[tyrion]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stewtheking /img/forum/go_quote.gif What are those blue things? From their shape they look like heat-sinks of some regard, but what are they "sinking"?

I believe those are heatsinks for the amps. That room was like a sauna. Easily the warmest room at the show.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrSlacker /img/forum/go_quote.gif wait a min.... out of town head-fiers were in NYC and no one told me??? *adds names to his death list*

Didn't you say you were to busy to go.

 

[lan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mightyburner /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm pretty sure these were DCM speakers. I don't recall what else was in the room. I preferred the Totem Mani-2s compared to these.

Ah. Thanks for the correction. It does say DCM in the photo and I missed that. Usually I try and get the name in the photo also and it seems I did but did not see it

.

 

[Dimitris]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stewtheking /img/forum/go_quote.gif What are those blue things? From their shape they look like heat-sinks of some regard, but what are they "sinking"?

I asked the same the guys in the room and they are the amps for driving the speaker. I guess there is an amp on the inside.

4 amps to biwire the 2 speakers is insane. They sounded really good but I wouldnt expect less for something the size of a refrigerator.

The only annoying thing was that they had them blasting really loud so I was able to stay in the room for a couple of songs and then left.

 

[machead]

The best I could do was to pick up my 3-day pass on the way home from work on Friday evening, return Saturday afternoon for a couple of hours while my wife was at work, then steal half an hour on Sunday to listen to the John Atkinson Trio before the cries of "Why do you hate my mother?" rang in my ears like a bad case of tinnitus. I'm insanely jealous of Aaron's well-educated family!

My quick tour of the demonstration rooms on Saturday failed to reveal any speaker-based system that could beat my Stax Lambda Signature + SRM-T1S + MSB Link DAC combo, at least for the types of music I listen to. (My wallet is exceedingly grateful The closest any came was one room on the conference level that housed an enormous pair of electrostatic panels that each stood nine feet tall and three feet wide!!! (WAF close to minus infinity...) As others have observed, there was a preponderance of "audiophile sound" that, to my ears, bears little resemblance to real music. I got thoroughly sick of etched treble, lots of sssssibilance, and/or woolly bass (although the last fault was probably due to the poor acoustics of your typical hotel room).

The only headphones I found were a collection of Ultrasones driven by Benchmark DACs in a room shared by a speaker system that never let up. Talk about a waste of time!

I couldn't pass up the chance to hear the JA Trio, since they perform in public only once per year at the Home Entertainment Show. They were having a ball and it showed. I think it lends considerable credibility to Stereophile Magazine that the editor is able to wield a fretless electric bass, an array of microphones, a mastering console, and a pen, with equal facility.

Bottom line -- HE 2007 wasn't half as much fun as any of the Head-Fi meets I have attended.

 

[MrSlacker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tyrion /img/forum/go_quote.gif Didn't you say you were to busy to go.

I did... but if I knew you were coming, I would have changed my plans.

 

[tyrion]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrSlacker /img/forum/go_quote.gif I did... but if I knew you were coming, I would have changed my plans.

Now I feel almost bad.

 

[MrSlacker]

you should! for how long were you in town?

 

[immtbiker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrSlacker /img/forum/go_quote.gif I did... but if I knew you were coming, I would have changed my plans.

We all know you were out buying boots for your new snowboard

 

[Icarium]

Wait, which was the BEST sounding set up immtbiker? I just see second best.. or did you mean the wilson or MBL set ups in your write up ? ;p

 

[immtbiker]

I was wondering when someone would notice!!!

Good looking out Icarium.

BTW- At least 4 rooms were using those Behold amps (which I thought were Blue Circle Audio, due to the blue circles). When did they become so popular?

Behold BPA768-484-B (That model's worse than Johnnie #'s username)

Blue Circle BC206 $11.5K

My son says that this amp looks like a city

 

[Icarium]

I NEED ANSWERS STILL!! ;p

And man that amp is pretty pimp.

 

[tyrion]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrSlacker /img/forum/go_quote.gif you should! for how long were you in town?

I got in at 1:30am Friday morning, in deposition from 10am to 5pm, then the Ginger Man, Hop Devil, DBA and back to the Ginger Man. Saturday we were at the HE Show till 6pm and then back home.

Quote:

Originally Posted by immtbiker /img/forum/go_quote.gif We all know you were out buying boots for your new snowboard

There is no snowboad worth missing the National for.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Icarium /img/forum/go_quote.gif Wait, which was the BEST sounding set up immtbiker? I just see second best.. or did you mean the wilson or MBL set ups in your write up ? ;p

I loved the MBL stuff but I think my favorite was the Balanced Audio electronics with the Wilson Watt Puppy 8.

 

[Icarium]

Aha! Good to know

The fact that immtbiker mentions that Wilsons do well in a small room setting coupled with California real estate prices... make them pretty attractive for when I make the inevitable move to speakers.

 

[immtbiker]

I'm just having fun, Icarium.

For the money, a decent system (doesn't have to be the BAT stuff) should be good enough to make any audiophile happy with the Puppy 8's or Sophia II's. There hasn't been any review that I have ever read that complained about those speakers. They are highly efficient and take up a modest footprint. If you want to go huge, you could go with the MAXX's or the Alexandria or the JM Focal Utopia Be's. But the detail and range that the Puppy's deliver are unbelievable.
The Vandersteen 5A's are another speaker that have detail beyond words that also, do not need anything more than their price equivalent in companion componentry.

The MBL's are a "cost is no option" combination that any music lover could spend the rest of their life with and have no regrets. But you have to have a huge room (the speakers need to be a good 6 feet away from the rear wall...the tweeters have 360 degrees of dispersion). I still want to know how those mid-range metal panels bend to make sounds. Also, I have never hear about the 101e's being used with non-MBL components, so that could be very limiting.

I thought that the Chord/Kef combo was better than the comments of other members here, and the Gershman Black Swans and the Hyperions (even though they are a little industrial looking) had the synergy and PRAT that a $30K speaker should. They were quite musical.

Right now, if I was only going to spend $6k on speakers I would go with the Studio Electric Type Three over the Joseph Audio RM25XL, the Merlim VSM, and the Acoustic Zen Adagio's. (BTW-I think my Vienna Acoustic Strauss' sound better than those three in what I've been able to demo in small detailed sessions). I'd like to put the Studio Electric's against my Strauss'.

YMMV.

Seriously, my #1 pick 2 channel pick at this point in my life, with a serious loan, would be the Wilson Watt Puppy 8's with the Emm Lab combo, a VPI HRX with Lyra Titan cart and Manely Steelhead phonostage with some McIntosh MC500 monoblocks and a Conrad Johnson Premier pre-amp. Of course a PS Audio Premier would generate the power. Wiring would be the hard part.

IMHO.

 

[Icarium]

sounds good, let's aim for wilson's then! Though MBL would be doable used I think if I had the space... More detail for a Qualia fan is the magic two words.

Perhaps I'll get a chance to hear Wmcmanus's set up when he completes his quest for the all MBL!