T.H.E. Show Newport 2015

[bonzo]

View attachment 17993

Eye Candy

Those are the Acapella Horns with the NAT Audio amps - the NAT Magma - not sure if it is the Magma SE. And the Triangle Art TT. The pre is the NAT MAgnetostat.

I had the, erm, eye candy at my place http://www.martinloganowners.com/forum/showthread.php?16323-NAT-Audio&p=171696&viewfull=1#post171696

 

[RCHeliGuy]

View attachment 17993

Eye Candy

Or garish depending on your taste. I couldn't imagine putting something that gaudy in my home.

Certainly there must be great sounding gear that is understated and non-obtrusive.

All I can think of is that this looks like the lair of a mad scientist getting ready to reanimate someone. Is it just me?

 

[Bernard]

L

Or garish depending on your taste. I couldn't imagine putting something that gaudy in my home.

Certainly there must be great sounding gear that is understated and non-obtrusive.

All I can think of is that this looks like the lair of a mad scientist getting ready to reanimate someone. Is it just me?

No, it's not just you. I agree completely. Sound may be paramount, but the stuff should be aesthetically pleasing too.

 

[GaryG]

How about some lighting that took me back to the '60s.
Here is some Einstein amplification, a Techdas turntable and the top of the line Audiomachina speakers. This system is about the same as at 2014 Munich High End as seen here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAYqxD0nnUE

The list price on this system is nearly $200,000. So why did it leave me cold? Seriously I would have nominated this as the most bland sounding system at the show. This is the first time I have heard these speakers. They claimed spectacular specs. Maybe the music selection. I am rarely left this cold. Maybe it was the lighting?

Gary

 

[risabet]

T.H.E. Show Newport was held over the weekend. I attended two days and here are a few pictures and some thoughts.

Martin Logan was represented by LMC Home Entertainment (Mike Ware). Peter Soderberg Worked the first two days before he had to head out to San Antonio. LMC had two rooms. Since this was the first time he was showing here and he was registering late Mike was only able to get two smaller rooms at the end of the hall on third floor (310 and 312). The Neoliths were in room 312 with a pair of Sonus Faber monitors in room 310. The Sonus Faber's were a limited edition (30 pair produced) priced at $60,000. They were beautiful and sounded really fine but still $60k for a pair of monitors? Well they are a limited addition.

T.H.E. Show was nearly a disaster. Mike is a dot the i's and cross the t's kind of guy so he called the shipping company on Wednesday to verify that the Neolith's were in Los Aneles. The shipping company verified that they were. Were is the operative word. They "Were" here however when Mike went to pick them up he discovered that the beautiful red Neolith's that had been to CES "were" now on a train headed to Chicago. This was Thursday and the show stated at 10:00 AM on Friday. Mike got on the phone and rumor has it he could be heard 3 floors away screaming "THAT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH". It turns out that the pair that had been at the Munich High End show last year was in Lawrence KS. They had been brought up to current standards (still different than production but indistinguishable sonically). The shipping company, at their cost, overnighted the two crates at 600+ pounds each from Lawrence to L.A. Pete had them up and running 11:00 AM and dialed in by noon.

Gary

View attachment 17976

The near-field experience of these speakers was great, not $80K great, but great nonetheless. I enjoyed listening to them but at the price point I prefer Wilson's and Focal's, to name but a few.

 

[amey01]

Or garish depending on your taste. I couldn't imagine putting something that gaudy in my home.

Is it just me?

It must just be you

Garish and gaudy?

That's a GM100 valve my friend........ SET amps capable of 170 watts? Yes please!

Pump them through horns to get more SPL than any system on our Members' pages? Yes again

 

[bonzo]

It must just be you

Garish and gaudy?

That's a GM100 valve my friend........ SET amps capable of 170 watts? Yes please!

Pump them through horns to get more SPL than any system on our Members' pages? Yes again

You can drive panels with them. I have heard it's smaller brother, 120w, on the Analysis Audio Omega. One guy used three of an even smaller NAT audio to drive his Apogee Grands

 

[RCHeliGuy]

It must just be you

Garish and gaudy?

