In yesterday's Post I shared with you a great question about high-end audio trade shows:
"While at the Florida Expo...I was honestly amazed at how many very high-dollar systems — some easily in the $300k range — sounded surprisingly poor. In several rooms, I couldn’t even stay for more than a few minutes. The tonal balance was off, imaging was unfocused, or the presentation was simply fatiguing. I was amazed that only a few rooms sounded coherent, balanced, and musically natural. Where you could relax and just enjoy the music instead of analyzing the system. That experience left me wondering: why would exhibitors invest the enormous expense of transporting and installing such costly equipment, only to present it in a way that underperforms so dramatically?"
After spending the last half century in this sport it's probably an understatement to suggest I've been to more than my share of these shows (I think my personal record was 8 shows in one year).
Setting an entire HiFi system up in a hotel room in a day can be a serious challenge. And do it enough times and you're bound to have your share of duds. I can relate.
The toughest of these rooms are your standard Marriot or Day's Inn rectangle with the punch out bathroom right at the entrance. You know these rooms: a headboard permanently attached to one wall, an immovable dresser on the opposite side, some sort of radiator or AC unit just under the window.
Years of experience has taught me how to mitigate many of the problems and get decent sound out of the worst of these—and pretty great sound out of the best of them. That said, most of today's high-end shows are in better/bigger rooms than those rectangular challenges—certainly the pictures of the Florida Expo had nice looking rooms and lots of opportunity to give great performance.
And yet, my experience is just like that of the writer's. Room after room at these shows and I have to turn around and leave before my ears scold me for being in there. And this isn't a recent problem, it's one that's been with us since I began in the sport 50 years ago: the Venetian, McCormick Center, The Sahara, The Bismarck, the Bi-Level Complex, The Mirage, Munich, New York, Hong Kong.
But it's not just trade shows. Dealers and customers too. And manufacturer's demo rooms.
Truth is, setting up a system can be a challenge. It's one of the reasons I wrote the Audiophile's Guide set of books.
Setup is an art—and like any art there are only a handful of really great artists.
I have many a fond memory of marveling at the sound produced by those hotel trade show setup artists that really had their sh*t together: John Hunter of REL, Peter McGrath when he owned his store and later with Wilson, Dave Wilson, Arnie Nudell, Neil Patel of Avalon.
Sure, using a pair of Aspens—among the easiest speakers to setup properly—helps a great deal, but even systems that need a setup master can shine in the worst of rooms.
It's a hard truth to swallow at times but in my experience most rooms in these shows are tough to listen to. And what's fascinating to me (as Mr. Spock might say), their owners don't seem to agree. They proudly crank the level up higher and bust their buttons at how good it sounds.
Maybe, like all art, it's a matter of taste.
After all, some people adore the look of Tesla's Cybertruck.
And that sort of sums it all up for me.
0 comments