RMAF 2016................Boenicke W5

I read Peachtree demo was with 100+ watt Class D amp running Zus, which yes could get mighty loud if desired I would expect.    I've read more than one review indicating the sound was one of the better ones at the show.

I read OHM Acoustics will be demoing  their Walsh speaker line with Peachtree at the upcoming NY Audio Show in November as well.   Would love to be there and hear that compared to others but too far away so not likely.

The W5's are the smallest speakers in the range.
The Peachtree room on the Mezzanine floor had the loudest demo that I heard, to loud for me, although the sound was quite good.
I liked the Mackintosh room to especially the fish spinning on the turntable.
A few rooms had reel to reels in also. Are they coming back into vogue?
Will we see a cassette deck resurgence one day? I might have to take out the old Nakamichi, dust it down and connect it up! lol......
The Sanders Sound System room Electrostatics were very nice and I liked the demo by them.
I liked the Burwell and sons Horn speaker, the cd I gave them to play sounded very nice, with a price tag of $80000 so they should be.
I was very disappointed with the Classic Audio room, as I have them sound a whole lot better, they were playing a track by Yello, sounded more like Jello to me.
I listened to a pair of $2000 Sony headphones, whilst nice does any one spend that much on headphones? I never use headphones personally. I did like the EMM equipment connected to them though. 
  

I would like to hear them. I am always looking for good things in smaller packages.  They would fit nicely on my Isoacoustics stands, just a few inches off the floor and with slight tilt up.    I use corner placement  (similar to what is done with Audio Note speakers at shows) in the room that they would fit into and that helps a lot to get more bass out of smaller boxes when needed.

Zu has yet to reel me in from demos I have heard but the door is still open. I really like the looks and they are strong centenders for anyone building around a tube amp.

There could be a pair of Zu Soul or Tekton Lore speakers in my future just to try out for the fun of it and see where things might go.

Mapman - please disregard my unfinished sentence.

Hi John,

I believe they are made with a solid piece of wood. The Innards look like someone was having fun with a router. I won't be buying a pair as I have enough (ahem, hope she does not read this....) speakers in the house. Another, and the most important reason is cats and dogs, they would not last 5 minutes on their stands.

I thought the Zu room sounded decidedly average.

Mapman- you should really hear a pair, you

gawd,

You are comparing very small speakers that must have limited bass extension to much larger more expensive more full range models.

Getting full range speakers set up to sound good is always a bigger challenge. Bass resonances mask other frequencies and detail, sounds fat or muddy etc.

I could imagine the small speakers sounding "better" with some music than much larger and expensive ones and systems if room and setup is less than optimal. There is less bass to get in teh way or go wrong usually with small speakers.

Is that possible?

In any case, all I’m saying is they are small and price not paltry for their size. Comparing to much larger full range speakers sounds like apples and oranges and a pure judgement call that would be hard to substantiate it would appear. At the very least all should be set up optimally in order to make a fair comparison. Little guys like that would have a lot to prove against much larger similar quality competition.

In the end what one likes is all that matters. They are very nice looking tiny speakers and I’d expect sound very good within their limits.  Of course I have not heard them so do not know.

Just saying. Paltry is all relative I suppose.

Pretty sure its using fountek drivers so consider its running $300 retail in drivers and you liked it maybe DIY a pair

I too thought the Nagra/Avalon room sounded great.

The Vandersteen/ARC room sounded killer as did the MQA room using the Vandersteen 5A Carbon speakers. Vandersteens sound very good to great every show I've been to. 

The Magico/Synergistic Research room was a stand-out as well. I was also a lucky recipient to a private/dealer only demo of the new Magico M3 mated with 2 Q-sub 18's over at the Hyatt Regency. Utterly speechless was the response for most in attendance.

The Sony Magic Bus was a downright ethereal experience. This mobile system has to be experienced to be believed not just for the sound but the man hours, passion and technology that went into building it.

The Zu Audio room was a stand-out demo sounding extremely clean, no bass bloat and musical.

The Von Schweikert room was also sounding very good with no bass bloat, ultra deep bass and great dynamic range. 

I'm sure I'm forgetting a few...

Here is a longer youtube clip.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TSMNu5eHwk

The list below is a list of speakers who I think (to my ears) the W5 sounded better on the day at RMAF..........
Classic Audio Speakers not sure of the price around $16000?
The Sony speakers $27,000 a pair.
Vos Loudspeakers $135,000 Oh lordy..........
JBL's $90000 (ear bleed).........
Austin Acoustic SP-3R $348,000 OMG!!!
Happy Mr Gator?

Mapman- I don't know why you could not find the specs, just google 'Boenicke'.................The standard version is tuned to 65Hz, and the SE version to 50hz, although you would not have thought so by the depth of sound they play.
Check out the youtube clip with headphones
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9owcgCitemA

Paltry price? Indeed, compared to the above in purely Hi Fi sound v price terms.

I was glad to see this year rooms with complete systems, starting at $250/$500'$1000/$2500.

They look like very nice speakers for the size. But perhaps the most expensive that size I know of. Certainly not paltry. Sounds like marketing. I’d have to have a very small room to consider anything that size. Maybe with subs. Or for low level listening only. But lots of competition at that price.  Can't find any frequency response specs. 

In in general the trend is for most vendors to offer smaller speakers for higher price than in past. It’s easy for speakers to sound good when they simply punt on the low end. That is where the work is involved to reproduce well and costs are expected to be greater accordingly.

Sounds like a "passive brag"! The guy probably just accepted a Golden Parachute deal from his employer and now jet sets around the world listening to overprice audiophile gear. 🤑✈️🍾

Agree, $3600 is not a "paltry" sum of money. 

Most of the systems I listened to were bright, edgy, and forward; whether due to the room, speakers or electronics I couldn't say. 

My reaction was the same as Mapman’s...I can’t believe we’ve gotten to the point, even here on AG, where $3600 for speakers this size is now considered paltry. If one lights their cigars with $100 bills or is the leader of an OPEC country, $3600 is probably lunch money but it still seems like a healthy amount of money to me.

Gawdbless, specifically which brands and models of speakers that cost many times more than these at $3600 did you feel were not in the same league? To me, "many times more" has to mean a multiple of at least 3x, which means you’re talking about $11,000 speakers at minimum not being in the same league and it would help to know what these reference points are for you.

$3600 paltry for speakers that size?  Really?  That got my attention. 

I second the Avalon Nagra room, I thought it was very good.

The two rooms that sounded good to me were the Audio Alternative room with ARC and Vandersteen (complete with Richard Vandersteen out front!),and the Nagra/Avalon room.

One of the more fun rooms was Oppo demonstrating the Sonica Grand (IIRC).  Far from best in show, but a lot of music from a compact package.