RMAF 2007 Day 3

[MiTT]

I'm finally finding some time to post photo's and impressions of Day 3 of the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2007. Unfortunately I left all of my notes at the office (working from home today), so I'll have to come back and add some information later when I can consult them - I'm an old fart and remember very little.

At any rate, the first room I hit on Day 3 was SonicWeld. Similar to last year my impressions of this system was that it sounded pretty good, but not good enough to motivate me to pay the $hitpot load of money they want for them. They are pretty striking to look at though...

 

[MiTT]

Synergistic Research

Synergystic Research was demonstrating their all new Tesla line, as well as their rather amazing Enigma tube rectified bias generator. Similar to the past two generations of Synergistic cables, there is a bias current applied to the jacket of the cable to combat noise. The Enigma is available with a solid state circuit, as well as a tube circuit to accomplish this feat. The Enigma Limited shown here has two different tube circuits for applying the bias. This is where the scoffers among you will cry foul, but here goes... Ted Denney, founder and CEO of Synergistic, was demonstrating the effect of the cables first without the bias current applied (very good), then with the bias applied via an EL34 (I believe) (Quite a bit better), and finally via a vintage Tungsol (Friggin' amazing). Progressively quieter backgrounds, better soundstage, more detail. Hogwash you say - well, you had to be there. This room was quite the buzz all around the show.

One cool thng about all Synergistic Research cables is that you can take any of them back to Synergistic and they will rework them for you to current status for a nominal fee...

 

[MiTT]

Ayre/Avalon

Ayre and Avalon were showing together as both a 2 channel stereo setup and a full multi-channel home theater. This room was amazing! Great picture (playing some wonderful live Richard Thompson), truely holographic sound in both modes, and both manufacturers have products that just exude quality. The Ayre electronics included their mid level universal player and pre-amp combined with the MXR monoblocks (one of my favorite solid state designs). The speakers were the Ascendants, a two way design that just blows me away everytime I hear it. Very easily the best 2 way I believe I've ever heard - I like it even better that the Kharma Mini Ceramique.

I spent a long time in this room and talked with the Avalon folks quite a bit. The big news is their new model, the Indra, that they tell me has sonics that come within 10% or so of the very well regarded Isis, but for less coin than both the Edilon Diamond and Edilon Vision at $18.5K. I'm making an appointment to go hear them as soon as possible!

Yet another room that I place into my Top 10 for the show.

 

[MiTT]

Antique Sound Labs & Ref 3A

Antique Sound Labs was present with both the revised version of their acclaimed Hurricane (200 WPC) on static display and a new 845 based amp called the Cadenza (60WPC) both priced at $6500 the pair. The Cadenza sounded amazing to my ears, especially when paired with the equally amazing Reference 3A Grand Veena loudspeakers ($8800 I think). Source was the Emm Labs single box player (these and the Esoteric players were EVERYWHERE), combined with a Copeland pre-amp.

Another room to add to my Top 10 list, the music here was just liquid smooth, kind of like listening to 35 year old scotch. I was just content to relax and bask in the wonderful sound of music. A great combination!

 

[rs2]

MiTT: I have been following this thread with great interest. I wanted to say thank you very much to you, sleepy and others for taking the time to post all of this great information. Avalon's are my favorite non Logan speakers. I bet that room was incredible! Also thanks for my favorite quote "kind of like listening to 35 year old scotch".

 

[MiTT]

rs2, I'm glad you're enjoying the coverage. More to come...

