Larry Woolson's lifetime collection of vintage gear is a must see. Currently only open on Saturdays from 10-4pm.
Larry operates Woolson's more as club
than a typical retail store. Next door is HQ for James Kocke's HighEnd Audio Repair. A genius at his trade, James can fix anything.
A full house showed up for what was certainly a great show. The powered Navis 2-way Stand mount speakers sounded like a $5,000 speaker.
MSRP is only $2,000.
A twin at birth, Andrew Jones has been know to run his twin in when double booked. We are relatively sure the correct twin was in town.
Andrew Jones is a truly understated genius at his craft. He impressed the
crowd with his knowledge as well as his personality. A real people person.
We would like to thank Andrew for his time and trouble in making the drive from LA to Phoenix and hope to have him back again soon!!
The Arizona DIY Speakerbuilder Event 2020 Review (docx)
DownloadWe were given the royal treatment by Eric Scheter, chief engineer. Eric was unflappable as he fielded our many questions. A beautiful set up with the all their new high tech mastering studios. 400 lb doors. Who knew Hafler made powered monitors?
Thanks to KJZZ and KBAQ for being such gracious hosts!!!
Preface:
Why did so many big names opt out of the show this year?
-The Airport venue location? A Gaylord hotel room is no larger than anywhere
else so sound quality is the same you get in any little room.
-The doubled exhibitor rates? Some makers sent products to be used by others
Magico for example. Fair enough but not a good look for the bigger companies
with no rep present. Others were complete product no shows-Spendor.
-The story I was told by exhibitors in a couple rooms in which speakers present but not
connected was that their room was an "Exhibition" room. Come in and look around.
Personally I can do that online. I came to hear sound!! Tannoy/Spendor
But "Something is Rotten in Denver" as the expression goes.
-The 2 hour line for prepaid attendees to pickup their
badges was ominous foreshadowing of what was to come.
The line to buy tickets was 1/4 the size. Boy Scouts lost that one.
-15-30 minute waits to be seated for lunch.
-No staff tending the main bar. Table service? Forget that. Go stand at the bar to order.
-The building is so oversized and out of scale with the environment. The
place needed moving sidewalks. The Hotel staff was very friendly.
If the event producers wanted to be near the Gateway Airport, then why
not hold it at the Westin? It is an integral part of Gateway. No cab required.
Airport menus pricesare nothing compared to GayLord's Resort
"Captive Audience" pricing.
End of "Rag, momma Rag!!"
Highlights:
Hegel- An older hippie dude gave a wonderful answer to my question "What makes
the Hegel's sound better than the competition" His answer ran about 3 minutes
and convinced me. The new $6k model 390 is the hot ticket.
Salk-Jim had his Top of the Line side mounted woofer models playing rock and roll. He introduced a
prototype-a beautifully finished smaller 2 way due out in 2020. A favorite stop. Jim is a
sweetheart. His room is always busy. His artwork is worth the wait.
Fyne- This newer company now has official USA distribution. This was their first "Show" as such.
This company is composed of a huge brain trust who left Tannoy after the 2015 takeover.
They had a huge corner suite with the entire line. About 8 different models as I recall
ranging from $500-$1000 stand mount speakers to 3 floor standers from $1,000-$2,500.
Capped off with a $10k model. They look like players going forward.
PS Audio- Knows how to display their booth. Great Merchandising. Even better the
speaker concept they have been playing with is actually starting to sound good.
Paul is a dedicated and stubborn dude.
Elac- Was playing a tiny desk top Speaker which listed about $1,000. Not bad sounding.
Innous- This company has added a separate Clocker piece. About $3,600. It does things I can't begin to
explain. These people believe that if you load your CDs in any of their machines for storage, the playback can be better than the original CD. $4,200 for model I covet.
These people are the undisputed leaders.
Sanders- Still the most moving, realistic sound I hear. Shutup about small sweet spots.
This is one spot worth sitting in.
Dali- They had speakers in two rooms. The Euphonia replacement at $20k was killer!! Even in a closet-sized room. Hooray to the Dali Boys of Denmark.
Tekton- Eric Anderson was playing his big Moabs in Blue. Very Tall and very flashy. The room was loaded with people.
Borresen- Okay I admit I am in love their $35k Floor standers. Lars Kristen Kristensen gave a very detailed 6 minute lecture on the technical build incorporated in their product.
Equipment was all Borresen as well. Check Youtube for a complete explanation.
