New York Audio Show 2014

Moderator: ttommy

New York Audio Show 2014

Postby ttommy » Sat Sep 27, 2014 2:56 pm

Forgive me brothers for I have sinned. It's been over a year since I've done anything audio-related and for the longest time that I can remember there's been no music in my heart.

It didn't help that the past year was the most challenging in my IT career, robbing me of weekends, family events and holidays. Now that my work contract has expired, I'm taking a month or so to rehabilitate but getting back to audio isn't part of the plan. To be honest, I wasn't going to attend this show but a couple nights ago, received an email from Jack Wu of WooAudio offering free passes. I figured, might as well go and see old friends. But, I beg your pardon in advance if after this show report, I disappear again :oops:

So, armed with a camera I haven't used, no carry-on music whatsoever, just my "re-virginized" ears, I head off to the New York Audio Show at the Brooklyn Marriott Hotel. One benefit, I thought, of having been away this long is that I get the privilege of feeling like a beginner all over again! Put another way, I'll be listening to what's being done right, rather than what a system is doing wrong because, like a beginner, I won't have the "practiced," jaded audiophile ears and see and hear these exhibited systems the way regular folk would. At least, that's the idea :lol:

Image

I was expecting long queues and the typically harassed/aggressive NY vibe on registration but this felt laid back. Perhaps the move to Brooklyn or opening day coinciding with Rosh Hashanah did the trick. Event security was quite lax and nobody was checking whether attendants had passes.

Image

My first visit, naturally, was to my benefactor, Jack Wu, who was my officemate at a dotcom a decade ago. Jack runs WooAudio fulltime now and has the proverbial enviable dream job, doing exactly the thing that makes him happy. I couldn't be prouder for him.

Image

I sampled all the amps and most of the headphones in the WooAudio room. There is definitely a house sound that starts with the WA-2 (not shown), through the WA-5, culminating with their statement product, the WA234 MONO. Interesting "branches" off this main trunk would be the WA7 Fireflies below and the WES, with the WA7, imo, as the sweet spot in the entire lineup. I listened to the HD650 on the WA-2 and the Audeze (don't know the model) on the Fireflies.

Image

I'd heard the WA234 monos before and really enjoyed them but the WES took me by surprise! Paired with the STAX SR-009 this was a fantastic combo. I'd like to put in the usual audiophile adjectives here but suffice to say, if I had to buy a headphone setup, on the top end it would be these electrostat pairing, on the lower tier, it would be the Fireflies with one of the planar magnetic Audeze cans.

Image

Jack explaining to another friend BobM the "keys" used to change the character of the WA234. The headphones used with the WA234 is the Abyss.

Image

The "middle child" product WA-5 and a new prototype product (inset) shown below complete the WooAudio products I listened to today. The un-named prototype (possibly WA-8) will be a very portable, battery-powered amp that has a built in DAC and sounds closer to the Fireflies than the WooAudio "house sound."

Image

Then Jack took me next door where they have a WA234 paired with OWA standmounts and MA Recordings. My immediate impression was that I could spend hours listening to this show setup especially as Todd of MA Recordings was really curating the music to showcase this combo. Also thought that if I left the show after listening to just these two WooAudio rooms, I wouldn't feel shortchanged and would have gotten my fun. Then again, I didn't know the size/amount of exhibitors and there was really just one other product I was curious about (last mentioned in this post).

Image

Down the hallway from Woo, I got called by another friend Paul Kaplan to his room where they were exhibiting VAC with Alta Audio and Kaplan Cables. Surprisingly, these huge "statement" speakers weren't overwhelming the room although I really didn't get to listen much as I had a lot to catch up with Paul. So off we went into the hallway to chat, when along comes Henry Wilkenson and we all head off to visit Wes Bender.

Image

Earlier while Paul and I were chatting, I could hear a "room" I thought was playing too loud but not sounding too good. I had my back to it but on the way to Wes' room realized it was actually a live performance :oops: Amplified acoustic instruments which sounded no better than reproduced instruments playing in these rooms.

Image

Wes Bender is another good friend whom I haven't seen in over a year. Spent more time chatting with Wes than listening,

Image

Wes seems to have stuck with Zesto but I don't remember what was playing. Having heard Wes' home setup from his Innersound Kayas to the Hansen Princes, Wes is one of those guys that can set things up masterfully.

Image

One thing I did note was that the rooms were okay acoustically. Isolation between exhibitors was decent and I didn't feel like it would've been challenging to setup. Then again, as an outsider we never get to see the fun behind the scenes. If these rooms are allowed to play late, most of the fun in shows like these happen after exhibition hours.

