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Jacksonville Show Impressions- long

Posted by Ross on March 7, 2010 at 18:28:39:
Yesterday my father and I attended the Axpona/ Stereophile show in Jacksonville.

We walked, talked and listened for about 9hrs and were able to see everything (we think). So bear with me as I try to give my impressions of the experience. No pictures though. If you want to see something I mentioned, I am sure many of the professional sites will have pics (I saw pros from several print and online mags in attendance- and most were snapping pics).

The show was held in the Wyndham Hotel, located at the Jacksonville Riverwalk. Exhibit and demo rooms were on 3 floors. The majority of exhibits were on the main floor in many of the larger conference and attendance rooms.

Several shared observations:

Many of the systems were too large for the rooms- overbearing low bass and boomy mid bass being the most offensive characteristics we heard. My father stated that many of these systems sounded muffled or were lacking snap. Probably related to the overwhelming bass ? I understand the desire of a company or rep to exhibit their best products, but if the environment will not be suitable why create a situation where negative experiences are possible ? Many of the rooms we did like were either larger, or contained equipment that was smaller in scale to better couple to the limited space.

Most of the systems that we felt sounded good were SET based. I liked their vocal reproduction, he liked their reproduction of acoustic instruments, particularly the piano. We both agreed that there was an ease of reproduction and harmonic “correctness” that made these systems non fatiguing to listen to. Most of the SET amps were well matched to other components in use, so there was no sense of dynamic restriction or response anomalies that could have been arisen with less carefully chosen equipment.

Insipid musical choices. While many of the reps offered to play whatever we brought, or wanted to hear, the default options were standard inoffensive audiophile fare. I hope Jacintha has figured out a way to receive royalties from Hi Fi shows….

Vinyl, and Computer based source components were more prevalent than we expected. Both are fine from my point of view. On the digital front, we heard plenty of 16/44 redbook but very few Hi-Rez formats.

Reps and industry professionals were very approachable and willing to talk. We got into conversations with the Kevin Hays (VAC) concerning the sonic signature of supposedly unmeasurable differences, and the designer of Argento Audio cables concerning cable and connector construction, skin effect and other issues that supposedly can’t but often do affect the resulting sound. Of particular note was an extended period of time spent in the Music Hall room, with Roy Gandy and later John Atkinson. Mr. Gandy was very kind to share with me a sip from his now famous show stash of single malt scotches. Mr. Atkinson was gracious and seemed genuinely interested in listening to what we had to say.

We were surprised at how uncrowded it was. Then again, our frames of reference were shows held long ago in NYC, where you were packed in like sardine cans moving from room to room. At no time during the Jville show did we feel crowded or rushed. Very often we were able to sit in the “sweet spot” or close for several min at time. It was easy to talk to the reps and ask questions. The overall atmosphere was very relaxed.

From there we diverged- my father was very sensitive to 2 issues. He felt that many of the demos sounded muffled (see above), as if the equipment was straining to present the music. Intertwined with this was a sense that many speakers were not good at transient response- leading edges of percussion, strings and brass were dulled somewhat. I heard this as well, but was not really focusing on it.

I was sensitive to vocal rendition and soundstage. Boomy bass tended to muddle vocals and obscure soundstage development., so systems that exhibited these characteristics lacked appeal.

I do not have a best of show, but my father and I both agreed that 2 rooms sounded better than most of the others:

VAC- using VAC Phi 200 Monoblocks, Signature MK-IIA Preamp and King Sound Electrostatics. Wonderful ease of projecting real music. Vocals were lifelike, treble was clean and extended while bass was there in abundance when needed. Stats stand about 6.5ft tall with self-contained crossovers. In conversation with the rep, my father asked about crossover customization and the ability to bi or tri wire. Rep stated that crossover and connections are as delivered by the factory. They prefer to keep variables and options to a min- to rule out potential causes of misuse and reasons for performance issues. I can see how this would both appeal to and turn off potential clients, but the sound was stellar.

Legacy Audio Room- Largest Legacy speakers, Accuphase CD player, but I didn’t note what amps were used. As good as the VAC room, but different. The speakers delivered a very realistic soundstage, with natural vocals and harmonics. I could listen to this system for a long time- both relaxing and engaging. My father commented that the system conveighed transient response very well- initial pluck of a string or strike of a piano key was reproduced extremely well. While we were in the room, the large system was being auditioned for Michael Fremer and another gentleman from the industry press, using Mr. Fremer’s mix CD. Music choices were wide ranging but thankfully free of the pabulum used in most of the rooms. I stayed long enough to hear 4 cuts- Hollies/Sandie; La’s/ There She Goes; Art Blakey/ Night in Tunisia; Art Pepper- unknown title. Each track was reproduced with excellent clarity and ease of presentation. Even in show conditions, I could hear subtle details and get a sense of the space in which the music was recorded.

If I had the cash and space, I could happily live with either system.

2 other rooms stood out for me:

Nightengale Audio- triode push pull and SET amps with their own speakers. Excellent reproduction of brass and vocals, with nice clean bass. I particularly enjoyed listening to a trumpet player through this system- I got a real sense of air through the horn, valves opening and closing, then sound emerging from the bell of the horn. Great sound.

Madisound- Seas Loki II Coax Kit speakers driven by a TEAC desktop system. Great transient response, realistic vocals, smooth treble, and great imaging (on axis due to coax design) along with surprising bass response. $600 per pair, as a kit. There were 4 TEAC desktop systems visible in the room. The rep made a deliberate decision to bring “mid-fi” source components because he wanted to give listeners an idea of how their speakers would sound connected to real world equipment. Smart man. Stereophile included a picture of the Madisound room in their coverage of the show. The Coax speaker is the one closest to the end table.

Observing the attendees was interesting. Majority were middle aged white men as expected. However there were more women in attendance than I expected. Many of the women seemed to be as engaged as the men they were with- several asked to hear specific CDs. Fair number of under 40-45 yr old attendees, which I took to be a good sign.

I asked several vendors and company reps for their impressions of the show. Most said it was fair to ok from a traffic and PR standpoint. But as a first show, most couldn’t compare to anything else. Some felt it was similar to the Rocky Mtn show in it’s first few years.

Upon reflection, the overall experience reinforced the basic quality of my current system. Many of the demos that I preferred sounded like bigger and more refined versions of my system. The basics or raw material were the same but the better systems could express more of the qualities of what I like. Given the prices of most of the components I heard, this is definitely a diminishing returns proposition, but I began to sense how incremental component improvements positively affect the sonic result. I am both satisfied and not satisfied with what I have because I know what my system does well, but can also see where there is room for improvement.

I hope that this show comes back to the area, or at least stays in my region so we can still attend. We had an excellent experience and thought the show was well run (from what we could see).

Best,

Ross