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Report from Rocky Mountain AudioFest

First day at fest...Heard some pretty good sound...speakers from PSB (new Symphony line), Tyler Audio, Acoustic Zen (new Crescendo is really good), Wilson Benesch were most memorable. Also appreciated chatting with reps from Audio Research, Acoustic Zen, PSB...and members of audio press (Jonathan Scull). BUT, overall, sound is WAY too loud for anyone who cares about his hearing or evaluating sound. And, there was a surprising amount of truly bad sound. Also, it seems like the only music being demo'd was percussion tracks and cuts by any number of women with an acoustic guitar. At the end of the day, my ears hurt and I had a headache and reaffirmed my feeling that the ONLY way to evaluate equipment is in my home...Maybe my impressions will be more favorable after a cocktail and some aspirin. Cheers to all!
77jovian
jrw40
64 posts
 
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.
chazzbo
1,007 posts
 
Would likem to hear more about the Pioneer.Anbd was the Diamond B&W to bright for others as Gawdbless mentioned?
Cheers
Chazz
yipean
42 posts
 
I agree with Jrw40 about the Mbl speaker room, and Audio Unlimited's room with Wilson speakers with BAT electronics. I'd also add the Kharma room with MBL electronics, and the Apogee Acoustics room. For bang for the buck, the Apogee room was the hands down winner.

To Gawdbless, if you thought the Apogee room was lacking bass, make sure you ask them to play one of his demo tracks (I think it's the second track of three) which shows just how much bass those Duetta Sigs can put out. I was truly impressed.
jrw40
64 posts
 
chazzbo, the new pioneer S-1EX were being powered by belcanto gear.the sound was very good, the room was crowded when i was in but wothy of a serious audition.also was surprised by the dali speakers,better than expected.
arafel
32 posts
 
Thank you for posting about the volume. I felt that same way; in fact, this is what I posted at the Asylum:

OK, so I went to RMAF on Friday and there's been something that's been bugging me about it for the last two days. Why is it that all the manufactures seem to do their demos at volume 11? I swear, when I left that day I had a headache.

To me, a demo has always been about hearing resolution and detail, about hearing something in a familiar recording that I've never heard before. I don't need to be the girl in the chair like that old Maxell tape ad to get that.

I've been thinking about heading down again this afternoon, but I'm not sure I want another headache. Audio manufacturers, take note; volume doesn't equal jaw dropping.

As for rooms, the MBL room as always sounded fantastic. I liked Roger Sanders' room, though I'm not convinced by his argument about how much power stats need (I have a Rogue Stereo 90 on my Logans and think it sounds great.) The Aesthetix/Focal room was nice too.

The BAT/Wilson room sounded excellent. I was disappointed in the Boulder/Focal setup though. For all the raves I've heard about the 2008 phonostage, (and given the costs of the gear) I was curiously unimpressed.

I stopped by the Cary room and also left disappointed. It was the first time I'd heard Cary and nothing really jumped out.

Was really bummed that CJ and Logan weren't represented, nor was VPI beyond a minimal presence with an Aries 3 in one room.
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