Thread: RMAF 2014 Audioshark Awards

Originally Posted by MDP Thanks to Mike,Myes, and Nelson for some great coverage and pics !!

Originally Posted by Mark Jones

+1000

++1000

Originally Posted by Mike

The Vapor/Allnic room also sounded good. The consensus in our group was that the combo lacked ultimate dynamics, but sure sounded sweet.....

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Mike, Do you by chance recall what Allnic stuff was used?

Originally Posted by Myles B. Astor

Yes, but I'm not at liberty to discuss. But Nick is busy finishing up his 3.0 product line.

Myles, Any idea when the 3.0 Phono will be shipping? Also, what do you think of the 3.0 Phono synergy with my system below?

Originally Posted by Dizzie

rbbert,

Where will the new location be?

The Irvine Hotel

Bruce

Originally Posted by FlexibleAudio

Mike, Do you by chance recall what Allnic stuff was used?

We had the DHT DAC and their T2000 integrated running in Triode the vast majority of the weekend.

Originally Posted by Mike

The Vapor/Allnic room also sounded good. The consensus in our group was that the combo lacked ultimate dynamics, but sure sounded sweet.

Originally Posted by Vapor1

We had the DHT DAC and their T2000 integrated running in Triode the vast majority of the weekend.

Thanks for the help Vapor. Your thoughts on Mike's feelings regarding dynamics?? Was the T2000 enough for the room?

Thanks Bruce.

Would that be 17900 Jamboree? I did a search and "Irvine" in the search triggers many responses.

Originally Posted by Dizzie

Thanks Bruce.

Would that be 17900 Jamboree? I did a search and "Irvine" in the search triggers many responses.

on jamboree near the corner of main, next to the 405 fwy.

Originally Posted by FlexibleAudio

Thanks for the help Vapor. Your thoughts on Mike's feelings regarding dynamics?? Was the T2000 enough for the room?

Well, I'd never tell anybody they're wrong to walk away with a certain impression. If Mike had introduced himself to me and said something like "hey, I feel the dynamics are a bit lacking", I would have been happy to play tracks that I feel highlight their dynamics. I might have also put the amp into Pentode for such an occasion.

I know I know, nobody wants to hear "the room". But in the front row of our room I felt dynamics were fantastic, truly. The layout of the room being one of the suites, it had a large opening to the right, where if you were in the 2nd or 3rd row, I can easily see thinking dynamics weren't what they could be. The balance, sweetness, and purity of tone was still there. Actually there wasn't a bad seat in the house for those things, but that opening did eat up some of the punch. Nobody sets up a home for 3 rows of seating and 15 listening chairs. In a show setting like that we can't just turn up volume to give the back rows the needed power, if we did the front row would have peoples ears ringing! Overall we were quite happy with the room, so I'm not complaining at all.

Now with the same system back at home, I can say whole-heartedly that the T2000 is a fantastic match for the speakers. It has no lack of drive or control, and I do like to listen loud! I'd even go so far as to say that my main rig is sounding better now than it ever has with the Joule Black and the Allnic gear. If I could have given everyone at the show the same experience I'm getting at home, I'd have driven home with a Costanza wallet from being stuffed full of checks.

Cheers, Ryan

Originally Posted by Mike

I just read the Stereophile review. They too would love to have heard the Vapors with Solid State amps. The Allnic was lovely and warm - but just lacking ultimate dynamics. Always a trade off.

I wouldn't disagree with that. The combo is dynamic, but absolutely other amps would bring more of that to the table. With my BMC amps they definitely have more, but lose a bit of lushness. Maybe some of the big Allnic monoblocks we be the answer for best of both.

Great room and it had a good vibe going too (thanks for the donuts!).

My pleasure! I thought it would be like a Shark Week feeding frenzy once the word got out we had free donuts, but most people are so timid we practically had to insist ... at which time they would take 2

Originally Posted by puroagave

on jamboree near the corner of main, next to the 405 fwy.

Thank you Rob.

Jason Serinus RMAF Best in Show:


RMAF 2014: In Another Class Entirely | Stereophile.com

Originally Posted by Myles B. Astor

I thought the subs were discontinuous with the Sashas. Great if it was a home theater system

If we are talking about the Wilson/VTL room, the sound was WAY too loud and that says something coming from me. And yes, the subs were doing some obvious barking that made them apparent as sound sources.

