RMAF 2008

All confirmed folks..going to the RMAF this year...all 3 days...woohoo!!!

Please take plenty of snaps and put em up. While I haven't been to any international audio shows the RMAF and the Taiwan shows are on top of my TO DO list.

hey saachi cool!

if i may request - pictures of tube equipment and turntables and phonostages if you can. will be appreciated a lot and have fun! judging by your excitement levels i'm sure you already are

Sure thing gentlemen...if any specific requests let me know asap...i will be attending all 3 days..

Savyasaachi schrieb:

Sure thing gentlemen...if any specific requests let me know asap...i will be attending all 3 days..

Yes, Saachi, I have 1 request: please take some time to visit the Apogee room (hosted by True Sound Works). I believe that Rich (owner of this biz) is going to have a pair of restored Apogee Diva speakers driven by Pass Labs XA100.5. I would like to know, thru your ears, what your opinion of the sonics are.
Thanks in advance.
Hopefully you are taking some CD-Rs of your own music???

And whatever new GIANT KILLERS are out this year...

If you get a chance to go to the Rethm room please do try to listen to the Rethm Margaa and post your feeling of it

Another brand would be the De Havilland Amplifiers !

Hi,

If you get the chance,please check out Oswald Mills Audio(OMA)in room #464.They have some interesting stuff.

Thanks

Regards
Rajiv

sure thing guys....got it written down..will update you guys as and when i can..

Cheers,
Saachi

Savyasaachi schrieb:

sure thing guys....got it written down..will update you guys as and when i can.. Cheers, Saachi

Saachi,
We eagerly await your show report + show pix. Please share at your earliest! Curious minds are getting restless!

Any other sites with reviews ?
I knnow of


http://www.soundstage2.com/avtour2008/rmaf.html

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/rmaf_2008/

sachi..we are all waiting for your report

Enjoy gentlemen...

RMAF 2008

I will give you my opinion in detail later..

for now..
OMA speakers were great even in the damn hotel room...of course much better can be expected in a proper room
Jonathan was very nice..obliged for a pic..asked about you Rajiv.

Margaa from Rethm was decent...Jacob and Nina were a pleasure to talk to.

deHavilland was a disappointment..but since they are in Vancouver , WA..nly across the bridge from Portland will go again and listen.

The refurbished Apogees were brilliant..I would buy an old pair and have it restored if I could afford it..brilliant with the Pass Labs..

Roberts Acoustics was great with their Bookshelfs...Emerald Physics had an open baffle (best open baffle) for like 3000$..briliant speaker(i would buy one when i can spare some change), Verity Audio with Luminance amplifier stood out, Acapella and Einstein was nice to listen to..BD Design was the best horn there.beautiful..
RAAL had an isane open baffle speaker with the bass cabinet made out of bronze..5 15 inch woofer per channel, 18 mid ranges, 15 ribbon tweeters per channel..80k$..superb sound..

Odessy Audio had some very nice pair of ported spealers with scan speak drivers..YG acoustics was ok

Orion from Linkwitz was a bit of a disappointment..but i reserve my jugdement till i hear it in a proper room.

Serious stereo from Montana was superb..

Feastrex had a very nice speaker..kind of a TL design but not quite..

However, their price for the driver alone was ridiculous.

The Usher BE718s were a big let down..

The Kharma was a superb speaker..The Macintosh room was brilliant (both with the sonus fabers and the macintosh speakers, the latter being waay superior)

Cheers,
Saachi

Thanks much for your quick summary of RMAF2008 Sacchi + the very nice pix.

I'm glad that you liked the Apogee sound - the ribbons are very fast & produce a holographic image.

How did the new Rowland preamp sound?
What did you think of the Ayre MX-R sound?
Was there a (David) Berning room? Did you visit it? How was the gear sounding?

Thanks!

Savyasaachi schrieb:

Margaa from Rethm was decent...Jacob and Nina were a pleasure to talk to.

those pics look good ! i guess putting names to the photos may be a bit too muich to ask would it ? then you could post the link to audiogon too !

Did you get a chance to hear both ie the Margaa and the sadhana ? of so how was their Bass response ?

bombaywalla schrieb:

I'm glad that you liked the Apogee sound - the ribbons are very fast & produce a holographic image.

Hey bombaywalla, perchance,is an upgrade on the cards ?

Arj schrieb:

Savyasaachi schrieb: Margaa from Rethm was decent...Jacob and Nina were a pleasure to talk to. Sachi the picture you took was of the "saadhana" ..was the comment also for it OR the Margaa ? those pics look good ! i guess putting names to the photos may be a bit too muich to ask would it ? then you could post the link to audiogon too ! bombaywalla schrieb: I'm glad that you liked the Apogee sound - the ribbons are very fast & produce a holographic image. Hey bombaywalla, perchance,is an upgrade on the cards ? ;)

Arj,

The pics are of both the sadhana and the margaa..
THe pics of the margaa are at the end of the photo set.

