I agree re: the third floor. I unfortunately spent too much time downstairs listening to speakers I will never buy because they cost more than 2 to 4 cars and are taller than anyone in my family and sounded too unrealistic. (It makes it sound like the instruments are all gigantic. Nothing like listening to a 8 foot tall guitar!) When I did go upstairs, I did find a lot of musical systems. For example., I thought the Margules system sounded pretty good playing Brubeck on vinyl. Oh yeah, I wanted to thank DaveyF for the tip re: bringing proof of COVID vaccination. I was prepared and it saved me some hassle.
I'm going on Saturday. Once again, not more than about 30 rooms booked. Should only take a few hours. I guess it's understandable, but still disappointing. Thete was that one year, the 1st in Long Beach, with over 80 rooms, and a huge marketplace. Hopefully next year will be closer to past LA Audio shows. I had high hopes for the LA AudioCon that was scheduled for last January. But omicron had other plans. Home | AudioCon Los Angeles - January 14-16, 2022
I'll be there Saturday and Sunday. Based on the announcements, it sounded like they'll have more exhibitors this year than in 2021.
Even though last year was a bit lean on exhibitors, I had a decent time. They just added McIntosh as an exhibitor today, according to their Instagram. Hope more register up to the day of the event.
I will probably go one of the days. I went last year very last minute, and it was a fun day even though it wasn't nearly as big as past shows.
I'm probably going on Saturday. Apparently there was a significant increase in Covid infections with attendees' after the just completed Munich show....hmmm
I am going all 3 days also. Can't wait. (Can't believe it has already been a year since the last one!) (Last year I passed up IMPEX "Friday Night in SF" in the AM - went back later to buy it and the last one had sold. She said it would be repressed soon. Here it is a year later, wonder if it has been repressed yet....nah, don't think so.)
Going tomorrow, I don’t think I will be going on Saturday, probably be able to do the whole show in one day from the look of it.
An interesting show that was not as well attended as I was expecting, but nonetheless with plenty of folk packing the elevators. I thought there were about as many rooms as last year, meaning that for me I was done in about 5+ hours. No need to go for more than one day. There were some good sounding rooms, and as always a few that left a bit to the imagination.. My favorite room, and i think this is because I just agree with him in the musical sense, is Philip O'Hanlon's On a Higher Note room. Philip was using the just released (revised) Graham LS 5'5's with a tape source. In this room, I could relax and not get blown out by either too much volume, glare, obvious driver stress, or any of the other nasties that some of the other exhibitors took for good sound! Plus, Philip understands how to set up a system like few others, meaning his speakers were well into the room allowing for plenty of depth and not too much room interaction. My second choice was pretty far back as far as SQ goes, but I was impressed with the Ypislon/ Wilson Benesch room...which was also high on my last years' list. The other rooms to me that were interesting were the CH Precision/ Stenheim room with the excellent Brinkmann Balance TT...very nice, but the system price was bordering on being 'way over the top'. The other room that surprised me, as I really dont like single driver speakers was the VK room with the AER drivers. They were bit of a one trick pony, but they were dynamic as all get out and could deliver some timbral punch...not much in the way of imaging, but that could have been the room and lack of room acoustic treatments...BUT these were a great showing for a single driver speaker running off a mid powered tube set up. ( even though the tube amp was utilizing the new KT170's). My usual bugaboo--too many exhibitors believing that blistering volume is the way to go...otherwise a nice little show with generally ok sound.
The spouse and I were at the show today from about 1:30 to 7:00. We took our time and ended up missing or speeding through about a dozen rooms. All in all, we felt this was a better show this year than last and were happy attending. We’re leaning towards going back for a few hours tomorrow to hit the rooms we missed and to spend more time in some of the favorites. I’ll reserve my thoughts on best rooms until I’ve had a chance to listen again tomorrow, but I concur with the earlier post about an abundance of rooms being too loud.
