RMAF 2019!

I sat in the 3rd chair back of the Polk SDA demo. 

I had my Sony 4k video camera and used it in many of the rooms at or near the “sweet spot”. 
I had brought it for my youngest kid’s wedding (main reason we were there) but decided to break it out for most of the rooms we went in. 
Not sure what type of indication I’ll get of the audio reproduced but at least it’ll be something. 
Just wish I had more than one day. 

The SDA have that huge soundstage but seemed like something “musical”was missing to me. 

Regarding the spokesperson for each room, I have to give the award to Andrew Jones. 
Very informative, interactive, and humorous with the “audience”. 

The Polk room was more formal and controlled. 



The oddest presenter room goes to the  “amp in a tube”, where the spouse of the tube designer was telling me what they cost when I asked for the specs. 
She pointed at her husband and told me he designed these as she handed me a “tube” with the circuit boards inside.  
Very nice lady but not what I would expect for the show. (the audio was just ok) 

Late in the day we got to hear the Magico speakers with some high volume “non-audiophile” Billy Squier.

The last room we heard was just down from our abode and was my wife's favorite. (Crown and water beverage from one of the representatives might have had an influence) 
Paradigm sounded very nice but they had the subs and ARC
Genesis setup. 

All in all it was a great experience and hope to do it again. 

Now back to my “lowly”
Revel Performa3. 
 
 
 

https://hifipig.com/rocky-mountain-audio-fest-2019-part-2/

Those ATC speakers look great.  How much will the Prana speakers be?  Cheers

Those Prana speakers are $35K, but the amps are all built in. 

@pranabindu If you're at all handy, you might consider building your own Nelson pass design... https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/pass-labs/. Changed my life going there. 

And I came to a similar conclusion about the directstream. It seems like some people are sensitive to it in ways that others are not. It's very well loved, but just didn't work for me... And I have owned a perfect wave since 2011ish. Don't know what's going on there...

I live in Denver and have attended RMAF for the last 10 years.  I'm inclined to give the organizers a pass for this year's difficulties since they were making a big transition to a different venue, but there is certainly room for a lot of improvement.

THE GOOD

All in all, I thought the room acoustics were a lot better on the whole than at the Marriott.  That's a really important factor for an audio show.  I'd be curious to know if some of the sound improvement across the board was due to a new, more robust electrical system compared to what the old Marriott had.

Wider hallways.  The Marriott was claustrophobic.  Yes, you'll have to spend more time walking and the layout was a little confusing at first but I liked the space.

Rooms were spaced out and staggered from one floor to the next so there was less bleed over from other rooms and a lot less noise from the hallways.

Very close to the airport for those flying in.

Exhibitors finally seem to be playing less of the same old same old and branching out into a larger variety of music.  I tried to tell every exhibitor who did that how much I appreciated hearing something different.

THE BAD

Far fewer exhibitors than usual.  My understanding is that the switch to September caused conflicts for several exhibitors.  Hopefully, the move back to October next year will solve that problem.  The other factor was the cost to exhibitors to show at the venue.  I know of at least three manufacturers who didn't show up because of the cost.  My fear is that the cost will drive away a lot of the smaller audio companies and sellers of lower priced gear who simply can't justify the cost.

The line on Friday.  Ridiculous.  I can't think of a good excuse for not having the name tags ready to go for people who pre-registered.  

Paid parking. I got out of the lot for free on Friday.  A lot of people didn't.  The Gaylord is in the middle of a field.  Paying $18.00 to park in that location is total BS.  That's the same rate as downtown.

Captivity.  I basically hate resort properties so I'm biased.  Mediocre overpriced food with no walkable options for anything else.  The food trucks at the Marriott were great.

UNSOLICITED ADVICE FOR OUT OF TOWNERS

Stay in Denver.  It's a great city with a lot to do and a killer restaurant scene.  It's about a 30 minute drive from downtown to the Gaylord and from what I understand, the rooms at the Gaylord are expensive.  The Gaylord is in the middle of a big flat field near a suburb that looks like every other suburb.  Boring.  I'd also recommend you make time for the mountains on at least one day.  It is Colorado after all.

I'd give RMAF a shot next year regardless of some of the issues that occurred.  I suspect they'll have things ironed out by then and if the exhibitor numbers go up it will be a good show.