2. speakers
  3. 1339263716

Thoughts from THE Show, is $29k the new $10k?

Had another enjoyabe brief one day visit to THE Show, Newport Beach last weekend. Great to see so many fellow hobbiests, and great gear. Went in search of speakers; here is a brief and disjointed summary of my impressions:
Many vendors were focusing on the $25-32k range; with most for sale around $29k as an entry point to 'quality'.
Rockport showed their new entry, $29k speaker in the Atrium. Had great balance; was warm, detailed, and engaging. First show presence for dealer; nice guy. My first experience with Rockport; was very impressed.
Eficion: at the Hilton; wow; for $16k I think it gives Wilson a run for its money with the Sophia; its AMT ribbon tweeter had great crystal highs, and its large woofer filled the room with satisfying bass, I enjoyed it.
BMC: nice gear; their $32k speakers had dipole arrangement; with both front and rear firing speakers; very engaging, huge sound stage, and great low end response. Paired up nicely with their amp/dac
YG: brought my own CD; so I was familiar with what was possible; initialy liked their sound;but in the end found it a bit 'dry', and brittle; and not totally enjoyable, this was at at least three different rooms showing their speakers.
Wilson Shasha's in the Brooks-Barden room; always a treat; enjoyed their room treatments, and professionalism, nice analog set up. Warm, detailed, lovely, and engaging.
Ventures: wow, very expensive; and very large...but totally engaging; great integration, warm, detailed, expansive sound stage, great bass, huge open subtle nuance on female voices...
Ayon: liked their Lumen White's better last year, than their own speaker line this year, but great amps and dac.
Found the KEF blades a bit disappointing, surprised at how large they are in person.
Enjoyed the TAD speakers again this year, well balanced, integrated very well.
There was a 'curved' line array speaker; I forget its name that also was quite good, interesting design, but filled the room with great sound; no glare.
The Veloce gear, with its battery source was extremely 'quiet' and detailed, and enjoyable.
Surprised how many room utilized the Synergistic Research ART treatments...hard to tell how it improved things; but can't argue with the results.
Too much to see and listen to in one brief day. Curious to hear from other members their take....I know you don't need to spend so much to get quality sound, but so many vendors showing off their $29k speakers made me want to chuckle; and take out a home loan...also thought the digital and computer audio was getting very close now to the analog rigs.
Love having this showcase in our backyard on the west coast; and will contiue to support and attend. Kudos to Bob Levi; and his team at LA/OC audio society; another great job; and Tierney Sutton singing on Friday night was an extra special treat.
mribob
suteetat
435 posts
 

"I agree with Tpreaves. Excellent observation. Set up and "the room" are also frequently used at shows to excuse less than excellent sound."

I wonder. Having been to only a few shows, however, some displayed systems that are a few hundred thouhsands dollars worth of equipments, I was always rather underwhelmed. Coming back home to listen to my own system is always a treat after a show. Even speakers that I own or speakers that I am familiar with, from friend's system etc always sound quite a bit worse at show. Certainly there are some good sound at a show but it seems that generally, you'll be lucky to hear 40-50% of what the system is truly capable of.

I wonder which system have anybody heard at show that sound as good or better as a comparable system that you have at home?
mike60
275 posts
 
Some audio companies build and market audio products at prices far in excess of their value, and some people buy them at prices I may not agree with or possibly even be able to afford. Both parties are very happy to make the transaction, so why would I care, and why would you?
Ag insider logo xs@2x
smortega
70 posts
 
I'm so happy to be enough of a prole that I could not tell that much of a difference b/w what I have and what I heard at last year's show to even THINK about paying that kind of money. I want the equipment to do justice to the music- but $30K for speakers??!!!
polk432
1,142 posts
 
You still have to feed the best speakers made with good upstream to get the most out of them. I have an all tube system, and just hooked up a Linn Classik using the same wires to the same speakers and they sound different. Why? If speakers were the be all end all of the system there would be no difference in sound using different amps and preamps. Garbage in equals garbage out. 30K for speakers? Fine...But not my money...No way No how.
david12
1,454 posts
 
"I wonder how many of these companies with rediculously priced components will be around next year".

Quite a few I would think. I am not trying to write an apologia for high end manufacturers, but we live in a world where true high end kit may only be sold to a handful of people. So all the development costs, fixed costs in premises, utilities, have te born by a few sales.

That is only the beginning. Next you have marketting, distributors and retailers %, all this has to be born by the poor buyer. No wonder high end kit, be it speakers, amplifiers, whatever, only a tiny percentage of the cost, is in the material content.

I know none of this is new and has been discussed ad nauseam on this and other sites. What may be more interesting, is how every part of the"industry", is adapting. Retailers seem to be lowering fixed costs by abandoning shop fronts, to work at home. Small manufacturers, use word of mouth and shows, to avoid the need for advertising and direct sales, to reduce distributor, retailers cut.

What underlies this thread is the rapidly changing customer base for HiFi ie rapidly declining and how the industry is adapting. Adapt it must, or die.
More to discover