And tomorrow we leave for Denver to cover "America's Audio Show," the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest.
Man, are we busy or what? We are kind of like superheroes. They should clone us.
I have never been. To RMAF or to Denver. John Atkinson tells me it's going to be a good time. He says it won't be nearly as crowded or chaotic as the Consumer Electronics Show or our own Home Entertainment Show—the only two audio shows I have experienced—so we should actually be able to listen to some music.
Crazy concept.
The Rocky Mountain Audio Fest… We will have live coverage from the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest.
I would rather go to the dentist than go to the airport. I would rather go to the gym than go to the airport. I would rather go to church than go to the airport. The entire process—missing your train, waiting, waiting, getting there, finding your way around, checking in, going through security, getting undressed, removing your laptop, showing your identification to three different people, submitting to an additional random search, collecting your things, getting dressed again, sweating, crumpling your papers, making your way to the terminal, waiting, waiting, waiting, boarding the…
At last year's CES, the crowds surrounding the Red Wine Audio room were so large and enthusiastic that I had very little opportunity to speak with Red Wine's owner, Vinnie Rossi. Here, at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, I decided to beat the crowds and make Red Wine Audio my first stop.
While Red Wine Audio may be best known for their iMod iPod modifications, Vinnie Rossi also specializes in SLA-powered electronics. Named after Rossi's young daughter, the newest addition to Red Wine's roster of products is the tubed Isabella preamp. It offers three analog inputs, three analog…
Like me, Vinnie Rossi (left) has recently become heavily interested in vinyl. For the show, Vinnie teamed up with Tom Hills of Hudson Audio Imports, US distributor for Scheu-Analog turntables. You can't see it here in the picture, but a small and wonderful stack of vinyl LPs, including Leila's Blood, Looms, and Blooms, Iron and Wine's Our Endless Numbered Days, and the Buena Vista Social Club's recently released live album are waiting to be played. I was pretty much stunned by the gorgeous Scheu Diamond ($2995 without tonearm). Standard finishes for this 'table are black, clear, blue (!), pink (!!), and gold glitter (!!!), but the one we see here, made special for the show, boasts an elegant wood finish. The Diamond uses an external motor with speed controls, and, as shown, sports a Schroeder Model 2 tonearm ($2450) and Allaerts Mk.2 cartridge ($5300). We listened to a couple of tracks off the excellent Fleet Foxes album, and I was impressed by the wide soundstage and overall smooth presentation. In addition to building his SLA-powered electronics and making babies, Vinnie Rossi is now the new US distributor for WLM loudspeakers. How does he do it all? The front-ported Diva Monitor ($5000/pair) uses a paper-cone coaxial drive unit, has a handy tweeter control on its back panel, and is said to provide an impressive 95dB sensitivity. As I was about to leave the Red Wine/Hudson Audio room, Tom Hills directed my attention to a small pair of attractive speakers. "These guys always seem to get forgotten," he said. The diminutive, German-made FJ Minis are available in handsome real-wood finishes, are rated at 87dB, and cost $1295/pair. I'll be looking forward to hearing them later on during the show. Most audiophiles probably associate New Jersey's Symposium Acoustics with vibration control and isolation devices. However, Symposium's Peter Bizlewicz explained that he's been working on loudspeaker designs for nearly 30 years. While vibration control became a business priority, Bizlewicz continued to toil with his loudspeakers. It's no wonder that vibration control plays such a large role in his speaker design. The massive and idiosyncratic Symposium Panorama 2.0 is a "5-way, quasi point-source speaker system which marries ribbon, planar dynamic, and cone speaker technology to… Music in the Symposium Acoustics room was spinning on a modified Tascam reel player. The Tascam stood tall and proud directly between the loudspeakers and atop a high Symposium Acoustics stand. I noted an interesting sonic perspective. I found myself looking up while I listened, not certain whether I was entranced by Frank Sinatra's smooth delivery or mesmerized by the spinning tape.
