Best of show opinions......
- Thread starter Porsche
- Start date
Aside from our two Clarisys Audio/Hegel/Shunyata/Constellation rooms, which I really did feel sounded out of this world good and the great partners with Hegel and Shunyata, I would say I also liked:
The new Magico S3 with CAT
The S5 mk2/CAT room
Rockport with Vinnie Rossi
The new Rethm speakers
Luxman with Magico S5
But the show for me is so much more than the rooms. It’s seeing all my great friends and customers after 2 hellish years of Covid craziness and sharing laughs and good times.
I cannot say enough about the awesome team of Anders, Brad and Eileen from Hegel and Caelin, Grant and Richard from Shunyata and Mike, Matt and Florián from Suncoast/Clarisys.
And as always, great to see all our customers and discuss all things audio and life!
What a fun show! Can’t wait for Munich.
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The new Magico S3 with CAT
The S5 mk2/CAT room
Rockport with Vinnie Rossi
The new Rethm speakers
Luxman with Magico S5
But the show for me is so much more than the rooms. It’s seeing all my great friends and customers after 2 hellish years of Covid craziness and sharing laughs and good times.
I cannot say enough about the awesome team of Anders, Brad and Eileen from Hegel and Caelin, Grant and Richard from Shunyata and Mike, Matt and Florián from Suncoast/Clarisys.
And as always, great to see all our customers and discuss all things audio and life!
What a fun show! Can’t wait for Munich.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
the professor
Active member
I wouldn't say these were the best of show but - for one reason or another show standouts: (in no particular order, and I was there Fri and Sat, so no clue how things sounded Sunday)
The Audio Note room - best I've ever heard them.
Avant Garde sounded pretty good Saturday but sucked Friday
The Carver room sounded pretty good
The various Clairisys rooms sounded really good
The Klipsch K-Horns sounded way better than they should have in the tiny room they were in.
The new Magico S sounded really good - almost M like (90-95% M like) (for example - I have some M2s and wouldn't spend the extra money over the new S)
Volti room - they always seem to get good sound at shows
The MBL room was OK but their room with the little MBLs was really good.
Most of the big big rooms just weren't good - I hope for their sakes since it was all of them that it was the rooms that were bad.
The Mofi room with the Falcon LS3/5a Gold Badge 50th Anniversary sounded good
The granite speakers - well let's just say, with all of the hype they got in Florida, they were disappointing. They were good looking tho. They were in one of the big rooms so again I assume/hope it was the room
Vinni Rossi room was sounding good on Saturday. I think he was using Rockports but I forgot to ask to make sure
I'm sure others will come to mind.
The Audio Note room - best I've ever heard them.
Avant Garde sounded pretty good Saturday but sucked Friday
The Carver room sounded pretty good
The various Clairisys rooms sounded really good
The Klipsch K-Horns sounded way better than they should have in the tiny room they were in.
The new Magico S sounded really good - almost M like (90-95% M like) (for example - I have some M2s and wouldn't spend the extra money over the new S)
Volti room - they always seem to get good sound at shows
The MBL room was OK but their room with the little MBLs was really good.
Most of the big big rooms just weren't good - I hope for their sakes since it was all of them that it was the rooms that were bad.
The Mofi room with the Falcon LS3/5a Gold Badge 50th Anniversary sounded good
The granite speakers - well let's just say, with all of the hype they got in Florida, they were disappointing. They were good looking tho. They were in one of the big rooms so again I assume/hope it was the room
Vinni Rossi room was sounding good on Saturday. I think he was using Rockports but I forgot to ask to make sure
I'm sure others will come to mind.