I made it back from RMAF and over the three day period I think I saw and listened to almost every room/demonstration. Since I am contemplating a potential new loudspeaker in the next year or so, I focused on loudspeakers. Here are my thoughts including my top five rooms and my worst of show rooms too. Preface: These are my observations only and subjective to my ears only - everyone has different tastes and observations and if you like a certain loudspeaker or sound then its right for your ears!

Caveat: I used the side one of Dead Can Dance 'Into the Labyrinth' as my test music. I was allowed to play it in all rooms except the Raidho and Voce rooms which wasn't using vinyl set ups, but did have mp3's of the record.

5th best sound/room: Voce Audio Loudspeakers with Plinius electronics: This sound was all sparkle yet very detailed and musical. Bass overloaded the room some, but this was a room issue. Great imaging and sound staging. Build quality of the loudspeaker was world class. Reminded me of Rockports.

4th: HWS: Horning Eufrodite Loudspeakers with TW Acustic analog front end and electronics with Tron preamp. This was the most enjoyable room at RMAF. Great music, no audiophile recordings and just plain fun. There was a remarkable relaxed quality about the Hornings and for the money probably not a better bargain. Jeff Catalano is a first class guy and most audiophiles would be hard-pressed to find better person to do business with. This system just 'worked.'

3rd: Audio Alternative: Vandersteen 7, ARC electronics and Brinkmann turntable with Lyra Atlas cart. This was a spectacular room. Other than the bass being a little bloated at times and on certain recordings, the Vandersteens did it all. Incredibly musical, images were solid and 3-D and soundstage width was wall to wall. Soundstage height a little low for my tastes, but I am nitpicking here.

2nd best sound: Raidho loudspeakers with Constellation Audio electronics. This was craziest room to visit. It was like a magic act. New Raidho X1 mini-monitors with stands for $8K. In this room set up, they sounded better than the D1's! Incredible purity and soundstaging. Non-fatiguing and very musical. And the bass was exceptional. I could not believe there wasn't a subwoofer hidden somewhere. I am betting these super small cabinets got down to 30 cycle bass in the room.

Best of Show: AAAudio Imports: Lancshe 5.1 loudspeakers with Ypsilon electronics and Thales turntable with Ikeda cart. This was the best sound I may have ever heard. On all types of music. Soundstaging and air was phenomenal. Extremely musical with no grain at all. Tonal balance from top to bottom was perfection. Plasma corona tweeter gave detail to recordings I have yet to here in my room at home. Was it a match of components or a perfect room (it was a large room)? I don't know but it was fantastic and I will definitely want to listen to some again. Only draw back is that the corona tweeter lasts for around 5000-7000 hours and needs to be replaced.

Honorable Mention: I didn't hear a Joseph Audio room I didn't like. Jeff Joseph is definitely doing something right! Prana Fidelity monitors at $4K/pair was stunning. Burrell and Sons with Raven audio was really great too.

Underwhelmed sound: Wilson Audio room with Sashas and the big VTL monos was very dynamic and detailed. But just something about the brightness to my ears of Wilson speaker and the thin midrange. I can certainly see why many would like this set up, it was just not for me.

More underwhelmed sound: Polymer Audio room - just plain analytical and boring. Great build quality though.

Even more underwhelmed sound: The two rooms with Focal Grand Utopias with either VAC or Soulution electronics. Both of these rooms were very average in my opinion. Soundstaging was two dimensional and only between the two loudspeakers. Very disappointing.

Worst of Show: Aesthetix and Focal Mezzo Utopias. This room was horrid. It had to be the set up. Soundstaging was horrible, detail was missing and bass was bloated. If I was either manufacturer, I would have been pissed at how this room was set up.

Again, these are just my opinions based on my ears and listening preferences. Feel free to add thoughts from people who were there and what they liked and disliked.

I certainly admire everyone in the business who work tremendously hard to set up rooms and put on a show for three days. Cudos to everyone who had rooms there.

Article on Devore at RMAF:


RMAF 2014: DeVore Fidelity and the coming apocalypse | The Audio Traveler