by Michael

RMAF 2014 Pre-show

Yes, we are going to RMAF 2014. [official website]

Yes, this is our lame pre-show because we are still up here in Boulder, an hour away by car.

Yes, we are going to do a show report for RMAF 2014.

No, not sure what it is going to look like. Exactly.

Yes, we will try to do something ‘over the top’ and ‘different’ like we always [try to :-)] do.

No, this one will not be mostly on Instagram like our Newport high-end audio show report in May.

Yes, it has been rainy and cold all day, so wish the show was today because who wants to go out in this stuff?

Yes, the show seems even smaller this year. But, in the end, it doesn’t matter. It is the energy and sound that is important.

And besides, we got somethin’ better to do? This is kind of like what we do anyway, but now were gonna be doing it with a few thousand other people.

Sounds like fun to me!

in RMAF 2014 / Show Reports 0 comments
 by Michael

Audio Note at RMAF 2014

Audio Note has a modest system once again in their room at RMAF 2014 this year.

TT Two Deluxe – $3,525 – Updated TT Two suspended, two motor turntable with wood-
veneered Russian birch plywood plinth, all internals upgraded to superior materials. An
external power supply with electronic speed switching is available as an option or
upgrade. Black Ash shown. Black or white gloss, rosewood and cherry are also available.

Arm Three V2 – $2,000 – New Audio Note-designed 9” tone arm, AN-AI 99.99% pure
silver wire with AN-Vx external cable. Single piece tapered arm tube from tip to tail. A
drop in replacement for 9”arms based on Rega geometry. Available in black or silver.
IQ3 – $980 – Our best moving magnet cartridge, with a Pocan body weighing 6 grams.
The square cross-section titanium cantilever with an Audio Note type 2 is identical to the
one used in our $4k+ IOI low output moving coil cartridge.

CDT One/ II – $4,100 – The display may be dimmed or turned off and a remote control
is included. Brushed aluminum fascia with aluminum buttons (shown), or black acrylic
fascia with gold buttons is available.

DAC2.1x Signature – $5,500 – A Red Book DAC utilizing the AD1865 18 bit chip that
allows it to read 24/96 files, (albeit truncated to 18 bits.) I/V conversion is accomplished
via purpose designed, in-house wound transformers. As in all Audio Note DACs, no up-
sampling, oversampling or filtering is used. Analog output utilizes a pair of 6922 tubes,
while power is rectified by a 6X5 tube. Output coupling is via Audio Note copper foil
capacitors. Audio Note tantalum resistors are used in critical locations. Your choice of
brushed aluminum (shown) or black acrylic fascia.

OTO SE Phono Signature – $6,325 ($5,525 line) – We took the classic OTO parallel single-
ended, EL84 integrated amp, added AN tantalum resistors and AN foil caps in critical
locations, then replaced the M4 IE output transformers with IHiB double c-core models –
superior magnetic core material in a superior topology. Available with your choice of a
brushed aluminum or black acrylic faceplate.

AN J/D – $3,700/pair satin ($4,000 as show w/hemp woofer) – Two way, acoustic suspension
speaker system, 92dB/w/m sensitive, using an 8″ woofer and a 1″ silk dome tweeter,
wired with Audio Note D copper speaker cable. This entry level version of the J uses a
cabinet with MDF front and back faces and particle board top/bottom/sides. The D model
is only available in satin black ash.

in Audio Note / RMAF 2014 / Show Reports 0 comments
 by Michael

RMAF 2014 October 10th – 12th Denver, Colorado

Just a month until RMAF 2014, our local version of a high-end audio show.

The Rocky Mountain Audiofest website seems much improved. Looks like no overflow rooms at the neighboring Hyatt this year.

Now in its 11th year. Yow. Somebody is getting old and I think it is me.

We are not showing this year though we thought seriously about showing the Acapella Atlas speakers. But… considering we do not have a room at the show, I guess we will not. :-/

We are going to do a show report, I think, again this year. But since there are so many Audio Federation-like show reports these days, seems like we need to do a un-Audio Federation-like show report to differentiate ourselves.

Wonder how the heck we are going to do that….? We have ideas.But perhaps it will be better left as a surprise. Don’t think the major websites will copy this for several years – but you never can tell.

[Yes. Sorry. It irritates that dozens of sites copied our approach to show reports. Life was so much easier when show reports were just Stereophile posting 10 photos and us posting 1000. Also irritates that I moved the show reports around too much over the years and people couldn’t find them sometimes.]

Lately, and for the foreseeable future, show reports will be here and the archive of the photos and information from shows will be on Ultimist. We might get a little behind, but we’re trying hard to manage all this and make it happen before the turn of the next century.

It was fun putting stuff up on Instagram for the Newport Beach Hifi Show, but not too many audiophiles over on Instagram yet and integration with Facebook there is puzzlingly absent [aka very, very poor] considering that Facebook bought them years ago now.

So. Yes. Stay tuned for the bestest Audiofest 2014 Show Report Ever 😉

 

in RMAF 2014 0 comments