Image

Jeff Catalano of High Water Sound, another close friend whom I haven't seen in a while. Where Wes and I would chat all day long catching up on news, Jeff and I know each other so well that we would just sit together and share silence... and for the most part we did just that.

Image

This room had High Water Sound co-exhibiting with Verity and Audia and sonically, it was very enjoyable even as I felt a sense of "cognitive dissonance" hearing Jeff's music played on a completely different system.

Image

Dropped by the Audioengine room and saw their white monitors, immediately thought if my wife were here, she'd probably pick these to pair with her Macbook on our white standing desk. Cute.

Image

Bache Audio and Alexus Audio are completely unknown to me but were quite nice. They were new to the exhibition game and were playing the usual audiophile standard fare but I stayed and listened. There was no one else in the room except for the exhibitors who were also the manufacturers. This was the first room where I felt I should've brought some music.

Image

Alexus Audio is an interesting newcomer but has these Parallel 6C33B SETs with a 300B driver. Very interesting!

Image

When I sat down in the Hegel room, I immediately regretted it as the exhibitor started a marketing spiel. But a few minutes in, I thought she was doing a pretty good job explaining the Hegel innovations on feed-forward vs feedback designs. I had heard Hegel before and was very impressed so I didn't at all feel my time was wasted listening to more spiel than music. I just didn't feel the speakers were on par with the electronics but otherwise would consider Hegel the new Naim :D

Image

Whaddya know, all the rooms so far are sounding great! That's what I thought when I got to the Gamut room and, in the past, I've always thought this brand to be too cool for my tastes. Overall, I was also feeling a vibe of "maturity" in that exhibitors are opting to show smaller scaled systems to match the venues and reaping the benefits. The audio industry must really be evolving if one can get surprised like this.

Image

Well, that feeling lasted until I got to the next room, AudioNote UK, which sounded exactly like all the other times I've heard this brand in shows. Sometimes change is a good thing but this is same old same old.

Image

Robert Lighton, who also carries AN, I believe, actually seems improved. Again, scaled back, properly sized for the room and overall enjoyable even if I know this is about as far it gets from my cup of tea in the "warm" side of the spectrum.

Image

The Lampizator room. I'd heard the hype from years back and was looking forward. Noticed the GM70 amps immediately and sat in the sweet spot (as I did in almost all the rooms). Cue music-- the Police's "Don't stand so close to me" -- and I started to feel, "ooh boy, this is gonna be special" -- the Lampizator doing an excellent job on everything on the intro... but hold on, as soon as it got to the bass... Oh crap, I dunno if there's any special reason they have to use these speakers but I honestly think that Lampizator is shortchanged by them. Left disappointed.

Image

Oh well, say cheese there cuite pie.

Image

Another brand that I would've otherwise ignored years ago, Audes was actually sounding quite good. Sat on the sweet spot, didn't mind the audiophile standard selection and noted that a couple newish audiophiles were actually interested in this setup. Good for them, this is a great starter but can hold its own long term if need be.

Image

Volti Audio loudspeakers driven by Raven Audio electronics sounded like an evolution of Atmasphere paired with Classic Audio. I enjoyed listening here but noticed the soundstage projected downwards, as if you're listening in the balcony section. Perhaps that was due to my standing rather than sitting in the center spot.

Image

Joseph Audio sounding very nice and I go WTF?? I'm starting to hear a pattern here. Technology has perhaps improved enough to allow manufacturers to significantly reduce the sins (of commission) a few years ago or exhibitors are getting very savvy about coupling their systems with showrooms... or I've become an impressionable beginner all over again! :roll: I vote on the last :lol:

Image

The VPI room also sounded very nice and if you can imagine how a system sounds from how it looks, this system sounds exactly like it looks, including the plants on to ;)

Image

Having heard McIntosh speaker walls on shows and Stereo Exchange, I usually can't last an entire track in their showrooms but here I stayed a track or two.

Image

Nola with VAC was another empty room with a couple in the front row requesting their music. Open back/baffle speakers have a distinct "breathing character" if you will and Nolas are excellent at that unconstrained feeling. The request was to play the Finale from Firebird so, okay, I sat down second row center and patiently waited for the boombahs...

Image

Except the guy who requested the track started channeling Gustavo Dudamel, gesticulating and rocking in his chair... and yes, the cup overfloweth below, so I left before the final tutti collapses the chair onto my bad knee. 4 stars for Nola though.

Image

Okay Zu. I've heard you a few times, the music selection, the attitude... for good or bad, perfectly "Hipster." Moving along now.

