Article: RMAF 2018 Show Report

[austinpop]

View full article

[austinpop]

26 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Hi Rajiv - It was really nice to see and talk to you at the show. Thanks for the report. I had to call an audible on my write up. 

 

Same here, and you're welcome, Chris! I'm happy to oblige after you had that blatant technical committed on you. ?

[austinpop]

22 minutes ago, barrows said:

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the Raidho/Scansonic room.  The smaller Scansonics were very impressive to me, I was surprised to find that I preferred them, in that room, to their much larger big brothers (the Raidhos).  I suspect the big Raidhos needed a bigger room to show what they really could do.  The Scansonics showed remarkable resolution, and sounded much "bigger" than their relatively diminutive size would suggest.  Particularly on the bass drum decay/ reverberation on Dave Brubeck's "Take Five" the level of resolution was impressive.

Thanks Rajiv for the report, and good to meet ya! 

 

Same here, barrows. Those Scansonics sounded amazing. Of course the $50k+ worth of Moon electronics probably didn't hurt either.

 

I should probably edit the article and move the Scansonic to the under $10k section. They're an excellent value.

[austinpop]

8 minutes ago, Derek Hughes said:

Great to meet you Rajiv, really enjoyed our session in the bar, thanks to Chris for picking up the tab. One of my thoughts was that it was good to see and hear the number of active speaker systems and the use of DSP and room correction software. I particularly enjoyed the Elac, Dali and Eikon  rooms.

 

Likewise, Derek!

 

I had to skip the ELAC room due to it being full. Agree about the Dali.

 

As for the Eikon, I wasn’t really impressed with the room as setup. Given all the buzz, I suspect they are better than that, so I’ll be checking them out again in a different setting next chance I get.

[austinpop]

I agree with you guys.

 

High-end prices - for speakers especially, but alarmingly, for electronics too - have risen to obscene levels. There really is no other word for it. The unfortunate truth is that there apparently exist enough of the "money no object" customers to make the production of such gear feasible.

 

The second truism is that high end shows do not showcase gear to even a fraction of their true capabilities. The realities of  hotel room acoustics, noisy HVACs, lousy power and insufficient setup and tuning time make great sound quality more an exception than a rule.

 

So why attend these shows at all? For me personally, here are some reasons:

1. Good dealerships, where you can meaningfully audition gear, are vanishing. Inexorably. Certainly outside the major cities in the US, if not around the world. I live in a small metropolis, where good high-end dealers are as rare as bad barbecue.  For better or worse, shows like RMAF give you a chance to get a closer look at gear you might be considering, or are just curious about, and get to hear them (or more likely, their bigger brother at the top of the line), albeit in imperfect show condition.
2. People. People are the best part of the show. You can meet industry titans, product designers, community members (fellow CA'ers), audio journalists, and other audio enthusiasts.
3. Learn - about new gear, industry trends, what's coming, new product types etc.
4. Unknown gems - there are a lot of audio manufacturers most of us have never heard of, who will come to these shows. At RMAF, I was really intrigued to hear Auris Audio (from Serbia), Meze Audio (from Romania), and Alsyvox speakers from Spain. I wouldn't have even heard of them, let alone listened to their gear, had I not gone.
5. The weird and the wacky: finally, it's always cool to just wander around and look for offbeat things. There was a Chinese record label selling some really cool recordings I'd never have even thought to look for.  ESD Acoustics with their giant-ass horns!

I'm sure there are more reasons, but you get my point.

 

All that said - I couldn't agree more - I too breathed a sigh of contented relief when I got home and fired up my own system. Music to my ears!

[austinpop]

Perhaps we in this segment of the hobby are lucky that the super-rich high-end audio geezer set don't really grok computer audio. Yes, we gasp at the $10-20k prices for Aurenders, Innuos, SGMs etc. But think about it. These prices pale in comparison to the Nagra HD DAC-X. $65k. WHAT?!

 

I guess we should count our blessings. Once computer audio becomes idiot-proof, can $50k+ music players be far behind?

 

A sobering thought.  

[austinpop]

Another random vignette from RMAF...

 

I'm sitting listening in the MSB room, and a gentleman seated in the sweet spot compliments Vince Galbo on the truly gigantic display on the front panel of the DAC. This guy was probably north of the median age of RMAF attendees. Vince half-jokingly described how they internally called it the "old man display," and then went on to reveal that the display alone cost them over $700 in parts.

 

Think about that when you consider the effect the rich geezer-atti have on high-end component design.

[austinpop]

1 minute ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

 

I’ve seen really high end car displays used in audio components with similar cost results due to low quantities. 

 

Agreed, Chris. Was just pointing it out in the context of high prices of high end gear, and what drives those requirements.

 

I doubt a typical CA'er would have wanted to push for a part like that - which probably drove MSRP up by $1.5-3k.