I will put names to the photos when i get some time..I remember most of them..but exact models i may not.

Bombaywalla,

I did not listen all that much to the ayre or the Jeff Rowland ... The ayre was alright..but did not stick around for too long as it was the last day i checked it.

The Jeff Rowland impressed me more with its faceplate rather than the sound.

Bramberg audio had a couple of speakers out as well and were sounding exceptional. They were using emotiva amplifiers and pre amplifiers...very very good for the price.

Roberts acoustics with their Rapide bookshelves were a great find.
Veloce audio had the best sounding class D based battery powerd amplifiers...they were using it with the Kharma speakers..one of the highlights of the show I would say. They had their own tube buffer stage of course and using the Hypex Class D modules.

All in all, 3 days is just not enough to look through all the rooms. I did not even get to visit the Hyatt..did not go to the MBL room cause i knew it was going to be crap and my friend confirmed it..JBL had a new speaker out and was surprisingly better sounding than what i expected from them...a bit too bright but overall decent.

Arj schrieb:

Hey bombaywalla, perchance,is an upgrade on the cards ? ;)

Heh, heh, heh!
Upgrade already done, saar! Earlier this year I managed to snag an Apogee Scintilla (1-Ohm impedance version, which is the much better version between the 1-Ohm & 4-Ohm versions they made). These replaced the Green Mountain C1.5i speakers.
Remarkably these 2 speakers, altho' they use very different drivers, sound very much alike. They dynamics, IMHO, are better w/ the ribbon (it's the physics that's on the ribbon's side). Both speakers are 1st-order xover.
The Scintilla is a damn brute to drive - not only 1-Ohm but dips to 0.93 Ohms in the 200Hz region. But hell, it sounds divine.

bombaywalla schrieb:

Heh, heh, heh! Upgrade already done, saar! Earlier this year I managed to snag an Apogee Scintilla (1-Ohm impedance version, which is the much better version between the 1-Ohm & 4-Ohm versions they made). These replaced the Green Mountain C1.5i speakers. Remarkably these 2 speakers, altho' they use very different drivers, sound very much alike. They dynamics, IMHO, are better w/ the ribbon (it's the physics that's on the ribbon's side). Both speakers are 1st-order xover. The Scintilla is a damn brute to drive - not only 1-Ohm but dips to 0.93 Ohms in the 200Hz region. But hell, it sounds divine.

Congratulations..these fall into the realm of legendary !
which amp are you using?
from what i have heard about it this is one of the affordable "no compromise" speakers as long as you can get it to sing with a suitable amp which is where the problems start !

Hi
Thanks for the report. Were you there for all days? I ask since people I know told me that the Orion was probably the best sound at the show, I know its all subjective, but there seems to be a major disconnect here . Same for Emerald Physics - day one was disaster due to some HW failure, but day 2 onwards went very well.

cheers

Savyasaachi schrieb:

Enjoy gentlemen... RMAF 2008 I will give you my opinion in detail later.. for now.. OMA speakers were great even in the damn hotel room...of course much better can be expected in a proper room Jonathan was very nice..obliged for a pic..asked about you Rajiv. Margaa from Rethm was decent...Jacob and Nina were a pleasure to talk to. deHavilland was a disappointment..but since they are in Vancouver , WA..nly across the bridge from Portland will go again and listen. The refurbished Apogees were brilliant..I would buy an old pair and have it restored if I could afford it..brilliant with the Pass Labs.. Roberts Acoustics was great with their Bookshelfs...Emerald Physics had an open baffle (best open baffle) for like 3000$..briliant speaker(i would buy one when i can spare some change), Verity Audio with Luminance amplifier stood out, Acapella and Einstein was nice to listen to..BD Design was the best horn there.beautiful.. RAAL had an isane open baffle speaker with the bass cabinet made out of bronze..5 15 inch woofer per channel, 18 mid ranges, 15 ribbon tweeters per channel..80k$..superb sound.. Odessy Audio had some very nice pair of ported spealers with scan speak drivers..YG acoustics was ok Orion from Linkwitz was a bit of a disappointment..but i reserve my jugdement till i hear it in a proper room. Serious stereo from Montana was superb.. Feastrex had a very nice speaker..kind of a TL design but not quite.. However, their price for the driver alone was ridiculous. The Usher BE718s were a big let down.. The Kharma was a superb speaker..The Macintosh room was brilliant (both with the sonus fabers and the macintosh speakers, the latter being waay superior) Cheers, Saachi

for now.. OMA speakers were great even in the damn hotel room...of course much better can be expected in a proper room Jonathan was very nice..obliged for a pic..asked about you Rajiv.

Hi,

Thank you for the report and pictures.

Glad you liked the OMA horn loudspeakers.Jonathan and the others have been very forthcoming and have helped with their inputs while I was building my Altec horns.

