RMAF 2009

Tube amp designer Roger Modjeski (Music Reference) toasts Gordon Holt with a Martini.

When I last met Charles Holt in 1991, he was a teenager. But I had no problem recognizing him at RMAF—he looks just like his Dad. And, as you can see in Jason Serinus' photograph, in which Charles is flanked by his girlfriend Melissa and me, Charles is wearing the infamous "finger">http://blog.stereophile.com/stephenmejias/the_finger_button/">finger button," which was Gordon's favorite image of himself.

I thought I was seeing a familiar sight when I went into the RMAF room shared by Dynaudio, Wadia, and XLO. The loudspeakers, driven by humongous Octave monoblocks, appeared to be larger versions of the Accent 3 that Dick">http://stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/789dyn3/">Dick Olsher reviewed for Stereophile in the 1980s. There were more drive-units but as in the earlier design, the tweeter was placed at the bottom of the front baffle. This is the Consequence Ultimate Edition ($70,000/pair) explained Dynaudio president Wilfried Ehrenholz. The original Consequence was launched as the Danish company's flagship 25 years ago at the then astronomical price of 30,000DM/pair and has sold some 2500 pieces since then, even though it was not promoted in any major way after the mid-1990s.

Is that Billie Holiday singing, I asked? No, it turned out to be Madeleine Peyroux, to these ears a Billie copycat who learned her lessons well. Singing "Don't cry baby" on the vinyl Original Masters release of Careless Love, the performance was as clear and colorful as could be. I just loved the sound of the Aesthetix Audio Atlas mono power amps ($16,000/pair), Reah Signature phono preamp ($7000) and Calisto Signature line stage ($7000), paired with Benz's new flagship LP S phono cartridge ($5000), Clearaudio Innovation Compact Wood turntable ($7000), Helius Design's new Scorpio IV tonearm ($950–$1100 depending upon length), and the solid-looking Hansen Prince speaker ($48,000/pair).

"This wasn't our choice of music," whispered German Physiks' Robert Kelly when I entered the room they were sharing with Danish electronics manufacturer Vitus Audio. "No problem," I whispered back, " I love Howard Shore's symphonic score to the movie trilogy Lord of the Rings," which a visitor had asked to be played.

Both Art">http://www.stereophile.com/artdudleylistening/1204listening/">Art Dudley and Michael Fremer have praised Gingko Audio's isolation platforms in Stereophile's pages, and at RMAF, the company was showing the benefit of its Cloud 10 platform on an Atmasphere tube power amplifier. Projected on the wall above Gingko's Vinh Vu (and onto his forehead!), real-time analysis showed the outputs of B&K accelerometers fastened to the stand the amp was sitting on and to the amplifier chassis, which was supoorted by a Cloud 10. There was indeed a dramatic reduction in the excitation of the amplifier compared with the stand—especially at low frequencies.

Thanks to a first-time alliance between RMAF and Head-Fi.org, the Denver Marriott Tech Center's large Event Center was ringed with exhibits and displays from headphone component manufacturers and Head-Fi community members. Strategically positioned at the show's entrance, for example, was JH Audio's custom in-ear monitor booth, which proclaimed, "We call it the JH|13 Pro—You'll Call it Aural Sex." Thank God they didn't come right and say, "We give you know what."