Rocky Mountain Audiofest 2007

[Κώστας Φ.]

Μεγάλη έκθεση στην άλλη όχθη του Ατλαντικού... 140 δωμάτια, 300 εταιρείες.. Άντε και στα δικά μας.. :happy_8:

Την επίσημη σελίδα του show μπορείτε να τη βρείτε εδώ.

Εμείς θα περιοριστούμε στο οφθαλμόλουτρο και, ελπίζω, στο σχολιασμό των συστημάτων. :happy_4:

Και για το τέλος άφησα το σύστημα που θα μου πάρετε στα γενέθλιά μου....

Πηγή: audiojunkies.com

 

[Κώστας Φ.]

Απάντηση: Rocky Mountain Audiofest 2007

Πολύ αναλυτική παρουσίαση του Audiofest από το Stereophile εδώ.

 

[Κώστας Φ.]

Απάντηση: Rocky Mountain Audiofest 2007

Καταπληκτικό το event της Kimber. Αντιγράφω από το Stereophile...

Ray Kimber of Kimber Kable strongly believes that audiophiles need to be exposed to live music. He arranged for one of the ensembles he records with his Isomike system, the Fry Street Quartet, to perform a series of concerts at RMAF. After the players finished a Haydn Quartet in the Marriott's lobby, the audience went into the Kimber listening room across the corridor to hear the same piece on Ray's $500k reference surround system, described earlier in the blog.

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"How often do you hear no limiting, no compression, no mixing, and no equalization? Recorded in DSD and played back the same way today" announced the blurb for Ray Kimber's IsoMike dem at RMAF. Inrigued, I entered the ginormous Ballroom F to be confronted by a system costing no less than $507,288! The six pairs of humongous Sound Lab ProStat 922 electrostats were joined by two pairs of a prototype speaker from Sony in Japan, all driven by no fewer than 8 Pass Labs X350.5 monoblocks. Source was Ray's latest four-channel DSD master files stored on a Genex hard-disk recorder and decoded by EMM Labs DACs. Kable was all-Kimber, of course.

Whether it was Robert Silverman performing a Mozart piano sonata or Denver's Blue Knights marching band performing Shostakovich outdoors, the sound was stunning in its realism. But my favorite was a new recording of the Fry Street Quartet performing a Beethoven String Quartet, on which the Sony speakers outperformed the SoundLabs in some ways. At the recording's end, Ray (left, in front of the right-front Sony) brought out the Fry Street Quartet, whom he has sponsored performing a live concert each evening of the Show.

 

[Κώστας Φ.]

Απάντηση: Rocky Mountain Audiofest 2007

Tα "διακριτικά" ηχεία της AV123, με τους επίσης "διακριτικούς" τελικούς της Dodd Audio...

Mark Schifter and Walter Liederman of AV123 continue to blow my mind. To their astoundingly low-priced line of quality loudspeakers, only available through the AV123 website, they have added two large loudspeakers from GR Research. Designed by Danny Richie, who previously designed the Epiphany Loudspeakers and is now redoing the crossovers in the Ushers—I am told that Wes Phillips will be reviewing one of Danny's Usher make-overs for Stereophile—Danny is shown standing next to the GR Research LS6. Priced at $4500/pair, the speakers feature eight 6.5' woofers and six planar magnetic drivers. The LS6 not only boasts a 20Hz–20kHz frequency response, but also features bass drivers that are adjustable according to what the room and system can handle.

The pair I heard was cobbled together at the last minute, and was far from broken-in. Yet, coupled with a neutral, sensational-sounding pair of custom built Dodd Audio KT-88-based 280W monoblocks (normally $50,000/pair, available at the Show for a mere $30,000), Dodd battery-powered tube preamp, Dodd 1500W balanced power supply, and Kool Cables pure gold Silkworm cables and custom built power cables, the system sounded phenomenal. While the room itself overloaded during the final moments of the Ivan Fischer Mahler Symphony 2—Mahler is not made to be played softly—and it could not handle the full measure of Mahler’s percussion, the sound was full, rich, and monumental in scope. I was especially impressed with the glistening highs. This system made my mouth water. Even before their December release date, 100 pairs had been pre-committed to eager music lovers.



