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Audioshark RMAF 2014 Awards
A little background on the event this year. I felt attendance was down – slightly, but we were treated to some unique smaller companies and some new startups. What was missing was many of the big boys: Magico, Vivid, Tannoy and several others.
As always, RMAF for me, is not only about seeing and hearing new gear or new combinations of gear, its about the great people in this industry and the great audiophiles who keep the engine running. RMAF is more “consumer” than the Consumer Electronics Show. RMAF is about two channel and not TV’s, cellphones and microwaves. It’s a place for all us crazy folks to get together in one place and share our love of music and high fidelity.
The first Audioshark.org dinner was a lot of fun and it was great to put a face to a name. I want to thank everyone who attended for making it a special evening.
OK….on to the awards….
Best Sounding Room (cost no object):
Focal/Soulution/Transrotor/Air Tight/Tara Labs
To be honest, this wasn’t an easy decision. Not because there were so many great rooms that just blew me away, but because there wasn’t. That being said, this room was consistently the best sounding – and given its price tag – so it should be.
The big Focal Grande Utopia EM’s powered by the awesome Soulution 701 monos and 725 preamp, with the latest Soulution digital source and the wonderful sounding Transrotor Turntable/AirTight Cart, all backed by TaraLabs cabling was capable of great sound and they provided that most consistently.
Runner Up:
This is a tie between the Focal Grande Utopia/VAC Statement/Esoteric/Clear Audio and the Wilson Sasha 2/Watch Dog subs/VTL Siegfried Stereo amps/VTL preamp and DCS Vivaldi digital stack.
There were times when I went into these rooms and they sounded superb, and either one could have easily been picked as the winner – but there were times I went into both room and neither lived up to their billing. Let me explain. The VAC room with vinyl as a source sounded muddy and slow – all those tubes were too much of a good thing. Did I just say that? Either that, or there was just a real mismatch with the ClearAudio table/cart/phonostage. When you could walk right next door in a same/similar sized/shaped room and hear the Focal Grande Utopia EM’s (same speakers) on a full Soulution setup, it left little room for doubt as to which combo was better. I kept wondering if this was some sinister plan on the part of Focal. That being said, the VAC/Focal room with a digital source sounded excellent and definitely gave me pause for thought.
The Wilson Sasha 2’s combined with the big VTL Siegfried Stereo amps and the Wilson Watchdog subs had the capability of also winning first place for me. However, far too many times I went into this room Peter was playing the most boring classical music ever produced. I kept thinking – how in the heck does a solo violin demonstrate the capabilities of this system? Was this simply a “safe choice” to keep us off our game? That being said, when I did hear other types of music – even a full symphony, this system really shined for me and could have easily been picked first.
Best Sounding Room (under $100K):
I found the Tidal/Bricasti Design room consistently sounding good. The big Bricasti M28 amps, paired with the Bricasti M1 DAC produced a balanced, good sound. I returned to this room three times and each time it sounded great. I’m not sure what was doing what to make it sound so good – was it the Tidal speakers, big M28 amps or the M1? Not sure – what it sounded was great.
Best Value of Show:
Unlike the Best Sounding Room award, this was an easy choice. The modestly priced Ryan R630 speakers (Floorstanding 3 Way) really really impressed me. Priced at $5000 MSRP for the pair and using all drivers made by Ryan Speakers, finished in a beautiful wood cabinet, made in America and sounding many multiples its price tag was an easy pick. I went back to this room at least half a dozen times thinking “they just can’t be this good for this price.” It is without a doubt that these $5000 speakers were vastly superior to some $60,000 speakers I heard this weekend. The two Brothers who founded Ryan Speakers were building speakers in the 80’s before going their separate ways and reuniting less than 2 years ago.
They build everything in house: drivers, tweeter, crossover, cabinets. They know how to minimize cabinet resonances, make a tweeter that sounds smooth as butter but detailed and a $5000 speaker that images as good as many speakers costing a lot more.
Best Digital of Show:
Do you remember that commercial: “It slices, it dices, but wait, there’s more!” Well, that might become the new marketing slogan for the B.M.C. digital stack.
The new B.M.C. Pure Media ($4890 MSRP) and UltraDAC ($3490) provided a killer one-two punch for anyone looking for the ultimate home audio/video solution. Full specs and details here: PureMedia - B.M.C. Audio and UltraDAC | B.M.C. Audio - B.M.C. Audio
When I left this room, I asked myself, “what doesn’t it do?”
Best Analog of Show:
I really enjoyed the consistently great sound from the Transrotor Orion Reference table and Air Tight PC1 cartridge in the Focal/Soulution room. There was a great synergy between the table/arm/cart in this room. No matter what they played, it always sounded great – even compared to the Soulution Digital stack in the same room.
