Audio Federation - RMAF 2008 Show Reports - Marten | EAR

Atrium Floor 5 Part B
RMAF 2008
Denver
October 2008

* Denotes a product carried by Audio Federation

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Different speakers last year. Was a favorite. This year not happy happy. Thin and lacking dynamics and color.

New upscale amplifiers. Thick chassis like big boys. Maybe other new things. Comes in many colors. Photos of colors stink. System cost close to $7500.

Much smoother compared to last year. More details between notes, much more linear treatment of details and dynamics up and down frequency spectrum. Can still rock.

Compare to Red Wine system? Maybe about same price. Odyssey more harmonic color. Notes have more punch. Note attack and decay closer to reality.

Think both Red Wine system and Odyssey more linear and handle complex passages quite well compared to often more expensive competition.

No sound. No listening.

Speakers hard to photo. Dave and Carol agree. Albert Porter disagrees. He explains how. Now brain hurts. Not interested in photography as a hobby. Audio is already expensive enough. Lucky take photo of whole room. Speakers look OK.

Sound not so good. Too many problems to enumerate. Run out of bytes. But good enough perhaps for marketplace. People may find speakers quite attractive.

Should get award for innovative rack placement. OK. I give award. Equipment rack placement award. Now to convince Neli. No. Easier to fix economy.

Missed this room in confusing elevator area of floor?

Hall traversal algorithm is based on 50% false starts going down hallway wrong direction after exiting a room. 50% of time turning around in middle of hallway to go in right direction. Makes self look like idiot. Sometimes go into rooms I just photographed 1 minute ago. Makes self look like real idiot. But it works.

Problem is crossing hall and faced with two doors next to each other. Does door one or door two, or both or neither, lead to a room that has been visited. Assuming I am going left or right down the hall, a direction which as we have seen above is wrong 50% of the time, I proceed into the one assumed not taken.

Sorry, Neal.

Love mystery components. Love innovative approaches to obliterating tell-tale signs of identity.

Like sound of smaller speaker better. Bass not integrated with bass and midrange - hear two separate bass drivers. Also not clean and open sounding like little brother.

Last years favorite. This year... not so much. Harmonics not as entrancing. Less midi-dynamics. Not racing-car red.

Love the heat pipes.

How to judge sound? Speakers not open sounding like should be. Not dynamic and tuneful. But sound good for little itty bitty inexpensive components.

Too much talk. Not enough listening. Poster makes speakers look like Marten*. But sound not like Marten. All I remember. Memory like old tube about to fail. Works most of time. Makes funny noises.

After arguments with fellows all agree sounds better than previous TAD rooms.

Musical, albeit lacking midi-dynamics and resolution. Slightly uneven (nonlinear) responses.

Glow Amp One interesting. Like size, appearance. Performance not bad. Third favorite amp at show after $140K Lamm ML3 and $95K Audio Note Kegon Balanced.

Friendly, upbeat room. People volunteered to move for photos. Different vibe here. More fun. Lighthearted. Youthful. Like old days with Red Wine and Zu Audio.