Ron's Los Angeles Audio Show 2017 Report

KeithR

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I've been to the venue in Anaheim. It doesn't suck. On the contrary, it's incredible, miles ahead of the grubby ol' Sheraton LAX. Neighborhood is much nicer as well, across from Disneyland.

Everything about the Anaheim show seems better, timing, location, actual rooms, organization, etc.

Disney isn't a plus for me, but maybe for OOT families. The 5 is awful and you get Disneyland traffic on a weekend. Yay. It's also not very close to an airport.

As far as the back end stuff with vendors, I hope you are right.
 

KeithR

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btw, anyone remember the years at the crappy Hilton across the street from John Wayne? at least the Sheraton was light years better than that armpit. sure, I liked the Hotel Irvine venue as well but they didn't want our business anymore.

interesting that THE Show website cites 2015 attendance, not last years. Sorta proves my point. The decline was already in motion.
 

asiufy

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Keith,

The organizers for THE Show (NOT the LAAS show) might not even have those numbers. Remember, the two folks that did THE Show last year packed up and went with LAAS, and they might have the actual figures. But indeed, last year's attendance seemed to be lower than 2015 indeed, the first year at Hotel Irvine, and our first show here.

Disneyland might not be a plus for us, you or most audiophiles, but if we want to attract new people to this hobby, there has to be incentives and facilities to get them to us. And sticking a show in an armpit, be them one in front of John Wayne airport or one in LAX, that's not going to help bring new folks in.

Disneyland (and the venue in Anaheim) is 20 minutes from John Wayne airport. That seems close enough for me :)
 

KeithR

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Alex, that brings up a good question. What % of folks touring your room were relatively young or not in the AARP?

I am going to start a thread on attracting new people - that's an interesting topic.
 

asiufy

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Yes, good question indeed. I'd say 10% were at/below/around 40 y.o.
And that's not good.
But, on the other hand, some of the most engrossed and interested people in our rooms were just those younger folks, specially since we weren't playing Diana Krall all the time :) We put on some newer stuff, electronica, even 80s Rush ("Tom Sawyer" anyone?), you could see them drifting towards our rooms :)


cheers,
alex
 

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
Keith,

The organizers for THE Show (NOT the LAAS show) might not even have those numbers. Remember, the two folks that did THE Show last year packed up and went with LAAS, and they might have the actual figures. But indeed, last year's attendance seemed to be lower than 2015 indeed, the first year at Hotel Irvine, and our first show here.

Disneyland might not be a plus for us, you or most audiophiles, but if we want to attract new people to this hobby, there has to be incentives and facilities to get them to us. And sticking a show in an armpit, be them one in front of John Wayne airport or one in LAX, that's not going to help bring new folks in.

Disneyland (and the venue in Anaheim) is 20 minutes from John Wayne airport. That seems close enough for me :)

Totally agree Alex

Were you happy with the attendance in your room
 

asiufy

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jeff1225

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The millennials that I work with are buying vinyl records like its going out of style. The records vendors have to be FRONT AND CENTER of the show, not shoved in the back like some afterthought. Get the millennials in to buy records and then demonstrate how much better sound you can get without a Crosley record destroyer.
 

asiufy

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The millennials that I work with are buying vinyl records like its going out of style. The records vendors have to be FRONT AND CENTER of the show, not shoved in the back like some afterthought. Get the millennials in to buy records and then demonstrate how much better sound you can get without a Crosley record destroyer.

+1.
I found the "marketplace" on Sunday, as I was walking around aimlessly trying to find the breakfast spot. And I only found the Vandersteen room late Sunday, when they were packing to go, and I saw stuff being moved out of a narrow corridor, by the men's bathroom.
 

KeithR

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The millennials that I work with are buying vinyl records like its going out of style. The records vendors have to be FRONT AND CENTER of the show, not shoved in the back like some afterthought. Get the millennials in to buy records and then demonstrate how much better sound you can get without a Crosley record destroyer.