Image

Vandersteen was showcasing his new liquid-cooled M7 amplifier. Overall, the room sounded very nice. Basis turntable, Audio Research electronics. SRV wailing a crowd pleaser. Mainstream hifi.

Image

The Naim Statement juggernaut amps behind these Focal Utopias looked intimidating. I didn't hear them at their best due to music selection but think this, along with Vandersteen, represents the mainstream hifi contenders in the show (at least those I've seen so far).

Image

I'd love to know if there are reviewers out there who would take on the challenge of doing a planter speaker shootout as apparently there is a whole genre of speakers of this type :lol:

Image

I don't remember how I heard of MUR Audio since I've dropped my Sterophile and TAS subscriptions and don't read the forums. But somehow I was aware of this speaker and this is the product I came to hear. MUR Audio makes an omnidirectional electrostat and being a fan of both 'stats and omni's, I was curious to hear what character would prevail. As it turns out, the result is an electrostat that manages to elminate beaming. Coherence is not an issue although it's not an MBL killer in the sense it doesn't pressurize the room much like an MBL nor has the feeling of limitless jet-liner-during-takeoff dynamics. I'm also not a fan of the amps used (Bryston) but overall, I think this is a very promising design.

Image

The exhibitors/manufacturers mentioned their favorite way to listen is nearfield and this brought me back to when I listened to my omnis nearfield as well.

Image

Show impressions so far-- the rooms sounded very good and, except for outliers like Audio Note, seems to be converging on a similar sonic ideal. On the exotic speaker category, MUR Audio was the standout but compared to my last show favorite, I'd take the Leonardo's. From that show, I would also pick the Robbyatt Audio restored Quad 57s and Miyajima OTLs over the Woo + OMA in the "most enjoyable room" category. Finally, if I had to pick a most coveted product, this time it would be a pairing of the WooAudio WES and STAX SR-009.

The New York Audio Show will run for the next two days and if I manage to return, shall continue this show report. Thanks for reading!
ttommy
Citizen
Citizen
 
Posts: 943
Joined: Sat Aug 30, 2003 8:27 am

Re: New York Audio Show 2014

Postby jadis » Sat Sep 27, 2014 5:17 pm

Great report, Tito. And great to hear from you no matter what lull or how long the hiatus is. :) Good thing is we all still can swim in the audio waters when it's called for. :) Love to attend the shows in the States. I haven't done it at all. Only once in HK and all those here. Always good to hear from you. :)
User avatar
jadis
Legend
Legend
 
Posts: 5688
Joined: Thu Jul 01, 2004 8:14 am
Location: Tubeland - The Tube Will Set You Free

Re: New York Audio Show 2014

Postby dimfer » Sat Sep 27, 2014 8:36 pm

great reporting as usual.

I hope all is well :rock:
dimfer
Fanatic
Fanatic
 
Posts: 2428
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 1:33 pm
Location: Bozania

Re: New York Audio Show 2014

Postby rtsyrtsy » Sun Sep 28, 2014 9:23 pm

Minsan-minsan nga pero magaling. Kaya babasahin ko pa din!

Glad to see you "back." Don't stay away too long. Make the damn most out of the month off.
User avatar
rtsyrtsy
Moderator
 
Posts: 3908
Joined: Tue Jan 28, 2003 5:25 am

Re: New York Audio Show 2014

Postby JackD201 » Sun Sep 28, 2014 10:00 pm

We miss you Tito! When you get a chance do post some pics of Pubby. He must be a big boy by now! Greetings to Yelena too. I hope we can get together sometime. I'll be in NYC May of next year to attend a wedding. :)
User avatar
JackD201
Immortal
 
Posts: 10024
Joined: Sat Oct 09, 2004 12:10 am
Location: Bozania

Re: New York Audio Show 2014

Postby keith » Mon Sep 29, 2014 8:24 am

as Herr Frankenstein exclaimed "he's a live!!"

Thank you for that Tito. Felt like I was right there with ya.
User avatar
keith
walastick
 
Posts: 2463
Joined: Fri Mar 19, 2004 10:43 pm
Location: BGC

Re: New York Audio Show 2014

Postby redline_xp » Mon Sep 29, 2014 10:12 am

I listened to the HD650 on the WA-2 and the Audeze (don't know the model) on the Fireflies.


