Definitely the best show in comparison to the last couple years. My 15th year and I think the best part of the show was the announcement that they are moving it to the new Gaylord. Not sure that moving the date to Sept is a better time, but getting it out of the DTC Marriott is great. Hopefully the Gaylord will have more elevators and more than 66% of them working.
As for the show and my picks the list is long. The biggest impression was the MBL room. The room with the Wilson TuneTots was biggest surprise. Such magnificent sound out of such little boxes was hard to comprehend, great set up! As mentioned the Vandersteen VTL was as impressive as always, but begs the question, is it the electronics or the Vandy’s. My opinion the Vandersteen 7 will sound great with just about anything driving them. But a moot point with my budget, but sweet dreams are made of these. I wanted to get a better audition of the Focal Kanta and Sopra but the display more akin to a boat show than speaker demonstration. I have actually been considering the Kanta or Sopra but the dealer doesn’t display the Sopra 2. There was another room with them on display but the room was crowded and didn’t get a chance to give them a good listen.
Also as mentioned Legacy had a great display and I got some good information from Bill Duddleston and hope to get a chance to further investigate his Signature and Focus lines. Some of the best looking cabinets at the show as a bonus to the sound.
I wanted to investigate DAC and Phone Pre possibilities but really didn’t find any good information on products in my price range.
One other thing that seemed to stand out for me, was the lack of pressure from salespeople that I had experience at previous shows. Much more relaxed atmosphere and much more enjoyable. Can’t wait till next year, and only 11 months to go and a much shorter drive for me.
As for the show and my picks the list is long. The biggest impression was the MBL room. The room with the Wilson TuneTots was biggest surprise. Such magnificent sound out of such little boxes was hard to comprehend, great set up! As mentioned the Vandersteen VTL was as impressive as always, but begs the question, is it the electronics or the Vandy’s. My opinion the Vandersteen 7 will sound great with just about anything driving them. But a moot point with my budget, but sweet dreams are made of these. I wanted to get a better audition of the Focal Kanta and Sopra but the display more akin to a boat show than speaker demonstration. I have actually been considering the Kanta or Sopra but the dealer doesn’t display the Sopra 2. There was another room with them on display but the room was crowded and didn’t get a chance to give them a good listen.
Also as mentioned Legacy had a great display and I got some good information from Bill Duddleston and hope to get a chance to further investigate his Signature and Focus lines. Some of the best looking cabinets at the show as a bonus to the sound.
I wanted to investigate DAC and Phone Pre possibilities but really didn’t find any good information on products in my price range.
One other thing that seemed to stand out for me, was the lack of pressure from salespeople that I had experience at previous shows. Much more relaxed atmosphere and much more enjoyable. Can’t wait till next year, and only 11 months to go and a much shorter drive for me.