Regards
Rajiv

Hi rajiv,

I heard the Orions briefly on the first day with LInkwitz himself auditioning it for me. I expected more cause i saw myself building one in the future two years ago.

There were many other speakers that impressed me more..the apogee, the verity audio+luminance, emerald physics(went there on the last day, they had another room with their more expensive speaker but i liked their modestly priced one better), Serious Stereo, Roberts acoustics among a handful of others.

http://picasaweb.goo...#5257238643536397698

Sir,

Superb !!

I have no words to express my happiness;
Well done !!

Not only have you covered the RMAF 08 very well; but the main thing for me is the fact that you took out some 'precious' time to go and attend a show !! That is great.

You have had the lovely chance to listen to some of the best audio gear that exists.............
I am sure your 'audio horizens' have 'widened' !!!!
Now 'bask' in it.

I have posted a link above.
Could you be so kind so as to comment on that room ...
Please.
That is a speaker I am very anxious to listen to, but it has never been on display @ any audio show that I have attended [actually been a while since I attended a show - 1.5 years now & I really mis it] !!!

Thanks & great going - pictures are lovely too...

http://picasaweb.goo...#5257239119025343938

What is this ?
Can some one shed some light ... Please. Thanks.

http://picasaweb.goo...#5257239848169144402

Sorry for this - but I would like to know what the amplification is in this case.
Any idea ?
Thanks,

bhagwan69 schrieb:

http://picasaweb.goo...#5257239119025343938 What is this ? Can some one shed some light ... Please. Thanks.

Bhagwan, i believe that is Acapelas ion tweeter..

Bhagwan, i believe that is Acapelas ion tweeter..

That I could figure - but the housing is what I was wondering about & there are tubes in there;
I never know that the ion tweeter needed tubes !!

Thanks ARJ;

bhagwan.. check out these.
http://www.ece.villanova.edu/ion/p13.html
http://web.mit.edu/c...feb2003_mit_1of2.ppt

(the above ppt is nice)


plasma and ion tweeters were initially designed with tubes. apparently you need to run them at very high frequesncies in the MHz range and only large tubes can do that..not idea why though perhaps the same theory as the boradcasting stations using tubes which Manek had mentioned in one of his posts ??
Tube Gurus ?





apparently JFET based ion tweeters are still available but acapella prefers tubes.

bhagwan69 schrieb:

http://picasaweb.goo...#5257239848169144402 Sorry for this - but I would like to know what the amplification is in this case. Any idea ? Thanks,

That's Vincent Audio..


The speaker is ROberts Acoustics Rapide...very nice combo..

Arj schrieb:

those pics look good ! i guess putting names to the photos may be a bit too muich to ask would it ? then you could post the link to audiogon too !

Thanks Arj,


I have updated the photo set with as much info I could remember

Arj schrieb:

bhagwan.. check out these. http://www.ece.villanova.edu/ion/p13.html http://web.mit.edu/c...feb2003_mit_1of2.ppt (the above ppt is nice) plasma and ion tweeters were initially designed with tubes. apparently you need to run them at very high frequesncies in the MHz range and only large tubes can do that..not idea why though perhaps the same theory as the boradcasting stations using tubes which Manek had mentioned in one of his posts ?? Tube Gurus ? apparently JFET based ion tweeters are still available but acapella prefers tubes.

Man, Arj, awesome links & awesome info!!
THanks very much for the same. I was educated!


Re. the amp I'm using w/ those brutes: it's a German boutique brand called Symphonic Line Kraft 300. 1000W/1 Ohm & does a great job! Cooling fins get hot but its feathers are not ruffled.

bombaywalla schrieb:

Re. the amp I'm using w/ those brutes: it's a German boutique brand called Symphonic Line Kraft 300. 1000W/1 Ohm & does a great job! Cooling fins get hot but its feathers are not ruffled.

aah..Odyssey audio were carrying the symphonic line CD player. Apparently, their speakers (and?) amps are basically symphonic line stuff just dialed down and sold under Odyssey's name.

Savyasaachi schrieb:

bombaywalla schrieb: Re. the amp I'm using w/ those brutes: it's a German boutique brand called Symphonic Line Kraft 300. 1000W/1 Ohm & does a great job! Cooling fins get hot but its feathers are not ruffled. aah..Odyssey audio were carrying the symphonic line CD player. Apparently, their speakers (and?) amps are basically symphonic line stuff just dialed down and sold under Odyssey's name.

That's basically correct. The Odyssey Audio electronics minus the power supply & minus the chassis is supposed to be from Symphonic Line.
Odyssey AUdio, in addition, is the US importer of Symphonic LIne & that's how he had the S-L Reference CDP in his system.
I liked the sound in that room during RMAF2007. what did you think of the sound this year, Saachi?

I really liked the sound...very very nice for the price...I would have a hard time picking out which one would be the best at that price range..cause for speakers, there are Emerald Physix, Robert Acoustics and Bramberg audi oin the fray. For Amplifiers though i think Veloce and Odysey are really good.