Worth Going to 'THE SHOW' IN NYC IN APRIL

NYC show was wonderful!!Dudes.

I did attend on Saturday. I had most enjoyed the Lloyd Walker room. A very gracious fellow.

Here's my notes - taken on my phone from Friday, so short and brief.

YG Acoustics (big ones) - pa speakers! Forward and not nuanced

Sony - veiled

Wilson Sasha/vVTL- nice, dynamic, open , diacordant, not well integrated

Scaena- not integratwd, hole in upper mids

KEF Blades on koto drum track - nice but give me something real, on regular music very nice and integrated in a big crowded room. Bigger than life but pretty and dynamic. Bass is still detached and overloading the room

MBL - awesome. Cohesive, dynamic, detailed. Not overly loud but still port bass boom

Gradient - best sound so far, cohesive, live, full range, very nice amd dynamic, soind very big for their size

Woo audio - headphones, probably best sound at the show

Veloce and little YG's7 sounds much better than the big YG's but a bit congested and not full range

Quad 58s- sometimes its easy to say it has all been done before and its not better, just dfferent. I don't think there was anything in this room that was lass than 20 years old.

TAD - no bass, toppy high end. Crappy am radio sound. Probably the worst soound at the show.

The Clue bookshelf speakers - $999 and they are phenominal, against the wall, cohesive and dynamic and awesome I want a pair of these.

Singer Verity VAC (big system) - balanced nice on cd and spectacular on hi rez apl for about $100k, then a second system of Kudas (?) speakers and Dart Zeel integrated for about half that (small system) which sounded dynamically constrained but still more cohesive than most so far if a bit flat

Amphion Hegel - nice and open if a bit horny in the tweeter and tippy on the top end and needs a sub

Harbeths - somewhat flat and non dynamic. Not what I thought Harbeths should sound like

Robert Lighton speakers and electronics - ok bit nothing spectacular. Rather home made look and not fully finished. Also somewhat closed in and typical small tweeter and big woofer sound with a hole.

Walker Burmeister - a bit tame and over controlled but nice

Davinci Wilson Sasha Pass - might be some of the best sound at the show but still a bit congested on complex stuff

Red Wine - great synergy between all components and speakers, playing up with the best I heard

Hansen Redpoint - Wes always makes sure thing sound good, dynamic and balanced

Soundsmith on a big VPI HRX w/ Firefly bookshelf speakers - dynamic and natural. Very very sweet. Not a tube in sight but wow tube sound.

GF Audio - panels and self powered cone woofers. Sound nice but looks raw for only $2750 pair and awesome at 3 times the price. Someone just buy these.

Audio Note - boxy and closed in sound.

Arum Cantus Speakers, Avid tube amps, VPI classic 4 (new tt) - big and dynamic and beautiful in 3 speaker sound (yup there was a center channel speaker too). Awesome.

Small but good. Wish more NYC dealers would have supported the show but times are tough. Thanks to Innovative, Sound By Singer, Wes Bender Studios and High Water Sound
Best of show cost no object---MBL (always too loud with over loaded bottom, but still, after subtracting room issues--A+). Runner up Scanea/Conrad Johnson/Kronos/SME/AMR/DCS. Second runner up YG Acoustics/Soulution/Brinkmann/Airtight (smaller YG acoustic speaker setup in a separate room also impressed).
All others:
Tie: Gradient room;Verity Audio with VAC and Playback Designs(Singer); Walker/Burmester; Wilson,VTL,DCS(Innovative);Hansen,Viola,Redpoint (Wes Bender);TAD,Viola, Weiss, Bricasti (ok day 1, great day 2)
Best bargain:
VAS,VPI, Aurum Cantus
Coolest room with great sound that defied all categorization:
Reconditioned Quads with amps and cartridges(stereo and mono) by Miyajima, Oswald Mills Audio turntable with Schick arms, Charles King/Levinson preamp (appeared rebuilt/modified) all from Robyatt Audio. I went back to this room 4 times. Could not get enough.
Coolest new item:
Audio Desk Systeme Glass record cleaner (available from the Cable Co). This baby is compact and cleans quietly, ultrasonically and with a built in with squeegee to control liquid flow so the label stays dry. It cleans and dries both sides simultaneously. It dries by blowing cool air on both sides of the record instead of vacuuming. Fremer to write up shortly.

I am soooooooo glad I came to this show it was well worth it. It was good to see a big turn out so that we can keep this nyc show going.
I thought the best rooms were
MBL
sound smith
gradient helsinki
hansen
wilson
the clue
and harbeths at the gradient room.
I am sad to see few threads or replies on this events posts.
Also I hope they keep it at the waldorf its a classy place and that we don't have to wait years for the next show.
Anyone know if they plan on coming next year, I asked last year and they told me it was on for this year and voila they kept their promise.
Cross your fingers lets keep this alive.