Amir's 2023 Pacific Audio Fest Report

[Mart68]

Not sure where all this good looking equipment was that's being mentioned. That refurbished 1970s Sansui receiver was the best of it.

 

[amirm]

Not sure where all this good looking equipment was that's being mentioned. That refurbished 1970s Sansui receiver was the best of it.

I had to explain to the young person next to me what the two FM receiver meters showed. Made me feel old.

 

[MattHooper]

Putting speakers (or stands) on some sort of spikes to 'isolate' them from the soft carpet and 'anchor' them to the underfloor has been a thing for decades. There is at least some validity to this, i.e. the 'spiked' speaker moves around less when you put your drink on it, and is possibly less likely to topple over onto small children. The latter also encourages a wider base platform of some sort even as WAF shrinks baffle sizes.

I'm no Stereophile archeologist but I'm pretty sure cable lifters also reach back quite some time, although they probably increase the hazard to/from motive children rather than mitigate.

Perhaps what you are noticing is what were (at least in the case of the spikes) semi-functional baubles now being extended out into some opulent cargo cult totem.

I'm certainly aware that speaker spikes have been around forever. It just seems that now everyone is raising the speakers up on something or another (checking back on show reports of older speakers seems to support this - back then more speakers just sitting on the floor or generally more modest little spikes).

It seems to have become more common and more elaborate now.

 

[pseudoid]

I had to explain to the young person next to me what the two FM receiver meters showed. Made me feel old.

This just in:

Two U.S. senators to automakers: don't remove AM radio from new vehicles.
From <https://www.reuters.com/business/au...kers-not-remove-am-radio-new-cars-2023-06-23/>

Could you imagine how old you'd feel trying to explain a young person what a .... senator is?

 

[nonnyno]

Is it just me or was the Topping gear practically the most tasteful thing there.

 

[audiofooled]

I don't know why but as soon as I went to this small/standard hotel room and saw the Revel speakers I thought, "boy, this is not going to compete with the big systems I had been seeing." Man, was I wrong!

Revels had a smaller room to fill? The advantage of the setup that they are spaced less apart from each other? I guess others had a lot more room to accommodate all the fancy gear between the speakers and provide unobstructed view to all of the snake cables. Also a good safety precaution because someone could stumble

Great report and some really nice music, especially SOHN!

 

[amirm]

Revels had a smaller room to fill?

Exhibitors have a choice of renting conference space/large suites or standard hotel rooms. In large shows, vast majority have small hotel rooms. Here, it was the other way around with majority having these grand spaces. This is why the Revel room was a bit of surprised for me.

 

[denydog]

.... is why the Revel room was a bit of surprised for me.

I think that was a Modwright room. The exhibitor told me those F228BE were his personal speakers (same as last year).

I was at the show both Friday and Saturday, not leaving until 9:00pm Friday after a late night session in the Acora room. I enjoy your show reports to compare observations, and see the music that I missed. I Shazamed 89 tracks that I wasn't familiar with.

I met up with three other ASR forum members Saturday afternoon for a couple hours of pleasant conversation. They seemed to enjoy the exotic gear we heard. I just enjoy seeing and hearing what's out there.



I will say that I find most of the negativity and criticism of "high end" audio in this thread off-putting. Even though I think cable-lifters and cables more expensive than what I buy from Blue Jeans Cable is a complete waste of money, and I don't go to the shows thinking I will ever purchase any of the products I hear, I think it's a complete waste of time to criticize those involved in the exotic stuff.

 

[Billy Budapest]

KEF is, or rather was, British.

As for Belgian audio, I guess there is Bruno Putzeys, basically single-handedly responsible for Class-D emergence. Known for Philips, Hypex, Purify, Molla and Kii (and I may have forgotten some more)

KEF is about as British as Hegel is Norwegian.

 

[thewas]

KEF is about as British as Hegel is Norwegian.

While they belong to Hong Kong-based Gold Peak group since the 90s, their main R&D centre is in the same UK place since 50 years where also their TOTL speakers are assembled.

 

[voodooless]

While they belong to Hong Kong-based Gold Peak group since the 90s, their main R&D centre is in the same UK place since 50 years where also their TOTL speakers are assembled.

All (or most of) the active electronics stuf is designed in Hong Kong though.

 

[Mart68]

Gold Peak shares are pretty cheap and publicly traded. I'm English, if I bought a chunk of their shares would that make Gold Peak less Chinese?

Talk of the 'nationality' of companies is outdated by about fifty years.

 

[thewas]

All (or most of) the active electronics stuf is designed in Hong Kong though.

Same as their headphones, but their biggest market by far still are passive loudspeakers which are engineered in Maidstone.

 

[Galliardist]

KEF isn’t made in Belgium?

If I remember rightly, at various times some KEF models were made in Belgium (for the European market, but also imported into the UK) and in the US (for the North American market).

These days the company is a British based subsidiary of a Hong Kong company with manufacturing facilities in China and the UK: I think I've got that right.

 

[Purité Audio]

Formerly U.K. companies being purchased by Far Eastern conglomerates is hardly new and not unique to the U.K. , Harman/Samsung.
What I like about KEF is that the funding from Gold Point has been ploughed into R@D,
Keith

 

[JSmith]

These days the company is a British based subsidiary of a Hong Kong company with manufacturing facilities in China and the UK: I think I've got that right.

Correct, the reference etc. models are assembled in Maidstone UK and Q/R series in China.


JSmith

 

[hansik]

Are there any “big” audio/speaker makers in Belgium. I was trying to think and none popped out at me.

There were a few, but even here not well-known. One brand of speakers I loved though: Synthese. The design dates from the 80ies, and recently they've been upgraded, though they don't better as the old ones IMHO after a listening session. Love the design though.

 

[MattHooper]

View attachment 295357

I prefer my plumbing behind the walls.

 

[375HP2482]

The people I know who buy the top end items like those displayed at this show, are not making sacrifices to have $500,000 to $1,000,000 sound rooms. Their kids are not having to go to state schools instead of Yale or Rice. They drive $250,000 cars, have watches that cost more than any room setup in there, and they haven’t had to downsize their airplanes or anything else.

That class of people are more likely to be partying on a yacht off Sardinia right now, not gawking at flashy audio gear.

 

[hansik]

I prefer my plumbing behind the walls.

Hey, this is not plastic.
Some composit materials, quite heavy actually. And the crossover can be adapted using 3 different cards for more or less treble ( not sure about bass)