Kαι αυτά δεν είναι τα μεγαλύτερά τους.. Έχουν κι αυτά (στα $6000 παρακαλώ):

Walter Liederman and Danny Richie next showed me the mammoth LS9 (named for its nine planar magnetic drivers). Priced at an unbelievable $6000/pair considering their size and complexity, the LS9s were coupled with Al Stiefel's fine Red Rock Audio 50Wpc Renaissance Monoblock amplifiers ($39,750/pair), Red Rock prototype preamplifier, Abbingdon Music Research CD-77 player ($8500), Grand Prix Audio Monaco turntable ($19,500), and Red Rock Audio cables. Components were supported by the Monaco Modular Isolation Rack ($4750) and Monaco Amplifier Isolation System ($1499). Grand Prix designer Alvin Lloyd says of these plexiglass shelf stands, "I will argue that our stands are the most efficient and highest-performing isolation products in the industry."

Truth be told, these huge speakers need more than 50Wpc to shine. Nevertheless, what I could hear was so inviting that my appetite was whet to hear them in my own listening room once they become available in a month or so.

A word on AV123's speaker cabinets. When Mark Schifter told me that his cabinets are sourced and assembled in either China or Colombia, I asked if he was using rare hardwoods from endangered species. Mark assured me that all his wood was sourced from sustainable, renewable forests, and that his veneers are certified eco-friendly. In fact, one of the reasons Mark shifted some of his manufacturing from China to Colombia was his desire to honor the planet's ecology and not become part of the problem. Bravo, Mark!

 

[Κώστας Φ.]

Απάντηση: Rocky Mountain Audiofest 2007

Θα θυμάστε τα Marten Coltrane Supreme για τα οποία μιλούσαμε εδώ... Οι φίλοι μας από το US and Α είχαν την ευκαιρία να τα απολαύσουν σε ένα γενικότερα "φορτωμένο" δωμάτιο...

Audio Federation doesn't play around. Its top-of-the-line, no-holds-barred system centers around the Marten Coltrane Supreme loudspeaker ($250,000/pair), Audio Note UK Ongaku amplifier ($85,000), EMM Labs/Meitner Design CDSD SE transport ($8400) and DCC2 SE DAC ($13,500), Brinkmann Balance turntable ($29,900), Lamm LP2 Deluxe phono preamp ($6990), and, for this system, modestly priced Lyra Titan cartridge ($5000). Cabling is no less than Nordost Valhalla, Stealth Indra, Jorma Design No.1 and PRIME, while power cords and distributors include Nordost Valhalla, Elrod Statement II and Signature III, and Acrolink Mexcel 7N-7100.

I went wild over this system at last year's RMAF. Its greatness, besides its wonderful full-range sound, is its ease and naturalness, and complete absence of a phony, bloated midrange. Last year, I heard a major difference when cables were swapped while I was in the room. This year, a slight attenuation of high frequency overtones suggested that a little more cable swapping or room setup adjustment was still to come. Regardless, few systems at the Audio Fest could begin to approach this level of high-end accuracy.

 

[Κώστας Φ.]

Απάντηση: Rocky Mountain Audiofest 2007

Τα ηχεία της Esoteric (made in Scotland by Tannoy):

I went into the Esoteric room to take a listen to the digital components that build on the performance of the excellent SA-60 universal player that graced our October cover. But my attention was drawn to a pair of elegant loudspeakers sporting the Esoteric name. The Mg20 floorstander ($8410/pair) and bookshelf Mg10 ($5500/pair plus stands) feature tweeters and woofers fabricated from the very light metal magnesium, which is said to have an optimal combination of stiffness and self-damping. It has not been previously used in speakers (other than in alloys) because it degrades with exposure to the air. However, Esoteric collaborated with a British company to develop an effective protective coating.

The Esoteric speakers use a trapezoid-plan cabinet, ClarityCaps in the crossover, and van den Hul internal wiring, and are assembled by Tannoy in Scotland. Esoteric is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. With products like these new Mg-series speakers, it looks as if they will be around at least another 20 years.

 

[Κώστας Φ.]

Απάντηση: Rocky Mountain Audiofest 2007

Aυτά τα Harberth θα ήθελα να τα ακούσω!

Walter Swanborn of Fidelis Audio Video brought the first pair of Harbeth’s Monitor 40.1 (left, $10,995/pair) ever exhibited in the US to RMAF. As the speaker favored by the BBC for monitoring classical music, the Harbeths provide full-range sound, extending down to 25Hz. Although their cherry finish is quite lovely, these speakers and their $495 stands are coveted far more for their sound than for their looks.