 

[MiTT]

Symposium and Emotive Audio

Last year one of the most interseting rooms was that occupied by Symposim and Emotive Audio, and this year was no different. Symposium is best known as a maker of isolation racks, platforms etc., but they also are working on one of the most striking loudspeaker designs I've ever laid eyes upon. Last year this speaker looked like it was composed out of erector set components and duct tape. It still has that erector set feel, but a lot less duct tape, and the SOUND. Well, the sound was something hard to describe because this year it did not sound like any speaker I have ever heard, in fact, it did not sound like any speaker period. This speaker makes almost all other speakers sound like mechanical boxs and drivers. This speaker sounds like music appearing out of thin air. The Emotive audio electronics must share some of the credit, but this was a giant step forward and I hope a harbinger of things to come. Statospherically priced (somehwere in the $80's as I recall), ugly as a monkee in make up, but none the less, simply enchanting. Possibly the best sound of the show.

FWIW, the two guys on the sofa in the last photo are Absoloute Sound senior contributors Robert Harley (left) and Johnathin Valin (right) who will likely echo my observations in an upcoming issue of that tome... Mr. Valin had a very special CD mastered by Mark Levinson of blues artists that are not big names, but that play they're hearts out. One cut in particular was an artist unknown to me playing acoustic guitar ever so lightly it seemed almost accapella, while he sang "Rainy Night in Georgia". This guys voice was simply sublime - deep and powerfull in a way that made it seem like this was the first time I had EVER heard the song. According to Mr. Valin the CD is just impossible to find.

 

[Rich]

Excellent coverage, Mitt. I have really been enjoying your write-ups. So having heard the Emm Labs and Esoteric CD players in several different high end systems, I am wondering what your thoughts are on the sound of these two brands? I am considering a source upgrade in the not-to-distant future and both of these are on my short list. Any thoughts or comparisons?

 

[MiTT]

Excellent coverage, Mitt. I have really been enjoying your write-ups. So having heard the Emm Labs and Esoteric CD players in several different high end systems, I am wondering what your thoughts are on the sound of these two brands? I am considering a source upgrade in the not-to-distant future and both of these are on my short list. Any thoughts or comparisons?

Rich, I don't think you can wrong with either player to be honest with you. I'm an unabashed Esoteric fan because I'm the happy owner of a DV-50S. When I was in the Esoteric room they were telling me all of the high end brands that they are starting to farm out transports to and among those brands were the likes of Wadia, dCS and recently, Emm. It is a less robust version of their VRDS transport, but based upon the same mechanism. Another room that I was in was a company that specializes in mods to players (can't remember the name right now - damn memory), and their take was that the Denon players show the most dramatic results with all of their mods, the Emm near the top, with the least amount of overall benefit, and Esoteric at the very top because they do a lot right to begin with.

It's likely to come down to a matter of taste to be honest, along with synergy with the rest of your system. I personally like the aesthetics of Esoteric gear better.

 

[Rich]

It's likely to come down to a matter of taste to be honest, along with synergy with the rest of your system. I personally like the aesthetics of Esoteric gear better.

Yeah, I lean toward the Esoterics too. The build quality is superb and the transport is probably the best in the business. And in a disc player, everything begins with the transport. At the same time, I know the EMM and Wadia gear is great, too. Hopefully I will get a chance to listen to all of them before I make my decision. I am not in any big hurry. Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[Audiophiliac]

Was Zu there this year? And did you run across any major mention of Empirical Audio products? I know they werent there, but had products in some rooms....just curious.

 

[MiTT]

Was Zu there this year? And did you run across any major mention of Empirical Audio products? I know they werent there, but had products in some rooms....just curious.

Audiphiliac, Dave (Twich) was asking me about Zu in one of the other threads too. They were there as one of the official sponsors of the show, but didn't have a room of their own. They did all of the sound reinforcements for the live performances that were happening nearly continuously all weekend in the hotels atrium. Sounded great, but not exactly the venue for critical listening.

I remember something by Emperical, but I'll have to dig through my notes, which of course I left at the office. I'm going purely by memory now and that's a bit dodgey.

