My Thoughts on Axpona

[mep]

I heard the two-room demo of the Strads with the Pass gear. I should have spent more time going between the rooms and trying to catch the same song playing in each room. I didn't realize the main point of having the two rooms was to sell room treatments and not Pass gear and Strads, but I should have. It seems the main claim to fame for the sound treatments is the ability to 'trap' 30 Hz bass waves. Some thought the treated room sounded way over-damped. Again, I didn't spend enough time there to make a fair assessment. I was more transfixed with hearing the Strads for the first time. I liked the Strads. I was also under the mistaken impression that Bart was selling the dampening/diffusion panels by the part/section. Aesthetically, I didn't think the room treatments matched each other in color and they rather looked like a hodgepodge of different treatments from different companies all thrown together. In other words, it looks like something I would throw together in my room. When Bart mentioned that I was listening to $30k of room treatments, I was more than a little surprised to say the least (and not in a good way mind you). If I had to choose between buying the Strads or buying the room treatments, I'm buying me some Strads!

[madfloyd]

I heard the two-room demo of the Strads with the Pass gear. I should have spent more time going between the rooms and trying to catch the same song playing in each room. I didn't realize the main point of having the two rooms was to sell room treatments and not Pass gear and Strads, but I should have. It seems the main claim to fame for the sound treatments is the ability to 'trap' 30 Hz bass waves. Some thought the treated room sounded way over-damped. Again, I didn't spend enough time there to make a fair assessment. I was more transfixed with hearing the Strads for the first time. I liked the Strads. I was also under the mistaken impression that Bart was selling the dampening/diffusion panels by the part/section. Aesthetically, I didn't think the room treatments matched each other in color and they rather looked like a hodgepodge of different treatments from different companies all thrown together. In other words, it looks like something I would throw together in my room. When Bart mentioned that I was listening to $30k of room treatments, I was more than a little surprised to say the least (and not in a good way mind you). If I had to choose between buying the Strads or buying the room treatments, I'm buying me some Strads!

My wife and I were impressed with the aesthetic quality of the treatments. We spoke to Bar and I think the reason they all looked very different is so he could demonstrate the various finishes etc. I'm considering buying some.

[Myles B. Astor]

Did it sound any better?

To a certain extent. Not sure the Octave Research was the best match. The amps sounded good on the S3s last year but in retrospect, maybe lacked some dynamics too. But it could have been a million other things. That said could still really appreciate the quietness of the speaker and its linearity. I gotta get up sometime to hear Ian's speakers.

That said, nice customer that allows their dealer to pack up their 90K speakers and bring them to the show! The owner deserved a nice bottle of something!

[mep]

My wife and I were impressed with the aesthetic quality of the treatments. We spoke to Bar and I think the reason they all looked very different is so he could demonstrate the various finishes etc. I'm considering buying some.

I think it would have been better if he would have had his room look as good as possible (meaning color matched acoustic treatments) and then had a color brochure that showed all of the different color choices available. I don't claim to be a marketing genius, but that is what I would have done. I left his demo not knowing that he intentionally mixed and matched his colors to show off what was available. I figured that is what you get when you bought the different pieces that make up his package. And I spent some time talking to him.