Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2009

Tim,

Thanks for the great pictures and prose. Did you buy any software, and where there any musicians playing there live this year?

Luxman/Synergistic/Vivid

Call them whimsical, wacky, ugly or just plain upsurd - I'm almost sorry to say that the Vivid Audio speakers shown here were suprisingly good sounding. Ted Dehney of Synergistic Research was playing some very good music from open reel mastertapes through all Luxman electronics all lashed together with his own Tesla series cables. The big Luxman B-1000f monoblocks pump out 250W into an 8 ohm load and can double down all the way into a 1 ohm load where they'll supply 2000 Watts! At 140+ ibs. each they have some serious cajones. I don't know how much the Vivids cost, but regardless of price I just don't think I could get past the look enough to ever enjoy them in my own home.

Bernard said:

Tim,

Thanks for the great pictures and prose. Did you buy any software, and where there any musicians playing there live this year?

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Thanks Bernard. For some reason when I downsize the pictures in order to post them they are losing resolution and looking quite a bit "fuzzy" compared to how they look before I post them, so I appologize for that.

I did pick up some vinyl, the Thorens 125th Anniversay 3 disc collection, the Cisco pressing of Jennifer Warnes "The Hunter" and the Classic 45-RPM Box set of Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington's "Together for the First Time". I haven't had a chance to listen to any of it yet because of working all weekend.

There was some live music, but I missed all of it for the same reason; I was only at the show for a total of about 8 hours this year. The artists they mentioned in the show brochure were Russell Harlow; Principal Clarinetist for the Utah Symphony who performed last night I believe. Also present were Stephen Lyman - classical guitarist, and the Blue Knights Drum and Bugle Corps.

Wadia/Octave/Dynaudio

The room where Wadia was showing included electronics by Octave and a set of Dynaudio speakers I'm not at all familiar with. The Wadia stuff always looks so cool, as did the Octave equipment, but these Dynaudio's left me rather cold and I didn't stay long enough to even note what music was playing. To be fair, there were a number of Wadia players in other rooms sounding very, very good.

Isomike

One of the Isomike rooms (there were 2 this year) had an all emm labs front end alternating between Levinson and Pass amps that were feeding some HUGE JBL speakers when I was in the room. I'm not sure what the other (smaller) speakers were in the room, the program doesn't identify them. Even in two channel this system sounded great with music by David Sylvian - whom I'd never heard of before. That's one of the coolest aspects of the show; hearing something you've never heard before, getting jazzed about it and searching it out. David Sylvian is now on my "list". Any of you guys familiar with him?

MiTT said:

I'm disappointed. I ended up having to work all day today and missed the third day of the show entirely. I hope that the rest of the guys took plenty of pictures and notes from the Atrium 5th floor as well as the Tower 2nd floor as I missed those entirely. Still quite a few items to post though...

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Tim, great posts so far. Today, for the first time, I took my camera and notepad with me to the show. Unfortunately, I can't upload any pics here, at the hotel (I'm using their PC). I should be home in a few days and will post pics then.
My vote for best deal of the show has to be the ADAM setup. I think they performed way above their price point.
Best of show sound for me? Very hard choice, but the German Physiks speakers were probably the top choice for me for use in any normal sized room. Rich and I heard a thrilling piano recording over them today, it really was something special. The MBL 111F's were also great, as was the sound from the PS Audio room. All of the Hansons sounded great, too. I'm going on memory now, so I'll just wait until I get home and upload the pics and decipher my notes. It was a great show and a pleasure to spend some more time with friends I made at last year's show and meeting new friends at this one!

MiTT said:

...Even in two channel this system sounded great with music by David Sylvian - whom I'd never heard of before. That's one of the coolest aspects of the show; hearing something you've never heard before, getting jazzed about it and searching it out. David Sylvian is now on my "list". Any of you guys familiar with him?

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yep, used to listen to him back in the early 80's when he was part of the band "Japan". sort of new wavish stuff, like Ultravox, Joh Fox or Classics Neuveau

Janszen

We've talked a bit here on the site about the new Janszen's (I think Mr. Janszen has even participated in the discussion as memory serves - that's him turning toward the camera in the first shot), but this was my first introduction to them. The look was pretty straightforward, with perforated metal grills that can be removed. Interstingly, they are not dipoles, the back of the speakers formed of a curved wooden enclosure available in different finishes. You can see it in the mirror in the second picture. Not quite as good in the imaging department as my CLS's, but the dynamics and openess were quite impressive indeed. I've not heard the CLX's, but it would be an interesting comparison. At about $5K more than the CLX ($27K), I suspect I'd stay loyal. Disc player was a Wadia and electronics were all Bryston.

Monarchy/Lenehan

High on my list of rooms featuring the most bang for the buck was the Monarchy Audio and Lenehan Acoustics room. Monarchy was showing their NM24 Tube DAC Linestage in a single box ($1599.00) being fed an upsampled signal that started off from a non-descript Samsung DVD player, but passed through their DIP Upsampler ($399.00). Their Class A SE100 Delux MK2 monoblocks ($1179.00 each) sounded great feeding the Lenehan ML1 Monitors. These Australian made mini's were simply awsome, especially considering the $2300.00 asking price!

slowGEEZR said:

Best of show sound for me? Very hard choice, but the German Physiks speakers were probably the top choice for me for use in any normal sized room. Rich and I heard a thrilling piano recording over them today, it really was something special.

