RMAF 2019: Enter Stage Left

Where am I? I thought I was heading to Denver to cover the 16th edition of the three-day Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, but it looks as though I boarded the wrong plane and ended up in Las Vegas. An indoor pseudodesert with an empty red Santa Fe caboose and the canopy of an Asian restaurant in the background? An Asian restaurant whose menu’s first sushi roll is built around steak? A strange stone grotto that leads to … ? An even stranger, snakelike thing that turns out to be a towering outdoor/indoor water slide that terminates in a huge pool?

Welcome to the Gaylord Rockies Resort and Convention Center, a sprawling facility carved out of nothing much at all, which has become RMAF’s new home. Complete with a mountainsize helping of cognitive dissonance, the Gaylord will host somewhere between 87 and 90 exhibit rooms of various sizes, Classic Album Sundays and Entry Level rooms, a fair number of booths in the Marketplace and “Headplace” ballrooms, and a fair number of seminars. It’s a smaller RMAF than in the immediate past, but it has a goodly number of premieres and enticing exhibits—enough to keep yours truly busy over the next few days. And next year, when the show returns to its usual October time slot and no longer ends just days before the start of CEDIA, it could get bigger again. Here's hoping.

Now is now, however, and surprises await. Please stay tuned over the next few days as our coverage unfolds.

COMMENTS
Bogolu Haranath's picture

Was it steak tartare in that sushi? :-) ..........

Mr Qiet's picture

At least you know it's fresh off the boat. :)

Bogolu Haranath's picture

Fresh off the boat from Colorado river :-) ........

Bogolu Haranath's picture

So, which Stereophile reviewer is gonna try that water slide? :-) ..........

rskuras's picture

What are the long sequences of periods / dots you're always putting in your post supposed to mean?

Bogolu Haranath's picture

Nothing ...... Just my writing style :-) ......

Anton's picture

He's one dash short of the "T".

texanalog's picture

"...a sprawling facility carved out of nothing much at all, which has become RMAF’s new home. Complete with a mountainsize helping of cognitive dissonance..."

We get it. It wasn't built with YOU in mind. It wasn't built to appeal to YOUR taste.

If you attended any RMAF at the pre-renovation Marriot DTC, you shouldn't have been so surprised.

It is Rocky Mountain Colorado, after all.

Anton's picture

That is definitely the biggest freaking power cord I’ve ever seen!

Regarding the cognitive dissonance: the first snowflakes are descending on the high plains along the front range?

Bogolu Haranath's picture

That power cord is supplying power to the 'Red Rocks Amphitheatre' :-) ........

Bogolu Haranath's picture

Sushi eating snowflakes, because cheeseburgers are bad for the environment :-) .......

Jason Victor Serinus's picture

Think of all the carbon that is emitted while posting all these comments.

Ortofan's picture

... Vista Montagne and ordered the Colorado Trout, along with a nice glass of the Canoe Ridge (by Chateau Ste Michelle) Chardonnay.

Bogolu Haranath's picture

Must be a lot of carbon ........ No wonder, it is gonna cost us 16 trillion dollars to fix the problem :-) ..........

Poor Audiophile's picture

I'll be interested to hear reports from the entry level rooms!

Jason Victor Serinus's picture

The standard size hotel rooms here are some of the smallest I've ever visited. Many are smaller than those at the Marriott. Some have only six or eight seats. I tried to get into one of these rooms on Friday, and it was all seats taken with five people standing in the back and more in the narrow space leading up to the front. There was no way for me to take a photo, let alone listen. I'll try again on Saturday and Sunday.

Anton's picture

That show is so crowded nobody goes to it any more.

Bogolu Haranath's picture

'They made too many wrong mistakes' :-) .......

Poor Audiophile's picture

Thanks!

Ortofan's picture

... a Marriott property.
You generally don't go to a resort to spend much time in your room.
Atypical of most industry conventions, the exhibits at an audio show are mainly conducted in the rooms, rather than being set up in a large hall.

Bogolu Haranath's picture

Large halls would be suitable for 'Trad Jazz' concerts :-) .........

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