RMAF Best of Show? - $10K NOLA “KO” destroys most regardless of price

[Steve Williams]

I know the cable well Mark as my Valhalla is similar but I lay them vertically on my cable lifts

 

[mep]

Never though about it. If I had remembered I would not have told my dealer that they were too expensive for me - "Sorry, they do not fit my current cable lifts" would have sounded much better!

I'm just saying the Nordost cables are very unruly in terms of having a neat installation. This has nothing to do with how they sound though except for the OCD audiophiles who must have thier cables on elevators so they don't touch the floor.

 

[Steve Williams]

Ouch.

 

[mep]

Was anyone of the same opinion as me that the show seemed less attended than last year. As well I was somewhat underwhelmed by the whole show and I saw pretty much everything. There were certainly little glimmerings of an occasional good component and speaker but by and large it was pretty vanilla but that's just my take

Yes, I am of the same opinion that attendance was down compared to last year.

 

[rbbert]

Hard to say, I thought last year was pretty uncrowded and I had the same impression this year. It certainly did not seem more crowded this year...

 

[Steve Williams]

Boarding now guys. Catch you later.

 

[rbbert]

You can spin it any way you want..analog stage, digital section...this is a joke.

The SOTA recording studios use ADACs an DACS costing far, far, far, far less because they shop with their ears, not their eyes.

Less than $7k?! Better get an opinion from Bruce on that one...

 

[rockitman]

Less than $7k?! Better get an opinion from Bruce on that one

especially since he uses a MSB Diamond stack as his pcm digital reference....

 

[LL21]

especially since he uses a MSB Diamond stack as his pcm digital reference....

With the Femto clock and Diamond Base, the DAC costs $38K.

 

[KeithR]

Saw that a 9k usb cable was released.

Come on now.

 

[Andre Marc]

Saw that a 9k usb cable was released.

Come on now.

I saw that. I consider this kind of baloney unfortunate. It brings ridicule on to the hobby.

But then again, fools and their money are very soon parted.

 

[Gregadd]

ridicule on to the hobby.

That'll be a first.

 

[A.wayne]

Give me a break. I'm at the gate with my flight delayed an hour. I took over 300 photos. I will start color correcting them and posting in the next day or so and you'll be the first to know.

Relax , it was not directed at anyone in particular , just a question ....

 

[MylesBAstor]

The "best" for the money that I heard was the $400 AMR phono section. Multiple gain settings, loading values plus 5 EQ curves. Plus small enough to fit under table and reduce the wire length. This got me really excited and brought one home to review!

 

[A.wayne]

I'm just saying the Nordost cables are very unruly in terms of having a neat installation. This has nothing to do with how they sound though except for the OCD audiophiles who must have thier cables on elevators so they don't touch the floor.

Furgit about the cables , were's your investigative report on FMA ...

 

[FrantzM]

That'll be a first.

 

[kach22i]

To me, the Nola KO was an easy winner.

If you like the open baffle speakers check out the Rainiers by Hawthorne Audio.

http://hawthorneaudio.us/the-rainiers/

http://www.hawthorneaudio.us/docs/RainierAnnouncement.pdf

Funny, when I look at the Nola KO's, they appear to be closed behind each driver, which does not fit the description given.

http://canadahifi.com/index.php/nola-ko-loudspeaker/

 

[marty]

I found it was not that easy to point to a a truly "best sound of the show" this year. To be honest, there were few memorable "best sounds", whereas there were far more "worst sounds". However, unquestionably, one of the most extraordinary demos was the Sanders electrostatic speaker system. I'll tell you this, it may be a "one seat" system, but it has to be the hands down hi-end bargain of the century. 13K buys it all- and that includes speakers, crossover, the incredibly well-reviewed Magtech 500w amp (REG in TAS loves this thing), preamp and cables. It may even include a bow for all I know. As far as speaker cables, I swear Roger must have gone to Radio Shack and asked for something inexpensive to use. When they showed him 18-2 lamp cord, he must have said, "got anything thinner?". I'm telling you, if I didn't hear it I would never have believed it. He played some powerful drum material that knocked me on my ass, in addition to the usual sonic bon bons we typically hear at shows. Extraordinary resolution, transparency, and most import, musicality, at price that can't be touched by anything else, anywhere at anytime. A total and complete mindfk.
Moving up into the upper echelon, the Aesthetix demo on the mezzanine (can't remember the Denver dealer who sponsored the room) was extraordinary. However, that only became clear when they stopped using the zillion dollar Clearaudio turntable and played CD or computer. That's right, you heard it hear first. In fact, the most disappointing thing globally at the show was the often pitiful performance of turntables, in the same booth as a modest CD. Why take a zillion dollar table to a show if it isn't set up well is the question I kept asking myself? But once Jim switched to CD computer material, his modest 8K CD player, and 8K monoblock amps through the Focal Maestro (50K) speakers were magnificent playing Steely Dan and other assorted material. In fact, that room sounded far superior to the more expensive top of the line Focal Grand Utopias running on Solution gear just down the hall. (Does anyone really thing the Solution gear sounds good on anything except Jon Valin?). No need to spend that kind of money folks. The modest (for high end) Aesthetix stuff was superb. Lastly, I am obliged to nominate the Cardas room for "best sound at the show". What, you say? The Cardas room was a dry demo, and there was no sound. Exactly.

 

[rockitman]

Turntables still getting under your skin Marty ? LOL
I think Musical Surroudings (Aesthetix/Clearaudio US Distributor) disagrees with your vinyl versus digital sound quality assessment. Cheers !

 

[asiufy]

The Schröder tonearm was the highlight of the show, in terms of analog gear. Beautifully made, and truly innovative. And hey, just US$ 6k


alexandre