NAD- Has a new Integrated with Dirac correction built in. $2,800 and it looks as good or better than the Naim product they modeled. Very Cool approximately 3" x 3" color screen on the front.
About 1/4 the size of traditional gear.
Vinnie Rossi-One of the few rooms that understands good sound can be enjoyed at 75db and lower.
Showed his new Integrated Tube Hybrid. Quite lovely. The $10k QLN Speakers are smooth.
Mr. Rossi is a gentleman and a scholar.
Schiit- Displayed the new $800 TT. Looks cool and they will sell a ton of them no doubt.
They were another check writing firm that couldn't make it to the show.
Disappointments-Sonus Faber, Vandersteen, Klipsch and ZU Audio.
Don't ask me why but those rooms sounded like crap.
I bought one of Mark Waldrep's DVD recordings. Beyond special what he does with a microphone. Acoustics Sounds also had many temptations as did the friendly lady who sells imported Chinese music employing some instruments you may find as captivating as I did.
Enjoythemusic.com
Most tables had headphones so you could "listen before you buy".
Disclaimer: I did not go in every room. Opinions may vary.
RMAF 2019 THE HJORTLAND REPORT
5-7 SEPTEMBER
GAYLORD ROCKIES RESORT AND CONVENTION CENTER, AURORA, COLORADO
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS
This was the first year for RMAF at its new venue, the Gaylord Resort & Convention Cen- ter. I’m sure it was a learning experience. The initial registration on Friday was a disas- ter, with long lines and waits. The rooms converted for the smaller vendors were scat- tered widely and confusingly over 9 floors. They did have signage on each of the floors that was a major help, however.
There have been rumors that RMAF has been struggling the last 2-3 years, and that Ax- pona is eclipsing it as the biggest US audio show. That’s probably all true, and a number of major brands were not represented here this year. However there were still a lot of the big boys present, and the attendees seemed enthusiastic enough. On the concluding Sunday I asked a number of exhibitors how they felt about this year’s show, and all that I spoke with were very favorable about it.
I was pleased to note that a majority of the exhibitors had analog sources, and many were actually using them. Digital sources were more prevalent, however.
Subjectively I think there were more women at this show than past audio shows I have attended. Granted, the majority of them were in the company of husbands or boy- friends, but not all. And many of them seemed genuinely interested in the sound they were hearing.
I regret to note that an unfortunate number of exhibitors still seem to equate volume with quality of reproduction. Truly sad.
My full report on the show would be too long and boring for anyone to actually wade through. The following is edited down by about half from that – believe it or not.
SHOW HIGHLIGHTS & COMMENTS
The Aavik, Borresen, and Ansuz group from Denmark seems to be up and coming. I have admired the Aavik electronics since they debuted, and they are expanding the line. The Borresen speaker line begs the question, “Who needs Raidho anyhow?” Their 01 stand- mounts were sounding far larger than their size, driven to excellent effect by an Aavik
integrated amp. They were also showing a prototype of a similarly-sized speaker, to be the first in a new range of more affordable Borresen speakers. The sonic signature was so similar that you’d have to have them side by side and listen closely to hear any differ- ences.
AGD Productions was showing a pair of huge Sigma Acoustics speakers being run by a fascinating tube amplifier. There is a single tube on each mono amp, which they label a GaNT Tube, that incorporates mosfets into the tube construction. They run cool and pro- duce 200 WPC... The sound was extremely good – I didn’t hear anything to criticize. (The speakers were fairly good, but I seriously doubt that they are worth whatever mega- bucks they doubtless ask for them.)
Sonus Faber was showing a number of models, most on static display but a couple being run with ARC electronics. The sound was excellent, smooth, detailed, and fairly expan- sive, but it was identifiably coming from boxes.
The ATC speakers that were being demo’d did not impress. In fact I didn’t stay long enough in the room to identify which model it was. They sounded... heavy, not refined or delicate, at least to my ears and with the source material and other gear in use. I have heard them at least somewhat better than at this show.
I am a sucker for new and different speakers, and a couple such caught my attention. One became my personal “Best of Show” (see concluding note). The other was the Forty-10 with “bending wave” drivers, by MC Audiotech, driven by Pass electronics. If I was to pick a speaker on looks alone, this would be it! Curved panels with several of these drivers are mounted on top of interesting subwoofers. The package comes across with a mid-century modern look that I loved. (I showed a picture of them to my wife when I got home, and she groaned.) The sound was really very good as well, though no way would I pay the $35,000 asking price.
