T.H.E. Show Newport Beach

[Ritmo]

Thanks Cyril!

Mike

[DesW]

Windup of the show-Newport 2012

Strange day yesterday-with the Warnes minders brushing everyone off who wanted a pic of the star--feisty diva more like it-duhhh! then catching

up with Manufacturer who berated me for posting negative comments on his products-but I found him a nice guy and we agreed to slightly disagree--I will

carefully reappraise the product next Audition.

You know the observation that comes to the fore wandering these shows is the disinterest, employed in the rooms

with the apparent disdain they make blatantly obvious--why they are there is a mystery I've never been able to figure out after 40 odd years of

"showboating "hell if they just showed one little finger of enthusiasm for their products what difference it would make--Lars at Nordost is the

master of holding the audience-he is one of the only exceptions .

Only one brand has jumped up( well this one may need a walking frame-ha!) and said "hey pick me"

but the short and curly winners are



Best of show: Marten Bird, Sony SS, Rockport Aviour, Acapella, Tannoy ,Dynaudio C1's

Winner: Tannoy Kingdom Royales--sublime --even in a room that was far too small.

Good: Heed and rest of above.

OK: Wiison Sashas, Sonus Fabers,Evo MM1's,(I've heard them sound better)Sanders, Spendors. Voxativ,Magnepans and yes the Magicos latest

Q was damn good-Kudos at last!

The rest I'm afraid I'd class as also rans due in some part to the inability of the presentation rather than the product itself--and wouldn't get my

vote-won't name the worst offenders--

too much aggro out there.

As for front end components-- well there is the $20K Light Harmonics DAC-( looks like a Stealth Bomber in the pics)-under whelming demo-- the

Schiitt sounded better for 500bucks!

Vinyl-nothing stood out.

Best demo track: Ray Montagne and an African singer with a Political ditty about underpaid Diamond mine workers.

Till next

Good Listening

Des

[DesW]

Sorry Stealth Bomber--I mean Da Vinci/LH/etc

Des

[adhesiv]

Longer write up later but one surprising note...

Not much in the way of Shunyata's newest products...I think I saw one Triton conditioner in the whole show!

There were a lot more Audience Adept and PS Audio conditioners employed by the different rooms. There were a few Synergistic conditioners in place but not many more than Shunyata's one.

Surprising considering the likely poor hotel power situation with all these folks drawing from the same grid and how well these products are claimed to be. Not meant to be a power conditioner merit debate just interesting nonetheless.

Highlight of the day...talking to John DeVore after the speaker designer discussion panel. Nice guy, very approachable. I run a pair of Nines so was thrilled to meet him in person. He was on a panel with Albert Von Schweikert, Yoav Geva (YG Acoustics), Kevin Malmgren (Evolution Acoustics), and moderator Peter Roth.

[Ritmo]

Thanks Jayson!

Mike

[Whart]

Very nice reporting. did you happen to hear Veloce line stage there? (Knowing that show conditions are less than ideal?)
Jerome, 'terrible' is 'horrible'. As in "Le son était tellement horrible qu'il m'a donné envie de vomir."

[Jerome W]

Originally Posted by Whart

Very nice reporting. did you happen to hear Veloce line stage there? (Knowing that show conditions are less than ideal?)
Jerome, 'terrible' is 'horrible'. As in "Le son était tellement horrible qu'il m'a donné envie de vomir."

Thank you Whart. That's what I thought !

[Jerome W]

Originally Posted by cmalak

Coverage of The Newport Show from The AudioBeat.com: The Audio Beat - THE Show Newport 2012

Thank you Cyril !
Best of show for them was the Sashas / VTL combo.
I wonder how close to Manley Labs the design of VTL amps is. ( They are sisters companies).
The WP8 are a very good match with my Manley Snappers.
Wilson love tubes. But I admit I'm fully "biased" !

Sent from my iPad using A.Aficionado

[Dawgneck]

I thought the show was great, especially for a "smaller" Sunday crowd.

Every speaker designer, company representative and dealer I spoke to was personable, eager to educate me and took a lot of time answering my questions. I especially enjoyed my time with Andrew Jones of TAD (we enjoyed a nice game of "what's the name of this song" via the Shazaam app), Richard Vandersteen (who appreciated my "Coal Train" request on his Model 7), Alan Yun of Silverline Audio (my new "best friend") and Larry Smith of WireWorld.

...And what can I say about the numerous local dealers I met? Great job, guys!

Des: that "...African singer with a Political ditty about underpaid Diamond mine workers" is Hugh Masekela. The track is "Coal Train" from the album "Hope". I apologize to everyone who heard that track over and over Sunday, but I had to hear it in the 9+ rooms that had it available. As Des mentioned, this is an incredible track and quickly became a "show" favorite.

Overall, I heard some pretty good speakers but my favorites were the Tads (all of them!), the Rockport Aviors (I had to: BAT equipment was pushing them ), the Wilson Sasha (a complete turn around from my first audition), the large YG Anat III and the Model 7s.

My overall favorite was the TAD Reference One, but my wallet said I'd have a better chance landing a date with Halle Barry....

I love you, Halle, but I'd gladly trade my date for the TAD Reference One!

[AndyPandy]

You know what is interesting - well to me anyway - I have read about 6 show reports and all (just about) report different favourites: just goes to show (sorry- couldn't help it): we all like different things.

One thing - the TAD's were well regarded everywhere.