With a sensitivity rating of 86–87dB, and presenting a 6–8 ohm load, the Harbeth is said to need a good 40W truly to shine. Here the speakers were mated with a complete system from Tim G. Ryan’s SimpliFyAudio.com that only provided 23W of power. Specializing in minimalist, "less is more" systems from Harbeth, Resolution Audio, and DNM, SimpliFy's choice of electronics included Resolution Audio source equipment ($6419 total), and the DNM pre- and power-amps ($19,995 with speaker cable). The entire set-up requires only one power cord, and uses 25-pin connectors that eliminate the need for interconnects.

I could not believe how warm and rich this system sounded. Soprano Kate Royal sounded amazingly rich on her new EMI recital, and my Channel Classics Revueltas SACD exhibited marvelous solidity. All I could manage to write in my notes was that the system’s "very neutral, full sound" was "pretty damn amazing." To be perfectly honest, if I had bucks to spare, I’d be listening to the Harbeths in the large living room of our 80 year-old Oakland carriage house tomorrow. I loved, loved, loved the sound of this system. I hope everyone attending RMAF 2008 gets the opportunity to hear how full and rich the Harbeth Monitor 40.1 can sound.

 

[Κώστας Φ.]

Απάντηση: Rocky Mountain Audiofest 2007

Άλλο ένα ενδιαφέρον σύστημα:

Although he looks a bit burned from being asked to play one too many Columbia LPs, whose harsh string tone belies the myth that vintage analog recordings are de facto superior to CDs, Dan Meinwald has a lot to be happy about.

The EAR Acute CD player ($5900), 890 Primary Drive 70W stereo amp, 868 preamp complete with phono stage ($6900), Discmaster turntable ($20,000 without tonearm), Dynavector XVIS cartridge, and debut 3-way, open-baffle dipole loudspeakers ($7000/pair—also available in a larger model) were creating a wonderful, magical soundstage on Stokowski’s monumental recording of Smetana's The Moldau. It's no wonder that so many dedicated audiophiles continue to be seduced for life by EAR's vaunted sweetness and bloom.

 

[Κώστας Φ.]

Απάντηση: Rocky Mountain Audiofest 2007

I was impressed by the extremely full-range presentation of the VMPS RMD-60 loudspeaker ($9950/pair) paired with the VMPS Very Solid Subwoofer ($1850)—especially with the system's admirable bass control. Part of the credit goes to Bybee special-effect Golden Goddess AC cables and speaker bullets, Bolder Cable interconnects and cables, the rest to the Eastern Electric M156 monoblocks (160W into 8 ohms, $7000/pair, based on the EL 156 pentode tube), and Bolder's Statement Level Modded Squeezebox 3 ($1300). If The Bolder Cable Company’s display sounded this good with brand-new amps that were not yet broken in, I look forward to hearing it again once everything is fully ready to strut its stuff.

 

[Κώστας Φ.]

Απάντηση: Rocky Mountain Audiofest 2007

Αφιερωμένα στον Nick....

Many years ago, in a conversation I was having with Peter Walker of Quad, I asked him if there was a speaker he'd wished he'd designed. "PJ" thought for a moment, then said he admired the Beveridge electrostatic, where a flat panel fires into a waveguide, thus allowing the panel to overcome its Achilles' Heel: the very limited horizontal dispersion resulting from its width.

Harold Beveridge, like Peter, is no longer with us, but his son, Rick, who worked with his father back in the day, has reintroduced the speaker. The 6'-tall G3, beautifully finished in a 20-coat lacquer, takes advantage of modern materials and construction techniques and was being very effectively demmed with Joule Electra tube amps, EMM Labs digital source, and Audience cables and power conditioning. The system, including two G3 woofer modules and a Bryston 10B line-level crossover, will initally sell for $50,000 but the price will increase to $84,000 after the the first five have been produced. (Two have already been sold.)

 

[Κώστας Φ.]

Απάντηση: Rocky Mountain Audiofest 2007

Eχμμ...

A definite eye-catcher, the $25,999/pair spherical Proclaim Audioworks DMT-100 speaker system features an external crossover that facilitates the ability to balance stereo output in difficult listening environments. (The crossover includes an L-pad bypass option to ensure "the cleanest possible signal path...for audio purists.") Each driver is independently mounted in a spherical enclosure cast from a proprietary high-density laminate. Fine-tunable for one's room, each driver can be adjusted up to 45° off-axis; they also afford up to 12" vertical and horizontal positioning flexibility for the tweeter and midrange modules. Daniel Herrington's babies, designed by ear, are so new that their sensitivity has yet to be measured.