Andrew Jones was on hand demo’g his Elac speakers, the small Debut 2 standmounts when I stopped in. Amazing for their inexpensive price point. He was using Audio Al- chemy electronics, from the company of that name that Elac bought. Peter Madnick (A. Alchemy founder) was standing by though not being asked to contribute much when I was there. If anyone asks me for a recommendation for a more affordable speaker, I have to say Elac.
Large dealer ListenUp had a corner suite showing a number of items. They recently started selling the Kirmuss Ultrasonic Record Restoration System, and Charles Kirmuss himself was present in a side room holding forth about and demonstrating his system. Though he is something of a character his system makes a lot of sense, and it was re- cently – and somewhat reluctantly – endorsed by Michael Fremer. It has significant downsides in that it involves several steps and takes more time than any other system. ListenUp was running a show special on the complete kit, and... I bought one.
The revived Classe brand was showing their electronics driving Magico S5-Mk2’s. The sound was quite impressive – the Magico’s were top-notch, and the amps were pretty de- cent as well.
Alsyvox is a brand of full-range planar ribbon speakers, which looked gorgeous and sounded... well, decent. They were playing music that was mid-range centric, showing off the speakers’ strengths. (A lot of exhibitors do this.) All digital, no analog here. At $89,000 the pair I have to ask how they would compare to big Maggies or ML’s. From what I heard, I suspect they would be left in the audio dust.
In the Nola room I was pleased to find that Carl Marchisotto was not playing his speakers at his usual ear-shattering levels. Loud, yes, but tolerable. Carl was showing his Concert Grand Reference Gold 2’s, I believe one model down from the top of his line, which costs a paltry $250,000. He was using VAC electronics and Odin 2 cabling. I’ve always liked Nola speakers, and hey – I could live with this system...
It’s always enjoyable to spend a few minutes listening to Richard Sanders’ electrostatics and accompanying amps. ($17,000 with one amp, $22,500 with two.) Their detail and transparency are truly amazing – possibly the best I’ve ever heard. Too bad about the “head-in-vise” sweet spot requirement, but it is what it is. I spoke briefly with Sanders, who explained that if not toed in to the listener the room acoustics become more of a factor and you lose transparency.
Well Pleased Audio/Video was showing – and playing! – the new Vinnie Rossi L2i-SE inte- grated ($19,000), sounding very good indeed. I spoke briefly with the man himself, and congratulated him on this achievement – for such it is. Speakers were Qln, standmounts giving a good account with delicacy and soundstage, but not full range. Source was an Innuos server – no analog here, sigh.
CH Precision was showing with Rockport Atria II speakers, Nordost cabling and footers, & a Commonwealth idler drive TT. I had never heard of the latter, apparently it’s Austral- ian. The Rockport sound was surprising, better than I have heard their models, almost out-of-box. But the CH integrated amp was the star here, incorporating a DAC & phono- stage. The rep challenged anyone to show him separates that could do as well, and after listening... I don’t think I could. CH seems to be THE high-end marquee these days. I just wish it wasn’t so bloody expensive.
Sound Organization is the newly appointed distributor for the fairly new brand of Fyne speakers from Scotland, founded by former Tannoy people. I was quite impressed with the 702 model they were playing, one down from their top F1’s which they did not have at the show. I consider myself a Tannoy fan, and would certainly love to hear the F1’s...
PS Audio was showing in a good-sized room that was crowded pretty constantly through- out the show. They are coming out with a full range of electronics, including preamps, DAC’s, phono pre, etc. They were also demo’ing and debuting a new floorstanding speaker, not yet formally on sale. I spoke briefly with the speaker designer, who said something about it being an homage to the late Arnie Nudell. They should retail for around $15,000 – which should make them at least somewhat competitive for what they offer (which from what I heard will not challenge the sonic capabilities of Wilson’s, Magico’s, YG’s, etc.). As of the 1st of this month PS is going all direct-sale, and home tri- als, at least of their electronics, will be available.
MusiChi is a brand of a music server and they were showing with Spoey 230 speakers, neither of which I was familiar with. I gotta say, though, the soundstage was fantastic. I won’t be going for a server anytime soon, but if I was this would be one to check out!
Gated HiFi Distribution had a couple of rooms. In one they were showing Naim electron- ics powering Kudos standmount speakers. The latter were very impressive – British, and apparently very well-regarded across the pond. They are an isobaric design, and retail at $12,500. Worth it? I’m not sure, but they were very good indeed.
