RMAF 2015

The 2015 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest Starts Friday

Jason Victor Serinus  |  Sep 27, 2015

With 147 exhibitor rooms, 60 active CanJam exhibitor booths, 40 lobby exhibitor spaces, and 380 exhibitor companies from 23 countries, Denver's annual Rocky Mountain Audio Fest ranks as the second-largest consumer audio show in North America. The three-day show opens to the public on Friday, October 2 at noon in its familiar Denver Marriott Tech Center location.

RMAF certainly qualifies as the most friendly and community-oriented show in the US and, perhaps, the world. What other audio show has a Saturday "spouse outing" complete with van and driver; T-shirts for sale, whose proceeds support a special scholarship fund for a local music school; three "affordable system rooms" set up by the show and local Colorado Audiophile Society, and operated by nieces and nephews of show organizer Marjorie Baumert, who promise to play all kinds of music; free passes distributed to area college and high-school students; and a pledge to use some of the show's proceeds to help people in the industry and Colorado Audio Society who may need support? Throw in an extremely friendly vibe, and you have a show whose homecoming energy is eagerly anticipated by many in the industry.

As for those numbers, RMAF's exhibit rooms may be down a bit from the show's 160 room high, and one major manufacturer, Magico, is exhibiting at the nearby Hyatt. But RMAF remains a formidable presence, and presents a golden opportunity to audiophiles who wish to take a first listen to new and coveted gear. It is also the North American audio show with, by far, the biggest headphone and personal listening component (thanks to Jude Mansilla of Head-Fi and CanJam, pictured below). And it offers three days filled with educational seminars and some very fine entertainment, including classical music courtesy of Ray Kimber of KimberKable. It is an extraordinarily rich and diverse show.

Until AXPONA Chicago and T.H.E. Show Newport Beach/Irvine came along, RMAF was the North American consumer show that boasted the most US and world product launches. While many of those premieres are now unveiled at the increasingly important Munich show in late spring, and then make their US debuts at T.H.E Show, a number of companies are poised to unveil new products at RMAF. With the online list of product launches not fully populated at press time, and press releases still coming in, we point you to the world and/or North American premieres of Zesto's Eros 300 monoblock tube amplifiers; two not-yet-unveiled products from Audeze; Synergistic Research's Atmosphere Series power cords; Wyred 4 Sound's Intimo headphone amplifier/DAC; SST's Thoebe II preamplifier (with optional phonostage and DAC) and Son of Ampzilla II amplifier; Core Power Technologies' AC balanced power sources; Solidsteel's S4-3 audio rack; Aesthetix's Atlas Saturn Eclipse stereo amplifier; Quad's Artera Play linestage/DAC/transport and Artera stereo preamplifier; Magico's S7 loudspeaker and SSUB (Friday and Saturday only at the Hyatt); and, all in one room in the Marriott Tower, ModWright's 845 DS tube SET monoblock amplifiers, TriangleArt's Symphony SE turntable, and Skogrand Cables' SCIW Beethoven internal wiring.

This year, the Al Stiefel Legacy Room, named in memory of Baumert's husband, the late co-founder of RMAF, will host Colorado pro-audio equipment company, Grace Design. Former Stereophile columnist and recording engineer/producer John Marks, who has frequently used Grace Design equipment and extolled its praises, has made available to room attendees a Dropbox key to his hi-rez recording of Scriabin's D-flat Prelude for Piano, which was recorded using a Grace Design m201 microphone preamplifier/analog/digital converter in Mid-Side microphone array mode.

One new addition to RMAF is the RIHPA Rocky Mountain International HiFi Press Awards, which are billed as the "Oscars of the audio industry." Invitations to submit nominations were sent to 14 audio publications around the world, and 10, including Stereophile, chose to participate. Each publication was asked to nominate up to five products in each category, which made for 50 potential nominees in each category. A first round of voting whittled nominees down to five per category.

