Amir's 2023 Pacific Audio Fest Report

[iconoclast]

Thanks for the report and the photos!

I feel one of these days we're going to have to have a serious talk about the prudent use of natural resources and sustainability in certain industries.

Local company making carbon fiber blank Reel to Reel from boing rejects!

Hmm, some bad press about that lately...

 

[Mart68]

Thanks for the report and the photos!

I feel one of these days we're going to have to have a serious talk about the prudent use of natural resources and sustainability in certain industries.


Hmm, some bad press about that lately...

should be okay unless you want to position your R2R machine at the bottom of the sea.

 

[Hipster Doofus]

You were very well behaved.

 

[audiofooled]

OK, order the TT and send me just the arm ...

And your other arm...

 

[Aperiodic]

Thanks for the report, Amir.

Is it me, or does this look like room after room of tacky, over priced junk, the audio equivalent of Excalibur autos?

View attachment 294812

Hard pass here.

 

[khensu]

My good friend Gary Koh of Genesis was showing prototypes of $8,000 speakers made out of bamboo enclosure:

Renee Olstead - Summertime​

Nice track!

Wano Turntable:

Monster speakers Genesis is known for:

I have heard these at the factory and they have incredible dynamics.

Analog Audio Design TP-1000 Reel to Reel deck. Love that colorful touchscreen:

Kind of expensive at $20,000:

Nice to see detailed measurements!

OK, something about a reel to reel (beautiful looking, btw) with an ethernet port for firmware upgrades that convinces me we are living in a simulation.

 

[Aperiodic]

"High-End Audio" as practiced today is more a fetish than a hobby, more about conspicuous consumption than music listening.What is seen in this thread is typical of the fare at most shows I have been to in recent years. I'd rather spend the equivalent time listening to some music on my modest system than pay to hear equipment I will never buy.

 

[JayGilb]

It looks like the high-end audio market is regressing.

 

[Zapper]

The music selections are more interesting to me than the expensive audiophoolery.

 

[stunta]

Pretty much everything looks grossly over-engineered to me. Couldn't see the Revel photos but the Focal setup looks the simplest.

The prices never cease to give me heartburn. I guess they only need to sell one cable to cover the cost of the demo.

 

[Tim Link]

ModWright Audio/Revel Speakers:

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! See later.

https://previews.dropbox.com/p/thumb/AB-TvX592QBkQKJHBFCK3LbVnlZBnRwPSCNeYVF7QRng0Rtrs7cUuXu3OvaW9Z2HxmpzNq9w2FKB-mvB5cfwKRNfo-v7mU_aYKG9cfZ43CK24wenOqdj6dvscydIhHzoKxPchf-TpmTshcYVPJm9fUzuXbj5aqPUUzA3J0b7MyhqSE-Gfvc7Ks2ayhOMujjmqb0EaT9KuNE2PlQJffC4PM0VBvQjllNBczIUi-DWzhgq6TaB656gaSAu5XyCx3RC-TuISohEoGhEIpjAXSVwNbhS2E-ldmdYuO-ugWV1DTQJ88LIMWBiWn98Smjmmi06L0pdBQDXYYKAXw4qRuaGRQS0AJ8H0H3-rjJEL4gGhV9pl8oshekAJJFWhcvPbygFTBc/p.jpeg

https://previews.dropbox.com/p/thumb/AB-d_bdFkSd2LMH9M1LMaW7u0kOCBGmrGt25wtZVuODACy0RtihSk_MxUrmpTfJqltIbU9RYx65JJbRiBQEbFrL78Q15P0uMtkoEdpGaEDjgaCfe4OfPD0ifXs2e_HZbO6RIF_yXWOsHze-wdYVWUyAE9rn3mdzo8OkCmrRS_8kfM13p3FfUMDxnBhRLSCZGoSU_IoU1Y-4hRKhKvT61_ZdvqLkNFn4ln9GTERcIK97pgttfyaAuEfrvi0vgoARII45gDAarCHBBSStmDn-eo84-WQYJsDuUQHufTCvvRvqpRwkN3vbFBdGAH3yzVB0WBj01KFTCS6UdL3cNkxo-pPIe_Q1vNr2nzScxUt2n7hin_i0sMMsfg-eHdDANm4v6B4Q/p.jpeg

Dominique Fils-Aimé | Birds​

Absolutely superb! Amazing detail and imaging.

Muse - Madness​

Excellent sounding.

Stone Flower (LP)​

Thin sounding and highs a bit gritty. This youtube sample sounds horrid so maybe it was the source.

Janis Ian Tattoo: (LP)

Nice. Good bass, detail.

I really liked their sound. One problem I've been having at the show is I don't like a lot of the content I'm hearing. It took me a while to realize that there is a mixing style of some of this modern music that is hashy sounding to me and I wasn't sure if it was the equipment but when they let me put on some tracks that I'm familiar with I didn't hear it at all. They went back to their favorite tracks and the hashy highs came back.
Sorry I don't know the names of many of these tracks but I asked one of the guys about it after hearing some Paul Simon sound great to me and then suddenly this horrible hashy edgy gritty sound on the next track. I asked about it and the guy told me it was very highly processed modern music. There's an electronic sound that they like. One example track was called Out of Reach by Technomatic. I don't care for that sound.

 

[mash]

I'm wondering if all these people realize that they are now living on the Island of Misfit Toys?

 

[Ron Texas]

Great photos @amirm

 

[bobster]

Photos aren't showing for me in posts #17 and 18 (as of 8:30 AM Pacific time, June 25).

 

[Tim Link]

Hello everyone. I attended the 2023 Pacific Audio Fest (PAF) today. I was pleased with the relaxed atmosphere of the show. Just enough people were there as to there being interest but not too crowded. The show is about 20% the size of the major audio shows like AXPONA and now defunct RMAF. I managed to attend all the exhibits (sans the headphone area) in an afternoon. I may go back tomorrow to explore more.

I was sad that there were no badges so you didn't know who was there other than the exhibitors. In that regard, I didn't think anyone would recognize me but many did! This resulted in many nice conversations and heartwarming comments from members about the work we are doing at ASR. I also caught up with some industry friends after some 3 years of absence.

I usually take my DSLR to shows but it is heavy and a burden so this year I decided to use my Samsung S23 Ultra. Pictures are a bit too crispy/over sharpened for my taste. But convenience was superb as was the signal processing in the phone to take multiple pictures and merge to reduce noise. Image stabilization worked better than my DSLR! I think the do the job and convenience was amazing.

If you are new and not familiar with my reporting, my focus is on showing the pictures and sample music I heard.

Let's get started.

I saw you there, recognized you immediately from across the room. But of course, I am a member here and I watch your videos. Sorry I didn't get to talk with you but it looked like you were in a hurry to move on.

 

[amirm]

I saw you there, recognized you immediately from across the room. But of course, I am a member here and I watch your videos. Sorry I didn't get to talk with you but it looked like you were in a hurry to move on.

I wad indeed trying to covet the entire show in 6 hours. But would have been happy to say hello!

 

[Ron Texas]

I wad indeed trying to covet the entire show in 6 hours. But would have been happy to say hello!

Double entendre?

 

[Moravid]

All photos show except for the only want I really want to see-Revel :/

 

[amirm]

I fixed the Revel speaker pictures. Any others you can't see?

 

[amirm]

Oh wait... I see the issue with 17 and 18. Let me fix....