentary: The Wilson XVX is an incredible work of art. Even though we couldn't hear it (it's not ready), I think it's important to note that Wilson is truly advancing the art of speaker technology and manufacturing. If you spend any time looking at the details it become clear that we aren't just talking about "a box of cones". It's stunning.

Fanboy.