Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2008

[MiTT]

Crap???

This picture is total crap, but then so were these speakers and so was the music? eminating from the room. I have no idea what these things were called, nor do I know what they cost, nor do I care. The only reason I bothered with them was the absolute absurdity of them. They remind me of a pot bellied stove or one of those chiminara's. Did I mention I didn't like them?

 

[tonepub]

Im with you on the raven table, love mine!

 

[MiTT]

First Watt

Nelson Pass's "other" company First Watt (because he told me last year that the very first watt the amp produces is the most important), was displaying this sweet sounding little dual monoral amp. I can't quite read all my notes on this one, but I believe I wrote that it's a 10wpc Class A device. The kid I was talking to in the room is actually an intern over at Pass and he said that when Nelson goes home at night he literally dreams up, builds and plays with the First Watt stuff in his basement and on his kitchen table.

 

[MiTT]

Daedalus

I have to give Daedalus Audio credit. When I first heard their speakers four years ago I didn't care for them at all, but they keep coming back every year, and they keep sounding better every year. These Reference Series examples are very dynamic, have wonderful timbres especially on acoustic instruments and the woodwork on the cabinets is flawless. The big Manley 250 monoblocks looked and sounded great in this room. Apparently Manley and Art Audio are somehow tied together now because when I was talking to the main guy from Art Audio he said that he specifically recommended these amps to Daedalus and Art Audio is mentioned in the program as the amplifier in this room. Hmmmm?

 

[MiTT]

Antique Sound Labs & Ref 3A

OK, earlier I'd mentioned how much I liked the sound of the Reference 3A Grand Veena's in the room where they were partnered with the Qucksilver gear. Well I absolutely LOVED them in this room - certainly within my top 10 rooms of the show. The $7000.00 Grand Veena's sounded just amazing with the latest iteration of the ASL Hurricanes ($6500.00 the pair) and the new ASL Flora EX pre-amp ($3500.00). This is another room where I went back more than once simply because it ALWAYS sounded just great. On this visit they were playing a simply stunning version of Albinoni's "Adagio" with only an organ and contrabass on a Cisco gold CD that I am on the prowl for right now. It gave me goosebumps and I nearly wept it was that good!

 

[MiTT]

Abbingdon Music Research

The Abbingdon Music Research CD players were being used in a number of rooms this year and Vincent Luke was pretty happy about that. In the AMR room they were also demonstrating their new phono stage to great effect in conjunction with yet another of the Dr. Fleikert turntables. The cartride in this case was the Lyra Skala that I've been considering for myself, so I was happy to sit around and listen to a great Shirly Horn recording. The speakers were Acoustics Systems, but I don't know model or price.

 

[MiTT]

Jones Audio

Jones Audio premiered at RMAF with their big new solid state monoblocks. The system consisted of a basic Denon 3910 universal player feeding a Benchmark DAC also serving as a pre-amp for the Jones's driving a pair of stock B&W 804's. They were playing an instumental Stevie Ray Vaughn cut that I wasn't familiar with (found out it's track 15 on his "Greatest Hit's Vol. 2" disk - another one that's on my GET list), and it sounded way better than it had any right to on such a simple set up. In talking to Jason Jones he says that his amps will work exceptionally well with 'stats. We should heep an eye on these guys, some of us might be Jonesin' for some Jones's (sorry, I know that crosses a line).

 

[MiTT]

Immedia

The Immedia room was featuring these great new Spiral Groove turntables. I'd like to tell you what else was in the system but I was so overcome looking at the turntables and listening to the music that I simply didn't capture anything else in my notes, nor did I get any other pictures of the system. Sorry.

At any rate, the turntable on the right and in the second photo is their lower priced ($15K) model fitted with a Triplanar tonearm and Lyra Titan I cartridge ($4500.00). The one on the left and in the third picture is their more expensive ($20K) model featuring their own Spiral Groove tonearm ($6000.00) and the new top of the heap Lyra Olympus cartridge (I didn't get the price). Pure analog heaven!

 

[Feltran]

Well, so not everything can sound good right? These very interesting looking speakers from a company called Waterfall were aesthetically pleasing I suppose, but they really didn't make good use of materials in my opinion for a loudspeaker enclosure. These all glass speakers playing Eva Cassidy's version of "Ain't No Sunshine" off of a music server of indeterminate origin sounded, well, ... very bright!

Quoting back to page 2.

I think these glass Waterfall speakers are beautiful, and I've always wanted a pair. When I got to RMAF, they were the first thing I heard, and I thought to myself "they sound pretty good." Admittedly, not really good enough to justify the price, but I wanted them! Unfortunately, as it turns out, almost every other speaker at the show sounded better.

 

[User211]

The new top of the heap Lyra Olympus cartridge (I didn't get the price).

It's a Lyra Olympos SL. And you can't have one unless you have an early 1990 Parnassus. The original run of 10 sold out in 2002, so actually it isn't at all new. It uses platinum-iron magnets - enough to make 10 was found in the factory in 2002. Otherwise, the mags must come from an old Parnassus. £4995 over here. Just cos I know as a Lyra person (well, thinking about a Lyra, anyway) you'd be interested, Tim.

