My first visit to Axpona; The emperor has no clothes?

[echo44]

I am a musician first and some what of an audiophile whatever that means. I decided to go to my first Audiophile trade show (Axpona) to get a chance to listen to these
extravagant high end systems and listen to a few speakers I have been thinking about purchasing. I have to honestly say over all I was not blown away. I was expecting to be enlightened by some of these systems having speaker cables thicker than my arms, speakers with 20 drivers, Monoblocks on the floor raised up on titanium spikes basking in the glow of professional lighting systems and large glowing vacuum tubes. Some of these systems sounded really good yet not spectacular. I was anticipating walking into some of these rooms and hearing sound systems that would invoke a primal response in me like "wow I have never before heard such detail, clarity and an accurate sound stage like that ". Didn't happen. The speakers I specifically went to listen to, as I was considering purchasing, were underwhelming for the most part, making me question the glowing reviews I have watched on YouTube. So little focus on the music itself was also somewhat surprising. To me the higher end systems seemed more about image than sound.

After this experience there are two possibilities; The 3D detail and incredible life like clarity these super high end systems produce is above the sophistication and ability of my hearing to perceive, which is ok as I am going to save a lot of money or there is a lot of snake oil out there that I wasn't expecting?

 

[Vincent Kars]

So little focus on the music itself was also somewhat surprising.

Pardon?
A true audiophile buys music to listen to his gear. Period.

 

[jhaider]

Did we meet in the Dreamscapes room Sunday late when they were trying to set up the Sigbergs but the hotel wifi and the Storm processor weren’t playing nice?

 

[echo44]

Did we meet in the Dreamscapes room Sunday late when they were trying to set up the Sigbergs but the hotel wifi and the Storm processor weren’t playing nice?

not me I was not there Sunday

 

[Johnkeizer]

It’s not your ears, even Evelyn Glennie appreciates good music played well.

 

[Sigberg Audio]

Did we meet in the Dreamscapes room Sunday late when they were trying to set up the Sigbergs but the hotel wifi and the Storm processor weren’t playing nice?

I heard about the Storm giving up towards the end of the show, I'm sorry you didn't get to hear it!

 

[Bjorn]

It's a lot of snake oil with wrong focus IMO. Plus it's difficult to set up something great with such a limited time, and you simply can't get optimal sound for every seat in the room.

What blows away are speakers that combine a uniform directivity, high output capabilities and low modulation distortion, no crossover in the sensitive area, active system with time aligment of drivers, a system that achieves an even response in the actual room, and great acoustics with a good time domain behaviour. The latter isn't something you are going to hear at a show, so it will never reach full potential.

Prices in audio market is a sad development.

 

[er|κzvio1in]

I've never been to audio shows, but I have participated in wine tastings where I didn't think the 50 EUR bottle was exceptional and I personally liked the 15 EUR bottle better. I also participated in blind whisky tastings where I tend to prefer younger whiskies over older ones. But those wines and whiskies were actually nitably significantly different (i.e. it would be easy as pie to beat blind ABX testing even for untrained tasters), that's the main difference with hifi (above a certain threshold).


In hifi there's so much snake oil. And obviously the law of diminishing returns hits hard especially recently with all the high quality premium chi-fi electronics.

 

[Purité Audio]

Far Eastern manufacturers are producing innovative and state of the art components there really is no need to disparage them.
Keith

 

[Johnkeizer]

Actually, far eastern manufacturers are producing most electronics these days, even big national icon brands often get their stuff made in China.

 

[Mart68]

Prices in audio market is a sad development.

But we have outstanding electronic components at very low prices now.

The kit with telephone number price tags I regard as an entirely separate interest that has nothing to do with the hobby of pursuing good sound quality. Like you might go to the zoo and see giant animals like elephants or rhinos but you would not consider for a second getting one as a pet.

 

[Bjorn]

But we have outstanding electronic components at very low prices now.

The kit with telephone number price tags I regard as an entirely separate interest that has nothing to do with the hobby of pursuing good sound quality. Like you might go to the zoo and see giant animals like elephants or rhinos but you would not consider for a second getting one as a pet.

That's true. Not sure it's only good thing if almost all future electronics comes from the east, but I guess it will change with automatic robot parks at some time.

 

[kemmler3D]

Bad or indistinct sound at audio shows is due to a few factors:

Most gear is set up in hotel rooms or conference rooms if you're lucky, with little to no acoustic treatment or room correction in most cases. They range from nothing special to terrible.

Add to this the fact that you're listening intently for differences from what you're used to, and you end up hearing the room a lot.

Lastly a lot of the rooms are set up to showcase the sound of electronics that don't have a sound, and so there's no there, there.

Choice of music also often obscures the character of the speakers more than it reveals it.

So it's not crazy that you came away with an "emperor has no clothes" impression. I've also had the experience of sitting in several rooms trying to hear what was so special about a given $$$$ system and coming away with not much to say.

 

[mhardy6647]

Did we meet in the Dreamscapes room Sunday late when they were trying to set up the Sigbergs but the hotel wifi and the Storm processor weren’t playing nice?

There is such a thing as too much technology.

 

[Sigberg Audio]

There is such a thing as too much technology.

Certainly, but it was a dual setup room, so there was a multichannel system there as well, hence the Storm processor.

 

[mhardy6647]

Certainly, but it was a dual setup room, so there was a multichannel system there as well, hence the Storm processor.

Yup.
We create our own problems sometimes.

 

[mhardy6647]

Hope for the best, but plan for the worst.
A Walkman, a patch cord, and a mixtape beats silence all to heck.

 

[MayI]

I am a musician first

Anything specific?

The speakers I specifically went to listen to, as I was considering purchasing, were underwhelming for the most part, making me question the glowing reviews I have watched on YouTube.

Do tell

To me the higher end systems seemed more about image than sound. After this experience there are two possibilities; The 3D detail and incredible life like clarity these super high end systems produce is above the sophistication and ability of my hearing to perceive, which is ok as I am going to save a lot of money or there is a lot of snake oil out there that I wasn't expecting?

I like classical and other acoustic music, so 3D is part of what I listen for. Perhaps you don't, but that's been a big part of 2ch+ audio for a while.

 

[Tell]

More is apparently more, and the weirder and the more expensive it is the more many of the clueless people will fall for it. If you know how audio actually works most of that stuff is more like going to the zoo watching exotic animals doing stupid stuff.

 

[Cbdb2]

So little focus on the music itself was also somewhat surprising.

If the music dosnt wow you why focus on it. Those shows are for the eyes. They spend more time making things look good than sound good. As far as most presenters go the only thing your ears are there for are to listen to the snake oil pitches. You could stuff a Genelec inside one of those monstrosities and no one, probably not even the sales guys would notice a difference.