Interesting comments. One thing I can't understand is Marakanetz's remarks on the MBLs. I thought MBL had possibly the best sound at the show and another friend who's ears I trust felt the same. I really relaxed and simply enjoyed the music in that room -- not to mention that the amps and other MBL gear are strikingly beautiful. It may have been a bit heavy in the bass, but not really over the top. I wish I could afford the stuff! I thought the midrange and high frequency reproduction was close to ideal.
The Gamut/Pipedreams system was possibly okay, but I couldn't stay long enough to make a fair evaluation. The man controlling the system, said straight out that he was going to crank the volume whether or not anyone objected, and when he hit my personal threshold of pain and the room overloaded ridiculously I high-tailed it out of there along with a few other audiophiles who were similarly appalled at his lunacy and lack of good judgement. What an idiot!
Unfortunately I never made it into the Joseph Audio/Manley room and from what others have posted, it sounds like that was one of the best. Of what I did hear, I liked the Roman Audio Centurion speakers, which did some amazing things for the cello; the Rogue audio electronics on the Medowlark Blue Herrons was quite good; and my personal favorite, because it was actually affordable and put many more expensive systems to shame, was the $1800/pr Gershman Chameleon speakers powered by a 60 Wpc Kora integrated amp. Man, did that modest little sound great!
I was also very impressed by that crazy Calix horn system using that extra-terrestrial VYGER turntable. That system presented awesome dynamic contrasts with excellent immediacy and low distortion. It kicked!