MPW
Member
Vivid with Audionet
Avantgarde Duo (active)
The Magico rooms were all pretty good but the big room with CAT was exceptional
Rockport and Vinnie Rossi
Avantgarde Duo (active)
The Magico rooms were all pretty good but the big room with CAT was exceptional
Rockport and Vinnie Rossi
MPW
Member
M-10X mono’s and c900u pre
Audio 1
Member
Ricky64
Member
The Magico room with the Blue S-3's was excellent. The Rockport Atria AII's/Vinnie Rossi was excellent. I also liked the YG Talus and Descent sub. Think it could have been even better with some differnt electronics. I felt the bass was a bit boomy in the Boulder/SF room, and frankly felt the Quintessence Wilson rooms were better. The Rockport Cygnus sounded amazing. Couldn't get a good feel for the PS Audio speakers due to crowds/presentation/background noise, but sounded pretty good and represent quite a value. The new small Mofi was impressive, and might find a place in my office.
MPW
Member
Oops - you are correct!
Ricky64
Member
Vivid Room was playing orchestral music when I was in there. Very nice, airy soundstage, fitting for the material. I don't think I could live with the aesthetics of either the Vivid speakers or Audionet. One utterly too fantastic, and the other the exact opposite.
The MBL room was nice. And that is about it. Nice and polite. Not sure those speakers are my cup of tea.
The MBL room was nice. And that is about it. Nice and polite. Not sure those speakers are my cup of tea.
Yes. And I met all the reps from Luxman japan. I asked them about the infamous class A integrated. They laughed and said “if we ever did one again, it would only be for a short run commemorative edition or something.”
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Mr Peabody
Active member
Of the big rooms I liked CAT & Magico, Karan & Wynn Audio, Piego & BAT. The Doshi room was also good. I thought Bending Wave's room was good this year the ARC was a good match with the Gobel.
I saw two Alta Audio rooms that were good. There was a Bel Canto room with I think Audio Vector speakers that was very good, I think what helped was their room treatments. Another smaller room I thought stood out was Unison Research with Opera speakers, 845 tubes sounding good. I heard a very impressive room with the A1's but it was Friday and I can't remember the electronics. Dr. Vinyl's room was very good Socorro TT, Magari electronics with Usher speakers. One of the Alta was with Infigo Audio, good sounding room.
Clairisys rooms were good, I preferred them with Constellation. (Brian, Larry, Jack from PA or anyone else who used to be on AR, Florian is the same guy who used to post with us. He is a really nice guy and it's very cool to see what he has done for himself. I also ran into HarleyGuy there aka Doug.)
Did anyone see the Orchestros speakers? I think they were the only audio room with a video monitor. The speakers had the drivers on arms. Not being able to see them I can't explain them. I do know they sounded good especially considering they were only driven with a Vincent integrated with built-in DAC. The guys were extra friendly and had quite a sense of humor.
I also liked the MSB who was using Magico speakers, M2's. My first visit they were playing a Steely Dan track I know very well, there was so much fine detail revealed but it was in a musical way, inner woven in the performance, not at all analytical.
I thought the Acora with VAC sounded good.
Since my statement last year caused such a stir when I mentioned playing turntables, this year I counted and at least a dozen rooms were playing or played a
turntable when aske considering the numbr of overall rooms not a good percentage
I did check out some headphones, became a Dan Clark fan.
I need to find my card so I can provide more info, I saw a anti vibration board for turntables made of wood but the top has a groove around it which fits an acrylic top. This is very reasonable and a great find for Rega, Clear Audio or others who do not supply a dust cover. The entire package is cheaper than most just covers I've price and they look like good quality.
I saw two Alta Audio rooms that were good. There was a Bel Canto room with I think Audio Vector speakers that was very good, I think what helped was their room treatments. Another smaller room I thought stood out was Unison Research with Opera speakers, 845 tubes sounding good. I heard a very impressive room with the A1's but it was Friday and I can't remember the electronics. Dr. Vinyl's room was very good Socorro TT, Magari electronics with Usher speakers. One of the Alta was with Infigo Audio, good sounding room.
Clairisys rooms were good, I preferred them with Constellation. (Brian, Larry, Jack from PA or anyone else who used to be on AR, Florian is the same guy who used to post with us. He is a really nice guy and it's very cool to see what he has done for himself. I also ran into HarleyGuy there aka Doug.)
