RMAF 2010 Show Report

MiTT said:

Thanks Justin. Figured as I was taking notes anyway I may as well do it dynamically. For all I know we may be the first site on the net to be posting the show, more or less in real time. Wish I could post the pictures right away too, but I'm technically challenged that way. Hope it's not too disconcerting waiting for the photos...

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Actually the photos are pretty good and were worth the small wait.

Didn't I slag off Avalons at the HK show a while back? Seem to remember getting some retribution for saying so. Must admit I haven't got that much experience with them. And besides, I'm not always right. Who is in this subjective game?

Didn't realise the Ongaku was the UK Audio Note version, as I commented before the picture arrived. Now it's not a real Kondo Ongaku - just an amplifier that goes by the same name which is hard to "respect". Looks to have cheap Chinese 211s in it in a $200K system. Classic!

Sounds like you're having a great time, Tim. Enjoy.

darTZeel and Evolution Acoustics

I'd wanted to hear the Evolution MM Mini One. The pairing with the darTZeel CTH integrated amp and the Playback Designs MPS-5 SACD player was a great demo. They had a nice Studer A810 reel to reel deck hooked up too, but not running when I was in the room. Nat King Cole singing "Stardust" sounded good enough to make me pause and check prices. Still out of my league unfortunately.

Tim, thanks very much for the detailed reporting and all the great audio p0rn.

I'm glad you got to spend time With Roger Sanders, he definitely knows his stuff.

High Emotion Aundio

Very interesting concept and sound from these guys. They have what reminded me of the old Lineaum tweeter, but it's entirely non directional. They also take a modular approach to their product family, allowing the customer to build their own package using basic building blocks. Start with a small tweeter and midrange module, add a bass enclosure, then another, then an even bigger one. Very nice!

Selah Audio

Great sounding new small speakers. Very good for the $2K asking price! Sitting in the sweet spot they completely disappeared.

Allnic and Reed

The Allnic electronics sounded superb driving the mbl F111 speakers, but what really got my attention was the Kodo Beat turntable and Reed tonearm running Allnic's own cartridge. Splendid to look at and the sound was right up there too. This $24K table features a very high torque direct drive motor that uses no feedback. The designer also says that the drive is not in direct contact with the platter, it's all magnetic. The top of the platter is solid copper to boot. Music was "The Hot Spot" blues compilation album, which has also gone on my list of stuff to buy downstairs.

Append: Sorry yet again for another botched photo of this magnificent looking table, it deserves much better than what I gave it here. I did go pick up that "Hot Spot" LP. Listening to it right now in fact, it's awesome. John Lee Hooker, Miles Davis, Taj Mahal. Produced by none other than Dennis Hopper!

Galibier.and Deadalus

They were playing "Chester and Lester" (Chet Atkins and Les Paul) when we walked in and I was pretty much transfixed. The Galibier Stelvio table ($27.5K) with Durand Talea tonearm and Dynavector XV1s cartridge ($7900 & $5250 respectively) running through all Atma-sphere electronics was incredibly engaging. The Daedalus speakers served their purpose well too.

Vandersteen and Audio Research

The Vandersteen room featured the all carbon fiber bodied Vandersteen 7 speakers ($45K) and all the electronics were Audio Research including the Anniversary Ref pre amp and Ref 210 mono blocks. Analog source was a Linn LP12 with an Ekos tonearm and a Lyra Titan cartridge running through the ARC Ref Phono 2. Music was The Bill Evans Trio. Enough said. Superlatives aplenty - nothing but blissful music.

Thanks Tim! I miss being there, seeing this stuff live, but your reporting is bringing it home.

Wilson and Doshi

The Wilson Audio Sasha's have become my favorite Wilson speakers ever since hearing them last by ear with the ARC electronics. This year they were paired with the hand crafted Doshi Audio Jhor mono blocks ($19K a pair - 90 wpc, push pull) and the Alaap V2.1 pre amp ($15K). I think it's pretty hard to make the Sasha's sound bad, and they certainly didn't in this case. They were spinning a mix of classical and Chris Issak when I was in the room.

Magico

The Magico room was packed! Couldn't even get in to see the source and electronics, but from the back of the room, where this cross sectional unit was the big Q5's sounded like they might live up to the hype. I hope to come back when they aren't so crowded.

