The California Audio Show
… is in just a few days, on the 30th through Aug. 1
Audio Note will be there but Neli and I will not. Not sure about our other lines. Constantine Soo at Dagogo is a nice guy [and certainly entertaining :-)] and we hope the show goes well for everyone.
Next year…!
Suuper Mario Binner and I are in Room 1220 right off the elevator demoing the CD4.1x CD player, Jinro 211 integrated amp and E/Lexus Signature speakers. We’ve probably got 300 CDs between us, plus whatever CDs attendees bring along, so there’s lots to hear!
Dave
For those of you that attended, I really want to know what you thought of the show. I was there for 4 days including set up of our room. I didn’t get a chance to see the show because our room was so busy. Eating was an other issue. Would have like to do that too.
I own Soundscape Audio & Video in Santa Rosa. We were in Suite 1203. I sponsored the room with Martin-Logan, Genesis, Parasound, Sherwood Newcastle, Velodyne and Nordost.
If you attended the California HiFi Show please leave your honest comments both good and bad of the show and in particular of our room.
Thanks
Marc Silver
Hi Marc,
Neli tells me, after talking with Dave (above) that traffic was also very heavy in the Audio Note room. I hear that there were only about 20 rooms, which did not leave the show goers much choice but to mob the rooms? Seems like there must have been a lot of show goers – which is great!
We are kind of at a loss to explain why the major dealerships in the immediate area did not attend [I will save them the embarrassment of not listing their names. Today anyway :-)]. They are already making enough money? They are so busy they cannot take any time ‘off’ to exhibit? They do not think shows and online magazines bring customers to their showrooms? They are doing badly in this economy and cannot afford to exhibit at a local show?
Thanks for posting,
Mike
Link to some random comments on the ‘California Show’.
baasnotes.com: Dagogo Show
[Found this on the front page of Mattters> Usually I would just go to the Mattters’ High End Audio page but it was n the front page and was… thrilling? Disconcerting? … to see high end audio next to Salma Hayek and pre-season football. :-)]
Same ole same ole.
On the positive side there seemed to be a wide variety of equipment to listen to.
On the minus is that people like or dislike things almost at random. They do not understand why they feel like they liked a room. One could enumerate the reasons – most of which have nothing to do with the sound – and my personal experience is that none will have anything to do with the QUALITY of the sound. A system could turn water into wine – but if it does not have Impressive Bass, then it of course sucked. Or if their favorite dealer does not sell it or said something bad about it… or ….
What someone should do at one of these shows is have classes on how to listen to sound.
This is a ‘warm’ sound. This is a detailed sound. This is good pacing. This has excellent microdynamics. This system is going for the heart like a lion who has not eaten in a fortnight. This system is trying to be impressive but will offend anyone who actually listens to it. This system is trying to be impressive while at the same time be non-fatiguing. This small speaker is trying to be impressive because people are so amazed by how much sound – no matter the quality – that they will spend quite a bit of money to own it and show their friends how much sound it generates. Etc. Etc.
The second hour 🙂 people are taught to describe sounds using the basterized English that audiophiles use
The 3rd hour they determine what their current preferences are – and what the major brands are that cater to these preferences in their price range.
The 4th hour they learn to design a system [as well as one can without having heard the components in many cases] that caters to their current preferences.
Lunch 🙂
I am not really trying to enumerate all the possibilities – nor compose a curriculum here – it is just that the current state of affairs is completely ridiculous for people who are actually really into quality sound and quality descriptions of sounds.
The turn out was really very good. I have no idea why the few remaining real HiFi stores did not participate. I have to assume it’s partially because hardly anyone bought anything and the cost of doing the show was now at all insignificant.
I look to the future no tthe present. Now more people know that Soundscape Audio is an option for high end audio in the Bay area. Maybe one of the the last real HiFi stores left that is actually into the music and the hobby. We are more interested in promoting the art than promoting the bottom line.