Southwest Audio Fest 2024 - Big D Baby

Joey_V

txcoastal1

This is why banners and placards need to be placed by gear of exhibitors
Consider every posted posted picture as a potential sale.

treitz3

FWIW, the Genesis room looks drab, only because those speakers are based on a price point....not "High-end".

Do you have a favorite yet Marvin or Joey?

It's driving me nuckin' futz that I am not there!!!

Tom

marvda1

I got embarrassed today, was in the Borresen room listening to bookshelves that I thought were the new x1. I asked if the price was correct, $5500, the rep said.....No!, $100,000, and I said I liked them until you told me the price.

marvda1

Got these at the show from a couple from California, don't ask me to name the music😁, the company is Enmusic, Inc.
Www.enmusicworld.com

Some nicely recorded jazz, blues, female vocals.

tratliff

This system was very well done.

displayname

marvda1 wrote: »

I got embarrassed today, was in the Borresen room listening to bookshelves that I thought were the new x1. I asked if the price was correct, $5500, the rep said.....No!, $100,000, and I said I liked them until you told me the price.

This was definitely my favorite room as well. Don’t get me wrong, the $2M Borresen room was also mind blowing. But I was pretty taken by the demo in the smaller Borresen room.

It’s interesting at a show because a lot of amazing systems start to feel average when you are exposed to so many great system in such a short amount of time.

It also helps any system that comes in under $15-20K really stand out because they seem much more impressive when you factor in prices.

Joey_V

Borreson for me, the big ones, takes the cake.

My second day haul.

displayname

I’ll point out a few of the more affordable DACs that caught my attention. It’s very difficult to judge a dac in an unfamiliar system and a short demo, but the designs and reasonable price points are what stood out to me.

LTA Aero Dac

https://www.lineartubeaudio.com/products/aero-dac-digital-analog-converter
$3600. R2R. Class A tube output analog stage. LPS internally and the tubes were not directly mounted to the board. I regret not taking a photo of the unit they had displayed with the case off.


Geshelli Labs Dayzee


https://geshelli.com/dayzee/
Dual mono. US built. Hand made wood casing. Loads of inputs. Can’t remember the pricing, but I believe it was under $3k and variable pricing based on wood selection and a few options on output Opamps.


Heed Abscus
Didn’t take a photo of this one, but for $1,600 in a “budget” $7K system this one really impressed me. Don’t know how much it would scale up, but it was great in the tiny system they had it in.

displayname

Everything I Shazamed during SWAF:
https://tidal.com/playlist/497d18ae-d553-439f-bfd5-bd5cf3aa50f9

displayname

Also wanted to give some love to Rosso. Excellent as always, and glad to hear them with some new amps AND the premiere of Turnbull Cables.

I think Skip flat out had a better set up in his room, but the new cable line could also be playing into that.



It was also great to see and hear AGD amps, especially with the Rosso sienna speakers, which I’m fairly familiar with.


This room had a lot of buzz, especially on Friday. I really wish I could hear the AGD in an A/B situation compared to the Norma gear that is normally paired with Rossos. The AGD has a style that many people are drawn to with the “tube” circuit boards and the potential for modular upgrades. The AGDs did sound great, they have a pretty extensive line of gear, and it did sound great with the Rosso line, featuring really song imaging and fantastic tone. The price points all sit similar to Norma as well, but I would need a lot more time with both before I could say I preferred one over the other. Expected good problems with really quality gear.

PSOVLSK

Thanks for pics guys. Bummed that I wasn’t able to make it. Looks like some very, very nice systems.

erniejade

displayname wrote: »

Everything I Shazamed during SWAF:
https://tidal.com/playlist/497d18ae-d553-439f-bfd5-bd5cf3aa50f9

Cool list. A few I have not heard before.

displayname

erniejade wrote: »

displayname wrote: »

Everything I Shazamed during SWAF:
https://tidal.com/playlist/497d18ae-d553-439f-bfd5-bd5cf3aa50f9

Cool list. A few I have not heard before.

That’s why I always try to share these. Not enough discussion about music sometimes.

marvda1

The big bookshelf speakers in the Zu/Black Ice room are $3k, not $8k. The floor standers are $2k.

marvda1

They have already signed the contract for next year. This year we had the 14th, 12th floors, mezzanine, and open lobby area and rooms. Next year they have the 14th, 12th. 11th, 10th floors plus the mezzanine with expanded meeting rooms and open lobby area and rooms.

They are going to get the parking situation fixed and we can all meet at the Rodeo Goat for burgers.

treitz3

Same dates?

Tom

displayname

marvda1 wrote: »

They have already signed the contract for next year. This year we had the 14th, 12th floors, mezzanine, and open lobby area and rooms. Next year they have the 14th, 12th. 11th, 10th floors plus the mezzanine with expanded meeting rooms and open lobby area and rooms.

They are going to get the parking situation fixed and we can all meet at the Rodeo Goat for burgers.

Awesome news!

marvda1

@treitz3 I don't know.

Joey_V

treitz3 wrote: »

Same dates?

Tom

Not same.

3/21/25 to 3/23/2025

treitz3

Thanks, Joey.

Tom