HJORTLAND’S BEST OF SHOW
Endow Audio was showing/playing a new speaker called the FS301, with “point array technology and passive signal processor technology.” The front baffle is curved back from the bottom to the top, with a lower woofer and a tweeter array on top that looks like it came from a 1950’s SF movie. ($39,000 show price, regularly $44,000.) This was perhaps the most impressive speaker I came across at the show, throwing an amazing soundfield with a well-defined sound top to bottom. Doubtless the Hegel amp driving them was helpful in achieving this impression. I talked with the owner/designer, and he said they plan to develop lower-priced models based on their design principals.
And... that’s all, folks!
Here are my picks for what its worth
Top Rooms:
Other Standouts:
Best,
Paul Righello
Held at the Trinity Lutheran Church at 7th Ave and Hatcher 7pm.
Bring your thumb drive or CDs. Each member is drawn from a hat
and everyone will hear 2 minutes of the piece. Drawing for Prizes!!
LIST of Music Heard
This is a compilation of 3 CD’s – ‘For Sentimental Reasons’, ‘What’s New’ and ‘Lush Life’.
From a live recording made by club member Ben Taylor for The Phoenix Chamber Music Society.
David Shifrin – Clarinet
Pablo Asign – Double Base
Recorded by club member Stuart Yaniger in his living room.
Available on Stuart’s website: syclotrom.com
Track played – ‘Skyrim Dragonborn’.
Willias 1986/1979 – 70:19
Track played – ‘Sunday Kind of Love’.
Track played – ‘I Will Rock You Gently’.
Track played – ‘Moonglow’.
RHYMOI.com
Enmusic World.com
RMCD HOO3
Introduction to Orchard Audio
Orchard Audio is the result of decades of engineering expertise and consulting work for some of the world's most advanced companies (NASA, Lockheed Martin, L3 Technologies, Siemens).
After designing products for several elite names in the industry, Orchard Audio was launched in 2017 to independently release its own line of advanced audio products.
Leonid (Leo) Ayzenshtat, Founder
Time: Aug 22, 2020 03:00 PM Arizona
January 29th -Wednesday-7pm- Faith Lutheran Church- 801 E. Camelback Rd, Phoenix
Produced By Paul Righello -DOOR PRIZE NEW SCHIIT MAGNI HEADPHONE AMP
Andrew Jones of Elac Sound Speaks. Andrew Jones has an impressive history in loudspeakers, having served as the chief speaker engineer at KEF, Infinity, Technical Audio Devices Laboratories (TAD), and Pioneer, where he established a reputation for designing budget speakers that sound shockingly good.
Link to Andrew Jones January 2020 AZAVCLUB Presentation:
://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYvQjsl_1vc&t=3s
YES
February 26th-Wednesday-5pm-9pm Woolson's Audio, 3202 S. 40th Street, Phoenix
Produced by Joe Goswami
Vintage Gear- Woolson's Audio. This store is normally only open on Saturdays from 10am-4pm. Your chance to explore one of Arizona Audio's best kept secrets. The store has been more of a private club than a typical retail experience. Larry Woolson and his son AJ present you an exhaustive, lifetime collection of vintage gear. Soon to be the only retailer to accept desirable consignment hifi gear locally. https://www.woolsonaudio.com/
NOPE-Covid Cancellation Notice
The March Meeting will not be Held. Look for a reschedule notice when available
March 25th-Wednesday- 7pm Faith Lutheran Church- 801 E. Camelback Rd, Phoenix
Produced By Bob Olivere
6:30-7:30 pm. Charles Kirmuss, inventor of the world's best vinyl record cleaning system will speak and demonstrate his new product. Tom Rothermel, lifelong Man of Vinyl, will take the stage at 7:30 to 8:30 to show how to optimize your TT operation & maintain it as it should be. https://www.kirmussaudio.com/
NOPE- Cancelled/Postponed
April 29th- Wednesday-7. Phoenix Burton Barr Main Library.1221 N. Central Ave, Phoenix
Produced By Curt Dragonavich and Joe Goswami
Working demonstrations of assembled DIY products. Pass Labs Designed Class A kit, monoblock amps, Class D amp designs @ 200 wpc , Speaker packages including SEAS products,
All those who are interested in owning HiFi for Low $ will have an opportunity to see it all demystified.