Based on the photo, Audeze LCD-X
redline_xp
Fanatic
Fanatic
 
Posts: 1009
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2003 1:03 pm
Location: ~~ORTOFONic Environment~~

Re: New York Audio Show 2014

Postby ttommy » Mon Sep 29, 2014 10:44 pm

Thanks for the warm welcome, guys. Philip, if you had to come visit, I think you'd love RMAF the most. Thanks too for the Audeze model info, Redline. Ding, saw T wearing Audeze's in FB, I remember you mentioning this a while back but wasn't paying attention. Russ, in our last email you mentioned Audiophilleo, hehe, I wasn't familliar and had to read about it but looks like you made a great purchase. Keith and Jack, salamat din, and should you find yourselves visiting next year, Jack, would definitely love to hang out, kaya lang, wala akong mapapakita'ng system from anyone here na di mapapahiya sa 'yo ;) J/k of course, it doesn't have to be about audio, can do a food tour as well.

I couldn't manage Saturday but brought Pubby and Y on Sunday. We had to do the obligatory Brooklyn Bridge walk, since the hotel is so close, and here's Pubby mapping out the path.

Image

In over 15 years I've lived here, I've only ventured up the Brooklyn bridge twice, once with Michael Crespo and now wife Dervie, but never made it across. This was my first time approaching from the Brooklyn side. I made the mistake of walking on the bike lane though and got yelled at. Bikers are very defensive of their lane and one lady walking with an umbrella got that pulled out. That's typical nuyawk street hospitality for ya. See the right lane below, that's the bike lane. All those folks on it don't know any better until they get cursed at :lol:

Image

The view from the Brooklyn side of my old apartment in Peck Slip. Couldn't quite see it so it's marked with an arrow. Brought back memories of my single life... hehe, I was a naughty boy back then :lol:

Image

"Put me down right now" commands the boss, "these guys might think I'm a bloody tourist!" I imagined Pubby thinking that as we took our obligatory touristy poses.

Image

Ok more Pubby pics, back at the hotel in uncle Jeff''s room. We sat for almost an entire track, which is a big achievement, lol.

Image

With the handsome uncle Wes, concentrating on the music.

Image

But it didn't take long for uncle Paul Kaplan to pick us up and monkey around (to the slight annoyance of some of the guests).

Image

Downstairs, ran into the Audiocircle NYAR mafia, Buddy (SETMan) and Levi, who looked extremely fit!

Image

One of the excellent sounding rooms, Care Audio had My Audio Design monitors mated with Scaena subs(!?), driven by KR and Allnic. Beautiful.

Image

Pubby got mesmerized in the MBL room and was thinking that if he won the lotto, he would pack all this up :roll:

Image

A little disappointing as we had a hard time looking for German Physiks, supposedly in the Brighton Beach room, but instead we had... well, not bad.

Image

Simplifi audio wasn't playing anything and in the outside room Pubby already took off the magnetic grill of one of the display speakers. Squirreled him out before he could make tusok-tusok the tweeters.

Image

One of my barkadas, Al Rohde was quite busy running the Bright Audio room so we couldn't get to chat much.

Image

Definitely a match made in heaven for some folk, Krell + these ML CLXs sounded excellent... although I probably would swap for a warmer sounding amp like Pass.

Image

That's the show for us this time. Almost all of the rooms sounded good and several were excellent. I don't have a favorite full system rig but one that stuck the most with me over the past three days is shown below.

Image

We shared an elevator going down with John Atkinson, it was just us and he was looking at Pubby so I said, "starting him early, John." He replied, "wow, is this his first show?" "No, actually, it's his second." Indeed, he was here 2012. Who knows, he may pick up on music after he's done with Transformers and girls :lol: Ok folks, sa uulitin, thanks for reading!

Image
ttommy
Citizen
Citizen
 
Posts: 943
Joined: Sat Aug 30, 2003 8:27 am

Re: New York Audio Show 2014

Postby kabubi » Mon Sep 29, 2014 11:23 pm

aaahhh... a Tito Mijares report. and after a long time. it's like getting good government here in the Philippines.
and ttommy doesn't disappoint: a generous feeding of pictures along with the customary reportage and observations.

great to see Pubby growing to impishness :) you could also feel the pride by which the pictures of dad and son are taken ;)

oh, i almost forgot, it's an audio forum pala! sigue, here's the audio-related question: what are those tubes in the Woo Audio amp in the 2nd to the last picture?
User avatar
kabubi
Legend
Legend
 
Posts: 5476
Joined: Wed Oct 26, 2005 6:28 pm

Re: New York Audio Show 2014

Postby ttommy » Tue Sep 30, 2014 7:37 am

Thanks for the kind words, Buboy :) The output tubes on the Woo Audio WES amp are EL34s.

