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GoldenEar's Sandy Gross may be an audio legend of sorts, but it was not until the last day of RMAF 2014 that I finally met the man and discovered two things: 1) His Triton One loudspeakers ($4998/pair) are amazing-sounding, especially given their price, and 2) He is an absolutely delightful individual.

The big news—the really big news at RMAF—was the "before winter" US launch of five-year old Tidal of Oslo's full CD-quality, (lossless 1411kbps) music streaming service. Demonstrated in a fine sounding room with Electrocompaniet equipment, the sound was convincingly good when we cued up a track from pianist Leif Ove Andsnes' recording of Beethoven's "Emperor" Concerto. (More on the sound in another blog, where Hegel was using Tidal's service to source music for their room.)

Entering the PS Audio room, I felt like a Yankee fan waiting to meet Derek Jeter. I got to speak with audio legends, Paul McGowan (PS Audio), Arnie Nudell (Infinity/Genesis), and one of my old-school engineering heroes, Bascom King (Audio magazine). And . . . I got to hear vintage audio-salon chestnuts like the Eagles' Hotel California, played through a NOS pair of Infinity IRS Beta speakers. (If they were mine, I would have got their designer Arnie Nudell to sign them right there on the spot!) Getting to hear an old song played through vintage speakers via brand new, leading-edge electronics seemed very revealing of how far we've come and where we are now—design-wise and audio aesthetic-wise.

It was no surprise that PSB/NAD had one of the best-sounding rooms at the show. PSB's new Imagine T3 loudspeakers (about $7000/pair, available by the end of this year) sounded both natural and dynamic. They each have three 7.25" woofers operating in a cabinet less than 2 cubic feet in volume. That would appear to be too small to properly load three woofers—until you hear them. A 5.25" midrange and a selected version of PSB's well-known 1" titanium-dome tweeter round out the driver complement.

My biggest surprises at RMAF were delivered by lower-priced systems that sounded mind-blowingly good. One of the biggest delights came from the new Emerald Physics EP-X three-way dynamic dipole loudspeakers ($1795/pair, or $2595/pair in the marbleized Rosewood finish shown in the photo). These small floorstanders, which were designed by Mark Schifter in collaboration with Dan Mullins, have a sensitivity of 93dB, and an amazing frequency range of 34Hz–20kHz. Shown at T.H.E. Show in prototype form, they made their formal production debut at RMAF.

Many times, I've said these shows are really about people, learning—and secret club—gear-head fun! I believe visiting rooms, listening for a short while and then assigning absolute virtue and value is fool's play. But! But! But! Early the last morning of the show I got a call from Steve Guttenberg raving about the sound in the Linkwitz Lab's room. Immediately, I threw on my pants and went there to investigate.

Like all audio shows, the talk in the halls in Denver is feverish and typically centers on, "So? What have you heard that was good?" And, "Who's room do you like the most?" But, just so it doesn't get too goody goody this wild boy-toys enthusiasm is always seasoned with a bit of dodgy gossipy critique: "Do you believe so and so is showing such and such?" And, "To me it sounded like over priced crapola!" Or more commonly, "At that price it better sound good."

Let me say now, I try my best to avoid all of the above . . .