RIHPA winners will receive their framed awards at a special 7–10 pm International Gala on Friday, which also celebrates the international nature of RMAF. The RIHPA Gala is open to show attendees and industry by lottery; press is assured entry.

On a less elevated but unquestionably essential level, everyone attending RMAF is a guaranteed winner. This year, food trucks will be on site all three days of the show, providing lunch alternatives to the Marriott's fare. And, if the weather holds, outdoor dining will take place in mild temperatures. It's been so lovely in Denver that the RMAF staff has been doing a lot of its work outside.

Complete coverage of RMAF will start appearing on this site on Saturday, October 3, and continue to appear over subsequent days. Herb Reichert, Sasha Matson, and yours truly look forward to sharing our experiences with you.

COMMENTS
Bill Leebens's picture
Submitted by Bill Leebens on September 28, 2015 - 7:15am

Thanks for the preview, Jason.

PS Audio will have the first live demos of the new BHK Signature Preamplifier in Room 1107. Like the BHK Signature 250 and 300 amps, the Preamplifier is designed by Bascom King, and is a hybrid design--a tube front end followed by MOSFETs. The Preamplifier also features a Class-A MOSFET headphone amp and a sonically-invisible stepped attenuator. The Preamplifier is scheduled for Q2/16; Price TBD.

The rest of the system features all-PS electronics:
MemoryPlayer transport and DirectStream DAC--both Class A+ in Stereophile's recommended Components; a pair of BHK Signature 300 Monoblock Amplifiers; and power regeneration by the P10 Power Plant.

Cabling is all by MG Audio; speakers will be the amazing YG Acoustics Sonja 1.3. Paul McGowan and our colleague Arnie Nudell will be in the room during the show.

Please come see us in Room 1107!

Cheers, Bill

John Marks's picture
Submitted by John Marks on September 28, 2015 - 9:16am

US Importer On a Higher Note has front-page info on its website about a 10th-Anniversary Edition of the B-1 loudspeaker, which both JA and I really loved. Problem is, with all the new goodies, the price has gone up a lot. Supposedly there will only be 200 pairs of this special edition. Last I heard they were "in transit."

ATB,

jm

Jason Victor Serinus's picture
Submitted by Jason Victor Serinus on September 30, 2015 - 2:04pm

I'll keep editing this list as press releases arrive... that is, at least through Wednesday, because a bunch may come on Thursday while I'm traveling, and I'll have no time once the show begins:
• Nola KO 2 loudspeaker with new mid-range drivers and Nordost internal wiring
• The above mentioned PS Audio BHK Signature preamplifier
• R2R Audio FR15A full range single-driver open baffle self powered loudspeakers
• New, low latency and gamer versions of Darin Fong Audio's "Out of Your Head" headphone listening software
• Kii compact loudspeaker design from Bruno Putzeys and GTT Audio
• Audio Physic Avanti (North American Debut), Dr. Feickert Analogue – Woodpecker in Zebrano (North American debut), and Acoustical Systems – Aquilar tonearm (World debut) - all from Vana Ltd.
• In addition to new Atmosphere AC power cords, Synergistic Research will show new Tranquility Base UEF utillizing Graphene in the EM cell , new UEF crossover filters with Graphene conductors, and new MIG 2.0 isolation footers.
• New amp and mono block amplifiers from Voxativ, as well as new full-range drivers with wooden cones on their 9.87 system.
• Audio Union's presentation of the Doehmann Helix 1 turntable and Schroeder CB arm.
• Antipodes Audio DS music server
• The US launch of Russ Andrews products and accessories
• Audeze's LCD-4 headphone
• Prototype Modwright headphone amp
• First US showing of the G Lab Design Fidelity Block amplifier from Poland
• Cary Audio's DMS-500 network audio player and TL-300d vacuum tube preamplifier
• Tara Labs Zero Evolution interconnects and Omega Evolution speaker cables
• Amarra Tidal for Windows
• Mytek MQA-equipped The Brooklyn DAC, preamplifier and headphone amp
• Lumin Music D1 network music player
• Digiti Aria mini music server with SSD
• M2Tech Joplin MKII A/D converter, EVO 2, EVOClock2, EVOSupply 2, and Van der Graff external power supply
• Apertura Edena and Armonia loudspeakers
• Sbooster external power supply
• Viero wire and cable
• Russ Andrews X8 Power Block
• Legacy Atmos Ready Stratos 8 in-ceiling speaker
• Aurender N10 Caching music server/player and high precision UC100 USB to SPDIF converter for its players
• Auralic Aries Mini all-in-one
• Pass Labs INT-250 integrated amplifier
• MIT battery powered class AB headphone amplifier
• Daedalus Audio isolation devices, Poseidon loudspeaker, and redesigned 8" and 12" woofers
• Audioengine HD6 powered loudspeaker system
•