 

[MiTT]

Sanders Sound Systems

So have any of you heard of a guy with the last name of Sanders who dreamt up a method of making great sounding, reliable electrostatic loudspeakers that won many awards and critical accolades, but then left the company to pursue other interests? No, not Gayle Sanders of Martin Logan fame - George Sanders formerly of Innersound, now head of Sanders Sound Systems. Innersound is now defunct, but Geroge Sanders has started a new venture making his very specials ESL Series amps intended specifically for electrostatic loudspeakers. They looked and sounded great driving his personal set of Innersound Eros speakers (sounding very much like Summits). Front end was a stunning retake on the old Merrill tables of the 80's, the all new Merrill Scintilla, based upon some of the original concepts of the now famous and collectable tables, but hewn from the very newest materials and processes. This was a very musical and exciting room, near the top of the heap.

 

[MiTT]

Amber Waves

Amber Waves simply makes one of the biggest, most interesting sets of monoblocks I've ever seen or heard. They really are very good sounding and absolutely stunning to behold. At $40K and I'll bet a good 500 lbs., the 304TL puts out a whopping 200 watts of directly heated triode power - the huge tubes glowing like some mad scientists experiment gone bad.

They remind me of when Billy Bob Thornton was married to Angelina Jolie. It's sort of funny looking and wierd, at the same time smoldering and sexy, and ultimately destined to fail. Oh, but what a fun ride along the way!

 

[Joey_V]

Tim,

I did not know that Innersound is now defunct. The guy I bought my Summits from replaced them with the Innersound Kayas.... I gotta get a hold of him and see what's up with his speakers and if he knows about this bit of news.

Which Innersounds did you audition in the pics? Are those the Kayas or the smaller ones?

Joey

 

[MiTT]

Tim,


Which Innersounds did you audition in the pics? Are those the Kayas or the smaller ones?

Joey

They were an older model called the Eros...

 

[sleepysurf]

So have any of you heard of a guy with the last name of Sanders who dreamt up a method of making great sounding, reliable electrostatic loudspeakers that won many awards and critical accolades, but then left the company to pursue other interests? No, not Gayle Sanders of Martin Logan fame - George Sanders formerly of Innersound, now head of Sanders Sound Systems. Innersound is now defunct, but Geroge Sanders has started a new venture making his very specials ESL Series amps intended specifically for electrostatic loudspeakers. They looked and sounded great driving his personal set of Innersound Eros speakers (sounding very much like Summits). Front end was a stunning retake on the old Merrill tables of the 80's, the all new Merrill Scintilla, based upon some of the original concepts of the now famous and collectable tables, but hewn from the very newest materials and processes. This was a very musical and exciting room, near the top of the heap.

Actually, it's ROGER Sanders. I agree, his amps sounded superb driving the Innersounds. He was quite dismayed his old company went kaput under the new management. I suspect he's thinking about resurrecting that speaker design sometime down the road.

Of note, he told me he'd provide a NO-RISK home trial of his amp (free shipping both ways). Not sure if this was a show special, or ongoing deal, but I am tempted to take him up on that. He also sells an electrostatic-specific speaker cable. See his website for details.

 

[MiTT]

Actually, it's ROGER Sanders. I agree, his amps sounded superb driving the Innersounds.

Duh - yes, exactly, Roger Sanders. This is what happens when I leave my notes at the office...

 

[MiTT]

Kharma/Tenor

Kharma was back this year, and the suprise was that they were showing with the new revitalized Tenor Audio 350 R 350W hybrid monoblocks. The speakers were the Mini Grande Ceramique's at $33.5K/pair, while the Tenors run a cool $90K/pair ($75K show special!). It was all running through a huge mbl pre-amp, source was a Vyger turntable with an SME 12" arm and the very sweet sounding Air Tight PC-1 cartridge. Liquid would be the best abjective for describing the sound. Very nice indeed.

 

[twich54]

Hi Tim, again great coverage ! you know once your done with the updates I would love if you would share with us your top three or five choices of the show. It's understood that 'show conditions' don't always produce the best sound, but given your "Veteran" status with this show and whose judgement I trust and value, I think it would be neat to see your 'pecking' order !!