I enjoyed room 509, Amber Wave tube amp and the Intuitive Design speakers. Hard to believe those small 2 way Summits filled the room with such authority, bass was amazing and the speakers just gripped every note. Those Monos sure threw off some heat, dont know how much the amps were responsible but I sure loved those Summits. The ATC room with the Doshi preamp & Once analogue turntable I found to be very poor. Have never auditioned ATC before and maybe something was wrong there but I heard the Beatle's 1 Album and it left me cold. These are just 2 standouts among many, not claiming either was best or worst.
Best sound at RMAF
Room #535 by a long shot. Vyger TT, AirTight PC-1 Cart, Kharma speakers, Tenor Audio Amp.
Room #9025 E.A.R. USA All EAR but the 2 Dynavector XV-1S M/S.& cables.
Most disappointing. Most of the rooms.
The Fry Street Quartet that was playing was the ear mark for all rooms and many fell short. Passing by them playing was a relief from the different gear being played. I ran out of some rooms. The greatest speaker on the planet.......... not.
It was the simple systems that were musical that was worth hanging around and spending time with. Harbeth for example.
Big money systems with no TT, I don't get that.
I own all Audio Note and I was let down by the level 2 presentation as my system is much better. Not that it was bad but AN can get best sound at the show with a level 5 system.
All in all it was worth going to.
Thanks to Audiogon, Darrin of Audio Limits, Brian of Aaudio Imports and Peter Q from Audio Note I can say I have a system that sounds so much better than what I heard at the show. That my friends is what it is all about.
So happy I am that I didn't have to spend two, three times the money to have what I have. Audiogon rules!!
Room #9025 E.A.R. USA All EAR but the 2 Dynavector XV-1S M/S.& cables.
Most disappointing. Most of the rooms.
The Fry Street Quartet that was playing was the ear mark for all rooms and many fell short. Passing by them playing was a relief from the different gear being played. I ran out of some rooms. The greatest speaker on the planet.......... not.
It was the simple systems that were musical that was worth hanging around and spending time with. Harbeth for example.
Big money systems with no TT, I don't get that.
I own all Audio Note and I was let down by the level 2 presentation as my system is much better. Not that it was bad but AN can get best sound at the show with a level 5 system.
All in all it was worth going to.
Thanks to Audiogon, Darrin of Audio Limits, Brian of Aaudio Imports and Peter Q from Audio Note I can say I have a system that sounds so much better than what I heard at the show. That my friends is what it is all about.
So happy I am that I didn't have to spend two, three times the money to have what I have. Audiogon rules!!
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- 21 posts total
Bowbow & Acadie, I gave three non AN rooms that I thought were better than the AN room. How is that narrow thinking? I was disappointed in the AN room as it was a level 2 on the AN scale and I was hoping for better. Sorry to say I thought most of the rooms, but not all, were disappointing, for one reason or another. One reason was, IMHO, a TT is a must in a high end audio show. There were a lot of rooms without TT's. It is like a baseball player going to a game without either a glove or a bat. Other members can chime in and pick the best sound at the show. |
#1 MBL #2 Daedalus / Art Audio #3 Proclaim / Red Rock I didn't get to hear all the rooms, dismissed others for reasons that didn't necessarily have to do with the quality of the system, and as Viridian points out, there are many significant compromises that are faced by the exhibitors. Still, it's fun to hear what floats other's boats in the same context. I'm normally a SET / Horn guy myself, but most of my favorite rooms were SS or hybrid...I even really liked the BelCanto class D with the Pioneer speakers. I did like Quicksilver's SET combination, which is very close to my own system as it was configured at the show. Not many other SET systems, nor any of the really exotic mercury vapor rectified sauna-maker tube-amp rooms that caught my fancy. There's another RMAF thread here with other impressions of the show. Marco |
This was my first RMAF, and I am already looking forward to next year. I agree that show conditions limit what the equipment is truly capable of, but don't let that stop you from going. I had a blast! I was drawn more toward rooms that had real world equipment that might be affordable for me. I really liked the Dream Maker and Jazz Modules speakers in the AudioKinesis room. Duke is a super guy to talk to. I also liked the new Serac TT with Artisan arm in the Galibier room. At $4000 it is a great buy. I thought the sound came very close to the more expensive Gavia with Tri-Planar arm. There was some great music for sale too. I bought all 3 of the LP's that Bernie Grundman was selling at his Straight Ahead Records booth. They sound fantastic. I also enjoyed the music in the M-A Records room. The Seminar given by Roy Gregory on Analog Setup was very interesting and a real eye opener. I enjoyed Bernie Grundman's talk on mastering too. I wish I could have met Mehran from Sorasound, but he could not make it due to an emergency. Theree were many more highlights, but I have taken up enough space. |
I must've of completely got my ears In a mess with the MBL room, they were playing some Instrumental track and It was way way to bright and harsh sounding for me, I did go on friday afternoon, so maybe you guys that have raved about It went later than that?, so what changed between my listening and yours?hmmmmm. I think I am In a class of one on that one. Hey Marco, I am predominantly a horn lover also, but prefer S/S to tube amplification. This all goes to show that It is different strokes for different folks. I wouldn't swap my mere lil 'ol Oris 150 speakers for the Acapella Trilons! |
- 21 posts total