As is usual with these kinds of events, or at shows, most rooms are too small for the speakers, which are jammed into the corners with extreme toe in, and only a few get to sit in anything resembling a sweet spot. Still, it was fun going from room to room and hearing different systems back to back.
I probably enjoyed the Revel/ ML ‘performance’ the most, though the opening PR hype by the rep was practically nausea-inducing. It was also nice in this room to hear the same cuts played on the Revels followed immediately by the JBLs. From my seat at the far right, I liked the Revels better. Nice tight bass, open mids and very smooth and delicate but with decent dynamics when called for. Hi-fi, well OK, maybe, but I was moved. They’re smaller than I imagined they’d be, and pretty ugly with the grills off. The JBLs were also good but somewhat incoherent and not as smooth or involving for me (at my seat to the right of the right speaker).
The Sasha room had a very nice sound, set up on the long wall with the speakers further into the room than most. I was sitting center and the imaging was first rate (except for one thing) and they did an amazing job of creating a cohesive sound from which individual instruments could easily be extracted. Peter McGrath demonstrated how two 8” woofs could produce prodigious and tight bass, which they did, and then played some mesmerizing vocals. Very lifelike. I had a better seat here. Probably liked these better than the Revels, except for one thing that I can’t get past. Both these, and the Duettes in another room, had a vertically shrunken stage, which I’ve heard in several other Wilson demos I’ve attended. Sounds like I’m listening from the balcony, which I don’t like. Maybe these need to be on stands, or you need a lower seat.
The Golden Ear speakers / room had too much bass boom, which is my other peeve I can’t get past. Maybe aggravated by my seat at the back wall, but this ruined an otherwise nice presentation for me, though I don’t doubt these speakers may be a good buy with the bass tamed.
The B & W/ Classe room was better than I was expecting, and the piano pieces were great, clean and dynamic with nice weight. I was off to the left in front of the left speaker and still perceived a quite decent soundstage. If had a room where several people listened, these might fit the bill. I had owned B & W 802s about 22 years ago. They’ve certainly gotten better and the diamond tweeters were nicely detailed without being in-your-face. The Classe digital preamp seemed really nice too, feature-wise, and looked great.
John Atkinson’s presentation of how rock recordings are compressing the sh** out of music was interesting but nothing ground-breaking. Glad I’m not interested in much rock, though I do listen to it sometimes in the car. Maybe that’s why it’s all so compressed, eh? He used his computer into the DAC, as did the Wilson room. Wouldn’t want to be manufacturing expensive transports these days. The Vandys sounded pretty good here too, less dark than other Vandys I’ve auditioned in the distant past (of course he was playing bright, harsh recordings).
All-in-all, I can’t be too critical due to the compromised rooms and setup. Most sounded pretty good, though nothing was great, at least from where I was sitting. The components were mostly very expensive and though fit and finish is generally excellent, I think more sound for the dollar is often available from smaller lesser-known vendors. Can’t really think of anything here I’d actually be interested in buying with real money. I had fun and it was fun bumping into friends in the halls, though there wasn’t much opportunity to talk.