Did anyone see the Orchestros speakers? I think they were the only audio room with a video monitor. The speakers had the drivers on arms. Not being able to see them I can't explain them. I do know they sounded good especially considering they were only driven with a Vincent integrated with built-in DAC. The guys were extra friendly and had quite a sense of humor.
I also liked the MSB who was using Magico speakers, M2's. My first visit they were playing a Steely Dan track I know very well, there was so much fine detail revealed but it was in a musical way, inner woven in the performance, not at all analytical.
I thought the Acora with VAC sounded good.
Since my statement last year caused such a stir when I mentioned playing turntables, this year I counted and at least a dozen rooms were playing or played a
turntable when aske considering the numbr of overall rooms not a good percentage
I did check out some headphones, became a Dan Clark fan.
I need to find my card so I can provide more info, I saw a anti vibration board for turntables made of wood but the top has a groove around it which fits an acrylic top. This is very reasonable and a great find for Rega, Clear Audio or others who do not supply a dust cover. The entire package is cheaper than most just covers I've price and they look like good quality.
jadedavid
New member
For my taste the Clarisys Audio speakers were the speakers I would buy if I hit the lottery.
When you walked into the room you were enveloped in a wave of sound. Just as at a concert.
Big, full, impactful. Totally inviting and immersive. WOW.
When you walked into the room you were enveloped in a wave of sound. Just as at a concert.
Big, full, impactful. Totally inviting and immersive. WOW.
Mr Peabody
Active member
Butcher Block Acoustics is the company making the turntable platform with a dust cover for turntables sold without a dust cover. I was excited to see this since my Clear Audio has no cover and the product is very reasonably priced.
the professor
Active member
I forgot about the CAT / Magico room. It did sound good.
Puma Cat
Well-known member
I’ll also add that Caelin gave a number of “seminars” on Grounding that were very informative.
Mr Peabody
Active member
I forgot to mention the Aurender AP20 with Wilson Sabrina. This room sounded great. The AP20 is an all-in-one solution, just need speakers, 200x2.
I found this amusing, Friday I wondered into the room with Westminster & VS, Horison DAC, they were playing some sleepy audiophile music, I notice the guy with the iPad inputting a song that was requested, I asked, "are you taking requests?" After this song, then he hands the iPad to my friend who I asked to input Night Verses, song Copper Wasp, energetic song with some fast kick drum in the beginning. I thought the guy running the room was going to have a heart attack, He's like can I change this and acting like the system was going to blow up or something.
I found this amusing, Friday I wondered into the room with Westminster & VS, Horison DAC, they were playing some sleepy audiophile music, I notice the guy with the iPad inputting a song that was requested, I asked, "are you taking requests?" After this song, then he hands the iPad to my friend who I asked to input Night Verses, song Copper Wasp, energetic song with some fast kick drum in the beginning. I thought the guy running the room was going to have a heart attack, He's like can I change this and acting like the system was going to blow up or something.
Dizzie
Active member
From a newsletter Aurender sent me they were going to be in 25 rooms that they knew of.
Also from the newsletter regarding the AP20:
"New Model Alert - catch a special sneak preview of Aurender’s forthcoming all-in-one model, AP20. AP20 is a bona fide ultra-high-performance Integrated Amp. However, unlike other Integrated Amps that include a DAC and support for streaming, AP20 benefits from Aurender’s industry-leading Digital Source Component audio performance and user experience. In true Aurender fashion, the power supplies, DAC, preamplifier, power amplifiers, inputs & output sections are all being done in an extremely high-end way. Come get the scoop on this exciting new product!"
Also from the newsletter regarding the AP20:
"New Model Alert - catch a special sneak preview of Aurender’s forthcoming all-in-one model, AP20. AP20 is a bona fide ultra-high-performance Integrated Amp. However, unlike other Integrated Amps that include a DAC and support for streaming, AP20 benefits from Aurender’s industry-leading Digital Source Component audio performance and user experience. In true Aurender fashion, the power supplies, DAC, preamplifier, power amplifiers, inputs & output sections are all being done in an extremely high-end way. Come get the scoop on this exciting new product!"