I like those Dr F*kerts TTs... and so does KK, but they didn't get a great tech write up over here in HFN.

 

[RichTeer]

It's a Lyra Olympos SL. And you can't have one unless you have an early 1990 Parnassus. The original run of 10 sold out in 2002, so actually it isn't at all new. It uses platinum-iron magnets - enough to make 10 was found in the factory in 2002. Otherwise, the mags must come from an old Parnassus. £4995 over here. Just cos I know as a Lyra person (well, thinking about a Lyra, anyway) you'd be interested, Tim.

Ah ha! That might explain why someone was recently interested in my original Lyra Parnassus. No current plans (not budget!) to replace it yet, but I guess it'll eventually be time to retire it...

 

[MiTT]

It's a Lyra Olympos SL. And you can't have one unless you have an early 1990 Parnassus. The original run of 10 sold out in 2002, so actually it isn't at all new. It uses platinum-iron magnets - enough to make 10 was found in the factory in 2002. Otherwise, the mags must come from an old Parnassus. £4995 over here. Just cos I know as a Lyra person (well, thinking about a Lyra, anyway) you'd be interested, Tim.

I like those Dr F*kerts TTs... and so does KK, but they didn't get a great tech write up over here in HFN.

Thanks for the info Justin, good to know. Out of my league I'm afraid, but still good to know.

I did talk to 3 seperate people about the Lyra Skala in my setup and they all felt it would be a good match. Of course all three also went on to tell me that I'd be better off with an entirely new tonearm and a Titan i, but that's not likely to happen either. In this economy I'm going to just hold off for awhile and re-investigate the Skala as funds permit.

 

[User211]

Apparently, though, the UK distributor can get hold of 6 per year. How does that work? Do Lyra scour audiogon/ebay for old Parnassus? You have to wonder

Anyway, yeah, silly money cart. We can't afford most of the stuff in the pics, but it's the "I can't have one of those, or a pair of those" that makes it so desirable sometimes. And the realisation that sometimes some of these components are actually worth it!

Richteer - you might well have been approached. But then again, could all be marketing hype. Gotta watch out for those guys.

Tim - suggest to Tom we get a show section for the site. I think it is a shame to let all your hard work go to waste/get lost in time. And these things are good to look at even when they are out-of-date. Personally, I am looking for all time classics and not necessarily the latest gear. Fifty years from now, you might have posted it yesterday. Wow, there's a thought. Custodian of records, where are you?

Now, back to Tim's capable hands...

 

[eknuds01]

This room somehow made me feel as if I was transplanted back to my youth but with much better sound quality. Certianally not best of show but very, very, comfortable. The fact that the music played was familiar to me helped, but the component synergy just seemed right to me.

Clasic Audio reproduction horn teamed up with Quicksilver and Atma-Sphere electronics. Music was spun on a Galibier TT.

I have to admit that I thoroughly enjoyed that room! It was one of my favorites!

 

[Bernard]

On this visit they were playing a simply stunning version of Albinoni's "Adagio" with only an organ and contrabass on a Cisco gold CD that I am on the prowl for right now. It gave me goosebumps and I nearly wept it was that good!

Please let me know when you locate it, Tim.

 

[MiTT]

Please let me know when you locate it, Tim.

Bernard, I talked to the guys in the May Marketing booth yesterday afternoon about it and they told me that they have it, but asked that I wait to confim it until later in the week so they had a chance to recover from the show. I'll forward any and all information I discover about it - including whether it's available on vinyl or not. I think you would love it.

 

[MiTT]

Studio Electric

All I recall about Studio Electric from last year was that they have some sort of connection with ElectronLuv. I don't recall what associated equipment they were running, but they sound very, very good with smaller scale music.

 

[MiTT]

U Gotme Audio

I have no idea what room I took this picture in, or who makes it or what else was in the system or how much it costs or even how it sounded

Sorry guys, it does look pretty sweet though huh?

 

[MiTT]

Audio Machina

These Audio Machina Maestro speakers ($49K) sounded very nice driven by the new monster Pathos Adrenalin 180wpc monoblocks. Source was the Pathos Digit CD player and the pre-amp was a BAT Rex. The Maestros are crafted just up the road from me in Ft. Collins, CO and the cabinets are machined from solid aluminum billet (much like the Krell and YG Acoustics speakers already mentioned in this report). They have a built in 2000W amp for the subwoofers (ICE unit perhaps?).

The sound... it was OK

 

[Bernard]

Bernard, I talked to the guys in the May Marketing booth yesterday afternoon about it and they told me that they have it, but asked that I wait to confim it until later in the week so they had a chance to recover from the show. I'll forward any and all information I discover about it - including whether it's available on vinyl or not. I think you would love it.

I found it, but it's unavailable on Amazon.com.

http://www.amazon.com/Gary-Karr-Ada...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1223949798&sr=8-1