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RMAF 2017 Reader Reports


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Huh ???

CA02.thumb.png.08ab070d557a5d42846b270d42c80987.png

 

I just put that in there, but it appears here ?

Is this forum software grabbing a first picture to support the link you put in the last post I just made a screenshot of ?

Or the last picture ?

 

So in case the status of this changes, the screenshot above shows the last post of the previous screen (#2) as I just saw it.

 

Lush^3-e      Lush^2      Blaxius^2.5      Ethernet^3     HDMI^2     XLR^2

XXHighEnd (developer)

Phasure NOS1 24/768 Async USB DAC (manufacturer)

Phasure Mach III Audio PC with Linear PSU (manufacturer)

Orelino & Orelo MKII Speakers (designer/supplier)

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On 10/6/2017 at 8:56 PM, The Computer Audiophile said:

It's hard to compete with Andrew Jones. 

 

At the other end of the wallet, I just got a pair of used Elac B6es and thus can now add my +1 (or is that +2) to the rave reviews. 

Sum>Frankenstein: JPlay/Audirvana/iTunes, Uptone EtherRegen+LPS-1.2, Rivo Streamer+Uptone JS-2, Schiit Yggdrasil LiM+Shunyata Delta XC, Linn LP12/Hercules II/Ittok/Denon DL-103R, ModWright LS 100, Pass XA25, Tellurium Black II, Monitor Audio Silver 500 on IsoAcoustics Gaias, Shunyata Delta XC, Transparent Audio, P12 power regenerator, and positive room attributes.

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On 10/7/2017 at 2:28 PM, George Hincapie said:

 

What brand/model are the amps? Looks nice.

 

I believe the amps are the Veritas  model by Merrill Audio http://www.merrillaudio.net/#/?_k=kbrqkg

 

I know Merrill from one of the Audio Clubs here in the NJ/NY/PA metro area. The amp is based on the Hypex NCore tech. IMHO they are very competitive with anything near their price and above. I and others have also found that they will drive about any type speaker you use them with. They are revealing so any weak links in your system will be revealed. But they are NOT your typical class D. As a matter check out the new review of them on Positive Feedback, by a guy who does not particularly use class D. 

I had been going from amp to amp till I put the Veritas in my system and have got off that train. I am not saying it is the ultimate but...it come close especially for its price. And for me not having a VERY heavy AND hot amp to deal with was also important. Been there, done that. If someone did not care about heat and weight then I would recommend they check out the Pass Labs amps. But I only liked his Class A only amps, so very heavy and very expensive for how many watts you get.

 

I hope that helped.

 

PS I have no financial affiliation with Merrill. And he is very helpful so if you have any questions give him a call.  

Ambassador for Sound Galleries Monaco and Taiko Audio The Netherlands 

Sound Test USA

[email protected]

 

Sound Galleries SGM 2015 Music Server>ROON-all rates up-sampled to DSD512 by HQ Player>Sablon Reserva 2017 USB>T+A DAC 8 DSD>Merrill Audio Veritas Ncore NC1200 Mono Amps>B&W 802D>High Fidelity Cables Interconnect, Speaker & Power Cords for Amps & SGM & T+A>Power Conditioning High Fidelity MC-6 Hemisphere>T+A & Hemisphere supported by Stillpoints Ultra Mini - B&W 802D & Veritas supported by Stillpoints Ultra SS>All sitting on IKEA Aptitlig bamboo butcher blocks - Taiko Audio Setchi active grounding on SGM & T+A

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On 10/7/2017 at 11:40 AM, The Computer Audiophile said:

Same great sound that @kennyb123 heard. Great stuff. 

 

About a 10k system.

 

PANO_20171007_123854.jpg

 

I'm leaning towards buying a pair of those speakers.  I was hugely impressed with the bang for the buck.

