AXPONA 2011 Atlanta reports/thoughts?

Rockadanny,

The Napa room was very good. I liked the approach which was " Turn any 100 sq foot space into an acoustic oasis ". The aesthetics were a bit on the over modern ( the lines and curves, not the tubes) for my taste but the sound was very open and coherent. A tough act for a 4 way speaker IMHO. I went back to inquire about a show deal on some of the sound treatment panels but they had already sold the whole rig. the 5K rig made real bass in the small end of the room and the overall presentation was very easy on the ears.

Audioguy3107- Not sure of the price tag but I must say the DH rig ala M. Levinson was very forward and seemed to add extra snap to leading edge transients. The rep. was very pleased with the "detail" and "speed" and kept mentioning that he was using a "$400 laptop" as the source. Into a 50K DAC perhaps? Dunno, just not my cup o' music.

I had worked two shows in my time, one for a dealer and another for a manufacturer/importer. It was always my pleasure to accept recordings from visitors of my room, not just as good customer service, but as a bond to the individual and the music he/she listens to. I am going back 15 or so years so maybe things are different now. But turning these potential customers away is not good business sense, and takes the "enjoyment" factor out of the equation, which is why we do what we do anyway. I have not been to a show in quite some time, but it is a shame that this is going on.

There were a lot of nice exhibitors as well last weekend at AXPONA. I'd say the Wharfdale guys, the Napa audio room (extremely friendly), the Adams folks, and the guy in the Lansche Audio room were some of the best. Even the YG Acoustics guy was really friendly and played a couple of things for me as well. It really is about the "atmosphere" of some of the displays.....you kind of felt that you were bothering them if you were checking out their gear.

I guess its just goes back to some of the problems with the high end industry as a whole and why many brick and mortar retailers haven't survived the last 5 years or so.

The YG guy was very friendly.

Was treated great in every room i went into over all three days.
Three rooms stood out above the rest for me.
The Voxativ Ampeggio speakers driven by Fi electronics and lector CDP was my favorite. Cant remember hearing a speaker i like more......anywhere, anytime.
Right up there with it was the YG Acoustic room with DCS stack and krell amp. WOW!
My wife liked this room so much she bought the Carmels.
Also liked the Horning room a bunch.