Report from Rocky Mountain AudioFest

Thank you for posting about the volume. I felt that same way; in fact, this is what I posted at the Asylum:

OK, so I went to RMAF on Friday and there's been something that's been bugging me about it for the last two days. Why is it that all the manufactures seem to do their demos at volume 11? I swear, when I left that day I had a headache.

To me, a demo has always been about hearing resolution and detail, about hearing something in a familiar recording that I've never heard before. I don't need to be the girl in the chair like that old Maxell tape ad to get that.

I've been thinking about heading down again this afternoon, but I'm not sure I want another headache. Audio manufacturers, take note; volume doesn't equal jaw dropping.

As for rooms, the MBL room as always sounded fantastic. I liked Roger Sanders' room, though I'm not convinced by his argument about how much power stats need (I have a Rogue Stereo 90 on my Logans and think it sounds great.) The Aesthetix/Focal room was nice too.

The BAT/Wilson room sounded excellent. I was disappointed in the Boulder/Focal setup though. For all the raves I've heard about the 2008 phonostage, (and given the costs of the gear) I was curiously unimpressed.

I stopped by the Cary room and also left disappointed. It was the first time I'd heard Cary and nothing really jumped out.

Was really bummed that CJ and Logan weren't represented, nor was VPI beyond a minimal presence with an Aries 3 in one room.

Just got back from day 1 and 2 and have to agree with the original poster- the sound was generally way too loud with the exception of a few rooms (Quicksilver and Audiokinesis, Atma-sphere). The best part of the show for me at least and the first real opportunity to really listen and relax was unquestionably the Roy Gregory/ Richard Foster analog set-up seminar. Man was it excellent and eye opening with respect to the absolutely critical aspects of VTA et al. Small and I mean small adjustments mean everything and a 20,000 turntable and phonostage can sound quite ordinary if not for meticulous set-up. Suddenly those protactors and such seem very very much worth the price and anyone having the expertise to set-up tables as well as these guys.

Great frikkin' show, I thought.

It's clear from the posts above that mileage varies considerably. In no particular order, there were some of my favorites (note: I tend to favor smaller systems, generally don't care for horns or single-driver speakers, and I missed some rooms):

Vienna Acoustics Beethoven Baby Grands driven by Primare. First time I've liked VA speakers and I liked these a lot.

Quads driven by new Moscode 402.

The Power Modules (Belles) room, where their amps were powering Usher 718 Be (the Tiny Dancers) and a pair of floorstanders from Sonics (which I much preferred to the Ushers).

Audio Note. We listened to everything including Clutch and the system delivered the musical goods unfailingly every time. I'm giving AN serious thought.

Scaena loudspeakers with the Memory Player. These are the follow-up effort to the Pipedreams and strike me as much more successful. I felt the bass modules were not integrating too well but the system was beguiling in many respects. Not sure how much the Memory Player was a factor in that, however.

(By the way, lots of computer audio at this show.)

Harbeths with Resolution Audio and DNM electronics.

JM Reynaud Offrande Signatures with Blue Circle electronics. I spent a long time in that room. Great sound and they were playing terrific music.

The new Von Schweikert Anniversaries, which are a redesigned, hot-rodded VR-4 Jr. Very nice. They were built to mark Albert's 50th year designing speakers (he started when he was 12 but he sure doesn't look 62!).

Wilson Sophia2 with ARC Reference gear. Man, I thought that ARC gear had a wonderful sound.

I liked the Pioneer speakers as some others have mentioned, but not sure I'd partner them with all Bel Canto electronics .

Cool turntables: Artemis Labs was showing a prototype turntable that has the very simple, wood plinth look I like. I want one. Also the Once TT from Australia (oh, that room -- Paragon -- showing ATC, was also nice). On the other hand, the Grand Prix turntable is not sufficiently impressive looking to justify its price, IMO.

Other cool: the Proclaim speakers, which are three independent spheres sitting on movable arms and attached to an external crossover on which you can set levels independently for each driver. On the one hand, it sounds like a recipe for terminal audiophilia nervosa. On the other hand, it makes a fair bit of sense. But you can achieve much of that through digital room correction. I have to wonder how easy it is to do a good job of setting these up manually. They sounded pretty good, though. Excellent bass.

Biggest disappointment for me: the Beveridges.

Drubin, the Proclaim speakers were my standouts when I went to NYC audio show in May...cool idea that you wonder why more speakers dont have that feature.

Rao Audio just launched their company on the first day of the show. VERY nice sounding room in my opinion, for what it's worth. What did other attendees think of Rao Audio?
Was anyone else as impressed as I was with their room?