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Bummer, I actually skipped their room because I was in a hurry and after listening to them paired with AIX last year I was very unimpressed. Damnit, I wish I'd had more time!

I didn't get to spend very much time at all this year at RMAF. From my brief stay there, I really only have two comments. First, I agree that the Focal room wasn't as impressive as last year. In fact, I'm not sure if it was even close; I'm going to chalk it up to the lack of Boulder products this year.

Second, I was once again pretty impressed by the Nordost room. While I noticed a fair difference in some of their product demonstrations, they didn't really make me want to pay for Odin or Valhalla cables. What they did make me want were the speakers. Last year I was very impressed by the size and clarity of the sound coming from the $36,000 Raidho Ayra C3.0 speakers, and this year I was still pretty impressed by the $14,000 Raidho Ayra C1.0 speakers. (I'd love to try them at home, but they are virtually never on the used market)


Also, maybe it's just me, but it seemed like a number of rooms had somewhat lower end (as far as super high end stuff goes) equipment than last year. Coincidence, or because of the economy?

MiTT said:

High on my list of rooms featuring the most bang for the buck was the Monarchy Audio and Lenehan Acoustics room. Monarchy was showing their NM24 Tube DAC Linestage in a single box ($1599.00) being fed an upsampled signal that started off from a non-descript Samsund DVD player, but passed through their DIP Upsampler ($399.00). Their Class A SE100 Delux MK2 monoblocks ($1179.00 each) sounded great feeding the Lenehan ML1 Monitors. These Australian made mini's were simply awsome, especially considering the $2300.00 asking price!

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There has been a heap of positive noise regarding the Lenehan monitors on the Australian forums - seems to have created something special. I have still not heard a system with the Lenehans.

Kevin

MiTT said:

High on my list of rooms featuring the most bang for the buck was the Monarchy Audio and Lenehan Acoustics room. Monarchy was showing their NM24 Tube DAC Linestage in a single box ($1599.00) being fed an upsampled signal that started off from a non-descript Samsund DVD player, but passed through their DIP Upsampler ($399.00). Their Class A SE100 Delux MK2 monoblocks ($1179.00 each) sounded great feeding the Lenehan ML1 Monitors. These Australian made mini's were simply awsome, especially considering the $2300.00 asking price!

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In terms of sound alone, how would you say the Lenehan ML1 compares to ML Source?

MiTT said:

We've talked a bit here on the site about the new Janszen's, Interstingly, they are not dipoles, the back of the speakers formed of a curved wooden enclosure available in different finish

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Tim, as always, GREAT coverage, even though your time was limited.

FWIW, when I questioned Mr Janszen on his design he replied that they are still a 'di-pole' design but with a curved and insulated rear to absorb the rear-wave thus providing ease of set-up.............so.........what does that make them....an electrostatic hybrid......"in a box" ??

As good as they sounded their 27k price point was at a level of the CLX's and a pair of subs(something that I will be listening to by weeks end) so in my eyes/ears they are 5-10k overpriced.

For 3k less give me the Hansen's !

Thanks Dave, I hope you'll be adding planty of pictures and thoughts here as well.

I took the comment about the Janszens not being dipoles directly from the press release, but I get what you're saying. I agree, for the money I'd go for the Hansen Princes, or obviously the CLX's (I believe, not having ever heard them yet).

J-Corder

J-Corder is a company that specializes in the restoration and enhancement of vintage Technics reel to reel recorders. This room was FULL of eye candy! I couldn't believe the level of detail in the restoration of these deck, ranging in price from the mid-$4K range up to about $10K for one big monster with a full carbon fiber chassis. They machine and fit the decks with all new head assemblies and detail them out top to bottom so that they are essentially as new or better. Very good sounding room using a vintage Kenwood amp and McIntosh pre-amp driving some huge speakers that I have no clue as to manufacture. After hearing and seeing these deck I have a serious case of audio lust!

Acoustic Technologies

Brand new speaker company Acoustic Technologies were displaying their only model, the Classic. This speaker uses a single 3" titanium driver (so no crossover), in a very simple yet elegant floor standing enclosure that exibited very good fit and finish. I was astounded at the coherence and sheer musicality of these little speakers, certainly one of my favorites of the show! Bass was suprizingly good, and imaging was very 3 dimensional. CD player was a tubed Ayon unit feeding a Pass pre-amp and a First Watt amp. What astonished me most was the $2450.00 asking price! As far as I was concerned they performed WAY above that price point. I listened to Raul Malo singing "Blue Moon" followed by the Fairfield Four doing "Noah" and I didn't want to leave the room even though the show was closing for the day. I could spend a lot of time in front of these little gems.

MiTT said:

After hearing and seeing these deck I have a serious case of audio lust!

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But if you bought one, Tim, what would you play on it? Aren't pre-recorded tapes as rare as hen's teeth?

Tim,

Thanks for the coverage. Your audio porn is almost on the level of Justin's.

Have you or anyone else hear a speaker at any price point with a midrange that is close to or on the same level as an electrostat's?

zaphod said:

yep, used to listen to him back in the early 80's when he was part of the band "Japan". sort of new wavish stuff, like Ultravox, Joh Fox or Classics Neuveau

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Ah, so it is the guy I'm thinking of: I remember his song, Red Guitar (or something similar; there's a line in it about him playing his red guitar).