Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2015 10/2-10/4

Joey_V

Hey guys,

I need to get my work requests in a couple of months early so I figured, we might as well start thinking about this ahead of time.

Any of you fellas thinking about going (like seriously thinking about going)?

We should start planning so we can meet up.

Let's stay at the same hotel and let's plan out our attack.

ZLTFUL

I am already planning on being there all day on Saturday and most of the day Sunday...

Will be staying at my buddy's loft in LoDo near Union Station but am definitely game for meeting up.

Joey_V

DSkip wrote: »

Probably a no go for me again this year. A 6 month old and 5 year old is not something I really want to leave the wife home to deal with during law school.

Yeah that would not work out well... I agree.

Toolfan66

I told myself I wasn't going to go again last year, but I will be there Friday, and Saturday..

grimmace19

Took a 2 year break from the fest but plan to attend Saturday afternoon.

Toolfan66

grimmace19 wrote: »

Took a 2 year break from the fest but plan to attend Saturday afternoon.

Glad to see your still around..

grimmace19

^ Thanks Larry, I've always been here just not nearly as much to post anymore. For a while I got completely complacent with my Polk system and really didn't see myself wanting / needing anything different. Then, we finished the basement and the rabbit hole opened back up, sucked me in, and destroyed my wallet.

Polkie2009

Good to see your post Grimmace, it has__ been awhile.

Toolfan66

Friday is coming fast!!!! Day off work!!!

WLDock

Report back on the Magico room. From the Facebook picture below it looks like they may have some type of 5.1 system planned with the new S7 and S-Sub?

BlueFox

That is one expensive HT. They need to ship two of those S7s to me.

AsSiMiLaTeD

I'll be there Friday and Saturday

Toolfan66

I hate to say it but the show is much smaller than years past...

Toolfan66

Not a good sign....

txcoastal1

Toolfan66 wrote: »

I hate to say it but the show is much smaller than years past...

All shows have been shrinking in size and attendance. I have spoken to many vendors and Axpona is the only show that has been stable over the last 3 years.

Toolfan66

Sanders was one of my favorites, they sounded incredible...

http://www.sanderssoundsystems.com/products/electrostatic-speakers/model-10

Toolfan66

MartinLogan Flagship Neolith's were very nice as well, you need a pretty big room for them as they are huge!!

txcoastal1

LOL....They show very well. Was one of mine and Russmans fav's 2013 RMAF. Simple fairly cost effective well rounded sound. They can play AC-DC to tchaikovsky

BlueFox

RMAF thread on the Shark.

http://audioshark.org/rmaf-136/official-2015-rmaf-picture-comment-thread-8399.html#.Vg8wDy9-yK0

AsSiMiLaTeD

Maybe I don't have a proper frame of reference, but I'm quite pleased with the selection of exhibitors. If you guys think this is small, you need to make a trip down and check out LSAF, I tripped over more exhibitors walking in the door yesterday than are at LSAF...total.

The show I was at yesterday and am going back to today has TONS of stuff, so much that I had to sit down with the book last night and go through the 350 or so exhibitors in the back and lay out a plan today of who I'm gonna go see, because there's not a chance in :hell I can see them all. Granted, there are some big guys missing from the show (I'm looking at you Polk, Definitive, Krell, and a few other names I'm not thinking of right now), but there is tons of stuff to listen to.

If you guys haven't, be sure to check out the CanJam room on the first floor, took us three hours to get thru yesterday and I was rushing myself. I drug two friends in there yesterday who are NOT headphone guys and even they were impressed...I was like a pig in **** :-)

I'm gonna reserve my final comments until after the show, but am having a blast so far!

Toolfan66

I might have worded that wrong, it is smaller than years past, and you are correct there is a lot of big guys missing..

I have about 3 hrs logged in the can jam room as well..

Oh and those JWM's sound fantastic, the craftsmanship is out of this world, I was very pleased to see the stands come with the speakers..

AsSiMiLaTeD

So after two full days at the show here are some thoughts

We had a blast and will definitely be doing this again each year. I had a friend fly in from Dallas and we've decided that this show and LSAF are now on our yearly rotation so he'll be flying up here and I'll be in Dallas every year. It may sound strange, but I think they actually had TOO much stuff and too many rooms. The whole show was a bit overwhelming and a bit too much to take in, less can indeed be more. I'd rather have a show with 15 kickass rooms than a show with 100 rooms with 15 kickass rooms sprinkled in.

I'm not sure if I 'enjoy' this show or LSAF more. As an audiophile RMAF is definitely the better show with a much more comprehensive set of gear. LSAF is a much smaller crowd though and is more about hanging with the local Dallas guys. I really enjoy both shows in, but in different ways.

The Joseph Audio room was awesome. That's the first pair of speakers I've ever heard that sound exactly like real instruments right there in the room, I've never heard anything else quite like those speakers in that room.

The entry level ELAC speakers were absurdly great for the price. They're a new design by Andrew Jones and the towers sell for $560 for the pair, I've never heard a tower that good at anywhere near that price, this guys is truly a savant at designing affordable speakers (I've never heard his higher priced designs). He was also a pleasure to talk to and you can tell how proud he is of the job he did with the design at this price point.

The ENIGMAcoustics speakers were very good as well, another one of my show favorites with a very detailed and spacious sound.

The Technics speakers were quite good as well. They weren't the best at the show, but I was surprised at how good they sounded.

The PSB Imagine T3 were very good, they had that big and dynamic sound that my earlier models had but with much better refinement.

I've heard the Sanders electrostatic before and have always enjoyed them. IMO at their price point they're a better sounding option than the Martins and I even prefer them over the more expensive models in the ML line.,

As an overall speaker though for looks, design, materials, sound quality, price, and the company and people I'm dealing with...JWM Is still my favorite. Maybe they're not the best at any of those things individually, but as an overall package they're still my favorite speaker.

Toolfan66

The Sanders, and JWM are probably my favorites from the show, and I can see myself owning a set of JWM's..

I was quite pleased with the sound of the Technics as well..

I like the Nola room too, I just wish they would play something that would really push them..

txcoastal1

I'm glad you guys had a great time. My intentions were to join you this year, but the Buc-ee's Fort Worth start up next week has my schedule a muck. So I decided CEDIA Dallas and Skips gathering better better suited my schedule.

Also nice reassurance of the quality of the JWM and the Sanders sound that I appreciated in past RMAF and LSAF.

Danny I assume Mark was your pal, glad he got to make it up.

So you guys spent some time at the CanJam any enlightenment's???

Something that may rival my Hugo/AK combo...enquiring minds want to know.

Cheers
Ron

AsSiMiLaTeD

Yeah Mark flew up here for the show and a couple days of normal tourist stuff here in CO Springs.

There was lots of great stuff in CanJam, but nothing that sounds as good as the Hugo on the portable side, that thing is still the king of sound quality when it comes to truly portable. The Hugo TT was there and that was awesome, better than the Hugo but not a night and day difference other than power, the fit and finish was also better.

The new HE-1000 headphones sounded spectacular on the big new Schiit gear, i bought the headphones while at the show as they were that impressive. As for desktop gear to power those I am buying three pieces to try out and see which works best (the Schiit top end DAC and amp, the Hugo TT, and the Ayre Codex, the Schiit and Ayre have been purchased the Hugo TT isn't in stock yet). I don't have the new desktop gear yet so am breaking the headphones in on my current setup, can't wait to get these on some of the new gear.

txcoastal1

Awesome, looking forward to the reviews

Polkie2009

Sounds like ya'll had an awesome time up there at the show. Nice to hear about those new ELAC speakers from someone who got to listen to them in person.