mep
Well-known member
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- Dec 4, 2013
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- #1
Axpona as a consumer show is starting to pick up steam or grow some legs if you will. Some things they do very well compared to RMAF. For instance, they don't make you wait until the day of the show (and right before the show starts to boot) in order to pick up your badge. I never understood why RMAF enjoyed the cattle call unless they just want to have some long lines to take pictures of. But then as others have astutely pointed out, when they take the pictures of everyone standing in line waiting to get their badges, it looks like an AARP meeting promising free food getting ready to start. So kudos to Axpona for giving out the badges early. And, if you have always dreamed of being a VIP once in your life, it can be had for an additional $20 at Axpona. I saw plenty of people who had VIP badges at the show. There were some perks that went along with having a badge that proclaimed you as a VIP. One of them was a special lounge set aside for the VIPs that had free coffee. Apparently the free coffee was pretty bogus tasting as one of the VIPs I met (Peter from Canada who posts on this forum) was standing in line with me at the Starbucks Cantina in order to get some half-decent coffee.
Another thing that Axpona has is security guards stationed on each floor by the elevators. I assume this is in case anyone tries to steal a pair of 450 lb speakers and run down the hall with them and tries to get on the elevator to make their great escape. Judging by the physical condition of most of the security guards I saw on the floors, I'm not sure they could have caught someone running with a 450 lb pair of speakers.
Axpona appears to me to have roughly half as many exhibitors (or less) than what you see at RMAF. To put this in perspective, I'm pretty sure all of the exhibitors at Axpona would fit in one wing of the Marriott used for RMAF and still have some rooms left over. I showed up on Friday morning about 30 minutes before the show started and I felt like I pretty much saw everything I wanted to see by the end of the first day. If I hadn't missed the ARC/SF room on the 12th floor that Mike was raving about, I might have called it quits. I went back this morning to hear the ARC/SF room and I'm glad I did. Easily the best of show for me. Maybe the best of any show I have attended as it was that good. Compared to that room, everyone else was pretty much making noise while the ARC/SF room was making real music. There were a few rooms that were decent, but I was pretty disappointed by most rooms. They were playing both analog (LPs) and digital in the ARC/SF room and everything they played sounded great when I was sitting there. That was the only room that I heard at the show that I would trade my system for (meaning the sound I get in my room with my system). Obviously it's a bitch trying to pull off great sound in a hotel room even if the gear is mega expensive. And to be fair, most rooms sound better on the second day of shows than they do on the first day.
The good news is that Axpona is growing and getting better. There are still plenty more floors available for this show to grow (floors 6-11). The people at the Westin couldn't be nicer and everyone seemed to genuinely care about all of the guests and ensuring the show went off without a hitch. It was a first-class operation and they should be proud of that. I would also say that on average, people who attended the show didn't yak as much in the rooms while you were trying to listen as so often is the case at RMAF. That was most appreciated by me.
Another thing that Axpona has is security guards stationed on each floor by the elevators. I assume this is in case anyone tries to steal a pair of 450 lb speakers and run down the hall with them and tries to get on the elevator to make their great escape. Judging by the physical condition of most of the security guards I saw on the floors, I'm not sure they could have caught someone running with a 450 lb pair of speakers.
Axpona appears to me to have roughly half as many exhibitors (or less) than what you see at RMAF. To put this in perspective, I'm pretty sure all of the exhibitors at Axpona would fit in one wing of the Marriott used for RMAF and still have some rooms left over. I showed up on Friday morning about 30 minutes before the show started and I felt like I pretty much saw everything I wanted to see by the end of the first day. If I hadn't missed the ARC/SF room on the 12th floor that Mike was raving about, I might have called it quits. I went back this morning to hear the ARC/SF room and I'm glad I did. Easily the best of show for me. Maybe the best of any show I have attended as it was that good. Compared to that room, everyone else was pretty much making noise while the ARC/SF room was making real music. There were a few rooms that were decent, but I was pretty disappointed by most rooms. They were playing both analog (LPs) and digital in the ARC/SF room and everything they played sounded great when I was sitting there. That was the only room that I heard at the show that I would trade my system for (meaning the sound I get in my room with my system). Obviously it's a bitch trying to pull off great sound in a hotel room even if the gear is mega expensive. And to be fair, most rooms sound better on the second day of shows than they do on the first day.
The good news is that Axpona is growing and getting better. There are still plenty more floors available for this show to grow (floors 6-11). The people at the Westin couldn't be nicer and everyone seemed to genuinely care about all of the guests and ensuring the show went off without a hitch. It was a first-class operation and they should be proud of that. I would also say that on average, people who attended the show didn't yak as much in the rooms while you were trying to listen as so often is the case at RMAF. That was most appreciated by me.
so which room sound most impressive to your ears ?
