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RE: What is the purpose of Audio Shows

This makes the assumption that the show room is somehow worse than you average wood built wood floored lots of openings and windows living room. At least the manufacturer/distributor knows how to set the loudspeaker up and often bring their own room treatments.

And they are provided blue prints (or can get them) before they attend. So they know before the attend the room dimensions, carpeting, layout, internal volume etc.

I have heard certain speakers in many rooms, at home, in dealer rooms which are often excellent (dedicated to one set of speakers) and most of the time the sound is good enough to be getting 80-90% of it at a show - issues usually tend to be around bass. But a free standing speaker set-up free standing away from walls in an appropriate size room is SUPPOSEDLY designed this way because it is least effected by room boundries. So it should sound uniform "mostly" in any room so long as they're away from said boundries. Certainly enough to be getting most of their abilities.

Sure the room is critical to get it 100% bang on right but I heard pretty much the same thing at CES from many very well known speakers (to me) that I heard in "better" rooms. Many of these rooms were a fair size, and hotel or not - it's still made out of the same materials most homes are made out of.

The bigger issue is all the people fighting for the optimum chair and the general business of some rooms with people going in and out which is a distraction.

Further - many rooms are judged by what is playing. A great recording tends to help out lesser systems and some makers play music they like regardless of the quality of recording. That can be a huge factor on someone's take on a room because people assume that they will always be playing Reference Recordings (no plug to Reference Recordings intended but smart name).

This is why I enjoy reading show reports when I read one reviewer saying he doesn't understand the appeal, another saying it sounded a bit bright and another say it's the best sound he ever heard. Looking at the recordings is pretty important as to why three strikingly different results.

The problem with bringing your own recordings is that I maintain one is USED to the way their own system plays those recordings and anything different may seem worse but may in fact be doing it more correctly. To determine if this is so - it requires listening to several recordings to be able to judge it a bit better but that takes a lot of time. The manufacturer/dealer has to give you that time and at a show that would be difficult.

My intention next time is to cover less rooms and more in depth. And make it a point to cover rooms where the gear is sold locally so I can listen a second time in a dealer room for an alternate perspective. Out of those two auditions I can get a better feel of it.

I didn't care for the Magnepan 1.7 at CES but they controlled the playback and volume - the recordings were simple acoustic classical pieces which were unremarkable IMO. Another reviewer may have heard the 1812 or some other big piece and may have preferred that. Needless to say I was unimpressed. I got up and walked to the back trying to get a center seat - and it just didn't sound very good. My dealer in a much worse room had them connected to the Audio Note SORO and 18 watt SE amp and what do you know - pretty terrific sound - they also carry Bryston and they nor I like the match at all. So this is why it is somewhat important to take show reports with a grain of salt.



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  • RE: What is the purpose of Audio Shows - RGA 19:28:14 10/23/11 (0)

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