Digital:  Sonore opticalModule > Uptone EtherRegen > Shunyata Sigma Ethernet > Antipodes K30 > Shunyata Omega USB > Gustard X26pro DAC < Mutec REF10 SE120

Amp & Speakers:  Spectral DMA-150mk2 > Aerial 10T

Foundation: Stillpoints Ultra, Shunyata Denali v1 and Typhon x1 power conditioners, Shunyata Delta v2 and QSA Lanedri Gamma Revelation and Infinity power cords, QSA Lanedri Gamma Revelation XLR interconnect, Shunyata Sigma Ethernet, MIT Matrix HD 60 speaker cables, GIK bass traps, ASC Isothermal tube traps, Stillpoints Aperture panels, Quadraspire SVT rack, PGGB 256

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On 10/7/2017 at 11:58 AM, The Computer Audiophile said:

Naim focal system from Listen Up. Another great sounding system. What's going on this year?! Usually by now I've had it with the show because of bad sound. Not the case this year.

 

Agreed. The new Focal Kanta speakers ($10,000) acquitted themselves very well.

"Relax, it's only hi-fi. There's never been a hi-fi emergency." - Roy Hall

"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." - William Bruce Cameron

 

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How did the Sonore room sound with the Focal Utopia 3 Diablo speakers?  I have those speakers and really love them.  

Pareto Audio AMD 7700 Server --> Berkeley Alpha USB --> Jeff Rowland Aeris --> Jeff Rowland 625 S2 --> Focal Utopia 3 Diablos with 2 x Focal Electra SW 1000 BE subs

 

i7-6700K/Windows 10  --> EVGA Nu Audio Card --> Focal CMS50's 

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The Joseph Audio Pearl3 speakers driven by Doshi tube amps with open reel tape as source sounded very good.

And the Vienna Acoustics speakers ($6,000) punched way above their weight in the Bluebird room with Chord electronics.

"Relax, it's only hi-fi. There's never been a hi-fi emergency." - Roy Hall

"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." - William Bruce Cameron

 

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It was refreshing to find that, unlike many of the exhibitors, the Focal rooms were not playing music too loud, In fact, we had to ask them to turn up the volume a bit.

 

However, the PS Audio room on the ground floor was using subwoofers with Focal 3 speakers and, IMO, they just muddied the bass. The Focal Sopra 3's didn't need the subs and, to my ears, sounded much better in the Tower.

"Relax, it's only hi-fi. There's never been a hi-fi emergency." - Roy Hall

"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." - William Bruce Cameron

 

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13 minutes ago, Allan F said:

However, the PS Audio room on the ground floor was using subwoofers with Focal 3 speakers and, IMO, they just muddied the bass. The Focal 3's didn't need the subs and, to my ears, sounded much better in the Tower.

Looks to me that PS Audio was using Focal Sopra #3.  That is a different product line than my Focal Utopia III.  The Utopia III is their high end.  I can't understand why anyone would run subs with Focal Sopra #3.

Pareto Audio AMD 7700 Server --> Berkeley Alpha USB --> Jeff Rowland Aeris --> Jeff Rowland 625 S2 --> Focal Utopia 3 Diablos with 2 x Focal Electra SW 1000 BE subs

 

i7-6700K/Windows 10  --> EVGA Nu Audio Card --> Focal CMS50's 

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16 minutes ago, rickca said:

Looks to me that PS Audio was using Focal Sopra #3.  That is a different product line than my Focal Utopia III.  The Utopia III is their high end.  I can't understand why anyone would run subs with Focal Sopra #3.

 

Thanks. I am aware of the different Focal product lines and the PS Audio room was definitely using Focal Sopra 3s. And I completely agree that they don't need subs. Not surprisingly, the Focal rep agreed. 

