T.H.E. Show 2022 Long Beach

Hello All - Is there a WBF get-together at this year's show?
 
Latest exhibitor list:

3D23E70A-F127-4C0F-87EA-7A32C35D0119.jpeg
 
I enjoyed the Verity/Vitus, Graham/Moonriver, and DeVore rooms. Also the Boenicke/Nagra was very musical if a bit different experience because the speakers are so small!
 
PXL_20220611_174431917.jpg

PXL_20220611_174455294.jpg

Acora, Lampizator, Audio Research.

The granite speaker baffle is interesting, but I felt price/performance ratio was poor.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: KeithR
PXL_20220611_175656167.jpg

PXL_20220611_180451802.jpg

Zingali, Pear, Topwing, JMF.

Ultimately the room sound was too warm. I'd like to know if it was the speakers or the electronics/TT or the cables causing the excessive warmth because otherwise it was a nice sound. The blue Topwing wasn't warm when I had one.
 
PXL_20220611_183016697.jpg

Alma room 1. I wish I could remember what this stuff was... Zenmini, Innuous, but what were the speakers?

This room wins my best simple, "low cost" system award for the show. Great tonality, detail, spacious sound with big scale relative to the speakers' size. Also, the power conditioner seems to be one of the few good ones I've encountered.

In general, props to Alma. All Alma rooms were well executed.
 
Last edited:
PXL_20220611_185206306.jpg

Alma room 2. Boenicke, Nagra, MSB, Innuous.

Immediately upon walking in the room, you're wowed by the big sound emanating from the small Boenickes. Another very nice sounding room. Ultimately, I'm not sure I'm sold on the multi-driver integration in such a small cabinet. But I'm intrigued enough to want to hear the bigger models at some point.
 
PXL_20220611_203558434.jpg

PBN, Voss Audio, Garrard 401, cable smorgasbord.

Easy to listen to. A bit smooth and laid back for my tastes overall. This is the second time I've heard Voss now. I am piecing together an impression that it's pretty good stuff.
 
PXL_20220611_210106492.jpg

Borresen, Aavik, Ansuz.

Liked the sound in this room generally. The sound stage was perplexing at times, though. The sound floated up by the ceiling somehow at times. But I think Borresen speakers were successful in improving upon Raidho. Aavik and Ansuz seem quite good to me. Would have preferred full range speakers in this room.
 
Last edited:
PXL_20220611_212113822.jpg

B&W, Vinnie Rossi.

I forgot to ask why the subs were oriented to fire directly at each other. The sound here wasn't my cup of tea. The Vinnie Rossi stuff is very cool though.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Yannan
PXL_20220611_212906972.jpg

Devore, Qualitron.

Other WBFers liked the room, but I didn't care for it. I feel the Devores had a bit of hardness to their sound. I couldn't stay engaged.
 
PXL_20220611_214157289.jpg


PXL_20220611_214357256.jpg


PXL_20220611_220431141.jpg


Nagra, Kuzma, IQN.

Surprise, surprise. This was my best in show room. Even though the IQN speakers were working too hard in this room, and producing a bit of bass distortion, there was just so much to like here. The Stabi R, at $10,900 MSRP, is superb. It easily outclassed the Nagra tube DAC. The Stabi R had a Dynavector XV-1s mounted to a 4 point. And when I finally convinced the Common Wave "digital guy" rep to switch from the DAC to vinyl, I looked back at him after a couple songs as if to say "come on!". He nodded and said, "Yes, it is better." With that said, the Nagra Classic amps and preamp were in at least a couple rooms which all sounded good and I'm sure there's a correlation there. I also want to hear larger IQN speakers now. They don't get have a 3-way model but supposedly that's in the works.

Also, props to common wave for having good music on hand. The Alternate Blues was great. I took the picture to remind myself to make sure I have it at home.
 
PXL_20220611_224255683.jpg

Infigo.

Nice stuff! This is one of those supposed Class A high wattage amps that don't get hot via some sort of dynamic biasing scheme. Overall, it was a pleasing and musical sound but too warm for my preferences.
 
Last edited:
PXL_20220611_225541640.jpg

Verity, Thrax, Vitus.

A good sounding room. It didn't quite win me over in the end. I just couldn't quite connect with it. I heard from WBFers that the other Verity / Vitus room with smaller speakers actually sounded better. I didn't get to hear it because the guy locked himself out of the room in the afternoon. But I'd like to hear Verity on Vitus. I'm suspecting the Thrax 300b behemoths are not up to the Vitus level for my preferences.
 
  • Like
Reactions: KeithR

About us

  • What’s Best Forum is THE forum for high end audio, product reviews, advice and sharing experiences on the best of everything else. This is THE place where audiophiles and audio companies discuss vintage, contemporary and new audio products, music servers, music streamers, computer audio, digital-to-analog converters, turntables, phono stages, cartridges, reel-to-reel tape machines, speakers, headphones and tube and solid-state amplification. Founded in 2010 What’s Best Forum invites intelligent and courteous people of all interests and backgrounds to describe and discuss the best of everything. From beginners to life-long hobbyists to industry professionals, we enjoy learning about new things and meeting new people, and participating in spirited debates.

Quick Navigation

User Menu