Dr. AIX's picture
Submitted by Dr. AIX on September 28, 2015 - 11:31am

I'm hitting the road to Denver on Wednesday afternoon and will have a table in the lobby demoing all of my AIX Records, real HD-Audio recordings. I'll also be promoting my new book and accompanying Blu-ray disc, "Music and Audio: A Guide To Better Sound" at the event.

audiocaptain's picture
Submitted by audiocaptain on September 28, 2015 - 3:41pm

Good luck and let me know how the book goes. Steve

Allen Fant's picture
Submitted by Allen Fant on September 28, 2015 - 12:56pm

Thank You, as always, JVS.
for those of us who cannot attend, we look forward in reading your coverage of this wonderful event!

Jeff Joseph's picture
Submitted by Jeff Joseph on September 28, 2015 - 7:16pm

...of Joseph Audio speakers at RMAF! I'll be in Room 8032 (tucked away in the corner) with Bel Canto Design and Cardas Audio, supporting our Denver dealer - Audio House. We'll have Perspectives driven by the new Bel Canto REF600M's (based on their Black series amplifier design) and the new Prisms will be making their RMAF Debut! Dynamic Sound Associates will demonstrate the Pearl3's in Room 1130 in an all-analog system featuring DSA's Phono Stage & Line Stage, and VPI's Avenger turntable. David Skolnick's Mono Beatles vinyl presentation is not to be missed! A Splendid Time Is Guaranteed For All.

ScullComm's picture
Submitted by ScullComm on September 29, 2015 - 8:11am

Thanks for mentioning Audeze Jason. Visit Audeze and audition the new reference LCD-4, featuring amazing nano-scale Uniforce™ diaphragms and unique Double Fluxor™ magnet arrays for the most powerful magnetic flux density in existence, an incredible 1.5 Tesla, along with a new comfortable suspension-type carbon fiber headband. It delivers breathtaking high-resolution sound, imaging and transparency, with unmatched dynamics removing the boundaries between artist and listener. Read more about the LCD-4 here:
https://www.audeze.com/products/lcd-collection/lcd-4

You can also audition The King headphone amp designed for Audeze by Bascom King. It's a two-stage hybrid design featuring a pair of twin triode tube inputs (E88CCs), a differential P-MOSFET driver and MOSFET output devices. The result is a low impedance, low distortion, wide frequency response output with immense musical transparency, a real emotional experience. Yes, it's good to be King!

See you at CanJam!

dalethorn's picture
Submitted by dalethorn on October 1, 2015 - 4:31pm

"The page you requested does not exist" on your link.

John Atkinson's picture
Submitted by John Atkinson on October 1, 2015 - 4:41pm
dalethorn wrote:
"The page you requested does not exist" on your link.

I fixed the Audeze link. It now works.

Sad to be missing the show for the first time in 9 years. As it takes place a week earlier than last year, it conflicts with my having to be in the office to ship the December issue to the printer this weekend.

John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile

dalethorn's picture
Submitted by dalethorn on October 1, 2015 - 5:09pm

So the $4000 USD LCD4 ups the ante in planars after HiFiMan's $3000 HE1000. Gee, now my $2000 headphones are just "mid-fi".

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