madfloyd
New member
Sound effects? to show off the subs?
RMAF 2015 Highlights, Disappointments and Overall Impressions
- Thread starter Ritmo
- Start date
Sound effects? to show off the subs?
the professor
Well-known member
Sound effects are my words - technically it probably would be music in the extreme Jazz Fusion category. Which has its place but not in a demo. IMO
- Thread Author
- #23
Jock - Mike and I visited the Wilson/DAG room yesterday morning. The music played by Peter while classical pieces sounded terrific. Extremely musical. Very coherent, excellent depth and impact. We should have stayed a little longer to hear some jazz and rock.
Odyssey
Member
This was my first RMAF and I'm glad that I went. I've enjoyed two Axpona's and one CES so far.
One or two rooms were playing different combinations of components thru the same speakers. You can tell the the room is onto something when people don't leave.
In one room they would play combination X, then Y and then Z. People would come and go during X with many empty seats. Some would linger during Y. When they got to Z it was standing room only without a prayer of finding an open seat. Some of the people had no idea which of the components were playing. They just kew that they were hearing music.
One or two rooms were playing different combinations of components thru the same speakers. You can tell the the room is onto something when people don't leave.
In one room they would play combination X, then Y and then Z. People would come and go during X with many empty seats. Some would linger during Y. When they got to Z it was standing room only without a prayer of finding an open seat. Some of the people had no idea which of the components were playing. They just kew that they were hearing music.
still-one
Active member
In general it was a pretty ho-hum RMAF this year. Having skipped last year after attending several in a row so I was hoping so see some new and interesting product. It was not to be. As usual there were many rooms where I just poked my head in the door and could see there were no product that might interest me.
I noticed that the sound in many rooms was actually worse than in prior years. I never remember hearing so many room overloaded with bass. Here are a few of my favorite systems.
1- The Magico S-7's over at the Hyatt. Magico set these up in the Presidential Suite. Boy would I like to have a room shaped like that in my home. The S-7's were powered by a pair of huge Soulution amps and supported by a pair of Magico's subs.s (I asked to hear the speakers with and without the subs and they were definitely not lacking for bass without the subs).
2- This one surprised me a bit. PS Audio's new amps powering large YG's. The YG's were set up in approximately the center of a large suite. I do not ever remember hearing such a deep soundstage. The violins were up close to the speakers just as they should be while the trumpets and percussion were 20 feet back against the wall. Great sound again coming from a large room.
3- The Wilson D'Agostino room was always pretty crowded. Bravo once more.
4- The Avantgarde Duo Mezzo XD’s in room 8004 showed a lot of potential for being a great speaker. Unfortunately I felt the room they were in was far too narrow and the walls became extensions of the horns and projected the sound into the listeners face. I would have like to hear them in a room similar to that which Magico and PS Audio demo'd gear.
5- Every year the Carl's Apex Audio rooms on the mezzanine are a cut above. Those Focals powered by Soulution are really nice and I love the looks of those Critical Mass racks.
6 - It is too bad you did not have the opportunity to hear the MSB Select DAC that was only on static display in the MSB room. Larry and Vince recently demo'd a pre-production version of the Select DAC at David Michael Audio paired with Quads in a much better room. At that event standard 16/44 sounded as good as any hi-rez I have heard. Unfortunately I am not in the market for a $90k DAC.
In the past I don't remember such boring music used to demo gear. I was only introduced to one new artist this year. In the Martin Logan/ Kimber / EMM room a young lady asked if they would play a track off her iPhone. Torun Eriksen "Visits" has some nice tracks.
I noticed that the sound in many rooms was actually worse than in prior years. I never remember hearing so many room overloaded with bass. Here are a few of my favorite systems.
1- The Magico S-7's over at the Hyatt. Magico set these up in the Presidential Suite. Boy would I like to have a room shaped like that in my home. The S-7's were powered by a pair of huge Soulution amps and supported by a pair of Magico's subs.s (I asked to hear the speakers with and without the subs and they were definitely not lacking for bass without the subs).
2- This one surprised me a bit. PS Audio's new amps powering large YG's. The YG's were set up in approximately the center of a large suite. I do not ever remember hearing such a deep soundstage. The violins were up close to the speakers just as they should be while the trumpets and percussion were 20 feet back against the wall. Great sound again coming from a large room.
3- The Wilson D'Agostino room was always pretty crowded. Bravo once more.
4- The Avantgarde Duo Mezzo XD’s in room 8004 showed a lot of potential for being a great speaker. Unfortunately I felt the room they were in was far too narrow and the walls became extensions of the horns and projected the sound into the listeners face. I would have like to hear them in a room similar to that which Magico and PS Audio demo'd gear.
5- Every year the Carl's Apex Audio rooms on the mezzanine are a cut above. Those Focals powered by Soulution are really nice and I love the looks of those Critical Mass racks.
6 - It is too bad you did not have the opportunity to hear the MSB Select DAC that was only on static display in the MSB room. Larry and Vince recently demo'd a pre-production version of the Select DAC at David Michael Audio paired with Quads in a much better room. At that event standard 16/44 sounded as good as any hi-rez I have heard. Unfortunately I am not in the market for a $90k DAC.
In the past I don't remember such boring music used to demo gear. I was only introduced to one new artist this year. In the Martin Logan/ Kimber / EMM room a young lady asked if they would play a track off her iPhone. Torun Eriksen "Visits" has some nice tracks.
I agree. The Dag/Wilson combo was awesome. Like Mike, I would have liked to have heard some Jazz and Rock.
I think those running the rooms should play a variety of music and not just what they want to hear. If manufacturers want to appeal to a younger audience, playing a boring piece of classical music isn't going to do it.
I think a lot of manufacturers could take a page from the Zu folks. They played a variety of music (from Marvin Gaye to Daft Punk). Their room was "hip and happening", no stuffy old guys suggesting we drink a 95 Merlot with this particular violin concerto. Hell, the Zu folks had a blender to make drinks! They held after hour parties and their rooms were jamming.
Just my two cents...
Hi Le Roy - it was great to finally meet you!
Odyssey
Member
Mike, it was great to meet you in the flesh too!
still-one
Active member
I also would like to thank Mike and Mike for co-ordinating the dinner on Friday evening. It was great to have the opportunity to meet and spend the evening together. Other obligations prevented me from attending Saturday where we could have compared notes. Thanks guys.
M
mauidan
Guest
Gorgeous!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Odyssey
Member
Yes Allen, it was nice to be introduced to you thru Tim Marutani. Seems like there is one degree of separation in the high end audio world!
Some very interesting comments here: http://www.stereophile.com/content/day-2-sasha-matson
"3 the Hard way" wrapup:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0h4aMjm03hk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0h4aMjm03hk