New York Audio Show in April 2013

[jimbones]

The waterfall speaker was really good and the ls3 tp me was ok but  dont remember coming away blown away

[Triode Pete]

The waterfall speaker was really good and the ls3 tp me was ok but  dont remember coming away blown away

Those little narrow speakers got the midrange right... it really depended on what tracks they were playing too...

[topround]

Budget withstanding..
I liked the Raidho speakers with the big VAC tube amp in the Sound by Singer room, one of the best sounds I heard. Huge, dimensional with tons of refinement and layers of detail.
Also the Kaiser Kaweros were pretty awesome as well, they do that delicate thing I like so much, one of the best sounds as well.
Very disappointed in the Zellaton speakers, room was all transcients , no harmonic texture or weight,speed but no punch,  maybe the electronics? Big bucks for shit sound is that what this is about?

Music First room always sounds great, they know how to put together a system that sounds great , 6k for a TVC is a bit much, but it does sound great, and those speakers were awesome!

We were in the middle of a MBL presentation when some guy passed out complaining that his left arm was numb. Knocked over some plants. They turned on the lights and cancelled the excellent demo. Hope he is OK.

Was everyone else as confused as i as to how to navigate that place? Elevators that led to no where, I am sure I missed alot of rooms with the little time I had, but it was fun.

[GT Audio Works]

I was really amazed at how much you need to spend to get something decent.

Really? Did you get to hear these? $2k I believe.
More than just decent IMHO


 http://dagogo.com/audio-space-ls-35a-bookshelf-speakers-and-sw-1a-subwoofer-review/1

 

I agree...they offered wonderful reproduction of every track I heard. I thought they were unmatched at $3k subs included.

[GT Audio Works]

One other speaker that impressed me was the Duke loudspeaker by MAD, My audio Design  UK. room 1015. The Duke  did a lot of things right. The Dude pre amp was used. The Duke and the Dude made a good showing.
                                                                        Greg

[BobM]

I'm sure things sounded different on Sat from Friday. More time for break in and adjustment and such. On Fri none of the big rooms sounded particularly good, except the ear splitting and totally awesome MBL demo.

[machinehead]

The lsa combo speaker was excellent when we heard it. I liked the Rhaido monitors as best of show. Amazing. Sony had something special going on too. Delicate, intimate, nice complexity. CLX were nice... 2 massive subs to back them up. LS50s sounded really good though it was noisy in the room. Neat little speaker. The clear glass speakers sounded good too, maybe bass was a bit loose. Merril Amps were the bomb.. though we all know those are just Hypex modules and way expensive. But I would def buy them. Fab.
Brodmann Acoustics, the ones with just the tweeters in front, piano finishes. They sounded amazing. Freaky the way the sound was coherent, since all the drivers were on the side.
Worst sound of show... Gamut. Ridiculously big + crap. Wes had the Martens sounding warm and juicy. Way better than the Hansens cool, uninvolving sound year previous. Ear... sweet amps!!!!
Oh... now I know why people love Harbeths. The 30.1s with Vinnies Red wine amps was fantastic.
Tried to like the TAD, not really dynamic, had a sweet sound, maybe the music who knows
Had fun..

[jimbones]

there was a speaker called Biyura that was good too.

[GT Audio Works]

The lsa combo speaker was excellent when we heard it. I liked the Rhaido monitors as best of show. Amazing. Sony had something special going on too. Delicate, intimate, nice complexity. CLX were nice... 2 massive subs to back them up. LS50s sounded really good though it was noisy in the room. Neat little speaker. The clear glass speakers sounded good too, maybe bass was a bit loose. Merril Amps were the bomb.. though we all know those are just Hypex modules and way expensive. But I would def buy them. Fab.
Brodmann Acoustics, the ones with just the tweeters in front, piano finishes. They sounded amazing. Freaky the way the sound was coherent, since all the drivers were on the side.
Worst sound of show... Gamut. Ridiculously big + crap. Wes had the Martens sounding warm and juicy. Way better than the Hansens cool, uninvolving sound year previous. Ear... sweet amps!!!!
Oh... now I know why people love Harbeths. The 30.1s with Vinnies Red wine amps was fantastic.
Tried to like the TAD, not really dynamic, had a sweet sound, maybe the music who knows
Had fun..

Funny how the impression of  the sound at these shows is laid upon the speakers and varies from person to person. I agree the big Gamut's sounded no good..when I went back later they were playing another track and they came to life with some awesome dynamics and low distortion. Still too big for the room and way too much toe in.

I also enjoyed the the Harbeth's and Red Wine.