NOPE-Cancelled/Postponed
May 7th -Thursday 3PM-6PM- Acoustic Designs-16074 N. 78th St, Scottsdale
Produced By Paul Righello
Held at Don Loving's Acoustic Designs in Scottsdale. If you have not had the chance to walk through Don's store you are in for a treat. Esoteric, Sonus Faber, and more top level brands.
There will be several demos of subwoofers in different rooms featuring use for two channel systems and home theater along with single versus multiple subs. JL Audio engineers will give talks on everything subwoofer related. How to integrate them
into a system, crossover points, etc.
https://www.adgroupaz.com/products/
NOPE-Cancelled/Postponed
June 27th Saturday-11-3pm -8600 E. Anderson Dr, Scottsdale
Produced By Jeff Kalina along with the entire SC cast.
SPEAKERFEST II JUNE 30TH SATURDAY 11AM TO 3PM.
Standmount Speakers with Shock and Awe!!
We have set our sights high this year. An Amazing Eight speakers
that may completely change your mind about whether size matters!
!!!!! EVENTS BACK ON !!!!
July 29th Wednesday-7pm
FAITH LUTHERAN CHURCH 803 E. CAMELBACK RD
Member Music. Your chance to find some new music to enjoy courtesy
of other members. Everyone is encouraged to bring one or two selections
they love and want to share with everyone. Always a fun night!
***Cancelled-August 26th, Wednesday- 7pm. Location TBD
Can you say headphones? All the latest brands along with the best equipment
to power them. Additionally we will demonstrate how hi-res sound is now as
portable as a device as small as a smart phone and very affordably.
NEW EVENT September 23rd 7pm
At Faith Lutheran Church 8th Street and Camelback.
Standmount Speaker Shootout!
We are assembling member owned models for comparison.
Social distancing and masks will be required.
NEW EVENT September 23rd 7pm
At Faith Lutheran Church 8th Street and Camelback.
Standmount Speaker Shootout!
We are assembling member owned models for comparison.
Planning to have the Joseph Pulsars, Sonus Faber Electra Amator III, Totem Acoustics Sky Lite, LSA 10s, NHT, Golden Ear BRX, Ohm Walsh, and two others.
Social distancing and masks will be observed.
Jason Stoddard; Co-founder of Schiit Audio (Thurs. 4/23 @ 7:00pm)
Schiit got started in 2010 when two audio industry veterans decided it was time to shake things up a bit. The two audiophiles are Jason Stoddard, formerly of Sumo, and Mike Moffat, formerly of Theta. Together, they have designed dozens of audio and A/V products, from the Andromeda III to the Cobalt 307 to the DS Pre and Angstrom 200.
Darren Myers is a Development Engineer at PS Audio. He started his career designing products for Bowers & Wilkins and Classé Audio. His favorite activities include listening to music, attending concerts, DIY audio, and hiking. He lives in the Boulder area with his wife Amanda and his dog Bode. Darren has designed the following components:
-S300 Stereo Amplifier
-M700 Monoblocks
-M1200 Monoblocks
-Stellar Phono Preamp
Part 1
https://youtu.be/4RSIjDwzyKc
Part 2
https://youtu.be/MDlYWrYzAYU
Extra
https://youtu.be/G6Dk-LiXgZQ
In 1974, Paul met Dr. Floyd Toole, a world renowned psychoacoustician at the NRC, who conducted numerous studies to understand how sounds were interpreted by the human sense of hearing at both the psychological and physiological levels. To Paul, who had devoted much of his childhood to become an accomplished violinist, it was a “Eureka” moment. He had long puzzled over how to consistently reproduce on a set of speakers the unique timbres of different violins exactly as they would sound to him when he played them.
opic: Paul Barton (the P in PSB) Speakers, His Wife the S - Canadian Speaker Legend
PSB Zoom Interview Link:
YouTube Link to All Club Videos:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_z27m94aTkIXrWZALPZ1Ag/videos
In 2020 we have had -Andrew Jones, John Curl, LEONID (LEO) AYZENSHTAT, Sean Casey, Paul Barton, David Janszen, Roger Sanders, Ted Smith,Gus Skinas,Darren Meyers, Jason Stoddard. and Jerred Dunkerson.
Peter Ledermann of Sound-Smith,
and Frank Van Alstine
Copyright © 2021 Arizona Audio Video Club - All Rights Reserved.
Powered by GoDaddy