Day 1: Trade and Press Day

[MylesBAstor]

Some hotel shots.

You need Google Maps to get around the Marriot Gaylord Rockies Hotel. HUGE! Someone I know activated the pedometer on their phone and by the end of the day had put 3 miles on their tired paws. I checked pedometer this morning and between the airport and the hotel had walked 6.5 miles. So pack a pair of sneakers or comfortable walking shoes if you plan on coming in 2020.

Nothing like those Colorado blue skies. A bit of trivia. Denver has the most sunny days of any city in the US.

[MylesBAstor]

A few pics from opening day.

Audio Solutions/Vitus/United Home Audio/Ansuz

[MylesBAstor]

Wilson Audio/VTL/DCS

Active system with Sasha DAW and VTL S400 II.


WAMM Chronosonic (l) and soon to be released Chronosonic XVX speaker.

[MylesBAstor]

Goebel speakers/CH-Precision electronics/Kronos turntable

[MylesBAstor]

YG Acoustics speakers/VTL electronics/VPI/Nordost cables and accessories

[MylesBAstor]

MOFI: Manger speakers/Primare electronics/Dr. Feickert turntable/Koetsu

[Rob]

the Mangers were interesting when I heard them with CH Precision at one of the L.A. shows. the usual distortions you hear from cones through the mid-band were absent (because it's a planar driver?). on balance its hard to say whether it merits consideration, the over-all presentation is promising and something id like to explore in my own system.

[MylesBAstor]

Soundings Fine Audio: Vienna Acoustics speakers/Rel subwoofers/Boulder electronics/AMG turntable (new)/Clearaudio cartridge/Nordost wiring and accessories

[Rob]

ballsy set-up. stacked rel subs like mini bass towers flanking full-range Vienna Klints. the Klimts are SOTA in some areas and kinda Jekyll and hyde in other ways (sonically speaking). nonetheless this is a system id love to hear.

[longbowbbs]

The system sounded great Rob. Best I have heard the Klimt's.

[Rob]

you're in good company. someone on another 'board thought its the best they've heard so far...

[MylesBAstor]

[dminches]

Myles,

Do the regular hotel rooms provide enough room to put out a nice system and leave ample seating for listeners? Maybe an Axpona comparison?

[longbowbbs]

David, the average room can seat 6-8 along with a system. You could cram more in but there would be no room to get around.

[timztunz]

Nicely done Myles, thank you.

[MylesBAstor]

Myles,

Do the regular hotel rooms provide enough room to put out a nice system and leave ample seating for listeners? Maybe an Axpona comparison?

Depends because there are just so many variables to consider. Hotels simply aren't built for an audio shows. So the sound can be variable but what a show offers is oodles of audio gear--and headphones if that's what floats your boat--under one room. More than probably many show attendees have seen in their entire life. Plus an opportunity to rub elbows with the manufacturers.

Rooms come in all sizes and costs and larger/conference rooms for the bigger players or exhibitors with big speakers are always in demand. The downside is the larger rooms cost more money--and are the money maker for a show--but they can seat many more people. The small hotel rooms always seem the same size to me and they can seat from six to many 10 people. Of course, they are better seats than others in every room with maybe just two to four seats of them offering the best sound. Hey, that's no different than at home where most of use optimize the sound for one seat! Bear in mind too that this is the first year at the Gaylord Rockies and next year exhibitors will return with some more ideas on how to get even better sound out of their room.

Most rooms have some low end issue to some extent or another. That why sometime smaller speakers that don't plunge as low and don't excite some room resonances can outperform some bigger systems at shows. That said, it seems that the dominant issue here at the Gaylord is slap echo in both the small and large rooms. But happily, most of the exhibitors I've heard on the first day--and remember it is the first day--had addressed this issue to the best of their means.

[MylesBAstor]

Some quick thoughts about the Press and Trade Day.

No one seems to have informed the exhibitors that Thursday had been designated as Press Day. Bear in mind this was the first time any US show set aside an entire day for the press/trade and expanded the event to four days! Plus an additional day of costs for the exhibitors.

And vice versa. The number one question I encountered yesterday: Where the press? (Said in the best Flip Wilson voice.) All I could answer is well I am here. (I did see reviewers from other magazines arriving throughout the day unaware that they were aware is was Press Day.) And grateful since I got to cover a large part of the show yesterday. Part because of lack of crowds and part due to the small size of this years show. In the end, a number of the exhibition rooms were closed. Luckily most of the rooms on my must-see list were open.

There were several other glitches such as the show guides not arriving until 6 PM yesterday nor was their any room signage until the show closed. So I was flying blind trying to find the rooms and exhibitors. Exhibitors gear didn't arrive on time and I heard reports the shippers weren't the most helpful in delivering equipment and boxes to the rooms. No matter what, this was the first year at this lovely but expensive hotel and the success of the new venue will be judged when RMAF returns to its roughly normal date October 1-4, 2020.