That's a GM100 valve my friend........ SET amps capable of 170 watts? Yes please!

Pump them through horns to get more SPL than any system on our Members' pages? Yes again

My comments were not performance or sound quality based. They were purely based on aesthetics.

A stereo like that screams "Confirmed BACHELOR !!!!" louder than a large motorized circular bed surrounded by white furs.

 

[bonzo]

My comments were not performance or sound quality based. They were purely based on aesthetics.

A stereo like that screams "Confirmed BACHELOR !!!!" louder than a large motorized circular bed surrounded by white furs.

Or maybe a guy who shows his wife who is the boss of the house

 

[RCHeliGuy]

Or maybe a guy who shows his wife who is the boss of the house

True enough. There are many types of relationships that work for different people. Also many wealthy men marry a trophy wife who is essentially a visitor with a prenup until a newer model comes along.

 

[bonzo]

True enough. There are many types of relationships that work for different people. Also many wealthy men marry a trophy wife who is essentially a visitor with a prenup until a newer model comes along.

I was just joking - there aren't any such men like I mentioned

 

[RCHeliGuy]

I was just joking - there aren't any such men like I mentioned

I think there are, but I don't envy their relationships.

Back on topic.

I find idea of a plasma tweeter with no mechanical moving parts interesting!

Variety is the spice of life

I did find that matching round bed

 

[amey01]

Or maybe a guy who shows his wife who is the boss of the house

^^^^^^ This. Or maybe just a couple that make compromise. You set up the kitchen how you want, and I'll set up the listening room how *I* want.

 

[RCHeliGuy]

^^^^^^ This. Or maybe just a couple that make compromise. You set up the kitchen how you want, and I'll set up the listening room how *I* want.

I guess it's time for "Your stereo is so ugly" comments

 

[GaryG]

I found speaker designer Andrew Jones staffing the ELAC room. It turns out he left Pioneer about 3 months ago and joined ELAC. I was quite surprised. I have been following Andrew since his days at KEF and still have a pair of KEFs from about 20 years ago. At CES in January I spent about an hour with him in the TAD room. The ELAC speakers he was showing are $279.00 per pair. Here he seemed somewhat out of place.

 

[GaryG]

On Saturday of T.H.E Show I dropped into the Neolith Room at about noon. It was busy and after a few minutes I stood up so others could use my chair. Since I was standing it just seemed natural to press the flesh and answer questions. The next thing I knew I had the iPad and was making music selections. It has been a while, but I used to attend trade shows as part of my job. It felt like I was in sales again and sales can be fun if you are selling something you believe in. This was fun and I thank Mike and Pete for putting up with me.

Gary

 

[GaryG]

Late Saturday afternoon Maier (Audio Salon, Santa Monica CA) brought a client to the Neolith room. Maier was kind enough to have provided me with an exhibitor badge at no cost for the show. Maier explained that this client owned the MBL 101e ii's. We played some tunes. Answered some questions and as he was leaving he said "There are only two rooms here that put a smile on my face. This one (Neoliths) and the MBL room. The MBL room also put a smile on my face. They had some great tapes that really made their equipment shine.

A few other highlights included

GIK - They had a very hard room with low ceiling, hard walls and large sliding glass doors. They put on a 3 minute well known "Queen" piece. Then they rapidly brought in treatments. The improvement was instantly recognizable. I use their products and recommend them. They work and they look good.

Evolution Acoustics - also using tape had a pair of their $89k speakers and paired with DartZeel they were a good listen.

AIX Records - bought some more DVD-A, SACD and a couple pieces of Vinyls.

Meridian Audio - listened to the MQA demo again and it was as good as I had remembered from CIS however they are behind schedule on implementation.

Madisound - a great spot for the DIY Geek.

They had some fine live music jazz, classical, etc. on first floor. This way you could set your ears to the real thing and then go listen to some of the finest audio equipment.

It was not my intension to post anything from T.H.E Show Newport but I had so much fun that I just wanted to share. Thanks for reading and participating.

Gary