"Relax, it's only hi-fi. There's never been a hi-fi emergency." - Roy Hall

"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." - William Bruce Cameron

 

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On 10/7/2017 at 12:33 AM, George Hincapie said:

 

Those speakers are £5200 in the UK ($6796). Why do we always get taken dry by pricing? Such BS *sad face*

 

Don't British prices often include VAT? Isn't that around 20%? Just asking, but if that is the case, then that would explain the delta between the US and British prices in dollars. For years, it was SOP for audio goods to cost in pounds sterling  what they cost in dollars in the USA, and this was when a pound was as much as $2.00 meaning the stuff costed you Brits twice what it costed we Yanks. Luckily, I don't see that kind of delta any more as the pound sterling and the dollar have moved closer together.

George

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37 minutes ago, gmgraves said:

 

Don't British prices often include VAT? Isn't that around 20%? Just asking, but if that is the case, then that would explain the delta between the US and British prices in dollars. For years, it was SOP for audio goods to cost in pounds sterling  what they cost in dollars in the USA, and this was when a pound was as much as $2.00 meaning the stuff costed you Brits twice what it costed we Yanks. Luckily, I don't see that kind of delta any more as the pound sterling and the dollar have moved closer together.

 

Yes, but I didn't know US prices don't.

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On 10/14/2017 at 2:22 PM, George Hincapie said:

 

Yes, but I didn't know US prices don't.

 

We don't have a VAT in this country (but it gets discussed in Congress every now and again). Individual states can have a sales tax, and it varies from state to state with some having no sales tax and others having a considerable one. The highest sales tax in the country is in Illinois with 10.25% (Chicago) and States like Delaware, New Hampshire Montana and Oregon have no sales tax. But the tax is never folded-in to the advertised price of goods, because the tax is regional and not fixed. People who live in states bordering those states with no tax, often will travel to the adjacent state to save money on big purchases. I live in Northern Nevada. Our sales tax is around 7.6%. If I went to Oregon to purchase my new $30,000 car, I would save almost $4000 in sales tax alone. Not an inconsiderable amount! One could buy a nice pair of speakers or perhaps a new amplifier with the money saved! 

 

We also have, on top of state sales tax, a state income tax which also varies from state to state. Here in Nevada, for instance, we have no state income tax, but in adjacent California it's about 12% of one's total yearly income. Then of course there's the federal income tax which is on a sliding scale and dependent on ones income group or "bracket". The highest tax bracket is, I believe, about 39%, but most Americans pay far less than that.

 

A lot of Europeans think that we Americans are under-taxed compared to many European nations. This is a gross misconception. We Americans with sales tax, state and federal income taxes, excise taxes on luxury goods, property taxes, yearly vehicle registration taxes, etc, run easily to well over 50% of our income. The main difference between many European countries and the U.S.A. is that most Europeans actually get something back for the money they pay in taxes, such as decent medical insurance, state paid maternity leave, decent pensions and unemployment payments that are a large percentage of their working wages. We do not. We have an infrastructure that's falling apart because there's no money to fix it, underfunded national pensions (called Social Security) which is a joke, inadequate public schools (we once had the world's best public education system) and on and on. Why, with such high taxes, are we so far behind the rest of first world? Because we have to pay for being the world's police. Our defense budget and our entitlements takes up so much of our money, that there is little left for anything else, and so we have to borrow money from other nations just to make ends meet. The result is that the United States is the largest debtor nation in the history of the world! 

 

End of soap-box rant. :)

George

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12 hours ago, firedog said:

 Amazingly misinformed rant. As a percentage of GDP, the overall tax rate in the US is one of the lowest in the developed world. Here are the undeniable facts:


59e5c61bcac81_taxesvsGDPUS.thumb.png.dafa7321c836c3a06f43d9988eadcfe4.png

The US if 5th from the bottom, and well below the average rate (in red) in the OECD. 

 

This is all taxes as a percent of GDP, and is the figure that shows the relative level of taxation in different economies.

What is missing here? The US tax system is setup so that the richest individuals and corporations can legally avoid taxes and can effectively pay much lower rates than even a lower/middle class individual. So many individuals feel highly taxed, as they are clearly paying "more than their fare share" vs. what they receive back. 

