a few 2014 Newport Show pics

PeterA

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Dec 6, 2011
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I must say with the price of some of this stuff, they should be able to get pretty good sound in any room. The fact that they can't tells me something especially when you see very modestly priced gear sound great in similar rooms. While I agree that rooms are very important, maybe there is more to it than just the room.

It does make one wonder. What I find most annoying, is when I do find a room/system that sounds really good, it's often difficult to really listen because so many people are talking, selling, or moving about. I don't really think these shows are about listening to good sound. There are some rare exceptions though, and they become memorable moments.
 

jfrech

VIP/Donor
Sep 3, 2012
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Mike, thank you for this report. Your photographs are excellent, and that is a really great shot of the new Durand arm. I don't get to many shows, so I really appreciate threads like this one.

+1, totally agree with Peter, thank you Mike
 

c1ferrari

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
May 15, 2010
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Hi All,

My spouse and I arrived Friday and leave late Sunday.
My initial observations regarding rooms I visited early on Friday was, indeed, promising; :p
however, probability and statistics soon caught up!

I have an opportunity to hear the Magico Q7 during a non-show hours audtion...hehe, no -- I'm not the potential prospect.
Of what I've experienced, thus far -- this VAC/Magico system has stimulated my personal interest :D
That stated, the larger Focal with Boulder electronics and the smaller Focal with McIntosh electronics favorably altered my perspective of the loudspeaker :)
 

DaveyF

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Jul 31, 2010
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La Jolla, Calif USA
Hi All,

My spouse and I arrived Friday and leave late Sunday.
My initial observations regarding rooms I visited early on Friday was, indeed, promising; :p
however, probability and statistics soon caught up!

I have an opportunity to hear the Magico Q7 during a non-show hours audtion...hehe, no -- I'm not the potential prospect.
Of what I've experienced, thus far -- this VAC/Magico system has stimulated my personal interest :D
That stated, the larger Focal with Boulder electronics and the smaller Focal with McIntosh electronics favorably altered my perspective of the loudspeaker :)

Interesting Sam. I actually thought the smaller Focal's with the McIntosh gear sounded better than their BIG brothers. In fact, I think this is the best sound I have heard from McIntosh gear
in ages.
My friend made a great point in this room about the Mac gear...he stated that he wouldn't want those in his room as the lights ( displays) would all be too much and would drive him crazy. I saw his point, LOL.:D
 

c1ferrari

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
May 15, 2010
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Interesting Sam. I actually thought the smaller Focal's with the McIntosh gear sounded better than their BIG brothers. In fact, I think this is the best sound I have heard from McIntosh gear
in ages.
My friend made a great point in this room about the Mac gear...he stated that he wouldn't want those in his room as the lights ( displays) would all be too much and would drive him crazy. I saw his point, LOL.:D

Hi Davey,

If I have time/opportunity, I'd like to hear the larger Focals, again. What fascinated me about the larger Focal with Boulder electronics was how well balanced the system sounded at lower sound levels. If compelled to choose between the larger Focals and the smaller Focals with Mac gear...I would decide upon the latter. The lights on the Mac were rather prominent -- I wonder if there is a way to attenuate or fully extinguish them?

It was good seeing you :)
 

DaveyF

Well-Known Member
Jul 31, 2010
6,129
181
458
La Jolla, Calif USA
Hi Davey,

If I have time/opportunity, I'd like to hear the larger Focals, again. What fascinated me about the larger Focal with Boulder electronics was how well balanced the system sounded at lower sound levels. If compelled to choose between the larger Focals and the smaller Focals with Mac gear...I would decide upon the latter. The lights on the Mac were rather prominent -- I wonder if there is a way to attenuate or fully extinguish them?

It was good seeing you :)

Sam, good seeing you and Sonny too. Did you have a chance to listen to the Concert Fidelity Room with the Z: Axis and TAD gear. I thought this room was one of the two best that I heard at the show. The TAD Reference One's were signing with the Concert Fidelity ZL-200 amps and the CF-080LSX2 preamp.
 

c1ferrari

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
May 15, 2010
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Sam, good seeing you and Sonny too. Did you have a chance to listen to the Concert Fidelity Room with the Z: Axis and TAD gear. I thought this room was one of the two best that I heard at the show. The TAD Reference One's were signing with the Concert Fidelity ZL-200 amps and the CF-080LSX2 preamp.

Yes, Davey -- I did :)
Very smooth sound. Didn't CF demo with TAD last year, too; albeit, a different TAD model?
The tonearm had a My Sonic (?) cartridge mounted, which acquitted itself quite finely.
 

DaveyF

Well-Known Member
Jul 31, 2010
6,129
181
458
La Jolla, Calif USA
That's right Sam. They were using a My Sonic Labs Ultra Eminent Bc cartridge on a modd'ed Denon DP 3000 TT, along with a Esoteric X-01D transport and Concert fidelity DAC-040 BD Battery drive DAC. I though the sound in this room was relaxed and very impressive. They did use the same room last year, BUT with different speakers, I'm not sure which ones. However, last year the sound wasn't nearly as good as this year, IMO.
 

MylesBAstor

Well-Known Member
Apr 20, 2010
11,236
81
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New York City
It does make one wonder. What I find most annoying, is when I do find a room/system that sounds really good, it's often difficult to really listen because so many people are talking, selling, or moving about. I don't really think these shows are about listening to good sound. There are some rare exceptions though, and they become memorable moments.

Hotel rooms are not built for sound and there's not a whole lot you can do with square rooms. We spend months setting up our speakers and one expects a manufacturer to do it in 8 hrs? Hardly. Put a bunch of bodies in it and all bets are off. Plus what do you do about 50 systems on an AC circuit that wasn't designed for that?
 

MylesBAstor

Well-Known Member
Apr 20, 2010
11,236
81
1,725
New York City
Hi All,

My spouse and I arrived Friday and leave late Sunday.
My initial observations regarding rooms I visited early on Friday was, indeed, promising; :p
however, probability and statistics soon caught up!

I have an opportunity to hear the Magico Q7 during a non-show hours audtion...hehe, no -- I'm not the potential prospect.
Of what I've experienced, thus far -- this VAC/Magico system has stimulated my personal interest :D
That stated, the larger Focal with Boulder electronics and the smaller Focal with McIntosh electronics favorably altered my perspective of the loudspeaker :)

Very interesting since Alon usually doesn't show with tubes. In fact, that's the first time I remember.
 

LL21

Well-Known Member
Dec 26, 2010
14,411
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Hi Davey,

If I have time/opportunity, I'd like to hear the larger Focals, again. What fascinated me about the larger Focal with Boulder electronics was how well balanced the system sounded at lower sound levels. If compelled to choose between the larger Focals and the smaller Focals with Mac gear...I would decide upon the latter. The lights on the Mac were rather prominent -- I wonder if there is a way to attenuate or fully extinguish them?

It was good seeing you :)

Yes, I could see the balance at lower levels thing. I have found the same after the noise floor in my system dropped with better electronics and good isolation. The other thing is that I have now spent an hour or so with the Naim Statement amp and the big Focals...setup by Naim and Focal who both came to show it.

Most impressed by the low noise floor, level of detail retrieval...particularly at lower levels. My initial thinking is that this points to a speaker that is transparent and responds to every minute little change...and then that same speaker then being effortlessly driven by a very, very quiet system (ie, one with very little of its own noise/grunge).
 

MylesBAstor

Well-Known Member
Apr 20, 2010
11,236
81
1,725
New York City
Keep 'em coming Mike! Thanks! How was the Chord/Magico/VPI room? See they were using the Etna.
 

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