This year's Rocky Mountain Audio Fest (RMAF) held in the Mile High City of Denver, Colorado, proved another standout show. Once again, Denver's Marriott Tech Center was the venue for the fourth straight year. Attending my third straight (missing only the first) RMAF has shown a steady increase in attendance making navigation a bit tougher each year especially when you have to rely on only a couple of elevators to reach rooms located on the upper floors.

Sandwiched between the Home Entertainment Show (HE), held each spring, and Consumer Electronics Show (CES), held each winter, the RMAF - strictly from a manufacturer/dealer/distributor standpoint - appears to make the most economical and geographical sense . Both the HE and CES, compared to the Denver RMAF, are more expensive to host costing many times the asking price depending on specific rooms and/or size. In addition, the HE shows are normally held in large US cities like NY, Los Angeles or San Francisco, where there's only one price: Premium. It is this reason alone I admire and enjoy the RMAF. Another reason why you see so many of the smaller manufacturers and dealers at RMAF is, primarily because they can afford it.

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Alan Stiefel of Red Rock Audio (photo above), who is also the responsible person behind the RMAF, deserves plenty credit for having the sheer guts and foresight to put something of this magnitude together on such a small budget. To witness Stiefel along with his dozen or so volunteers from the Colorado Audio Society working tirelessly from sun-up to sun-down was admirable to say the least.

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Most impressive for me however was the singleness of purpose the RMAF brings to this sacred hobby of ours. Nearly all the rooms showcased two-channel stereo rigs. Listening to the many show attendees talk about the rooms they visited that I could not - it was refreshing to know the vast majority were two-channel setups also. Try listening to the chatter at an CES event and see what you'll hear especially now with the show officially moved to the Venetian Hotel.

Low Yield... High Gain?

Mark Schifter, the man behind both Audio Alchemy and Perpetual Technology, who now heads AV123, should officially change his name to David. This, the same David who slew Goliath. In a world where the dollar continues to fluctuate and thus  justify why the price of high end products continues soar, there is an alternative universe called Mark Schifter's AV123 (www.av123.com).

AV123's new flagship loudspeaker in the LS9 ($6,000), and standing nearly 8 foot tall, looked almost identical to the $80k Nearfield Acoustic Pipedreams, except they're $74k cheaper. These gargantuan transducers were running with some serious electronics that featured the Red Rock Renaissance mono amps ($40k), along with their new prototype preamp (no price). Digital was by way of the increasingly popular and omnipresent Abbingdon Music Research CD-77 ($8,500). Despite their paltry asking price, the LS9s didn't hesitate nor skip a musical beat keeping up with their lofty roommates.

Once again, if you can't shell up $6k for the larger LS9s don't fret because the LS6s are available for only $4,500! And once again they were paired with some pretty lofty electronics that featured the beautifully crafted Dodd Audio 300 watt mono amps (using KT-88s) and the Dodd Audio battery powered preamp. Personally I could not believe how big these amps were and all the attention they garnered (I mean you got to admit they're not average looking in the least). At $50k the Dodd amps did actually resemble a work of art worth their asking price - without even hearing them. But once the music started I couldn't get over how musical this system sounded with the LS6s at the helm. If you're thinking, as I was, to keep the LS6 affordable Schifter had some serious compromises to make? The real reasons are productions costs are very low. Schifter explained to me his manufacturing plant as somewhere in Brazil (don't quote me). Most importantly, once the music started I was hard fought to find anything that wasn't highly unimpressive considering I too own a major line source and am intimately aware of their capabilities. Both models seem to have all the goods.  Simply put, it's a killer product at a ridiculous price. I fully understand that until you hear either the LS6 or the LS9, for yourself, you most likely won't believe a word.

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Speaking of affordable....

PS Audio's Paul McGowan showed a prototype of his new Lambda II transport. Scheduled for release in spring of 2008 this sleek and sexy design boasts some very interesting features, namely; I2S (proprietary system which separates the clock and data) along with the SPDIF (coax) and AES/EBU (XLR) digital outputs. Inside the drive will extract bit perfect data directly off the disc without adding a clock, and place it into an internal Digital Lens II. Once inside the Lens, it has about a 1 second memory buffer that is long enough to eliminate jitter. The stored data is then output with a separate extremely low jitter clock. (The Digital Lens II is also coming out as a separate product, next year for those of you who don't plan on getting rid of your beloved transport). Estimated retail $1195.

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No moss grows under the feet of Blue Circle's Gilbert Yuen. Showing off his newest creation in the omni-directional Penny loudspeakers ($4,700 to $6,500 depending on finish) that produced a remarkable open and airy sound to them reminiscent to the famous Ohm Acoustics Walsh 5s from back in the day. Measuring only 37" in height, 10" in width and 16" deep, they can be placed in places ordinary loudspeakers simply would not work due, in a large part, to their omni-directional radiation pattern,. "This, says Yuen, gives them great appeal in places and spaces where you don't want to see loudspeakers in the middle of the room." The sound of the room was non-fatiguing yet very detailed, relaxing and musical. Typical Blue Circle sound.

Blue Circle electronics were used throughout also featured the BC501oB DAC ($7,395), BC202 hybrid stereo amplifier ($6,495) and the BC3000MK GZpz linestage preamplifier ($9,495). Transport used was the Alesis Masterlink 9600. Computer laptop music also served up the music via Blue Circle's "Thingee" USB to SPDIF converter ($169).