The TAD's  sounded so so the first time around..went back and they played a  Joni Mitchell track ..don't remember which one..well  the bass of Jaco Pastorius came thru with all the dynamic impact and tone of real life...quite impressive. But at $80g's they better make my dinner and bring me a glass of wine when I am listening too!

The whole playback chain..the room..the ambient noise,,your mood..all have a part of what you hear.
We all are quick to judge the sound, myself included ,but having been on both sides of fence attendee and exhibitor I have come to the realization you cant take a show condition too seriously. Unfortunately there are too few and far between places to really evaluate the performance of a particular piece of gear. Greg

[machinehead]

Thats true Greg... I was not really in the mood to listen early on, but grew into it by early lunch. Could have been the music playing in the rooms too. If I went back at another time they might have been better with different music.  Its not like I will be buying 80K speakers anyhow

I heard 1 rock song the whole day. Would have been nice to hear 2 rock songs.

[jimbones]

The lsa combo speaker was excellent when we heard it. I liked the Rhaido monitors as best of show. Amazing. Sony had something special going on too. Delicate, intimate, nice complexity. CLX were nice... 2 massive subs to back them up. LS50s sounded really good though it was noisy in the room. Neat little speaker. The clear glass speakers sounded good too, maybe bass was a bit loose. Merril Amps were the bomb.. though we all know those are just Hypex modules and way expensive. But I would def buy them. Fab.
Brodmann Acoustics, the ones with just the tweeters in front, piano finishes. They sounded amazing. Freaky the way the sound was coherent, since all the drivers were on the side.
Worst sound of show... Gamut. Ridiculously big + crap. Wes had the Martens sounding warm and juicy. Way better than the Hansens cool, uninvolving sound year previous. Ear... sweet amps!!!!
Oh... now I know why people love Harbeths. The 30.1s with Vinnies Red wine amps was fantastic.
Tried to like the TAD, not really dynamic, had a sweet sound, maybe the music who knows
Had fun..

Funny how the impression of  the sound at these shows is laid upon the speakers and varies from person to person. I agree the big Gamut's sounded no good..when I went back later they were playing another track and they came to life with some awesome dynamics and low distortion. Still too big for the room and way too much toe in.

I also enjoyed the the Harbeth's and Red Wine.

The TAD's  sounded so so the first time around..went back and they played a  Joni Mitchell track ..don't remember which one..well  the bass of Jaco Pastorius came thru with all the dynamic impact and tone of real life...quite impressive. But at $80g's they better make my dinner and bring me a glass of wine when I am listening too!

The whole playback chain..the room..the ambient noise,,your mood..all have a part of what you hear.
We all are quick to judge the sound, myself included ,but having been on both sides of fence attendee and exhibitor I have come to the realization you cant take a show condition too seriously. Unfortunately there are too few and far between places to really evaluate the performance of a particular piece of gear. Greg

Ha Ha you're right. As a speaker designer I tend to remember those things. However the VAC and Burmester stuff was really nice. And there were so many brands I am not familiar with thats why I don't mention them. TMI!!!!

[GT Audio Works]

Thats true Greg... I was not really in the mood to listen early on, but grew into it by early lunch. Could have been the music playing in the rooms too. If I went back at another time they might have been better with different music.  Its not like I will be buying 80K speakers anyhow

I heard 1 rock song the whole day. Would have been nice to hear 2 rock songs.

I heard MBL blasting Rush at ear bleed levels Friday morning...I kept walking
Also left 1 room(I forget the name) in the middle of the demo..was playing some euro metal way too loud to the point of pain. I imagine this designer has hearing loss if he is in the habit of such things.

[jimbones]

Thats true Greg... I was not really in the mood to listen early on, but grew into it by early lunch. Could have been the music playing in the rooms too. If I went back at another time they might have been better with different music.  Its not like I will be buying 80K speakers anyhow

I heard 1 rock song the whole day. Would have been nice to hear 2 rock songs.

I heard MBL blasting Rush at ear bleed levels Friday morning...I kept walking
Also left 1 room(I forget the name) in the middle of the demo..was playing some euro metal way too loud to the point of pain. I imagine this designer has hearing loss if he is in the habit of such things.

I like my music loud (just ask Mazz  ) but there more than one instance where i needed to leave a room because it was too loud. BTW, The MAD speakers were good. I remember now because it uses a Sb29 tweeter that is one of the best sounding cheap drivers I know of. I would have padded it a bit more though 

[machinehead]

I like loud as long as its not piercing or bright. Pantera... Walk.. mouth for war! Loud!

[Face]

I like loud as long as its not piercing or bright. Pantera... Walk.. mouth for war! Loud!

Pantera recordings aren't bright at all.