A little background on the event this year. I felt attendance was down – slightly, but we were treated to some unique smaller companies and some new startups. What was missing was many of the big boys: Magico, Vivid, Tannoy and several others.
As always, RMAF for me, is not only about seeing and hearing new gear or new combinations of gear, its about the great people in this industry and the great audiophiles who keep the engine running. RMAF is more “consumer” than the Consumer Electronics Show. RMAF is about two channel and not TV’s, cellphones and microwaves. It’s a place for all us crazy folks to get together in one place and share our love of music and high fidelity.
The first Audioshark.org dinner was a lot of fun and it was great to put a face to a name. I want to thank everyone who attended for making it a special evening.
OK….on to the awards….
Best Sounding Room (cost no object):
Focal/Soulution/Transrotor/Air Tight/Tara Labs
To be honest, this wasn’t an easy decision. Not because there were so many great rooms that just blew me away, but because there wasn’t. That being said, this room was consistently the best sounding – and given its price tag – so it should be.
The big Focal Grande Utopia EM’s powered by the awesome Soulution 701 monos and 725 preamp, with the latest Soulution digital source and the wonderful sounding Transrotor Turntable/AirTight Cart, all backed by TaraLabs cabling was capable of great sound and they provided that most consistently.
Runner Up:
This is a tie between the Focal Grande Utopia/VAC Statement/Esoteric/Clear Audio and the Wilson Sasha 2/Watch Dog subs/VTL Siegfried Stereo amps/VTL preamp and DCS Vivaldi digital stack.
There were times when I went into these rooms and they sounded superb, and either one could have easily been picked as the winner – but there were times I went into both room and neither lived up to their billing. Let me explain. The VAC room with vinyl as a source sounded muddy and slow – all those tubes were too much of a good thing. Did I just say that? Either that, or there was just a real mismatch with the ClearAudio table/cart/phonostage. When you could walk right next door in a same/similar sized/shaped room and hear the Focal Grande Utopia EM’s (same speakers) on a full Soulution setup, it left little room for doubt as to which combo was better. I kept wondering if this was some sinister plan on the part of Focal. That being said, the VAC/Focal room with a digital source sounded excellent and definitely gave me pause for thought.
The Wilson Sasha 2’s combined with the big VTL Siegfried Stereo amps and the Wilson Watchdog subs had the capability of also winning first place for me. However, far too many times I went into this room Peter was playing the most boring classical music ever produced. I kept thinking – how in the heck does a solo violin demonstrate the capabilities of this system? Was this simply a “safe choice” to keep us off our game? That being said, when I did hear other types of music – even a full symphony, this system really shined for me and could have easily been picked first.
Best Sounding Room (under $100K):
I found the Tidal/Bricasti Design room consistently sounding good. The big Bricasti M28 amps, paired with the Bricasti M1 DAC produced a balanced, good sound. I returned to this room three times and each time it sounded great. I’m not sure what was doing what to make it sound so good – was it the Tidal speakers, big M28 amps or the M1? Not sure – what it sounded was great.
Best Value of Show:
Unlike the Best Sounding Room award, this was an easy choice. The modestly priced Ryan R630 speakers (Floorstanding 3 Way) really really impressed me. Priced at $5000 MSRP for the pair and using all drivers made by Ryan Speakers, finished in a beautiful wood cabinet, made in America and sounding many multiples its price tag was an easy pick. I went back to this room at least half a dozen times thinking “they just can’t be this good for this price.” It is without a doubt that these $5000 speakers were vastly superior to some $60,000 speakers I heard this weekend. The two Brothers who founded Ryan Speakers were building speakers in the 80’s before going their separate ways and reuniting less than 2 years ago.
They build everything in house: drivers, tweeter, crossover, cabinets. They know how to minimize cabinet resonances, make a tweeter that sounds smooth as butter but detailed and a $5000 speaker that images as good as many speakers costing a lot more.
Best Digital of Show:
Do you remember that commercial: “It slices, it dices, but wait, there’s more!” Well, that might become the new marketing slogan for the B.M.C. digital stack.
The new B.M.C. Pure Media ($4890 MSRP) and UltraDAC ($3490) provided a killer one-two punch for anyone looking for the ultimate home audio/video solution. Full specs and details here: PureMedia - B.M.C. Audio and UltraDAC | B.M.C. Audio - B.M.C. Audio
When I left this room, I asked myself, “what doesn’t it do?”
Best Analog of Show:
I really enjoyed the consistently great sound from the Transrotor Orion Reference table and Air Tight PC1 cartridge in the Focal/Soulution room. There was a great synergy between the table/arm/cart in this room. No matter what they played, it always sounded great – even compared to the Soulution Digital stack in the same room.
