Dean Peer and Bret Mann at RMAF

I did get to see my friend Dean Peer perform at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest. It's the first time I've seen him perform with drummer Bret Mann, the same guy who plays with Dean on his latest album Airborne, so it was a real treat. The only downside was that the lobby sign introducing the show said "Dean Pear, Harpist" instead of "Dean Peer, Bassist."

The duo played in the huge atrium at the Denver Tech Center Marriott, where RMAF is held every year, and we joked that this monstrous five-story space was probably the biggest "room" Dean has played. (Dean once told me he prefers smaller, more intimate venues). It was amusing to hear his trademark bass runs bounce off the roof of the Marriott some fifty feet over our heads.

Dean and Bret plan to perform in Dallas and Austin next month, and I'm trying to get them to play here in Kyle as well. I'll blog more about this in the near future.

Avalon Acoustics' Amazing Sound Room

Being an industry insider certainly has its perks, and while I was attending RMAF as an exhibitor I was lucky to receive an invitation to visit the Avalon Acoustics factory in nearby Boulder, Colorado for an open house party. Avalon has been around for decades, making some of the most gorgeous (and gorgeous-sounding) loudspeakers available. Colleen Cardas, my business partner, owned a pair of Avalon Avatars for years, and it was her long-standing relationship with the company that got me invited to event.

The real reason for the open house was to show off the company's new sound room, which was clearly a state-of-the-art assault on room design. Using the company's new-ish Time loudspeaker, which retails for $50,000, I was treated to some of the most spectacular sound I've ever heard. The room itself was almost the size of a small movie theater, and the dimensions were based on a trapezoidal design that followed the Golden Ratio. No two walls were parallel, which eliminated unwanted reflections and resonances. Numerous DAAD room tuning devices, some of which resembled giant bongs, were placed strategically around the room along with plenty of absorption and reflection panels on the walls and ceilings.

The Times were placed about one-third into the room, which meant there was an enormous space behind the speakers. That sound was immediately filled with music, creating the largest, deepest and most clearly delineated soundstage I've ever experienced. At one point I even walked almost between the speakers in a near-field position and the music still seemed to exist in the rear third of the room. I've never heard a pair of speakers disappear so completely into room, utterly detached from the music.

After a variety of demo tracks that showed off the abilities of this amazing system (which included Rowland Research amplification, Transparent cables and a Spectral digital source), I asked to put on some of my own music. Unfortunately, all I had with me was a CD of the Black Keys' Brothers. If you're not familiar with this recording, it is grungy, grungy, grungy. It almost sounded like I broke the system. While Brothers sounds absolutely killer in my car, it kinda falls apart in a system of this magnitude. At one point Avalon owner/founder Neil Patel turned to Colleen and asked, "Does he always listen to music this weird?" (Colleen, of course, answered yes.) But I did get Neil to admit that despite the sonic shortcomings, the music was super cool.

Back at RMAF, I visited the Avalon room where they had the new Idea speakers playing. The Ideas are much smaller than the Times and cost just $8000 per pair. Even with the smaller speakers, fewer DAADs and the much smaller room, I felt that I was hearing the same sonic signature on a smaller scale. Soundstaging was absolutely incredible--again. I could easily live with Ideas and only occasionally think about the majesty of the Times.

I want to thank Neil Patel, Lucien Pichette and Dmitri Panfilov of Avalon for being extraordinarily gracious hosts, and for allowing me to hear one of the most amazing sound systems I've ever witnessed.

Cactus Needles? The Hyperion Phono Cartridge from Soundsmith

The buzz at RMAF this year seemed focused on a rather novel--some might say crazy--new innovation from Peter Ledermann from Soundsmith. Over the last couple of years, Soundsmith has exploded on the high end audio scene with a huge line of cartridges and other products. Just a few years ago Peter Ledermann had a small business that focused on re-tipping premium cartridges, and soon he started marketing his line of pickups that started with his famous strain gauge cartridge (which included a dedicated preamplfier...all for a dear $14,000 when first introduced). Now Peter has evolved into a serious mover and shaker in the industry, and his designs have really garnered a significant following.

