T.H.E Show Newport 2016 June 3-5
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Jun 2, 2016 at 9:55 PM Post #47 of 81
Tick, tock, hurry up Friday.
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Jun 3, 2016 at 5:51 PM Post #49 of 81
Some updates: we now have a pair of Audio Zenith PMx2s.at our booth in the Marketplace. Worth the stop alone to hear these! Thank you very much Alex for stopping by.
Also, we have Silverline speakers in Room 208 with the ZOTL40 power amp and the MicroZOTL2 as a preamp.
 
Jun 3, 2016 at 9:04 PM Post #50 of 81
Wow - great show! THE Show keeps getting bigger each year - I spent all day there today and barely had time to visit the rooms that I wanted to see. No problem - I'll be back on Sunday for more! Anyway, if you're going this weekend here are my recommended rooms that you shouldn't miss (in no particular order):
  1. ELAC. Astounding value for money. Amp with room correction coming soon too.
  2. The Source AV. Lots of headphones and A&K players. (I like the 380 in copper.) They also have a nice AK server/amp driving a pair of Focal Sopra 3 speakers. Great sounding combo!
  3. Schiit/Salk speakers. Stunning combo. I'm speechless.
  4. Zu Audio. Great music, great people, great sound. I'm in love with the Soul Supreme speaker.
  5. Focal Sopra 2/Micromega. Looks cool, sounds great. There's another Sopra 3 driven by Naim amps in the Cabana next to the food trucks. That one sounds great too. (Can you tell I like the Focal Sopra speakers?)
  6. Woo Audio. Thanks Mike for playing the live Bowie track over the WA22/T1 combo. Amazing - like being at the concert!
  7. Linear Tube Audio. MicroZOTL with ZMF Omni. So smooth and musical. Love it!
 
And whatever you do, don't miss the Mr Speakers Ether Electrostat driven by the Blue Hawaii amp. This may just be the best sounding headphone combo I've ever heard. The Ether C with the Schiit Gungnir/Mjolnir 2 was great too.
 
Jun 4, 2016 at 6:09 AM Post #51 of 81
Anyone who is not as familiar with the (rather massive) world of loudspeakers should check out at least a few of the heavy-hitters.  I'm a huge fan of Wilson speakers, and there are several rooms running various models of them on the second floor.  YG Acoustic is another fantastic brand of speakers, who can be found on the first floor, as well as in the MSB Tech room.  MBL is interesting and worth checking out.  I'll post more detailed impressions once T.H.E. Show is over and I have time to organize things.
 
Jun 4, 2016 at 11:18 AM Post #52 of 81
FYI, Bricasti dropped off their M1 DAC at our booth yesterday. We have them paired with the Audio Zenith PMx2's. Come by booth M04 in the Marketplace if you want to hear it. (with or without our Out Of Your Head software.)
 
Jun 5, 2016 at 1:09 PM Post #54 of 81
Thank you to @stillhart ! He saved the day - we dumbly forgot a headband pad for our ZMF Omni and he came through with an extra yesterday. It's much nicer knowing that the people enjoying those excellent cans are doing so in maximum comfort. It's great how great the community is.

Now, Day three has begun and I need to pay attention to this booth.
 
Jun 5, 2016 at 8:03 PM Post #56 of 81
Thank you to @stillhart ! He saved the day - we dumbly forgot a headband pad for our ZMF Omni and he came through with an extra yesterday. It's much nicer knowing that the people enjoying those excellent cans are doing so in maximum comfort. It's great how great the community is.

 
Yes, I noticed that the Omni had a padded headband today. It sounded great!
 