Append: I was able to squeeze my way toward the front enough to more or less see the speakers and the associated gear. I was able to see that they had a nice open reel deck, as well as a turntable (neither of which I could identify), as well as what I think was a Shindo pre amp. No idea on digital sources, although you can see a monitor up by the turntable, so I suspect some sort of server. I'll try to hear these again tomorrow.

Genesis, BAT and SOTA

The small for Genesis 7.1f speakers worked well with the BAT VK55SE amp. A BAT VK5 cd player handled digital duties and a VK3i pre amp must have included a phono stage for the SOTA table spinning Melody Gardot.

Append: Just as I was about to leave the room some nut job walked up to the SOTA turntable and started wrapping on the top of the plinth as hard as he could with his knuckles while a record was spinning! I was thinking "holy crap, somebody should call security." Turns out it was the guy exhibiting in the room and he was trying to demonstrate how well isolated the table is. I couldn't believe it; and the record didn't skip to boot.

Wilson and Rega

Stevie Ray Vaughn's version of "Little Wing" was playing when I walked in the room. The newest version of the Wilson Sophia's didn't sound as great as the Sasha's, but I was still impressed. Am I becoming a Wilson fan? The Rega Osiris integrated amp and Isis CD player were also sounding great. They had a Rega P7 table too, but they were running digital only while was in the room.

Vivid and ModWright

Last year I'd listened to the really large Vivid seashell looking monsters, this year I got to hear the smaller ones. Funny shape, but really great sound. I was especially impressed with the bass and it's integration. These ones are the V1.5's and sell for $7500/pair.

Bamburg Audio and Modwright

The Bamburg Series 5 TMW speakers are something I'd heard last year. Driven by Modwright electronics, including a heavily modified Transporter as a source they sounded better than I recalled.

Wavelength and Vaughn

Low wattage SET's and high efficiency drivers combined to make great music in this room.

Luxman and Vivid

Luxman was showing n the same room as last year, and they were partnered with Vivid again as well. I don't know the model number on these speakers, but despite the somewhat cartoonish shape ( or maybe because of it, I don't know), these speakers sounded awesome! A big, huge, bombastic orchestral piece was flapping' my pants legs. My face contorted like when the rocket ship takes off in a 50's sic-fi movie. I loved every minute of it! Source was an audioaero LaSource CD\SACD. Later they played "One Night in Paris" by 10cc on SACD and I was equally impressed. Sorry, no info on model numbers or price.

Append: I believe that I'd heard the model of the Vivid speakers to be the G2's. The Luxman gear included the C-1000f pre amp and the M-800A stereo power amp. still no prices, but if you gotta ask...

Aesthetix and Hansen

Last year was the first time I'd heard any of the Hansen speakers, so I was poking forward to listening to them again. The big Hansen Emperor's were being fed from an all Aesthetix rack, including the Atlas power amps and the new Aesthetix Rhomulus CD player. Analog was supplied by a Clearaudio rig with multiple tonearms. Paul Simon's "Hearts and Bones" was very convincing. Great sound!

Append: As I was leaving I also snapped a shot of the smaller system featuring the Hansen Princes that several of us on the board thought were absolutely mind blowing last year.

Focal, Accuphase, Air Tight and Transrotor

So much audio porn in one room! When I first walked in the smaller system running Air Tight electronics and Accuphase source components was playing through the new Focal Viva Utopia's. Very nice indeed, but then a few minutes later they fired up the big Accuphase system driving the Focal Maestro Utopia's. Music was Dave Matthews on vinyl from a Transrotor Tourbillion turntable with the Airtight PC-1 Supreme Cartridge. I don't even really like Dave Matthews - but I couldn't tear myself away. After that a bit of Dead Can Dance. I sat in front of this system for a good while. I could live here.

Ayon and Lumen White

At first I was worried that I wouldn't be able to listen to this system. Ayon was sharing a room with Lumen White on one side and Legacy on the other. I didn't care all that much for the Legacy sound, but really did enjoy the Lumen White speakers when it came their turn to demo. They threw a HUGE soundstage when somebody threw on a song called "Azeem O Shaan Shahensh" from an album called Caminho Das Indias:Indiano (believe it or not the Soundhound app identified it in about 10 seconds). It was like large scale orchestral Bollywood music. The Ayon gear has always caught my eye, and these big Orthos mono blocks were very impressive.