RMAF 2019 Official Thread

[ted_b]

It was a pleasure seeing audio friends at RMAF last week (my no.1 goal for any audio show).  Meeting Jud, a long-time audio buddy, for the first time, was especially nice!  And seeing Todd Garfinkle, Chris, Vinnie Rossi, Chebon (Mytek), and several others is always a pleasure.  It's nice to stay in touch, even if it's only every six months or so.

 

As I told Marjorie in the hall on Friday morning, I think the new venue (now 30 min and a toll road from my new residence in Parker, as opposed to 12 min up I-25 to the former RMAF site) brought many positives and only a few negatives.  Yes, the parking fees sucked (Marjorie was nice enough to give us a free pass ) and the layout (an average of 6 rooms per floor on a 30 room floor) was a bit problematic, but then again the crowds were VERY manageable (on Friday), the rooms sounded much better than the Marriott's, and the overall Gaylord resort was a cleaner, more up-to-date venue than previous RMAFs could ever be.  I'd have made the convention center level 3  "you are here" maps a little more friendly, and would have attempted to allow pre-registration to mean something (waiting in same long line as new tickets seemed unproductive on Friday morn).

 

My favorite rooms, in absolutely random order, included Wharfedale, Klipsch, Vinnie Rossi, ELAC, ATC and Prana.  There were very few ear-bleeding rooms, although Nola, Raidho and Wilson were quite forgettable.

 

Yes, this RMAF was quite small in comparison to the ever-growing Axpona, to previous RMAFs, etc.  But I think the new location can be ironed out and be a great new home for an always-wonderful Rocky Mountain Audio Fest in my new home town.

[ted_b]

Barrows,

Yes, sorry, somehow we never got over to see you.  I ran into Andrew in the headphone room but that was about it.   Saw Jason andTyson (Audio Circle guys) at lunch, and Mike Garner at the registration line, so ran into a few old Denver audio buddies, but missed seeing you. 

 

Yes, Todd (MA Recordings) said he had zero visitors on trade day, and that it was a complete failure.  Agree on all other points, too.  I'm hoping I can get Jared to co-sponsor a multichannel room with George (exaSound) next year (and Axpona too).

[ted_b]

15 minutes ago, Superdad said:

 

Hi Ted.

Whoa, were the exhibit rooms really located on 30 different floors?! That seems nuts...

No, each floor (3 thru 11) had approx 30 hotel rooms per floor...but only an average of 6 of them were taken by audio exhibitors.

[ted_b]

46 minutes ago, ted_b said:

No, each floor (3 thru 11) had approx 30 hotel rooms per floor...but only an average of 6 of them were taken by audio exhibitors.

Actually about 60 rooms per floor.  Here is a worst case example (floor 5)

 

[ted_b]

Canjam was basically renamed to Headspace and was located on level 3 of the convention center.  It was smaller than previous Canjams, but 40 dedicated headphone vendors in a large ballroom nonetheless.

[ted_b]

Just now, botrytis said:

 

Yes and cheaper than 200 a night. Just need to look. 

I stayed right behind the Axpona site at Wyndham Garden Schaumburg for $139/night.  A 5 minute walk around the pond and thru the parking lot.