Jun 5, 2016 at 8:28 PM Post #57 of 81
Great show! Biggest surprise to me was the McIntosh MPH1000; thought it was very nice. Also enjoyed both the ethers and got a nice pic with Dan! Good day overall 
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Jun 5, 2016 at 9:59 PM Post #58 of 81
Some more impressions after today:
  1. Beyerdynamic T1 V2 vs. Sennheiser HD800S. Woo Audio had both of these great headphones hooked up to their equally great WA22 and WA5 amps. I like both headphones (much improved from their previous versions IMHO) and have a hard time picking a favorite. They sound different, though. The HD800S is very smooth and pleasant while the T1 is maybe a tad more 'lively', but in a good way.
  2. Schiit Yggrasil/Ragnarok w/Salk speakers. This was one of my favorite rooms of the show. They played a trumpet piece that almost brought tears to my eyes. The trumpet sounded so real (and it sounded sad to my ears - talk about conveying emotion through music!). Overall the system had a very natural and effortless sound. Now, how about adding a remote control to the Ragnarok? (By the way, the puppy was really cute too!)
  3. Zu Audio Druid speakers. Great music and great sound. The Zu speakers have a way of disappearing and they always sound musical - if the recording is distorted the speakers just play the music with the distortion - they don't set out to analyze the distortion in minute detail (looking at you here, HD800).
  4. Vinnie Rossi amp with Volti Audio speakers. This was one of the strangest-looking speakers at the show (huge horns - and I really mean huge!) but Louis Armstrong sounded like he was in the room playing just for us.
  5. A&K media players. I tried the 320 and 380 (love the copper version!) with the A&K-branded Beyerdynamic T1p and T5p. Very nice! if you travel for work or play this is a very good-sounding option.
  6. Mr Speakers Ether C. I tried this headphone with a number of different amps and the combos all sounded different: With Questyle they sounded very neutral, with MicroZOTL they sound very detailed, but still pleasant, with Cavalli Liquid Gold they sounded very engaging and dynamic, with Schiit Gungnir 2 they sounded lively and fun and with the Woo Audio WA5 they sounded oh so musical and inviting. Conclusion: Ether C is a really great headphone, so make sure to try it with your amp of choice.
  7. Audeze LCD-XC. I really like the new voicing of this headphone. It's heavy, but it looks so beautiful! The LCD-4 also sounded superb with The King amp.
  8. ZMF Omni with MicroZOTL. Very musical with deep, juicy bass. No harshness or sibilance - just music. I like. I like very much.
  9. Mr Speakers Ether Electrostat. Listening to these with the Yggdrasil DAC and Blue Hawaii amp is an almost otherworldly experience. Dan played a recording by Madeleine Peyroux and it sounded so effortless, emotional and natural. I'm astounded. I'm not really a Stax fan (too bright and analytical for me), but the Ether E is simply superb.
 
All in all a great show! I'm already looking forward to next year. Big thanks to all exhibitors and staff!
 
Jun 5, 2016 at 9:59 PM Post #59 of 81
I once again had a great time helping people and making money for the awesome Noble guys. I of course rocked the living daylights out of the booth. Hours holding down the fort all alone while Brannan and Nick were off lounging, loved every minute of it, except when I really had to use the restroom.
 
Jun 7, 2016 at 6:54 AM Post #60 of 81
T.H.E. Show Newport 2016 Report
 
 
T.H.E. Show Newport 2016 was a resounding success this year!  It was great to hang out with my friends and meet new ones as well!
 
From the loudspeaker rooms to the headphone/amp ballroom and everything in between, it was very nice to take in all that was great with the auditory world.
 
A few names to throw out, with the rest of my impressions being photos and videos I uploaded to my The Journey of Hi-Fi YouTube channel are:
 
@JimNoyd@AudiophileAri and everyone at 1MORE - you guys are truly awesome and your products speak for themselves - very good sound for very good prices.
 
@willsw - I finally got to listen to the microZOTL 2.0 - sounded amazing with the HE1000 and D1000!  
 
Audio Zenith - The talks we had were very educational to me, and I hope I've shed some light about how I feel about audio and the industry as well!
 
Westone's got some nice, thoughtful products coming out in the near future - looking forward to getting my hands on at least one of the products!
 
Great gentlemen and friends below:
 
@Brian Hunter
@Donald North
@mikemercer
@mrspeakers
@Netforce
Nick Ayo
Sam McKinney
@shiorisekine
@Stillhart
@third_eye
@TSAVJason
@warrenpchi
@Watagump
 
And a bunch of other people that I met (sorry if I didn't put your name down), you guys are all awesome.
 
Here are some photos from the event:
 
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Here are the videos from a little bit of what I saw at T.H.E. Show Newport, 2016 (hopefully next year I can add some more):
 
 

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Many thanks to everyone that attended and hope to see everyone next year!
 
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