RMAF 2012

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RMAF 2012
OMG: Blue Light's Golden Sound
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Oct 17, 2012  |  10 comments
As familiar as I may be with the Playback Designs/Evolution Acoustics set-ups that Blue Light Audio's Jonathan Tinn brings to shows—one of these, with darTZeel electronics and much bigger Evolution Acoustics loudspeakers, received my Best of Show at T.H.E. Show Las Vegas a few years back—I constantly find myself amazed by the quality of the sound. This time, with Playback Design's MPS-3 DSD-capable high-resolution CD player with USB input ($8500); an Ampex ATR-102 open-reel recorder, restored by ATR Services, Inc of York, PA, playing 15ips master tapes sourced from ATR and Puget Sound Studios; and B.M.C. Audio's AMP CS2 integrated stereo amplifier ($8400) driving Evolution Acoustics' MMMicroOne 2-way monitor loudspeakers with stands ($2500/pair), the sound of a Shelby Lynne demo safety copy of her new album, provided by ATR Services, blew me away with its solid bass, powerful slam, and great depth. True, there was a bit of an edge on Lynne's voice, but it may have been room-induced, and sure didn't stop me from writing "OMG" in my notes.
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RMAF 2012
Merlin Music Systems
Stephen Mejias  |  Oct 17, 2012  |  3 comments
Merlin Music Systems’ Bobby Palkovic is having a better time than ever, and you could tell by the sound in his room, which was remarkably tuneful, engaging—neither too forward nor too laidback—and, most of all, fun.

“I like to take things to an end, and now I’ve gotten to a point where I’m beyond happy,” Palkovic said of his Master VSM loudspeaker ($13,600/pair), which are now wired with Cardas Clear cable.

Adding to Palkovic’s pleasure is his new relationship with digital music:

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RMAF 2012
Eficion & Plinius
Stephen Mejias  |  Oct 17, 2012  |  2 comments
Eficion’s distinctly shaped F250 loudspeaker ($9950/pair) combines an Air Motion Transformer tweeter with a 5” carbon-fiber midrange unit and a 10” woofer. The speaker has a high specified sensitivity of 90db and a frequency range of 30Hz–35kHz.

The speakers were partnered with Plinius (“The Heart of Music”) gear: the 125Wpc, Class-A SA-103 power amplifier ($10,125), M8 preamplifier ($5150), and Tiki 24/96-compatible networking DAC ($4775).

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RMAF 2012
Wavelength & Vaughn
Stephen Mejias  |  Oct 17, 2012  |  3 comments
Wavelength Audio and Vaughn Loudspeakers teamed up for a sound that may have lacked the bass impact and scale of other systems I heard at RMAF, but that was coherent, relaxed, and very easy to enjoy.
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RMAF 2012
High-End Audio: Regaining the High Ground?
Jason Victor Serinus  |  Oct 17, 2012  |  14 comments
Although I was only able to stay long enough to snap a few photos and hear moderator Ken Kessler’s (Hi-Fi News) downer of an introduction, Friday evening’s post-show panel included, from left to right, HiFi Plus editor Alan Sircom, recording engineer Peter McGrath of Wilson Audio Specialties, Kathy Gornick of Thiel Audio, Michael Fremer of Stereophile and AnalogPlanet.com, Roy Hall of Music Hall and "why don’t you join me for a shot," and Kessler himself. Dan D’Agostino of D’Agostino, Inc., founder of and former designer at Krell, turned up after I had shot my photo.

John Atkinson adds: Kessler’s thesis was the high-end audio industry is dying by its own hand; that if it is to continue to exist, let alone thrive, high-end audio has to emulate the example of the luxury watch, pen, and car industries...

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RMAF 2012
On an AudioQuest
Stephen Mejias  |  Oct 17, 2012  |  0 comments
In the AudioQuest room, I was treated to a course on the Powers of Network Attached Storage. It wasn’t really a course and it wasn’t really called that, but it could have been. AudioQuest’s Steve Silberman is convincing. And I am now convinced that, when the time comes for me to dive into computer audio and other digital waters, I’ll seriously consider a NAS for my needs.

While Silberman has found success with several different NAS devices, on display in the AQ room was Synology’s powerful DS712+, which Silberman says is highly reliable, has a very friendly user interface, and never compromises the performance of his system.

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RMAF 2012
SOTA's $800 Moonbeam
Stephen Mejias  |  Oct 17, 2012  |  5 comments
John Atkinson told me I should go see SOTA’s Donna Bodinet, so I did, and this is what I found: SOTA’s Series II Moonbeam turntable ($800 with S100 tonearm and Ortofon OM5E phono cartridge).
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RMAF 2012
More Cowbell, Obviously
Stephen Mejias  |  Oct 17, 2012  |  3 comments
John Atkinson insisted that this cowbell had something to do with his daily seminar on recorded sound, but I suspect that he, like most people at RMAF, was just having a good time.
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RMAF 2012
Odyssey Audio
Stephen Mejias  |  Oct 17, 2012  |  3 comments
Odyssey Audio products are proudly handmade in the US and sold factory-direct. The system I heard consisted of Odyssey’s Kismet Reference loudspeakers ($3500/pair), Stratos stereo amplifier ($1400), Candela preamp ($1500), Suspiro MC/MM phono stage ($1200), Groneberg cables, and a 15-year-old VPI turntable.
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RMAF 2012
Musical Surroundings
Stephen Mejias  |  Oct 17, 2012  |  3 comments
On the Mezzanine Level, in the Crestone Peak room, Musical Surroundings put together an audacious, high-aspirations system:
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RMAF 2012
TweekGeek and Knights of the Listening Room
Stephen Mejias  |  Oct 17, 2012  |  5 comments
The people from TweekGeek (“Funny Name, Serious Audio”) have a great thing going. They’re starting the Knights of the Listening Room, “a group of friends where audiophiles can share their audio systems…”
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RMAF 2012
Apex Audio
Stephen Mejias  |  Oct 17, 2012  |  5 comments
I had thought things were pretty fancy over in Musical Surroundings’ Crestone Peak room, but nothing could have prepared me for what Apex Audio had set up in the Blanca Peak:
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RMAF 2012
Gingko Audio Upgrades for VPI's Traveler
Stephen Mejias  |  Oct 17, 2012  |  3 comments
Jason Victor Serinus has already discussed the products shown by Gingko Audio, but here’s a closer look at VPI’s Traveler turntable with Gingko’s Cloud 9T vibration-control platform ($349) and dust cover ($279).
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RMAF 2012
Rega's Union Jack
Stephen Mejias  |  Oct 17, 2012  |  3 comments
Jason Victor Serinus also mentioned that Rega has released their popular RP6 turntable with a new Union Jack finish. Here’s a closer look.
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RMAF 2012
i-Fi from Avatar Acoustics & AMR
Stephen Mejias  |  Oct 17, 2012  |  3 comments
I ran into Avatar Acoustics’ Darren Censullo, who was buzzing with enthusiasm and excitement over the new i-Fi Micro line of components. And rightfully so.
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