Paired with Al Stiefel's excellent Red Rock 50W amplifiers, the Gamut CD1 and D3 preamp, and Kimber Kable, these speakers conveyed the special timbre of period instruments with unusual veracity. What I consider in some ways a work-in-progress, the speakers still transmitted something special in the bass and midrange rarely encountered in other rooms. I look forward to making their further acquaintance.

 

[Κώστας Φ.]

Απάντηση: Rocky Mountain Audiofest 2007

Having hosted an AudioKinesis speaker demo at my home for the Bay Area Audiophile Society (BAAS), I feel confident saying that Duke LeJeune is one of the dearest men in the business. Here he demonstrates his new 92dB-sensitivity, 16 ohm impedance, 170 lb Dream Maker ($9000/pair), whose "controlled-pattern, offset bipole configuration" is designed to control the relative level of reverberant energy density in the room. If that sounds like gobbledegook, the vivid presentation of the AudioKinesis/AtmaSphere combo, which was admirably clear in the higher frequencies, whet my appetite for more extended listening in the future.

 

[Κώστας Φ.]

Απάντηση: Rocky Mountain Audiofest 2007

Τα θυμάστε φαντάζομαι... Του Atkinson του άρεσαν.

Walking to the Kimber dem, I heard the familiar sounds of the Beatles' "Come Together" coming from the open door of the Usher room. I had to go in. A pair of the Taiwanese manufacturer's Dancer Be-718 two-ways ($2795/pair) was playing the song, fed by the LP release of Love on an Oracle tonearm/turntable fitted with a Zyx Atmos cartridge, which in turn was feeding the Oracle Temple phono stage, Oracle DAC 1000 preamp, and Usher's R.15 amplifiers. Cabling was all JPS Aluminata. Considering the large room, the relatively small Dancers appeared to have no problem filling it with sound. This is a speaker that deserves review coverage in Stereophile, I feel.

 

[Κώστας Φ.]

Απάντηση: Rocky Mountain Audiofest 2007

Για να δούμε και λίγο PC-action....

Audio Note UK Debuts USB-Input DAC
Audio Note UK, shown at RMAF by its US distributor AudioFederation.com, chose the Denver Show for the world premiere of its first USB-input DAC. The DAC 0.1X, an entry-level product that features neither anti-alias filtering nor oversampling, and uses a teeny little 6111WA dual-triode output tube that is said to behave like a 12AU7 but last a staggering 100,000 hours, was making fine sound paired with a complete line of Audio Note components and cables.


Tέρμα τα καλώδια?!

Audioengine is making a name for itself with its extremely affordable powered speakers. But rather than photograph the speakers being demmed at RMAF, I concentrated on the Apple iBook running iTunes being used as the source. "What's that?" I asked, pointing to the dongle.

It was the Audioengine WI, which uses IEEE802 WiFi hardware (but not the protocol itself), to send the audio signal to the Audioengine 5 speakers, which have a socket in the top for the receiver. The transmitter/receiver combination will cost $149 and is the easiest way of eliminating wires from your listening room, or perhaps more importantly, your desktop.

Musical Fidelity/Era Design distributor SignalPath's David Solomon is also interested in the desktop and enthusiastically demmed the new Peachtree Decco for me. The $700 tubed D/A processor/60Wpc integrated amplifier has a rear-panel bay that will accommodate the popular Sonos ZP80 WiFi media player and will take either digital or analog signals to its own, higher-quality DAC circuitry and output stage. It also has a USB input. The revolution is here.



Και το σύστημα της PS Audio:

 

[Κώστας Φ.]

Απάντηση: Rocky Mountain Audiofest 2007

Και μερικές φωτογραφίες ακόμη, από το audiojunkies...

Mία μετατροπή του Transporter!! WTF?! :crazy_1:

Acapella....

Διακριτικά McIntosh! :happy_9:

GamuT... Αν κρίνω από το L5, αυτά τα ηχεία θα "λένε" πολύ.

Αpogee....

Mark&Daniel... Aκούγονται πολύ τελευταία.

Μάλιστα...

Made in Vietnam...

Kharma με MBL... Που'σαι Μιχάλη?! :happy_4:

Quad...

Acoustic Zen + Halcro...

Click for more.

