I’ve written a lot of show reports, to the point where I was starting to repeat myself in some of the advice I was giving. So, I thought I’d write a separate article where I summarize my tips on attending audio shows.
Part One: General Tips
Rule number one: wear comfortable shoes! If you don’t, you’ll regret it. For my first CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in 1988 I wore a suit and tie and dress shoes. (Things were more formal then.) By the last day of the show, I could barely walk, and my feet were so swollen and painful I could barely put my shoes on. No one at an audio show will criticize, or even notice, your footwear.
Accept the fact that you probably won’t be able to see and hear everything, especially at larger shows like AXPONA and Capital Audiofest. So…
Have a plan – and know it’s going to go out the window because of the chaos factor of audio shows.
You might think you’re going to be systematic about it, but then you’ll run into friends, hear about interesting products and booths and events that are literally all over the map, spend more time in a given room than you thought you would, and get delayed waiting for elevators. Sometimes a room will be too crowded and you’ll have to come back later.
If it’s a big show, prioritize. Are there certain products you absolutely have to see and are thinking about buying? Put them first on your list, but with the realization that unless you’re monomaniacal in your discipline, you’re going to get distracted by running into other interesting rooms along the way.
Here's a tip that works well for me: don’t start walking the show on the top or the bottom floor. That’s what everyone else is going to do, and at the beginning of the show, the top and bottom floors will be the most crowded. I like to start at the second from the top floor, work my way down, and hit the top floor later.
Try to maximize your floor time. Unless scheduling conflicts absolutely prevent it, get there when the show opens and plan on staying there until closing time – or maybe after, as audio shows usually have great after-hours events. As someone who reports on audio shows, I factor in the ability to see certain rooms after the official show hours. It’s a good way to see as much as possible.
Pace yourself! None of us are getting any younger, and walking a show floor for hours is physically demanding. Take breaks, although being able to sit down during demos is a built-in way to do that.
Take notes. After a while, everything will become a blur. This is essential for journalists.
Eat a big breakfast because you may not get to eat lunch, or forget in the midst of all the excitement. Don’t waste time having lunch outside the venue unless you absolutely have to. If the hotel isn’t open for lunch, they’ll typically have an area where they sell snacks. Smarter people than myself often bring energy bars or snacks to hold them over until they can have a nice dinner.
Reporters know this: you’ve arrived the day before, try to spend some time walking the show before it opens. Even if most of the rooms aren’t set up (and a surprising amount of them won’t be – some exhibitors pull all-nighters the day before, often through no fault of their own if deliveries or flights are late), you’ll get an idea of where the exhibits are and how big the show is. This is assuming you can get into the show if you don’t have a press or exhibitor badge. Some shows, like CES, are stricter about this than others.
Maps like these are your friends. From the Capital Audiofest 2025 show guide.
Stay at the hotel where the show is taking place if you can. It’s so much more convenient and time-saving. If not, take advantage of the between-hotels shuttle service if possible. On the other hand, the hotel where the show takes place is often a lot more expensive than ones nearby, so even with factoring in cabs or Ubers, you can save a lot of money by seeking an outside hotel.
Book your flights, trains and so on as far in advance as possible. Especially in today’s world where price gouging…er, adjustments…can happen. I’ve learned this the hard way.
Part Two: What to Listen For
You can’t make definitive judgments about the sound of a loudspeaker or component at shows.
Don’t make snap judgments.
Remember that what you hear may not be showing off the equipment to its best. Exhibitors often have to work with rooms that are too small, have serious acoustic problems, or both. Sometimes furniture that has a negative effect on the sound can’t be moved away. The AC power might be poor. I’ve seen exhibitors make heroic moves to overcome the obstacles of hotel demo rooms – and even the big ballrooms can have problems, especially if they’re too big for the speakers being shown. So, you might hear better sound in your own home or at a dealers. That said, you can hear some pretty incredible sound at shows.
I’ve found that it’s extremely important to listen to more than one track when visiting a room. There have been a number of times when I thought a system didn’t sound good, then the exhibitor played another song and the system sounded terrific. It’s also good to listen to a selection of different types of music if possible – the ever-present female vocals, and jazz, rock, classical, and electronic.
At audio shows, you’ll tend to hear the same old same old music over and over again. It’s become an audiophile cliché, but there’s a reason: manufacturers know these tracks, like "Keith Don't Go" or "Tin Pan Alley" or "Take Five" or Diana Krall's Live in Paris sound good. However, exhibitors will often take requests, and this is a good opportunity to play your own reference music. It’s also a fun way to introduce them, and attendees, to great-sounding new music.
Most if not all audio shows feature live music events. Even if it’s amplified, it’s an excellent way to recalibrate your ears. During a show you’ll hear so many different presentations of reproduced sound that you may lose your way in knowing what’s close to right. The ideal would be to listen to a singer without a microphone, just singing with their natural voice instead of into a PA system. When I heard Anne Bisson doing this for the first time, I realized that so many recordings do not present the voice naturally, instead going for a larger-than-life, hyped up presentation. Don’t feel intimidated. Learning how to listen is a lifelong process.
At this point I don’t think I need to mention that, while you can just walk into or even stick your head into a room and get an impression before even sitting down, it’s not a good way to get a handle on the sound.
This is important: listen from more than one spot in the room. (In a crowded demo, this may not always be possible.) Sometimes the bass will change drastically from even one row to the next.
Last but not least, know what to listen for. Audiophiles know this stuff, but here’s a quick refresher:
Tonal balance: The system should sound natural and not bright or boomy. There should be an evenness of tone without any frequency band being exaggerated or sucked out. The bass should be articulate and clean.
Resolution: Can you hear the overtones of a violin or cymbal or acoustic guitar? Can you “hear into” the mix and hear the “ear candy” of a song?
Soundstage: This is the sense of width and depth and the sound coming from beyond the speakers. This is highly dependent on speaker setup and listening position.
Purity: The sound should be clean and clear, with no distortion or grunge.
Transients: A system should capture “fast” transients like the attack of an acoustic guitar, or a snare drum hit cleanly, and not sound “slow” or blurred.
Dynamic range: Pretty self-explanatory. Some big systems can be downright scary in their ability to handle wide dynamic contrasts, especially on electronic and orchestral music. Some systems need a little juice to really wake up. If you like listening at quieter levels, you’ll want a speaker that shines at low as well as high volumes.
Imaging: The ability of the speakers to place vocals and images in distinct positions in the stereo sound field. Although keep in mind that when you hear live music, you don’t get the surgical precision of imaging that some recordings strive for. It helps to listen to live music periodically or often to get, literally, a reality check on what music sounds like live.
Emotional involvement: this is the hardest to pin down, and I think for a system to achieve, but you know it when you hear it. Does the system draw you in, or leave you indifferent? Is it engaging and involving, or does it push you away? And sometimes systems that are more flawed or colored or may be more musically pleasing than more “accurate” systems. I know there’s a good measure of subjectivity involved here. Some people like dynamic speakers, some like electrostatic designs and so on. Tubes, solid-state, analog, digital – in today’s world, it’s all good. Ultimately, choose the system that’s best for you. Go to an audio show and listen, listen, listen. You will find much to enjoy.
Header image: the registration table for Capital Audiofest 2025. Courtesy of the author.
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