California Audio Show

[squasher100]

Went to the show yesterday and got to hear some lovely systems. Some observations:

1) Every system with Pass Labs amps sounded fantastic.
2) Martin Logan had a new bookshelf speaker ($800) with a ribbon tweeter. Matched with a small velodyne mini vee sub, it sounded well worth the money. They are supposed to out sometime this fall.
3) New DLS on wall speakers (midi) from Sweden were very engaging. I have never hear on such small wall speakers sound so good. The show special of $350 for a pair (show price) made them great for a secondary set up where WAF is an issue.
4) Ayon audio tube amps paired with Lumin White Aquila speakers truly reflected their review headline "the Bugati of audio"
5) Magico Q1 monitors sounded very rich, but I felt lacked the clarity in the highs.
6) Wilson Audio Sophia with pass labs worth special mention for their beautiful sound. It was being showcasing the DaVinci DAC from Light Harmonic (15k).
7) MBL omni directional speakers looked very interested and sound very good, but not sure if they were worth the $71k list prices
7) Very disappointed with Dan D’Agostino's set up. Dan was the guy who founded Krell and his new amp is supposed to be amazing. Being a long time Krell fan, I was really looking forward to the demo. The room was very shallow and wide and somehow didn't sound very well. I know it was a hotel room at an audio show and all, but they could have atleast tried to pick a more decent room or change the set up a bit.

 

[JordanD]

I was there all Saturday. I passed on going Friday and Sunday so I could visit a few local shops to listen to some good speakers and talk to some good people. BTW I got the chance to listen to the CLX at a local dealer and all I can say is I know what I am shooting for now haha. The CLX was by far the most impressive speaker I have ever listened to, and it seems that most people I talked to felt the same. Affiliated with Martin Logan or not.

But my most note worthy rooms I visited were (in no particular order):

1. The Martin Logan/Vincent/Velodyne room (Soundscape). They were showing off budget audiophile systems which in my opinion were some of the best one cool see at that show. The new Motion LX-16 is a phenomenal little speaker that just boasted such a big sound, as well as being...well Martin Logan. It sounded great and I would put it up against most of the bookshelf speakers that cost three times as much. The Electromotions sounds great as usual, but this was my first time listening to Vincent electronics and they are fantastic, at at a really good price too.

2. The Sony towers being shown were simply amazing. I walked into the Sony room not expecting what I heard. They were running Pass Labs and that probably didnt hurt but those Sony speakers were awesome. $27k awesome? Maybe not, but still really great.

3. Those weird MBL speakers sounded good, but them being omni-directional made them image so poorly. Plus for someone to build a system with the little MBL and not the large one you could buy three pairs of CLX and still not be able to power them. The MBL amps were $30k each. all in all fairly impressive, but for the money hell no. and if you were wondering their towers are $263K for the pair.

4. The Wilson Audio room was nice. It sounded good, but the speakers are hideous and no wife would want those hahaha.

5. The Magico Speakers were freaking awesome! I loved those little guys and I would really love to hear the towers now hearing what the bookshelves could do.

6. The Lumin Whites were in a room with Legacy. The Legacy's sounded fine, they didn't really grab me, but the Lumin Whites were phenomenal in every way. Not only was their sound simply captivating, and their cabinet design and finish was just simply probably the best I have ever seen. I am sure we can also give the credit to the Ayon electronics running everything in that room.

7. Bob Hodas had a room (not really sure who he is) and it was really something. He was using Focal Diablo Utopias which were just great. He was also using... well I shouldn't say he because Bob was not there. He had a lovely young lady showing off his work. I dont want to discount the work she did because she was amazing, but I digress. Back on topic he was really showing off his "Tape Project" and his room acoustics. The whole display was just phenomenal, in looks and sound.

8. Napa Acoustics had a room showing off some really phenomenal budget audiophile systems. Actually so much so one of my friends bought one of his tiny tube hybrids on the spot.

9. DLS audio was showing some truly astounding on wall speakers. They had a high WAF but not only that but he was showing an On-wall Subwoofer! The whole display was beautiful and really had the sound to match, and very modestly priced. When I heard it I was imagining 3 times the price he told me. The middle on wall was only $399.99!

10. Tannoy was definitely note worth based on the big sound out of their fairly priced bookshelf speakers.

To wrap this up, a couple quick mentions. Light Harmonic Da Vinci DAC, AudioEngine, Brodmann Acoustics, Nola, Amarra, and Dan D’Agostino.

There was far more there that could have been mentioned, but all in all a great show!