Great write up!Here are my notes from the Audio show. This is my first Audio show and I’m being brutally honest here. I’m just relating my experience and perceptions which are unique to me. I listen but also seek the physical responses to music as my barometer for how engaging it is to me.
This was the very first PAF show, so I’m sure it will get better with time, but the venue was confusing, and because of the heat, some rooms got sweltering, which made it impossible to sit in there for more than 10min. or not tenable to close the door so you didn't have to hear music from the other room
I also wish it was at a venue that just had better rooms for audio. Sometimes hearing the other rooms made it hard to focus on the room at hand. I would pay $60/day+ to attend a show of that caliber. PAF was $20/day.
As Patrons, we all need to do a better job to have conversations with the vendors outside of the room. There were multiple times, when I just left the room given all the annoying side chat going on, which interfered with my ability to listen to the tunes.
Arrunder- Magico Room – Digital only
Meh – The sound was good and clean but didn’t have any weight, emotion, or real depth. Listened to Riders On the storm and there was a decent soundstage, but it was sterile and in my notes, I wrote “ Don’t see God”. For $100K+ I want to see God along with the artists and be wrapped up in the music.
Audio Note Room – Digital and Vinyl
Listed to some digital at first and again, Meh. Clean, but no texture, micro dynamics, etc.
They switched over to Vinyl and that got my ears perked up. Nice texture and depth to the music, but again, not wrapping you up in the soundstage nor was the soundstage very 3D. Very pleasant and engaging to listen to though.
Fink Team Room- Digital Only
Nice, big sound here, accurate and a decent soundstage, not the warmest of music, but engaging with a nice amount of bass.
Voxative Room – Digital Only
This room stood out as one of the best rooms I went to at the show. They played ST Vincent Savior ( Piano Version), which I had never heard before. It was chillingly good. Piano keys, the gravel in her voice. Goosebumps here, It was all so real and engaging. In the second song, they played bass was a little flabby. I can’t remember what that song was, but this immediately struck me as that good good.
@AudioThesis - Digital
You did a lot of work to make your room nice. Thank you! The system you were playing was very accurate with a nice amount of realness that I was surprised coming from such a small format speaker. What I felt it lacked was that next bit of emotion that I enjoy getting in the music.
Also, sorry, I didn’t say hello, when I was in there, you had some people talking to you and I didn’t want to interrupt any conversation you might have been having with true customers. : )
Troy Audio – Digital
Bi-flex with a super tweeter. I don’t think those bi-flexes are in a big enough box. Also, some patron was in there just yammering on, so I had to leave.
Haniwa Audio – Vinyl
Their horns were great for a single horn, but it made me realize that I just really like horns. Didn’t hit me emotionally, but help me recognize my preferences in sound.
Acora Acoustics - Digital
This was one of the first rooms I walked into where the soundstage was nice and big and you could just hear that lovely decay that makes the music feel real.
Then I walked into the room later and listened to some other tracks and they just didn’t sound as good. I suspect it has something to do with the type of music being played on these speakers, but since they are so expensive it’s something I will never discern.
They did also switch to some near-field monitors and about 1-2min in I left. Not good in my opinion.
VAC/ Von Schweikert Room – Digital and Vinyl
Nice big sound here yet lacking that detail in micro dynamics that I just LOVE in music. But again, didn’t see God nor did I feel that the artist was in the room. So for like a $ 1 million ++ system, I have no idea how you substantiate the cost given the performance. But again, that’s just me.
Acoustic Fields – Digital only – KEF RF7MKii and two subs.
This was all about room treatment and it was fantastic. He had a no-frills system, and it was super cool to see the impact of the room treatments. He played a very poorly recorded or possibly low bit rate rip of Enigma – Sadness and the bass was just SO accurate it felt like it was tapping you in the head. Enjoyed the fun to be had in this room and how treatments can be so useful. I talked with others about how some of these larger systems should be pining to put their systems in the treatment room that he built WITHIN the room he was in.
Genesis Audio – Vinyl and tape
I have to say, what a letdown, all these amazing sources and easily the worst sound I heard at the show. I tried multiple times to go back and listen and all the same. No idea who buys their speakers or where it sounds good, but it was really bad, and multiple people that I visited with the room with also were appalled
Audio Federation – Digital
Listened to some Lenard Cohen and it was great! One of the more real-sounding systems I heard. Very large format with a plasma tweeter. For such a large format it had an EXTREMELY narrow sweet spot. I would have thought it would have thrown a much larger soundstage, but it didn’t.
Parasound – Vinyl
They were playing the KEF blades and it was amazing. The detail, and soundstage that these speakers put out in unreal. You felt so close to the music, with lots of micro dynamics that give that artist in the room feel. Unfortunately, they cut that short and switched to some small 2-driver monitors, which I thought were meh, so I left.
Daedales Audio – Digital
Little jarring in the high frequencies and bass was a little boomy. TBH, they switched songs halfway through and the second song sounded bad, so I left. Should have revisited it, but I didn’t.
Salk with Halo – Digital
My notes said “ Not Quite Enough energy”
Joseph Audio - Digital and Tape
Again, lacks emotion and the soundstage wasn't there. Maybe some toe-in on the speakers would have helped, I dunno.
Linkiwitz – Digital and Vinyl
Some of the best sound I heard at the show. The in-room presence here was chilling with the digital side. Plucking, vocals, accurate bass, like the kind of bass that almost hit you but doesn’t, which makes it feel so real. Their vinyl setup needed some fine-tuning. It sounded good, but it was making the woofer warble a lot which interfered with the sound, but you could tell it was there.
@Anton D NFS Audio – Digital
By far the most fun room setup with the lights and vibe! I liked the horn/ported box setup and thought the tunes jammed. I think it was the vibe of the room coupled with the music which just made it enjoyable to sit and listen without having to dissect and discern. I didn’t feel any real emotional response but did feel enjoyment. Again, some patrons just yammering on, which is a little annoying, but given the vibe of this room, I had to tell myself to get over it. : )
Songer Audio – Digital
This guy has done an AMAZING AMAZING job building a true handcrafted speaker. From the handmade boxes, hand-wound magnets, and HANDMADE cones! Let me say that again HANDMADE CONES! His full range field coils in the boxes sounded great in the room, but later he set up his open baffles with the same drives and port-controlled woofers, and I have to say, it was fantastic. The accuracy, emotion, and sound stage were fantastic and again some of the best sound I heard at the show. I’m a sucker for the care he is taking in handcrafting these speakers. I love that crazy part of Portland where someone takes something to the highest degree, and he has sure done this! Up and coming and I can see how these get to a price category of 2x his price now given the performance and workmanship when comparing them to the other systems I heard.
All in all super fun and a great experience. I really should have stayed for day two for a couple of hours to listen to the other rooms I didn't get to, but it's also summer and the thought of being in a hotel for two days was just not in the cards.
I’m also a bit of a visual guy; did anyone snap pics?
