Steve's RMAF 2012 Picture Thread And Top 5 In Show

[MylesBAstor]

Bud Fried? Really?

Are they as nasty and crotchety as Bud?

Never forget that Bud's way of greeting you was to be absolutely condescending. He would challenge you as to what school you graduated from. No matter what school you went to, you'd lose because where Bud went to, at least in his mind, was the best (Harvard). He was really a pompous ass. And you could see that in his exchanges with HP in the early days of TAS when he called HP's transducers PA loudspeakers.

 

[MylesBAstor]

As always great pictures, Steve! I hope to make it out there someday.

I have to ask, what is the giant box in the middle of the speaker cable pictured below?

The network boxes for the Opus line were designed by Andy Payor for Transparent and are made from carbon fiber.

 

[rblnr]

Thx Steve -- that's a heckuva lot of work to post so many pics.

 

[A.wayne]

The network boxes for the Opus line were designed by Andy Payor for Transparent and are made from carbon fiber.

Myles , did you state your top 5 ..?

 

[Randy Bessinger]

Are they as nasty and crotchety as Bud?

Never forget that Bud's way of greeting you was to be absolutely condescending. He would challenge you as to what school you graduated from. No matter what school you went to, you'd lose because where Bud went to, at least in his mind, was the best (Harvard). He was really a pompous ass. And you could see that in his exchanges with HP in the early days of TAS when he called HP's transducers PA loudspeakers.

Jim Salk (who is one of the gentlemen in the business) bought the rights to the name and is building them with Dennis Murphy, his crossover guru. Believe they are going to be sold at dealers but don't quote me on that.

 

[DaveyF]

Great pics, thanks.... One day I'll make it there

BTW what is that thing on top of the Memory Player

That's someone's old salad bowl that now has a new life as a "high end" sound modifier. Price... if you have to ask

 

[Peter Breuninger]

Are they as nasty and crotchety as Bud?

Never forget that Bud's way of greeting you was to be absolutely condescending. He would challenge you as to what school you graduated from. No matter what school you went to, you'd lose because where Bud went to, at least in his mind, was the best (Harvard). He was really a pompous ass. And you could see that in his exchanges with HP in the early days of TAS when he called HP's transducers PA loudspeakers.

Bud sure was a piece of work. I visited him and his wife at his condo. He must have told me three times he went to Harvard, I told him I was a Wharton man and he shut right up. He was actually OK in small doses. Never really liked his speakers that much, they didn't do anything really wrong but there was never any magic to my ears, IMHO.

 

[MylesBAstor]

Myles , did you state your top 5 ..?

That'll eventually be on PFO.

 

[RBFC]

Steve,

Thank you for a wonderful report!

Great photos. Can you or other attendees please mention the best musical selections there?

Lee

 

[kach22i]

And that's all she wrote guys

Pictures were challenging given the poor lighting conditions so please excuse any poor shots. I culled the shots down to 260 from over 400 photos

Enjoy

Thank you for taking the time to process all those photos and organizing them in a cohesive manner.

I had to switch scrolling hands/fingers there was so much, but worth it.

Industrial Design is alive and well in the land of audio.

 

[Mosin]

Are they as nasty and crotchety as Bud?

Never forget that Bud's way of greeting you was to be absolutely condescending. He would challenge you as to what school you graduated from. No matter what school you went to, you'd lose because where Bud went to, at least in his mind, was the best (Harvard). He was really a pompous ass. And you could see that in his exchanges with HP in the early days of TAS when he called HP's transducers PA loudspeakers.

I wasn't going to say it, but since you happened to mention...

In my opinion, and not just mine, the guy was the stereotype of everything that is wrong with audio. He ran the full spectrum, a true sleaze.

But what really set me off...

Two guys in England showed a wonderful speaker that they had designed. Bud Fried happened to hear the speakers, and convinced the guys that he could sell a bunch of them in the US, and they agreed to let him. He also somehow managed to convince them to start a company named IMF. They were hungry enough to be players that they went along with the idea. Later, they discovered that he was mixing in his own inferior speakers made from cheaper components that sounded worse than theirs, but he was putting their nameplate on the units! After a long drawn out lawsuit, they prevailed. Unfortunately, the whole messy affair cost them a fortune, wiped out their company, and killed their passion for audio. That, gentlemen, is a cardinal sin.

If I remember correctly, one of them even committed suicide.

Details are documented online, but suffice it to say, I wouldn't be a prospect for anything bearing his name any more than I would be a candidate for We Love Satan Amplifiers should such a product appear.

 

[Frank750]

Great job Steve! Thank you.
Can you tell us what gear you used to take all of these great photos?

 

[Brucemck2]

Salk Speakers. One of my favorite at CES last year and this year here

The big Salk speakers (the ones on the banner) are really very special, and a steal at the price point. World class drivers in a sophisticated cabinet with a terrific crossover.

 

[Steve Williams]

Same as last year my simple but wonderful Canon S95. Fits in my pocket. I used aperture priority usually setting between 3.0 to 4.5 and auto ISO. Depending on lighting I often had to use flash. I color corrected before I uploaded each shot to the server

 

[Steve Williams]

The big Salk speakers (the ones on the banner) are really very special, and a steal at the price point. World class drivers in a sophisticated cabinet with a terrific crossover.

Salk speakers for the money are not only beautifully crafted but also sound wonderful at modest cost. They were in my top 5 last year

 

[Robh3606]

Hello Steve

Thanks for posting your pictures. Were you in early the rooms are empty??

Rob

 

[Steve Williams]

I was not.I often took photos on my knees in front of the crowd or held the camera high above my head if I was in the rear. Have a look at our photography forum where you will see a lot of comments o my camera however the current model is an S100 which is true 1080p whereas mine is 720p

 

[DaveyF]

I wasn't going to say it, but since you happened to mention...

In my opinion, and not just mine, the guy was the stereotype of everything that is wrong with audio. He ran the full spectrum, a true sleaze.

But what really set me off...

Two guys in England showed a wonderful speaker that they had designed. Bud Fried happened to hear the speakers, and convinced the guys that he could sell a bunch of them in the US, and they agreed to let him. He also somehow managed to convince them to start a company named IMF. They were hungry enough to be players that they went along with the idea. Later, they discovered that he was mixing in his own inferior speakers made from cheaper components that sounded worse than theirs, but he was putting their nameplate on the units! After a long drawn out lawsuit, they prevailed. Unfortunately, the whole messy affair cost them a fortune, wiped out their company, and killed their passion for audio. That, gentlemen, is a cardinal sin.

If I remember correctly, one of them even committed suicide.

Details are documented online, but suffice it to say, I wouldn't be a prospect for anything bearing his name any more than I would be a candidate for We Love Satan Amplifiers should such a product appear.

Very interesting story. I had wondered what had happened to the IMF speakers. I remember years ago hearing them in the UK and being highly impressed. I thought they were poised for greatness and then they seemed to disappear. Truly sad to hear of their demise due to someone with bad intent. Oddly, I also remember Bud Fried's speakers getting some great press in the Absolute Sound around the same time...BUT he didn't get mention much after that one rave review. Perhaps, HP and others knew of his behavior even in those days

 

[Nevillekapadia]

Thx Steve -- that's a heckuva lot of work to post so many pics.

+1. Thank you - Steve especially. Also to the other attendees for sharing their experiences.

 

[c1ferrari]

Thanks, Steve
That early pic of Dave Wilson reminded me of Andre the Giant