My Thoughts on Axpona

FlexibleAudio said:
After the completion of a phenomenal classical piece the ARC/SF room simultaneously erupted in applause. You don't see that everyday. Pretty cool.
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Please everyone, stop praising the ARC/SF room. It is cruel and unusual punishment. Now I really want to hear them but they won't be at T.H.E. Show in Newport Beach. At least they are not on the exhibitors list. :(

I wonder if the rapid succession of shows is too much. Axpona (4/24-4/26) followed by Munich (5/14-5/17) and then Newport (5/29-5/31). It might be tricky to get large speakers etc. across the Atlantic and entire continent guaranteed on time delivery and at a reasonable cost. Remember there is at least one tear-down day and one set-up day that need to be squeezed in.

I am not even talking about wear and tear on the exhibitors. I am amazed they can keep in such good spirits. I hope show attendees appreciate what a drag it is to be "the other guy".
 
mep said:
Paul-I heard it with both cartridges. Something is wrong with their Goldfinger. Either the cartridge isn't setup correctly or it's damaged. The optical cartridge sounded better than the Goldfinger, but it didn't sound really good. However, ARC was using the same optical cartridge to stunning effect in their room. The bottom line is that the M Pro room was a bust for me regardless of the reason(s) why.
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No it was brand new. Found that out today. And they also repositioned the speakers.
 
mep said:
Funny that some of us love the same rooms and yet we are 180 out on other rooms. Ian, what music was playing when you heard the Scansonic's playing and they were "full of distortion that would rip your ears off?" When I heard them, they were playing music that was suited for them at appropriate playback levels. Did somebody request some death metal played back at 120 dB?
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They were playing some orchestral track very very loud and the flutes were piercing. I think if it wasn't so loud it would have been better. I couldn't take it and had to leave. I guess in hindsight it was just a bad first impression and otherwise not fair to criticize. I'm also pretty sensitive to distortion.
 
Mike said:
The Lilium combines the soul of the old Sonus Faber, gorgeous modern, slim look, with some fabulous new technology, bass adjustability and precision sound. The GS150 added texture and tonality. It was, as I said on day one, the best room so far and in the end, the best room period.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Mike, that was the same set-up Fine Sounds used at their Paragon event in early November. It makes for a pretty good sounding pairing. I addition I think the Lilium's are a bit easier to dial in than the Aida's.
 
Seems like the SF Lilium's were many people's favorite for Best Sound at Show. What's the list of the Lilium's?
 
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!
 
mep said:
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!
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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.
 
mep said:
Did it sound any better?
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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! :)
 
madfloyd said:
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.
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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.
 
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