Nordost gave an excellent demo of their cables, swapping in interconnects up their entire line, with obvious sonic improvements with each swap. He said there are no plans to replace Valhalla at this time.
The Gaylord maps were memorable, although they are oil cooled, not water cooled. Water would evaporate too quickly, probably short something out.
Overall, I noticed a couple things:
1. People were playing music way too loud. An acoustic bass being bowed should not be too loud to shout over; the decay at the end of a cymbal strike should not sound like a shop vac.
2. Most systems sounded vry good with the demo discs that most people were using. These were typically high quality recordings of intimate jazz ensembles - piano, drums, vocalist, maybe horn(s). But I noticed that when I played my non-audiophile discs, many systems had an aggressive upper midrange. I don't know if this was due to the rooms, the equipment, or just not enough time to tweek.
3. There were a couple standout rooms in which even my lowly recordings sounded very good, and the audiophile stuff was even better:
AUDIOPAX - They were demoing new solid state monoblocks and new speakers. This was a standout room last year, and was even better this year. Last year, I thought their sound was a good blend of analytical and musical sound. This year, the sound was more musical in that it had all the resolution, frequency extension and analytical qualities, yet didn't make you think "this is a bit analytical" Just musical with the rich qualities of real music.
BURMESTER - Very powerful, clean and musical, while being highly resolving. This is some of the most impressive gear I've come across. The casework has to be seen to be appreciated, and musically one of the best in the show (IMHO).
ASCENDO - There were a couple systems set up. One had a Reimyo CD player, CAT JL2 (I think) monoblocks, cna't remember pre. This system had excellent sound. I made a note that it might not have gotten the very, very deepest of bass notes, but it got awfully close. The other systems were set up in an upstairs room, and sounded good, but not quite so impressive. I blame the room for this, as the floor was quite flexible. I could lift my heels a half inch off the floor, and let myself drop, and the whole room would shake, and I only weigh 150 lbs.
All of the above systems were very powerful, able to handle large-scale music with finesse, were natural sounding with more intimate music, and could play my non-audiophile CDs musically. They are also terribly expensive. I couldn't pick out a favorite based on sound, but since the entire Audiopax system cost a fraction of the others, it has to be the standout. Plus, they were some of the nicest people there.
One other standout room was the Von Schweikert hall, with VR-7SEs being driven with an Oracle CD player and VAC amps. Similar sound to the onews mentioned above, but I didn't get a chance to use my CDs.
Also, if anyone heard the Joseph Audio room early in the show, the sound got a lot better later on. On my first listen, I couldn' tstay in the room. I went back later, and the sound was very good. Apparently something had not been set properly, causing the amplifiers to be overdriven.