 

[argi]

τα συστηματα δεν θα τα σχολιασω αυτο που θα πω ισως ακουστει λιγο μιζερο
αλλα ειναι η αληθεια
για να φτασουμε εμεις εκει πρεπει να μην ειμαστε εμεις
δηλαδη δεν μπορουν αγοραστες- μαγαζατορες να πουλουν οσο το δυνατο ακριβοτερα και οταν αγοραζουν να ζητουν την χαμηλοτερη τιμη
δηλαδη πουλαω μια συσκευη 30 ευρω απο 300 και να μου ζητανε να την δωσω 29
η μαγαζια να μην παιρνουν πισω συσκευες -καλωδια με τη μορφη τραμπας
αλλα να σε γραφουν
αν δουμε το προ προηγουμενο τευχος του stereophile θα δουμε διαφημηση γνωστης εταιριας καλωδιων να σου λεει φερε πισω τα παλια να σου δωσω την καινουργια με μικρη επιβαρυνση.Εδω δεν ισχυει αυτο
εδω πεινα
και η μεγαλυτερη πεινα ειναι η πνευματικη ,αυτη δεν γιατρευεται με ολα τα λοττο-τζοκερ του κοσμουwall_1 wall_1 :mad_3: :mad_3: :mad_3: :mad_3: :mad_3: :mad_3: :mad_3:

 

[Κώστας Φ.]

Απάντηση: Rocky Mountain Audiofest 2007

Για τους "κακούς μαγαζάτορες" απλά να προσθέσω πως υπάρχουν και σοβαροί άνθρωποι οι οποίοι, προσωπικά, μου αρκούν για να καλύψουν τις ανάγκες μου, μαζί με το internet και τους Έλληνες κατασκευαστές που πουλάνε "direct", of course.
Γενικότερα, Αμερική δε θα γίνουμε ποτέ για πολλούς και διάφορους λόγους..

Γι'αυτό σε λέω... Άσε να βλέπουμε μηχανήματα...

 

[Κώστας Φ.]

Απάντηση: Rocky Mountain Audiofest 2007

Avalon Ascendant

After my final hi-rez seminar on Sunday, and triggered by my very positive experience with the inexpensive Avalon NP2 speakers, I went across the hallway to the room Denver dealer HD Home Cinema & AV Design was using to debut Avalon Acoustics' new $9300/pair Ascendant loudspeaker. This combines the composite-dome tweeter from the NP2 with a pair of Kevlar-composite woofers in the angled, faceted enclosure that has become a de facto trademark of the Colorado company's high-end speakers. With Ayre MX-R monoblocks, Ayre C-5xe universal player, K-5xe preamp, and P-5xe power-line conditioner, and wired with Cardas cable, the Avalon system proved one of the best-sounding of the Show.

 

[Κώστας Φ.]

Απάντηση: Rocky Mountain Audiofest 2007

Ενδιαφέρουσα και η παρουσία της Musical Fidelity... Συμφωνεί και ο John. :mrgreen:

I experienced a fascinating comparison in one of the RMAF rooms featuring systems from Colorado dealer ListenUp. With Sonus Faber Cremona Elipsa speakers (review forthcoming) driven by a combination of Musical Fidelity X-T100 integrated amplifier "supercharged" with MF's 550K monoblocks, and Shunyata AC conditioning and power cables, CDs played back on MF's new top-loading CD player were being compared with lossless-encoded files of the same recordings played back over WiFi via a Sonos ZP80 that fed its S/PDIF digital output to the MF player's DAC section. The data were the same, so other than the WiFi connection, there was no reason for the sound to be different. And I did indeed find it very difficult to hear any consistent difference between the two presentations. Perhaps the low frequencies were a little better-defined and extended via CD, but I don't think I could have identified that without knowing which was which. Interesting.

 

[Κώστας Φ.]

Απάντηση: Rocky Mountain Audiofest 2007

Aah, the mbls

Of the many speakers I have reviewed over the years, the one I now regret the most having had to return to the manufacturer was the mbl 111B. No other tweeter has so efforlessly floated high-frequency sounds into my listening room like the German manufacturer's unique, omnidirectional "Radialstrahler" design. At RMAF, mbl was demming the larger 101E speaker, which Michael Fremer reviewed in October 2004. The sounds of Brian Bromberg's solo double bass on "Come Together" and Nils Lofgren's Ovation guitar on his Live Acoustic CD, played on mbl's new digital gear, were to die for.