+1. That was the worst part of the show honestly. Glad we scored some early on Friday though :)
 

KeithR

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I also talked to a headphone cable manufacturer and he said the Headphonium was dead - and that's where the millennials typically are at. I didn't have a chance to visit.
 

DaveyF

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Jul 31, 2010
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+1.
I found the "marketplace" on Sunday, as I was walking around aimlessly trying to find the breakfast spot. And I only found the Vandersteen room late Sunday, when they were packing to go, and I saw stuff being moved out of a narrow corridor, by the men's bathroom.

Alex, it took Steve and I some hunting to figure out how to even get to the area where the LP vendors were. I had missed the hall twice before someone at the front desk clued us in. Several of the rooms that were down corridors and hiding behind signs, or other doorways etc, were a miss for me. Since I was there only on Friday, I lost a lot of time trying to navigate the damn place. IMHO, this show...at least for me, was a total bust!
 

c1ferrari

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May 15, 2010
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Most everyone I spoke to still preferred the OC venue. Don't forget about all those driving up from San Diego county taking more than 3 hours each way.

And speaking of OC, who would forgo the wonderful hospitality of Chez Williams!
:cool:
 

c1ferrari

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May 15, 2010
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I've been to the venue in Anaheim. It doesn't suck. On the contrary, it's incredible, miles ahead of the grubby ol' Sheraton LAX. Neighborhood is much nicer as well,...

I've been to the Convention Center in Anaheim for fiduciary training as a trustee on a health care benefits trust. It is as Alex describes...attractive.
 

Believe High Fidelity

[Industry Expert]
Nov 19, 2015
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So it sounds as though the show was a success from a organizer standpoint, but from an exhibitor standpoint there were power problems, tough rooms outside the norm and low attendance?

How bad of attendance are we talking here? CES bad?
 

SCAudiophile

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Sep 11, 2010
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Yes, good question indeed. I'd say 10% were at/below/around 40 y.o.
And that's not good.
But, on the other hand, some of the most engrossed and interested people in our rooms were just those younger folks, specially since we weren't playing Diana Krall all the time :) We put on some newer stuff, electronica, even 80s Rush ("Tom Sawyer" anyone?), you could see them drifting towards our rooms :)


cheers,
alex

Tom Sawyer is a GREAT demo track, particularly off the MoFI and other high quality remasters. Witch Hunt and YYZ are also favorites for showing off a great audio system.

Check out Jordan Rudess' 'The Road Home', Yello's "TOUCH" and "TOY" discs, Bluetech's 2 albums, Sphongle, Phutureprimative and Juno Reactor for some great demo material (and fun music just to spin...)!

BRAVO on your choice to move beyond all the traditional show favorites (which I also love to play...)!
 

Simon Moon

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Apr 24, 2015
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Yes, good question indeed. I'd say 10% were at/below/around 40 y.o.
And that's not good.
But, on the other hand, some of the most engrossed and interested people in our rooms were just those younger folks, specially since we weren't playing Diana Krall all the time :) We put on some newer stuff, electronica, even 80s Rush ("Tom Sawyer" anyone?), you could see them drifting towards our rooms :)


cheers,
alex


Actually, I noticed many rooms were shying away from playing the usual 'audiophile standards' for the most part.

I heard a bigger variety of music being played, and a lot of commercial releases, instead of so much on audiophile labels.
 

asiufy

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Yeah indeed, the musical selection on this show was actually better than Munich :)

It's always fun to walk the corridors before the show opens, or afterwards, and actually hear what the exhibitors listen to when they're not ...erm... exhibiting :) I've heard plenty of Genesis, Yes, King Crimson, Scorpions, AC/DC, all sorts of weird stuff that you'd never expect to hear at an audiophile show!
 

infinitely baffled

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So both types of music,
metal and jazz...

I guess the hip hop / electronica crowd aren't really catered for at these shows?
It amazes me that while black America is at the cutting edge of world music this isn't reflected in the programme material played at hifi shows.
It's almost as if ours is a hobby shared by middle aged white men who don't listen to any music made this century...
 

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