It was kind of miraculous.
And you would hope for miracles from a system that costs a zillion dollars.
Not a zillion, really. But close. Room 422 was home to Santa Fe Audio, The Signal Collection, and Covenant…
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Something funny happened to me when I walked into the Marriott's Room 422. I had been feeling particularly stressed and particularly drained, and I really didn't want to listen to any more music or exude any more pleasantries. But I was suddenly relieved of all that negative energy—seriously, I could feel it!—upon walking into Room 422.
Hey, have you met Frank Schroeder?
Frank, these are the Stereophile readers. Stereophile readers, this is Frank Schroeder.
Look at that smile! I mean, have you ever seen a more charming smile? That smile could win a zillion bucks. Doesn't it just make you want to smile right along with him? Doesn't it make you wonder what his tonearms are like?
Frank Shroeder makes tonearms. They are as exquisite as his smile.
Newcomer Virtue Audio made its debut at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest showing a colorful collection of affordable Tripath amplifiers. The 45Wpc Audiophile One ($249) integrated amp was engineered by Audience's Roger Sheker and uses VirtuCap input capacitors designed for Virtue by Audience. Inside the chassis, you'll find the cutest little heat pipe designed to maximize space and keep things cool. On the rear panel, propeller post binding posts makes making connections easy, and the amp's aluminum chassis is available in five bold colors (black velvet, snow [a kind of frosty white],…
And it's always a pleasure to catch up with Music Direct's Besflores Nievera.
What a name! It's like a song.
Here we see Bes standing proudly beside the new Avid Diva 2 ($3000 including Jelco tonearm). Along with Focal 928 loudspeakers (now on sale from Music Direct at 50% off retail for $2750/pair) and dashing Marantz electronics, the sound was excellent.
Old and young—I mean, young and younger—dirtying their fingers and nourishing their souls, digging through the crates of vinyl.
Old and young—I mean, young and younger—dirtying their fingers and nourishing their souls, digging through the crates of vinyl.
Oh man. You see this record? It was only fifteen bucks. I really wanted it. I mean, it was kind of just there, looking at me, asking me to love it.
I wanted to love you The Shape of Jazz to Come by Ornette Coleman, I really did. But I just couldn't do it.
The problem with vinyl is you can't just buy one album. Vinyl needs friends to go home with. The problem with me is I don't like even numbers. So, I would have to buy at least three, maybe even five new albums, you see.
I am sorry The Shape of Jazz to Come. Someone else will love you, I am sure.
Remember that trend I mentioned earlier, the one about manufacturers and dealers bringing their kids along to the show?
Here it is in action again.
Truth be told, I moseyed my way on over to Miss Rachael Goldman simply because of that sexy Abbington Music Research compact disc player sitting on the table beside her. I hadn't even noticed her blonde hair, blue eyes, or bright red shoes.
I mean, come on, I am an audiophile.
The Rocky Mountain Audio Fest was Rachael's very first hi-fi show. She had spent the first 19 years of her life pretty much immune to…
Um, can life get any better than it is right now for Dr. Christian Feickert?
Look at the dude! He is sitting in a massage chair with a set of Grados over his ears, straddled by two beautiful women.
Life is good at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest.
Boy, is it hard to take a good photo when a company purposely leaves the shades behind their equipment wide open. But given that Darren Censulo of Avatar Acoustics (now relocated to Fayetteville, GA) had tuned the room with Frank Chang's Acoustic System International Resonators so that it would sound great with all that exposed glass, asking him to close the shades in order to snap a clearer picture was out of the question.
The clear picture in this case came from Lou Reed. I had forgotten how young and fresh he sounded when he recorded "Walk on the Wild Side," but here I could…