Let's talk about the sound understanding this was day one. Yesterday's standout rooms were the YG Sonja 2.3 speakers driven by VTL electronics and fronted by a VPI HW40 turntable outfitted with a Lyra Etna cartridge. The sound was luscious and the midrange was to die for. I was also was privy to a comparison of the system with and without Nordost new Q-Point Resonance Synchronizer. I don't know about all the mumbo jumbo surrounding this accessory but the proof was in the pudding. We went back and forth a couple of times just to check my reaction and it stayed consistent. The Q-Point definitely improved the sound of the system in two steps. Fifteen seconds after being turned on, the system exhibited more low level resolution. However, after another five minutes of so of being on, the Q-Point really came into its own. Besides just a whole order more resolution and finesse, images were far more solid and the system as a whole had quieted down. And that building up of effects happened each time we shut the wall powered device off for a minute and then then turned it back on. Hopefully will be getting one when they're ready for release shortly to try in my system.

The other room that surprised me was the Goebel Divin Noblesse speakers driven by CH-Precision electronics and the Kronos Pro table/Helena arm outfitted with a ZYX 4D cartridge. Now I know that some reviewers had flipped their wigs over the sound of the speakers and electronics at other shows. Me? I was left scratching what hair I have left. Definitely nothing that resembled music to my ears. That changed here with this room and setup and the use of the Kronos table. Huge soundstage, great imaging and little of that thinness and hyperdetailing I've come to associated with CH-Precision. The speakers are big and the system really sounded big. Louis Dejardin (Kronos) and I also had a fun time playing some different albums including Harry Belafonte at Carnegie Hall (Sylvia and Danny Boy) as well as some tracks from the Yello album Touch (this album goes for absurdly high prices; last couple I saw were $200-300). Each album sounded outstanding on the system (given show conditions and grading on a different curve) especially when it came to finesse.

Some other interesting rooms that are on high on my return to listen to list include the Vitus electronics/Audio Solution speaker/UHA reel-to-reel. Had a chance to listen to the system both during show hours and after at one of Greg Beron's reel-to-reel get togethers and was impressed with the effortlessness and staging of the components. Speaking of reel-to-reel. Some good news and some bad news. Good news first. Rob Steinke at Rutherford Audio told me that they will be carrying both new and reconditioned Rexox high-speed A77 prosumer decks in the near future. It appears that Revox had an ample supply of parts to start another run of tape decks as well as the people who made them being still around. Revox should have a press release coming out in the next couple of weeks and we'll be the first to post the news here. The other interesting news came from Chad at Acoustic Sounds. Chad will be releasing his nine blue recordings (some may remember the Little Hatch that The Tape Project reissued) on tape in two formats. The first a limited run, second generation copy ($750) off the master tape and the second will be conventional tape ($450) made from the running master. Now for the disappointing news. It seems to be unclear if the Thorens reel-to-reel machine announced at Munich will come to fruition. Ballfinger, who would make the machine, seems to have a hard time even making their machine throwing the future of the Thorens deck into doubt.

Some other quick thoughts. Liked the Wilson Audio Sasha DAWs and Watch Dog subs driven by VTL amps but it was too much for the little room. (will have more on the Chronosonic XVX later.) The Soundings Audio room was nice but somehow never seem to get much in the way of depth with the Boulder electronics at shows. Garth from Musical Surroundings had one of the few available DS Audio record deionizers also working in the room (Look at the picture of the AMG table and the strange looking contraption next to it.) The device blows positive and negative ions across the record while the LP is playing and is said to improve the sound. Garth also had the new AMG Forte table playing in the room. PS Audio showed the latest incarnation of the AN-3 speaker with **audible gasp** a VPI HW40 turntable. Ted Smith also had on static display a mockup of his new state-of-the-art Obsidion DAC (release date sometime in 2020).

Signing off for now.

[1morerecord2clean]

Couldn’t agree more regarding your comments on Greg Beron’s room using his deck, Vitus, and Audio Solutions speakers. I sat for hours listening at Axpona. Totally immersive and non fatiguing.

[Rob]

Good to know YG and VTL are a worthy match. VTL deserves more limelight than they presently receive...and i'm here to say their customer service has improved immensely as of late. That, or I caught Bea in a good mood when my DM-era legacy gear (ultimate preamp/225 monos) was serviced there recently

[Ki Choi]

Good report Myles. It isn't surprising to me the new Thorens deck won't materialize. With ample supply of old studio master machines still available, any new machine offerings will be difficult to compete. I would guess UHA business isn't growing much since the market may have saturated by now. We need more reel to reel newbies to fuel the enthusiasm to continue.

[Greg Beron]

Sorry Ki, just to set the record straight from the horses mouth, UHA business is actually very good at this time.
Will actually be doing more shows this next year even including Munich!
Plus some great new stuff will be coming out of extensive R&D next year.

[Ki Choi]

Hi Greg, I am happy to be wrong and glad to hear your business is growing.

[Madfloyd]

Great coverage so far, Myles - thank you!

[SundayNiagara]

Great report. Makes me wonder if you get any sleep?

[MylesBAstor]

Not a lot! 😹

[Rob]

Myles is the ironman of audio reviewers, sleep is for wimps