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T.H.E. Show... (Home Entertainment Show, Newport Beach)

Razz

Well-Known Member
Well SH gave me a shout last week and told me about this. We were planning on meeting but he got tied up. So I hit it alone... and I'm really glad I did.

For those who have never been to one of these (this was my first), it took 6 floors of the Newport Hilton, PLUS all of their conference rooms! This thing is huge! There are hundreds of people walking around, all wanting to talk, and the rooms are right next to each other. Some venders bought a single room others had joining, and some had entire conference rooms to themselves.

It was strange. Such high end gear, literally millions of dollars worth there, and some of these vendors just decided to put there gear/speakers in an empty hotel room for you to listen to. TERRIBLE listening conditions in most rooms.

Now, I can't tell you "what speaker was better than another", sorry, all I can report is What "audition" sounded best to me when I was in certain rooms. Some really stuck out and others faded, but like I said, it's terrible listening conditions. To top it off, so many people brought their own audition CD's and the consistency in quality of recordings that I was forced to swallow was also terrible.

(Sorry, only had my iPhone for pics.....)

Some "Auditions" I had that were outstanding were....
(in no particular order)

Magico, V2, V3.....
Both were in a couple different rooms, and really impressed. An Erick Clapton audition with the V3 was my favorite of the day. WOW! I don't have pics of it as the room was very dark and the iPhone just couldn't get it. These are the V2
IMG_8632.jpg



Acoustic Zen, Crescendos...
Excellent low end quickness with very good separation...
IMG_6287.jpg


Nola... Contender
Huge low end, impressive all around. At $3,500 it blew away AUDITIONS from 20k speakers...easy.
IMG_7910.jpg


Wilson Audio...
Soundstage was fantastic and clean. As you can see, one of the better treated rooms.
IMG_5061.jpg


Legacy Audio, Focus SE
Right next door was it's big brother Whisper XD at twice the price, however, this Focus SE had a more significant "presence". It' felt more intimate and detailed. I think something was off in the Whisper XD room..... but that happened to many rooms.
IMG_4430.jpg


MBL.. I have no idea what these are.....
These were a great "audition" from top to bottom....UBER EXPENSIVE!
IMG_1756.jpg


Audience, The One.
I think I was most taken with this speaker than any other audition today. It's a single 3 inch driver, and with SOME material sounded flat out AMAZING. I couldn't believe is was just the one 3 inch driver. It went LOW and strong... I couldn't figure it out, no one could. I had to check and make sure the sub was off as they said it was. The voicing was a tad thin compared to there $5,000 speaker that is only three times the size but still...DAMN! Later a couple different songs showed it's weaknesses. Still... for $995, I was very impressed.
IMG_3580.jpg
 
some didn't pan out so well... and I know it's just the audition/room....

JL Labs...
I've heard this sound soooo much better, today it was flat and bright (that's not how these things sound with a good recording and room to sing)...
IMG_9407.jpg


YG....
I was really hoping to hear these sing but some "YA HO" from China, who brought his "assistants" (fucking 4 of them!) wanted to own the audition room because he was not leaving without a pair and HAD to listen to his stupid as opera for over an hour or so! I came back twice and then gave up for another floor.
IMG_6037.jpg



This was the best collection of equipment that I had ever seen....
IMG_8306.jpg


IMG_1461.jpg


IMG_0669.jpg


IMG_4743.jpg




My overall favorites today.....
Acoustic Zen, Crescendo
Magico, V3 and V2
Nola, (unknown but in my pic)
Legacy, Focus SE
Audience, The One


With that I would like to put in my worst......

Synergistic Research

I wanted to stand up and scream.... "ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?????"
These guys were selling those little cups on you put on the walls and interconnect "Interconnect and speaker wire conditioners"
They had this incredible set up using Magico V3 and amazing gear, you had to sign up to get into one of their "auditions"
When in, they would play a song... then stop it... talk to you about how badly it will now sound when then turn off their conditioners, then turn the music back on without the conditioners. People bought right in and I thought WHAT?????? I don't hear anything... So I asked him to do it again.... still NOTHING. But he was trying to convince me how my brain works! I couldn't believe it! So I said "Well, what I want you to do is play the music and just turn off the conditioner while the music is playing"......HE WOULDN'T!!!!!!!! Then proceeded to tell me how my brain works and how music memory works.....WHAT A CROCK OF SHIT!!!!!

Anyways,
I had a fun 7 hours today and thought you guys might want to hear about it. :handgestures-thumbup:
 
Thanks Razz; I've never been to a high-end audio show...
 
OHHHH I forgot.....


My all around favorite spot was with "Head Room"
They had about 20 of the best different head phones to choose from, lined up with a number of their best amps and you were able to sit down and flip through a huge library of music and swap out cans as you wish.... IT WAS AWESOME!
I was most impressed with AKG 701s.

Dane would have shit himself!!!!!
IMG_3167.jpg
 
Senns HD650
Senns HD800
Denon AH-D7000
Denon AH-D5000
Denon AH-D2000
Gado PS-1000
AKG-701


I spent over an hour listening and comparing back to back. I even returned about 3 hours later and listened another 15 mins.
My personal favorites were the AKG-701.

I was surprised that I favored the AKG-701 because I own Sens HD-600 and I've always loved them (the HD-650 is the new 600...still very similar).

I found Senns to be the least comfortable of the four as well, but all were great cans in their own!!!!
 
Thanks razz,that review and pics was like sitting back with a drink and reading a audio mag.
 
Razz said:
Senns HD650
Senns HD800
Denon AH-D7000
Denon AH-D5000
Denon AH-D2000
Gado PS-1000
AKG-701


I spent over an hour listening and comparing back to back. I even returned about 3 hours later and listened another 15 mins.
My personal favorites were the AKG-701.

I was surprised that I favored the AKG-701 because I own Sens HD-600 and I've always loved them (the HD-650 is the new 600...still very similar).

I found Senns to be the least comfortable of the four as well, but all were great cans in their own!!!!

Were they all power by the same amp, and if not, which amp was powering the K 701's?
I ask since connecting my K 701's to the Schiit Lyr, they're a completely different phone.
If you ever have the chance again, try the planar phone, either Audeze (LCD 2) or Hifiman (HE-500).

Rope
 
Thanks for the Show report Razz, I heard the Nola's back in Nov when I was in NYC. I liked their sound but the imaging was off due to not being toed in. Apprently the designer thought they did not need it, I disagree. I was going to try and move them into position, until I found out they were on some type of rollerball stand.

I have heard the smaller version of the MBL's and liked them, however being omni-directional I think they needed to be in a bigger room. Did you hear any planer type speakers there and if so what did you think of them?
 
I heard a couple but didn't care for them. This could be due to very small listening rooms and too many people... It's hard to get to the sweet spot at these shows.
 
Thanks Razz for the pics and tour. I seriously need to get my ass out there and party with you at one of these things.
 
It was a good one, but would have been better if you were there... Next time!
 
Rope,
I listened to all of them off the same amp... It was one of their better ones, all I know is that it was $1,600.... Out of my price range! But was some of the best auditioning I did all day.
 
Razz the guy and his four assistants, why didnt you just get rude after 10 minutes and say, "Hey pal there are others here who want to listen and put on some Gwar and crank it up.
 
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