- Thread Author
- #1
Thought I'd share my thoughts about audio shows while the RMAF is fresh in my mind.
1. I do not believe that you can tell much about a system when the exhibitor is playing his own carefully selected audiophile music. You have no frame of reference unless you just happen to be familiar with that exact track. And even if you are lucky enough to know the track intimately, it is likely to be a track so pristinely recorded and beautifully produced it would sound amazing on most systems. In fact, I would go so far as to say that any member of the audio press that attends a show like this without his own music to demo is unfit to comment on any of the systems.
2. I brought my own music on CD, FLAC, and ALAC. Many exhibitors happily played my music. However, quite a few refused to play my music. This is unacceptable and actually embarrassing for the exhibitor IMO. When I played my own real world mainstream music, the system usually took a major dive in wow factor confirming my point number one.
3. Exhibitors would be well advised to stop bringing enormous 400lb monster speakers to small hotel rooms. First of all, the consumers looking to spend north of $100k on speakers is minuscule, making the speakers less relevant to the typical show goer. But far more important is the fact that these enormous speakers frequently sound bad when confined to these smallish rooms. Bass bloat was a huge problem in many of the higher end rooms IMO.
4. Exhibitors would be well advised to stop playing the music at ear splitting levels. I have polled other audiophiles regarding typical listening levels and I am confident that very few audiophiles regularly listen at the loudness levels many exhibitors seem fond of. Additionally, often the system suffered from sound quality issues when pushed beyond comfortable listening levels. Bass boominess is exacerbated, and treble can become strident in some systems.
5. Manufactures should really hire audiophiles with good listening perception to setup and man these exhibit rooms because when the system had poor performance, it was not unusual for the exhibitor to seem unaware of this.
6. It would be cool if the organizers of the show grouped the rooms by system price. Maybe there was some logic to the layout at RMAF, but it seemed pretty random to me. Would be nice to have the under $10k floor, the under $25k floor, and so on.
Still, had a good time and enjoyed the show.
1. I do not believe that you can tell much about a system when the exhibitor is playing his own carefully selected audiophile music. You have no frame of reference unless you just happen to be familiar with that exact track. And even if you are lucky enough to know the track intimately, it is likely to be a track so pristinely recorded and beautifully produced it would sound amazing on most systems. In fact, I would go so far as to say that any member of the audio press that attends a show like this without his own music to demo is unfit to comment on any of the systems.
2. I brought my own music on CD, FLAC, and ALAC. Many exhibitors happily played my music. However, quite a few refused to play my music. This is unacceptable and actually embarrassing for the exhibitor IMO. When I played my own real world mainstream music, the system usually took a major dive in wow factor confirming my point number one.
3. Exhibitors would be well advised to stop bringing enormous 400lb monster speakers to small hotel rooms. First of all, the consumers looking to spend north of $100k on speakers is minuscule, making the speakers less relevant to the typical show goer. But far more important is the fact that these enormous speakers frequently sound bad when confined to these smallish rooms. Bass bloat was a huge problem in many of the higher end rooms IMO.
4. Exhibitors would be well advised to stop playing the music at ear splitting levels. I have polled other audiophiles regarding typical listening levels and I am confident that very few audiophiles regularly listen at the loudness levels many exhibitors seem fond of. Additionally, often the system suffered from sound quality issues when pushed beyond comfortable listening levels. Bass boominess is exacerbated, and treble can become strident in some systems.
5. Manufactures should really hire audiophiles with good listening perception to setup and man these exhibit rooms because when the system had poor performance, it was not unusual for the exhibitor to seem unaware of this.
6. It would be cool if the organizers of the show grouped the rooms by system price. Maybe there was some logic to the layout at RMAF, but it seemed pretty random to me. Would be nice to have the under $10k floor, the under $25k floor, and so on.
Still, had a good time and enjoyed the show.
