With 147 exhibitor rooms, 60 active CanJam exhibitor booths, 40 lobby exhibitor spaces, and 380 exhibitor companies from 23 countries, Denver's annual Rocky Mountain Audio Fest ranks as the second-largest consumer audio show in North America. The three-day show opens to the public on Friday, October 2 at noon in its familiar Denver Marriott Tech Center location.
RMAF certainly qualifies as the most friendly and community-oriented show in the US and, perhaps, the world. What other audio show has a Saturday "spouse outing" complete with van and driver; T-shirts for sale, whose proceeds support a special scholarship fund for a local music school; three "affordable system rooms" set up by the show and local Colorado Audiophile Society, and operated by nieces and nephews of show organizer Marjorie Baumert, who promise to play all kinds of music; free passes distributed to area college and high-school students; and a pledge to use some of the show's proceeds to help people in the industry and Colorado Audio Society who may need support? Throw in an extremely friendly vibe, and you have a show whose homecoming energy is eagerly anticipated by many in the industry.
As for those numbers, RMAF's exhibit rooms may be down a bit from the show's 160 room high, and one major manufacturer, Magico, is exhibiting at the nearby Hyatt. But RMAF remains a formidable presence, and presents a golden opportunity to audiophiles who wish to take a first listen to new and coveted gear. It is also the North American audio show with, by far, the biggest headphone and personal listening component (thanks to Jude Mansilla of Head-Fi and CanJam, pictured below). And it offers three days filled with educational seminars and some very fine entertainment, including classical music courtesy of Ray Kimber of KimberKable. It is an extraordinarily rich and diverse show.
Until AXPONA Chicago and T.H.E. Show Newport Beach/Irvine came along, RMAF was the North American consumer show that boasted the most US and world product launches. While many of those premieres are now unveiled at the increasingly important Munich show in late spring, and then make their US debuts at T.H.E Show, a number of companies are poised to unveil new products at RMAF. With the online list of product launches not fully populated at press time, and press releases still coming in, we point you to the world and/or North American premieres of Zesto's Eros 300 monoblock tube amplifiers; two not-yet-unveiled products from Audeze; Synergistic Research's Atmosphere Series power cords; Wyred 4 Sound's Intimo headphone amplifier/DAC; SST's Thoebe II preamplifier (with optional phonostage and DAC) and Son of Ampzilla II amplifier; Core Power Technologies' AC balanced power sources; Solidsteel's S4-3 audio rack; Aesthetix's Atlas Saturn Eclipse stereo amplifier; Quad's Artera Play linestage/DAC/transport and Artera stereo preamplifier; Magico's S7 loudspeaker and SSUB (Friday and Saturday only at the Hyatt); and, all in one room in the Marriott Tower, ModWright's 845 DS tube SET monoblock amplifiers, TriangleArt's Symphony SE turntable, and Skogrand Cables' SCIW Beethoven internal wiring.
This year, the Al Stiefel Legacy Room, named in memory of Baumert's husband, the late co-founder of RMAF, will host Colorado pro-audio equipment company, Grace Design. Former Stereophile columnist and recording engineer/producer John Marks, who has frequently used Grace Design equipment and extolled its praises, has made available to room attendees a Dropbox key to his hi-rez recording of Scriabin's D-flat Prelude for Piano, which was recorded using a Grace Design m201 microphone preamplifier/analog/digital converter in Mid-Side microphone array mode.
One new addition to RMAF is the RIHPA Rocky Mountain International HiFi Press Awards, which are billed as the "Oscars of the audio industry." Invitations to submit nominations were sent to 14 audio publications around the world, and 10, including Stereophile, chose to participate. Each publication was asked to nominate up to five products in each category, which made for 50 potential nominees in each category. A first round of voting whittled nominees down to five per category.
RIHPA winners will receive their framed awards at a special 7–10 pm International Gala on Friday, which also celebrates the international nature of RMAF. The RIHPA Gala is open to show attendees and industry by lottery; press is assured entry.
On a less elevated but unquestionably essential level, everyone attending RMAF is a guaranteed winner. This year, food trucks will be on site all three days of the show, providing lunch alternatives to the Marriott's fare. And, if the weather holds, outdoor dining will take place in mild temperatures. It's been so lovely in Denver that the RMAF staff has been doing a lot of its work outside.
Complete coverage of RMAF will start appearing on this site on Saturday, October 3, and continue to appear over subsequent days. Herb Reichert, Sasha Matson, and yours truly look forward to sharing our experiences with you.
Until AXPONA Chicago and T.H.E. Show Newport Beach/Irvine came along, RMAF was the North American consumer show that boasted the most US and world product launches. While many of those premieres are now unveiled at the increasingly important Munich show in late spring, and then make their US debuts at T.H.E Show, a number of companies are poised to unveil new products at RMAF. With the online list of product launches not fully populated at press time, and press releases still coming in, we point you to the world and/or North American premieres of Zesto's Eros 300 monoblock tube amplifiers; two not-yet-unveiled products from Audeze; Synergistic Research's Atmosphere Series power cords; Wyred 4 Sound's Intimo headphone amplifier/DAC; SST's Thoebe II preamplifier (with optional phonostage and DAC) and Son of Ampzilla II amplifier; Core Power Technologies' AC balanced power sources; Solidsteel's S4-3 audio rack; Aesthetix's Atlas Saturn Eclipse stereo amplifier; Quad's Artera Play linestage/DAC/transport and Artera stereo preamplifier; Magico's S7 loudspeaker and SSUB (Friday and Saturday only at the Hyatt); and, all in one room in the Marriott Tower, ModWright's 845 DS tube SET monoblock amplifiers, TriangleArt's Symphony SE turntable, and Skogrand Cables' SCIW Beethoven internal wiring.
This year, the Al Stiefel Legacy Room, named in memory of Baumert's husband, the late co-founder of RMAF, will host Colorado pro-audio equipment company, Grace Design. Former Stereophile columnist and recording engineer/producer John Marks, who has frequently used Grace Design equipment and extolled its praises, has made available to room attendees a Dropbox key to his hi-rez recording of Scriabin's D-flat Prelude for Piano, which was recorded using a Grace Design m201 microphone preamplifier/analog/digital converter in Mid-Side microphone array mode.
One new addition to RMAF is the RIHPA Rocky Mountain International HiFi Press Awards, which are billed as the "Oscars of the audio industry." Invitations to submit nominations were sent to 14 audio publications around the world, and 10, including Stereophile, chose to participate. Each publication was asked to nominate up to five products in each category, which made for 50 potential nominees in each category. A first round of voting whittled nominees down to five per category.
