RMAF 2012 Postmortem

I live near Denver, but this was my first time at this show. I don't think I've ever been to a "consumer focused trade-show" before, so it took a little while for me to get into the groove (I've attended more broadcast and cable technology shows than I care to count).

It was interesting to listen to such a wide variety high-end systems, some of which sounded amazing and some of which didn't (or at least they had characteristics that are not pleasing to my ears. I was surprised to find some of these unobtainium systems exhibited characteristics that I've had to avoid or suss out of my far more modest systems over the years, e.g. mid-bass resonance, overly brash highs or a dull, veiled sound.

It was great to walk into Roy Hall's room and hear great sound, even though the system he was demo'ing cost less than a single firehose cable from some of the other rooms. And speaking of cables, it was interesting to see that (including some high-end rooms), high-dollar cables and interconnects were not required for great sound (and even look rather overwrought and silly in comparison).

I expect that I'll go back next year, but the one thing that I will do differently is I'll be careful to take notes on the great music I hear (I'm kicking myself that I didn't this year).

Dpe:

Yes, I meant the Orangutans, not the Gibbons. I expect the 96s were better than the 93s, but at a cost uptick from 8 to 12k, and I thought the 93s had *a lot* of what I liked in the 96s, particularly a certain sweetness of sound. My hunch is that for me, the 93 would be the way to go.

I agree completely that John D. is an unusually nice man, and a lot of fun to talk to. I'd expect Devore to be a great company to deal with.

John

I have attended every year since the inception of RMAF and I found this year to be a little disappointing in some of the manfacturers that weren't there. However, I did enjoy seeing/hearing some products that I had not seen before. Adam-Audio stands out in my mind as a speaker that is fairly affordable and quite good in sound. Also getting to hear the new Totems was a good opportunity, I did find that some rooms were playing the same equipment and music they have for the past few years and it makes me wonder why they don't show something new. I wanted to hear the New Magicos and if they were there I didn't find them. Also it seemed that the TurnTable count was down this year. I always like to see what each manufacture has developed in vinyl playback but I would say about half as many were repesented. I would say attendance was down from past yeasr and according to one dealer I spoke with yesterday, many vendors were packing up early Sunday as they realized the show was over. Regardless of how the show came off I hope that it returns next year as I know I will attend. It is is a wonderful opportunity to see equipment not sold in the area and meet some people that share this passion. I just really hope I win the PowerBall before next years show, so that I can really enjoy it!

were there any panel speakers at the show ?

was there any interesting hirez software ?

was there any great sounding digital hardware ??

obviously i did not attend the whow.

Mrtennis:Sanders and Magnepan. I was very very impressed with the Sanders. Really have intergrated the sub well and the bass came thru extremely well. I didn't hear the Maggies but one thing I noticed is how many speakers are using the planar or Air Motion transformers. And sounding quite well. As far as your other questions, I can't say as I have not been bit by the digital bug beyond SACD yet.