Just got back myself, actually just woke up, will go back to sleep. Was a fantastic show, my first hi-end audio show. This is a new world for me, I’m still processing and trying to put it all in perspective. I would’ve thought 100,000 USD would’ve been enough for a good system, and you will get a lot for that kind of money, but there’s really no limit. But we all know that going into it. There’s a lot to learn at these things. For me it was being able to put a sound to all the reviews I’ve read about the past year. I will provide some highlights and take liberties, mostly for my own reference, take it for whatever it’s worth. Scott Walker demoing a very high end system, sorry, don’t remember name of speakers, but part of the system using soulution 511 stereo amplifier ! huge soundstage, a concert hall in your living room, but you need a good source, which is probably true for nearly all the systems at that show. Acora Acoustics, speakers made from granite. Nothing but clean sound and lots and lots of bass when needed. Seems like the problem of box reflection has been solved without a panel design. I have a feeling panel speakers would never been came about if this would have been developed sooner. The weight is reasonable given the price point of these speakers. ADG productions GaN fets. I spoke with Alberto himself, I really like the idea, almost no heat signature! He told me there are people who are powering B&W speakers and even Maggies using his hi tech class D boxes. The sound demo was clean and powerful. I’ve been fascinated with this tech for some time. Method 3 | Infigo Audio Inc , 250 watts / pure class A, all solid state! I couldn’t believe what was being described to me or how they could achieve this. Designer himself told me it’s done with a bunch of BJTs. Audio Alto, single driver made from aluminum, complete system at 10k was being demoed, highly resolving and clean. I could enjoy this kind of system in a small room. Devore o/baby. I could never imagine how much sound would emanate from such plain looking smallish boxes. Looks and size are deceiving. Lumin streamers, gentleman was kind enough to explain for me the merits of theirs over more affordable entry level streamers. I’ll probably get one of these for my main rig. ZINGALI CLIENT NAME EVO SERIES 1.5, 97 db, demoed with high end turntable and low wattage tube amps, nice big sound in a very large room. Finally, the Gryphon room, this is a must hear! I had the best seat right in the center. They were demoing soon to be released $20,000 speakers, taking pre-orders now. This are practical and “affordable” for those of us not born in the royalty. The ports were configured in the back, but you will be able to configure front or backfiring on the production model. He named off all the components in the system, all seemed first rate, with some components/cables being one of a kind. Wish I remembered all details, I believe the amplifier directly in front of me was the Gryphon Antileon EVO. But the sound! All I can say, if I could spend this kind of money, I would have no hesitation. It doesn’t get better than this, it’s like a high G ride at the theme park. No need to leave home for great sound. But I couldn’t listen at those levels 24/7. Today is the last day, get over there if you can, it’s worth it!
I agree with a lot of what you said here, but am going back this afternoon for further impressions. I didn’t see Lumin anywhere at the show. Do you recall which room had their streamers? (I’ve been considering upgrading from the T2 to an X1 in my family room system.)
Better than last year, exhibitor wise. The vendor room was such a letdown. I am looking forward to 2023 as it is all we have in southern California.
They had their own room a bunch of streamers with open display covers, I didn’t notice any music playing though.
yup, I’m so new at this, I’m getting names mixed up. No wonder I couldn’t find the model number under the Lumin brand name, LOL. Thank you, making more sense now. Another room I found interesting was el kit, diy tube amps. They had some funky looking transparent speaker playing, clean and pure sound. ELEKIT (English Site)
Best of Show for me was United Home Audio's afterhours R2R listening session. UHA top of the line deck, Thrax 300(B) series pre amp and mono block class A power amps powering Verity Audio speakers. Made my socks go up and down!
That room was good sounding, but it was always packed with folks who were talking while i was there on Friday. The UHA deck is probably among the very best sources one can use, and it has always provided first class sound whenever i have heard it. No surprise that good R2R is among the best sounding rooms, too bad it is so very pricey to get into.
Crowds were very thin on Sunday afternoon. You could have your pick of prime seating in most rooms after 1:00.
We started a listening session at 8 PM and everyone was there to listen. There was no one roaming the hallways at that hour and no other exhibitors active (as near as I could tell). And the beer was free. I will never be able to afford a system like that but, at least, I got to listen to one for a few hours.
A buddy of mine went and said it was a good time. Supposed to have been super light on attendees, but it's no AXPONA. Is it supposed to be bigger than CanJam's usual exhibition roster? Sounds more inclusive with general Home Entertainment systems. Many brands mentioned here I haven't heard of. I bet it was a great show for the attendees present this year because of how much you could try things out, interface with staff, and maybe even get good deals!
