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I went to THE show and didn't make any friends ...

Hi Everyone!

I know absolutely noone is waiting on my show report, but to help others hear where I am coming from, I thought I would post my notes and drama anyway. I was only able to spend half a day and here are my thoughts:

The last show I went to was in Oakland and it was sponsored by Pass and ASC. For my ears, a bad combination. I’m just not a Pass fan, and the ASC traps made every room sound like they played exactly the same bass note and one treble note all the time. This show was much smaller, and no such sponsorhip, so the sound in each room had a lot more variety.


Best value of the show goes to Fritz and Wyred4Sound. They also took the most care with the room acoustics. For the total system cost, around $15k, I thought it was really good, but the treble balance was hot for me, as were most of the displays I heard.


Best sound: Audio Concepts room playing Vandersteen Quattro’s’ with Vandersteen amps and a tube pre I forgot the name of. Of course, this was a $45k system. $15k speakers, $15k amps and goodness only knows the turntable and amp.


Unlike previous shows, the ESL’s acquitted themselves well. The Martin Logan and Sander’s ESL’s had some of the best balanced responses to my ears, with the Sander’s having among the best imaging (in exactly 1 chair). I like Roger and his speakers, but man, his taste in electronics is basically the same as Julian Hersch’s. Technically OK without being emotionally involving, or relaxing. The opposite, it put my ears on edge. Perhaps the digital crossover and room EQ they were using?


Other rooms with great imaging included the Brooks Berdan room with the Magicos, the large Legacy conference room, and the Thrax Spartacus demo room. The later had really good mid to treble balance, but was a bit chesty on vocals.

The award for most pretentious goes to the room demoing monitors and the short bald guy who tried to aggressively stare me down for politely asking if he could step six inches to the side so he wasn’t blocking his own demo. Hilarious.


erik_squires
erik_squires OP
16,895 posts
 
Hi @greencup

I believe it was the member of the Renaissance family, the ESL 15 A.
Looking back, I also have to say that it was perhaps one of the best integrated hybrid speakers I've heard. I have argued for years that integrating a 15" sub with an ESL is very tricky, but can be enormously satisfying, and these speakers seem to have done just that.

Looking at the ML page it seems they are using a 600 W class D sub with Anthem room correction. AHA! That explains it. Highly recommended.

Best,
E

keithr
1,306 posts
 
Interesting how ears are different - I found the Vandy room sleepy (as usual) and the M2s on Burmester borderline dead. I guess I prefer more dynamic sound (and tbh don't value imaging as much). I, too, am sensitive to hot tweeters from all the way back in my Dynaudio days vs the popular JM Lab at the time.

We agree on the Thrax room- my favorite big rig (from the front row). It was resolute, dynamic, with good tone despite the cavernous room. The looks on the other hand were...meanwhile, the TuneTots were unexpectedly good in "value" land.

I tried yet again on Saturday to get past the usual ML incoherency in the bass, despite liking panels a lot- but still bothers me.

erik_squires OP
16,895 posts
 
I found the Vandy room sleepy (as usual)


Based on the majority of the rooms, it does seem my own tastes are in the minority here. I don't find them sleepy at all. The other systems were bright and/or hard to me but I also didn't hear the Vandersteens playing large scale.

As for the ML, no, I did not hear any sort of woofer integration issues at least where I sat, same at the Sanders room.

Yeah, the speakers in the Thrax room were best suited for a dark home theater.



Best,

E

keithr
1,306 posts
 
Good thing there are lots of Vandy fans on this forum Erik :)

I've heard them sound really good - at the LAX show a few years ago the 7s and 9s were absolutely amazing. A truly special show experience. But commonly they are just too laid back for my tastes. Horses for courses!


tomic601's avatar
tomic601
13,185 posts
 
Since you two seem SoCal based, stop by sometime to hear the Treo CT alarm clock with a lowly 40 wpc streamer integrated.... wine and cheese on me !
vandersteen fanboy since 1977

thanks for show report Erik
i missed it this year
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