This year, however, he made a bold move by introducing a new cartridge, the Hyperion, that uses a cactus needle for a cantilever. "Cactus needle?" everyone seemed to cry in disbelief, but once you listen to Peter explaining the reasons for such a design, his ideas make perfect sense. Cactus needles, as most of you know, were once used by old phonographs back in the days of 78s. But needles were extremely simple back then, and they are the sole reason why a majority of 78s suffer from an unbelievable amount of surface noise. Or, as my friend Terry Combs says, "these records were played with a nail for over 50 years," which is why most of them are in bad shape.

But Peter is not using cactus needles as the stylus, but as the cantilever. It turns out that it's an almost ideal solution since strong fibers run through the length of needle, adding to its rigidity. These fibers are also create spaces within the needle that are filled, over time, with a unique natural resin that excels at damping and controlling energy and resonances. Finally, these needles are naturally tapered, the ideal shape for a cantilever, something that is costly to do when it comes to traditional cantilever materials such as aluminum, ruby, boron and whatever else you have. As Peter told me, "We've been making phonograph needles for 80 years, but God has been making them for millions of years!"

Peter was inspired by Frank Schroder, maker of the superb Schroder tonarms, who first suggested that cactus needles would be an ideal material for a cantilever. Frank has been using the strongest and most rigid woods for his tonearms for the last few years, woods such as black palm and horizontal (which comes from a New Zealand tree noted for having branches that stick out at perfect right angles from the trunk, which is unique in nature and demonstrated the sheer strength of the structure). Peter told us to thank Mr. Schroder for the inspiration, saying "Tell him I said thanks for 'needling' me!"

I was able to listen to the Hyperion cartridge in Peter's room at RMAF, where it was used with a VPI TNT turntable that was equipped with both a VPI and a Schroder arm. The sound was simply superb, with a smooth, full and warm lower range augmented with highs that were almost limitless. There wasn't a trace of hardness or brightness anywhere, but I could hear every little detail in the recording. This cartridge sounded unlike any other I've heard. Peter extrapolates on this by saying, "All other cantilevers are synthesized--we GROW these!"

The Hyperion is not cheap at $7000. But before you start complaining that cactus needles are cheap because they're simply collected in the desert, you should know that it takes an inordinate amount of time, effort and skill to attach a stylus tip to the end. Peter uses a thorough and painstaking procedure to determine if each needle is the perfect shape and structure for these cantilevers, and then precision forms them using a patent pending method. At any rate, the Hyperion is an extraordinary product, and I congratulate Peter on such a remarkable innovation.

Our System at Rocky Mountain Audio Fest

Here's our system at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest. We shared Room 1102 with AudioEvo.org, Positive Feedback Online, SonicWeld, Locus Design, MIT and Blackbird Audio Gallery and although this was supposed to be a hospitality suite, it definitely turned into a genuine demo room.

The system consists of the new Funk Firm Saffire turntable, Funk Firm FXR-II tonearm and Transfiguration Axia cartridge (all from Blackbird Audio Gallery), the Unison Research CDE CD player and Unison Research Unico Nuovo integrated amplifier (from Colleen Cardas Imports), cabling from MIT and Locus Design and the magnificent Sonicweld system that includes the Pulserod speakers, Subpulse subwoofers, DEQX PDC digital controller and more.

After a full day of RMAF, comments were extremely positive and the room was full at all times. You can watch a live feed of the room here.

2011 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest

Right now I'm getting ready to attend the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, which will be held October 14-16 at the Denver Marriott Tech Center in Denver, Colorado. I've only been to RMAF once before, in 2008, but it was one of my favorite audio shows of all time. The vibe is friendly there since it's mostly consumers attending, and this show has grown by leaps and bounds since then. Nearly everyone I know in the audio industry will be there.

Since I will be an exhibitor (representing Colleen Cardas Imports) and not a member of the press, I probably won't be able to offer the usual show reports. I will, however, keep my eyes open for anything cool. If you want to stop by and say hello, I'll be in Room 1102 along with AudioEvo.org, Sonicweld loudspeakers, Positive Feedback Online, Locus Designs, Blackbird Audio/Gallery and MIT Cables.

For more information on RMAF, click here.