More of its features here. Regards and best wishes!
ttommy
Citizen
Citizen
 
Posts: 943
Joined: Sat Aug 30, 2003 8:27 am

Re: New York Audio Show 2014

Postby rtsyrtsy » Tue Sep 30, 2014 9:06 am

Good heavens, Tito, Pubby is growing fast.Which Philippine national team do you see him playing for someday? Our next Fil-Russian chess grandmeister, perhaps?

I've been drooling over those Fireflies from Woo. And Audeze ba kamo bagay? Someday, someday, when I grow up.

The Peck Slip photo gave me a Pavlovian reaction. :-) Happy times.

The only thing I miss from your report are the food photos. Is food abstinence the cause of your slim profile?
User avatar
rtsyrtsy
Moderator
 
Posts: 3908
Joined: Tue Jan 28, 2003 5:25 am

Re: New York Audio Show 2014

Postby ttommy » Tue Sep 30, 2014 9:13 am

Hehe, Russ, strategic toddler placement is the cause of my "slim profile" :rofl: The kiddo may pickup to sports, but the only sports I watch is MMA. Him mom wants him to start judo and that's it.

Anyway, yes, the Fireflies + Audeze sounded excellent and was without a doubt the sweet spot in the lineup. I'll keep from discussing food with you as I know you've really gotten fit. :geek:
ttommy
Citizen
Citizen
 
Posts: 943
Joined: Sat Aug 30, 2003 8:27 am

Re: New York Audio Show 2014

Postby Superman » Tue Sep 30, 2014 9:35 am

Welcome back, Tito! I'm always excited to read your detailed posts...
User avatar
Superman
Master Showman
 
Posts: 15237
Joined: Mon Jan 27, 2003 1:41 pm
Location: Davao City

Re: New York Audio Show 2014

Postby keith » Tue Sep 30, 2014 12:26 pm

Tito,

Yup, Jack and I have gone through that. Ingat sa tweeter "pendotting" :wasntme:
User avatar
keith
walastick
 
Posts: 2463
Joined: Fri Mar 19, 2004 10:43 pm
Location: BGC

Re: New York Audio Show 2014

Postby JackD201 » Tue Sep 30, 2014 6:39 pm

Pubby is so cute! Big boy na!

Yeah, I went planar for 3 years para lang walang mapindot! :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
User avatar
JackD201
Immortal
 
Posts: 10024
Joined: Sat Oct 09, 2004 12:10 am
Location: Bozania

Re: New York Audio Show 2014

Postby JoeyGS » Tue Sep 30, 2014 9:26 pm

Aah ganun pala........ :!:
User avatar
JoeyGS
Fanatic
Fanatic
 
Posts: 1638
Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2005 12:45 pm
Location: Sta. Rosa, Laguna

Re: New York Audio Show 2014

Postby ttommy » Wed Oct 01, 2014 8:19 am

Yup, Jack and I have gone through that. Ingat sa tweeter "pendotting" :wasntme:


Yeah, I went planar for 3 years para lang walang mapindot! :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:


Thanks again, Jack :) yeah, my speakers have their grills on but di nakaligtas 'yung CD player sa kotse, ginawang alkansiya ng coins. We didn't see it happen but it won't take a disc now and sounds like there's something jingling inside. ;(
ttommy
Citizen
Citizen
 
Posts: 943
Joined: Sat Aug 30, 2003 8:27 am

Re: New York Audio Show 2014

Postby Jon Agner » Wed Oct 01, 2014 3:43 pm

Ahhhh... the joy of having your kids with you during an audio show :D :D :D I remember my daughters with their frowning faces telling me back then " What Hi-Fi show again???" .... Now they are the ones going into each and every room, checking out the latest Head Fi gadgets ;( ;( ;( ;( ... and Daddy has to tag along or else ;( ;( ;( ;(

Kidding aside, nice to hear from you :) Daddyhood really filled your days and nights, keeping you busy :)
User avatar
Jon Agner
Legend
Legend
 
Posts: 10567
Joined: Thu Feb 20, 2003 6:48 pm
Location: Sa isang kabukiran na malapit sa tabing dagat

Re: New York Audio Show 2014

Postby ttommy » Sat Oct 04, 2014 5:44 am

Thanks, Jon, and best regards!
ttommy
Citizen
Citizen
 
Posts: 943
Joined: Sat Aug 30, 2003 8:27 am

Re: New York Audio Show 2014

Postby mullard88 » Mon Dec 08, 2014 7:13 am

Thanks for the pictures. It is a nice way to update us on audio and on your personal life. Take care.
User avatar
mullard88
Citizen
Citizen
 
Posts: 515
Joined: Mon Aug 08, 2005 8:19 am

Next

Return to ttommy's corner

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest