Going to Rocky Mountain Audio Fest - any advice

I went to RMAF several years ago. When I think back on it, the thing I recall most vividly was the headphone room in the main ballroom. I heard the Blue Hawaii headphone amp with some truly amazing phones; Stax (of course), Fostex, Audeze and Sennheiser (among others). Had I known how difficult some of the equipment is to find outside the audio shows, I would have spent more time listening to the various models. Enjoy your time there!

Very disappointed that Magnepan are not attending, unless i've missed them on the xcel spreadsheet. No SOtM either showing off the new sMS-200 NEO. Still lots of good things to hear. Hopefully. Last year went into the Avantgarde room and the head honcho was chatting continually to a fellow audiophile (debatable) about her holidays,Germany blah blah blah. Felt like asking her to turn the music off and we can all join in to her natter.  Jeez.

If for once they actually played REAL music at these shows I would consider going again, but typically, as J. Gordon Holt said years ago, there is an inverse relationship between the best sounding music and the most popular music, or something like that.

Why is it I typically hear some sort of solo cello or some minimalist jazz or something very few people even care about listening too? The best systems and reps should not be afraid to play the most popular or familiar music to show attendees. The question keeps coming up as to why people are turning away from the "high end" and IMO THAT is exactly the reason. It’s been like this for YEARS. No wonder it’s such a turn off. I mean even if they at least played, for example, some Dead Can Dance, Pat Metheny or Steely Dan once in awhile, well, hooray.

last_lemming

after attending RMAF, post a few impressions and thoughts on the gear auditioned.  Enjoy the Show!