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Thoughts from THE Show, is $29k the new $10k?

Had another enjoyabe brief one day visit to THE Show, Newport Beach last weekend. Great to see so many fellow hobbiests, and great gear. Went in search of speakers; here is a brief and disjointed summary of my impressions:
Many vendors were focusing on the $25-32k range; with most for sale around $29k as an entry point to 'quality'.
Rockport showed their new entry, $29k speaker in the Atrium. Had great balance; was warm, detailed, and engaging. First show presence for dealer; nice guy. My first experience with Rockport; was very impressed.
Eficion: at the Hilton; wow; for $16k I think it gives Wilson a run for its money with the Sophia; its AMT ribbon tweeter had great crystal highs, and its large woofer filled the room with satisfying bass, I enjoyed it.
BMC: nice gear; their $32k speakers had dipole arrangement; with both front and rear firing speakers; very engaging, huge sound stage, and great low end response. Paired up nicely with their amp/dac
YG: brought my own CD; so I was familiar with what was possible; initialy liked their sound;but in the end found it a bit 'dry', and brittle; and not totally enjoyable, this was at at least three different rooms showing their speakers.
Wilson Shasha's in the Brooks-Barden room; always a treat; enjoyed their room treatments, and professionalism, nice analog set up. Warm, detailed, lovely, and engaging.
Ventures: wow, very expensive; and very large...but totally engaging; great integration, warm, detailed, expansive sound stage, great bass, huge open subtle nuance on female voices...
Ayon: liked their Lumen White's better last year, than their own speaker line this year, but great amps and dac.
Found the KEF blades a bit disappointing, surprised at how large they are in person.
Enjoyed the TAD speakers again this year, well balanced, integrated very well.
There was a 'curved' line array speaker; I forget its name that also was quite good, interesting design, but filled the room with great sound; no glare.
The Veloce gear, with its battery source was extremely 'quiet' and detailed, and enjoyable.
Surprised how many room utilized the Synergistic Research ART treatments...hard to tell how it improved things; but can't argue with the results.
Too much to see and listen to in one brief day. Curious to hear from other members their take....I know you don't need to spend so much to get quality sound, but so many vendors showing off their $29k speakers made me want to chuckle; and take out a home loan...also thought the digital and computer audio was getting very close now to the analog rigs.
Love having this showcase in our backyard on the west coast; and will contiue to support and attend. Kudos to Bob Levi; and his team at LA/OC audio society; another great job; and Tierney Sutton singing on Friday night was an extra special treat.
mribob
mribob OP
200 posts
 
Hey people; I didn't expect this post to drift off into this level of 'bashing'....I was hoping that other people who enjoyed THE Show would be able to share their experiences of what they heard, what they liked, what stuff were they able to audition only at a show like this that was of interest...it was only a 'side' comment about the pricing of some of the gear that I thought interesting...
Hey, what about those BMC speakers? Does the ART room treatments really work; and if so, how? Yes, at some level our hobby has gotten expensive; this is my main vice, my wife doesn't understand why I'm buying new cables, but to my ears they complete my system; and now I can just enjoy the music. I purchased some of my gear last year as show 'demos' at good discounts, my steady dealers, that I try to support also provide decent discounts, I've bought some good used gear, and have carefully put together my 'dream' system that I fantasized about when I was back in college. I will update my system page shortly...many folks have assembled their own dream systems for a lot less than I paid...but that's whats unique about our hobby; you can gain enterance at many different levels..in the end to me its not about the 'absolute' best send, but simply enjoying the music, helping me chill out after a hard day of work; and taking pride in creating a system that works...for me, and my friends....if I've spent 'crazy' money on my system; that's only on me and my budget...not all expensive speakers sound great, not all inexpensive speakers sound poorly..after this is hobby, not a economic forum
mapman's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
mapman
15,679 posts
 
"I know, I'll just get me a 20 something year old girlfriend. No, that won't work either. My 50+ year old plumbing would probably prevent me from enjoying that,too."

OR the other way around....(insert smiley face).

Viagra would be the right tweak maybe....
bryoncunningham
888 posts
 
I attended The Show. I was only there for a day, so I missed a great many things, but here are some of the things I liked: Evolution Acoustics, Rockport, Daedalus, Marten.

I certainly don't think you need to spend $29K on speakers to get great sound. The Evolution Acoustics micros are going for $2500, and they were remarkable. The Daedalus Athenas are $8950, and they sounded and looked beautiful. Both are a lot less than $29K.

As for the hearing thing, which doesn't have anything to do with the OP, I agree with Whart: the diminishment of high frequency hearing is more than compensated for by the honed perception that comes with age and experience. That's not just sour grapes talking. I'm under 40, so my high frequency hearing hasn't completely gone the way of the Dodo.

Bryon
onemug
784 posts
 
I think Honeybee2012 is just trying to get a buzz out of us.

On his "over 50", I'd agree with him but then we'd both be wrong.
rtilden
156 posts
 
I also liked Jonathan Tinn's room, both analog and digital rigs. I, too, was impressed with the little Evolution speakers, although they were being pushed by some mighty expensive gear. I don't think anyone mentioned the first floor Hilton room showing Concert Fidelity electronics and Estelon speakers. We are north of the $30K speaker mark here, but I very much liked the Estelon's natural presentation of small ensemble music. The room was huge and the ceiling high, which no doubt helped. Speakers were 3-way design, and I would like to have heard them playing full-on orchestral music, but that was not the fare I heard.
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