Report from Rocky Mountain AudioFest

supplement to the above...Thiel 3.7's are indeed wonderful in the mids and high but do not have the low extension and control of the 3.6's. The Apogees' midrange, especially, is very nice, powered by AR's HD220. Audio Unlimited's demo of Focal 1037be with Boulder 1000 electronics and Tara Labs cabling was detailed and sweet throughout all ranges, maybe a little light-footed, but very pleasant. Vandersteen 5's were outstanding imagers and, honest-to-god, Beatles' "Yesterday" never sounded better.

Note: I mostly steer clear of systems too big for an actual house. Making a violin sound bigger than a cello crosses from sound reproduction to sound reinforcement for me. Also don't spend more than a few minutes listening to quirky stuff that looks like a lamp.

Best give-away: 8520 Audio's eponymous bottles of hot sauce, which they also used as trestles to keep equipment/cables off the ground.

Most surprising disappointments, to my ears, your results may vary: Marten's which sound good, but not $200K good; Sonus Faber Elipsa's, which sound good but not $20K good; Usher 718be Tiny Dancers, which may be a lot better than the harsh music they were playing.

Finally, thanks to Mitch2 for the cocktail/aspirin tweak...the second day is going better...

This is the first show I've been to since the late 80's. Now I remember why I stopped going after only two. Still, I've enjoyed the social aspect of it. Great to finally meet Albert Porter. It's astounding how bad some of the most exotic and expensive gear in existence can be made to sound through the intervention of a hotel room. Albert told me the building is not grounded and the AC is fluctuating around 109 volts to make matters worse. There have been some standouts for me though. The Ayre/Vanderstein system would be in my top 5. Quicksilver is finally manufacturing the 300B amps I've been loving for years - the midrange is magic. I was really impressed with the Innersound / Sanders room - amazing imaging way beyond the edges of the speakers. I wasn't as wowed by the big guys who require a second mortgage to join the club...some were impressive, but none really grabbed me by the balls and made my short hairs stand on end as I might expect from something of that caliber. I'm very impressed with the Bel Canto Ref1000's paired with Pioneer speakers here. They aren't perfect, but they do a whole lot right. That's all for now...I'm on overload and need to take a break.

Marco

i thought the best sounding rooms were the mbl, and the wilson audio powerd with bat. a little disappointed in some of the little hotel rooms, thought it made for terrible auditioning. sonus faber i thought got short changed in particular, because ive heard those elipsa speakers sound great at the dealer.i did go in particuler to hear the simaudio evolution gear. when i got to the room they were playing some other gear (i didnt catch the brand) through the new thiel floor standing speakers. i wasnt blown away. not thinking much of the thiel, i returned an hour later to hear the simaudio gear playing through the same speakers,WOW! im sold . so all in all i had a great time , may even go back tommorow.

Would likem to hear more about the Pioneer.Anbd was the Diamond B&W to bright for others as Gawdbless mentioned?
Cheers
Chazz