The most interesting aspect of the show was how many exhibitors used some form of full range/extended range driver (Lowther, Feastrix, Tangband) in either single driver or multiple driver systems. The sound of MANY of these systems was quite good.
In one room Oasis Audio, showed various systems using Tangband drivers (single-driver, full-range). I particularly liked the system with a 5" driver and a round, clear, acrylic enclosure. The enclosure supported bass while allowing much of the midrange from the backwave to still be emitted into the room. The sound had the liveliness characteristic of full range drivers, but was not as peaky and tizzy sounding as such systems sounded in the past.
One of the Volti rooms used a 5" Feastrix driver in a beautifully made boat-tail cabinet. That was a terrific sounding use of a single driver--full and rich sounding and dynamic. The low-powered electronics from Deja Vu Audio probably had a lot to do with the great sound too. The other Volti room had a more traditional three-way horn system that, to me, was too polite and lacking in dynamics in the midrange to be my choice for a horn-based system, though it was, overall, a nice sounding system.
The big room where VPI exhibited their new low end table had another system using Tangband drivers. This implementation used a stack of woofers underneath the full range driver in a two-way system. The sound was very dynamic and exciting and showed off the VPI/Grado frontend in the best possible light (great sound from a low priced analogue source).
David Slagle's room with the huge round plastic horn surrounding a field coil Lowther driver, and two 15" woofers was a whole lot of fun to listen to, although the sound was a bit peaked in the upper midrange and more "colored" than the other full/extended range driver systems that I heard at the show. As hosts for an exhibit, those working the room could not have been nicer (it certainly was a big plus that they had kegs of Black Doc and Yellow Dog brew).
The Highwater room delivered perhaps the best sound I heard at the show--plenty of dynamics, great clarity, full and rich harmonic structure, and large and realistic soundstage. The frequency balanced wa tipped up a bit in the upper midrange and treble, but, in a way that was thrilling to hear (bright, but amazingly free of sibilance or harshness). The Horning speakers use a modified full-range Lowther driver as a midrange in a three way system. My only minor reservation would be the slight "plastic" coloration in the midrange, but, it was really only a minor quibble with what was a fantastic sounding system. The vinyl sources had to be impeccably set up to deliver the kind of high frequency energy without harshness that I heard. I was amazed at how well mono cartridges performed--the sound with well recorded mono records made a lack of a stereo soundstage a truly minor issue.
I liked the sound of several other systems that did not use full/extended range drivers. The system using the Soundfield speaker system sounded very good. I believe this used a coaxial 12" BMS driver firing forward, and a different driver on the back providing a dipole midrange/treble dispersion pattern, coupled two two bass drivers in a separate enclosure also providing dipole dispersion. This was another very lively sounding system.
Robert Lighton Audio had another lively and engaging system that coupled his two-way speaker to Audionote (uk) electronics. The sound was a touch bright and forward, but, this can be accounted for by the small room. There is something special, to me, about the sound of well implemented high efficiency systems, and this was a very good example of such systems.
The monster sized Classic Audio system using field coil woofers and midrange was one of the best sounding systems at the show--another example of how good high efficiency systems can sound. This system delivered weight and richness without sacrificing speed and dynamics. Like a lot of other high efficiency systems, it really sounded good at LOWER volumes as well as when playing loudly.
The Deja Vu Audio room with the big horn system sounded very good, though I actually have heard that system at Deja Vu's shop sounding much better. This system, built around old Western Electric drivers in a newly built cabinet, is something special. The electronics was also interesting--recently built amp and preamp that uses a lot of vintage parts (e.g., Western Electric transformers) and vintge circuits. The preamp and amp are meant to work together--the preamp has transformer outputs and the amp has transformer inputs.
For more conventional, modern speakers, I thought the DeVore Orangutans sounded very good in the Command Audio room. That was a reasonably affordable setup (Line Magnetics amp) that delivered much of the liveliness and special musical qualities of good high efficiency systems and was free of the colorations that detract from some such systems.
The best bargain sound at the show, to me, was the Tyler Acoutic speaker system. I was amazed at how good a system can sound that costs only $2400 (including delivery--it is a direct sales item). The main downside is that the system is somewhat large in size and the cabinet finish was not that great (the side panels were finished with two pieces of veneer that did not match seamlessly). Still, one of the most pleasing surprises at the show.
I liked the way Woo Audio set up their room for demonstrating their headphone amplifiers. They had plenty of different computer music servers and a huge range of high end headphones so a lot of people could just try out things on their own, including selecting the music for the audition. I got to hear the new 009 Stax phone this way. I heard a bunch of young guys enthusiastically defending their preference between the 009 and 007 model. Two of the three preferred the 007 (the 009 sounded a touch too bright) while one preferred the larger soundstage of the 009. I only listened to the 009 myself and found it promising (I own an older 007 and a Blue Hawaii SE headphone amp).
Overall, I found the show very entertaining and worthwhile. The overall sound quality of all of the exhibitors was quite high (no really bad rooms). I was a bit dismayed by the small turnout; I hope this does not preclude a show next year.