 

Americans need to stop whining about how heavily they are taxed because it all goes to pay for the world's security.

You aren't, and it doesn't. 

 

Your spending and taxing priorities are simply skewed so the people who pay much of the taxes don't feel the benefits.

Change your priorities, and make sure that those who can pay, pay. If your actual tax rate as a percentage of GDP was closer to the OECD average, you'd have enough money to pay for all those things you claim you don't have money for. 

 

This is way off topic, but I was answering a another posters Q about why prices for audio gear are so different between the US and GB.  If you look further, you will find that while our Federal income tax may be fairly low among the nations of the world (I know that some countries have taxes that are much higher than the U.S.). But, as I said, when one adds-in all the other taxes that we Americans are privileged to pay, the picture becomes somewhat different. The great American Supreme Court Chief Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes once said "I don't mind paying taxes, It's how I help buy civilization." Well, maybe in his day that was true, but in this day and time, all it buys is more government waste, mismanagement, continuous warfare (the US has had troops deployed CONTINUOUSLY for more than 30 years) and misguided entitlements. I say, if we're going to be the world's police then let the rest of the world help pay for it! Then, perhaps, we can get "all those things ( I ) claim that we don't have the money for"! Now, Let's get back to the RMAF Reader Reports.  

George

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George, you are simply factually incorrect about the overall tax burden in the US vs other developed countries. It's a myth promoted by factions in the US to justify all sorts of other agendas. The US may have lots of issues, being highly taxed isn't one of them.

Main listening (small home office):

Main setup: Surge protector +>Isol-8 Mini sub Axis Power Strip/Isolation>QuietPC Low Noise Server>Roon (Audiolense DRC)>Stack Audio Link II>Kii Control>Kii Three (on their own electric circuit) >GIK Room Treatments.

Secondary Path: Server with Audiolense RC>RPi4 or analog>Cayin iDAC6 MKII (tube mode) (XLR)>Kii Three .

Bedroom: SBTouch to Cambridge Soundworks Desktop Setup.
Living Room/Kitchen: Ropieee (RPi3b+ with touchscreen) + Schiit Modi3E to a pair of Morel Hogtalare. 

All absolute statements about audio are false :)

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1 hour ago, austinpop said:

My favorite rooms at RMAF were:

3. Chord Blu-DAVE + Vienna Acoustics (digital)

4. PS Audio + Focal Sopra 3 + REL subs (digital)

 

I agree that the Chord + Vienna Acoustics sounded very good. The speakers are a bargain at $6.000. OTOH, I thought that the subwoofers were unnecessary and ruined the bass in the PS Audio room. The Focal Sopra 3's sounded much better - excellent, in fact - in the Tower.

"Relax, it's only hi-fi. There's never been a hi-fi emergency." - Roy Hall

"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." - William Bruce Cameron

 

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On 10/17/2017 at 5:57 PM, The Computer Audiophile said:

Back to RMAF talk.

 

Sent from Denmark, where taxation is actually really high and quality of life is higher. 

 

Like I said, many European countries actually GET something in return for their tax dollars, we Americans do not! We can't even get decent single-payer health care for our tax dollars. Everything that either party proposes has the insurance companies involved, and believe me, as long as that's the case, health insurance will remain inadequate in this country. 

George

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On 10/17/2017 at 5:34 PM, firedog said:

George, you are simply factually incorrect about the overall tax burden in the US vs other developed countries. It's a myth promoted by factions in the US to justify all sorts of other agendas. The US may have lots of issues, being highly taxed isn't one of them.

 

It's not the amount of tax US citizens pay that bothers me so much, but it's rather that we don't get anything back from our taxes. Niggardly SSI, no paid health care, no paid maternity leave, no livable unemployment insurance; hell, we can't even afford to keep our own infrastructure properly maintained. All we get for our taxes are endless military misadventures, paying corrupt and otherwise useless politicians, and servicing the largest national debt in the history of the world. 

George

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