RMAF 2017 Show Report
Burwell & Son, Rogers High Fidelity, Daedalus Audio, ModWright, VPI, Skogrand, Von Schweikert, Mojo Audio, PureAudioProject, Whammerdyne, And Furutech.

  Rogers High Fidelity showcased their 34S-1, 65V-1 and PA-1A, with Burwell & Sons' Plain Jane HS-003 loudspeaker array. While quite large in size, the lovely finish of Burwell & Sons' Plain Jane hornspeaker is captivating! English walnut horns and a very special 'Infinity Edge' is featured on the front leading edge of the bass horn. Vacuum tube amplification specialist Rogers High Fidelity bring high-end sound to life. Rogers High Fidelity mated their twelve-tube Class A integrated amplifier, the 34S-1 together with the Burwell Plain Jane loudspeakers. Powered by twelve EL-34 analog vacuum tubes, the 34S-1 amplifier delivers high-performance sound.

Rogers High Fidelity showcased their 34S-1, 65V-1 and PA-1A, with Burwell & Sons' Plain Jane HS-003 loudspeaker array. While quite large in size, the lovely finish of Burwell & Sons' Plain Jane hornspeaker is captivating! English walnut horns and a very special 'Infinity Edge' is featured on the front leading edge of the bass horn. Vacuum tube amplification specialist Rogers High Fidelity bring high-end sound to life. Rogers High Fidelity mated their twelve-tube Class A integrated amplifier, the 34S-1 together with the Burwell Plain Jane loudspeakers. Powered by twelve EL-34 analog vacuum tubes, the 34S-1 amplifier delivers high-performance sound. Their Class A integrated amplifier boasts superior precision, aerospace engineering and hand-made craftsmanship. Their 65V-1 features a single-ended design powered by twin EL-34 analog vacuum tubes. While we've unveiled various designs of their during CES, etc, here's a world premiere review Enjoy the Music.com did of Rogers High Fidelity's EHF-100 integrated amplifier

Von Schweikert always brings in the crows and RMAF 2017 was no exception. Here's their gear list:

Kronos Pro – Turntable – Kronos Audio - $38,000
SCPS-1 – Power Supply – Kronos Audio - $13,500
Black Beauty – Tonearm – Andre Theriault- $8,500
Ultimate 4D – Cartridge – ZYX Audio- $4,400
N10 – Music Server – Aurender - $8,000
Golden Gate – Digital Audio Converter – Lampizator - $20,000
PAM G2 with EPX – Phono Stage – Audionet - $20,200
PRE G2 – Line Stage – Audionet - $23,350
MAX – Monoblock Power Amplifiers – Audionet - $30,500/pr.
VR-55 Aktive – Loudspeaker – Von Schweikert Audio - $60,000/pr.
Shockwave V12 – Subwoofer – Von Schweikert Audio - $11,500/ea.
Ultra Line – Interconnects, Power Cords and Speaker Cables – MasterBuilt Audio
ASC - TubeTrap – Room Conditioning – Acoustic Sciences Corp
(IsoThermal TubeTraps 13x4 - $757 ea./ 20x4 - $854 ea.)
Exoteryc – 4-shelf Rack – Artesania Audio - $7,000
Exoteryc – 3+3 tandem Rack – Artesania Audio - $10,000
Exoteryc – Turntable Platform – Artesania Audio - $3,400
Aire Platform – Monoblock Platforms – Artesania Audio - $3,700/ea.

System Two
Plank – Redbook CD Player – Audionet - $18,800
WATT – Integrated Amplifier – Audionet - $18,800
Endeavor E-3 MkII – Loudspeaker – Von Schweikert Audio - $8,000/pr.
Reference & Signature Line – Interconnects, Power Cords and Speaker Cables – MasterBuilt Audio
ASC - TubeTrap – Room Conditioning – Acoustic Sciences Corp (IsoThermal TubeTraps 13x4 - $757 ea./ 20x4 - $854 ea.)

As you'd expect, the sound in their top-gear room (#1) was outrageously good. Forget good, it was great! Their room was packed quite often too, so getting to the sweet spot was a bit of a challenge. Long story short, if you have the opportunity to audition Von Schweikert speaker do so ASAP. And of course enjoy the music.

Mojo Audio has earned award after award during show and RMAF 2017 is no exception. Mojo Audio's Deja Vu music server/streamer was mated with a Mystique v3 DAC. For amplification, they had Exit Level Audio Annapurna 20B headphone/pre amp joined by HiFiMAN HE-1000v2 headphones. Another system Mojo Audio has was their Deja Vu music server/streamer, Mystique v3 DAC, Exit Level Audio prototype solid-state headphone/pre amp, and MrSpeakers Ether Flow, Ether C Flow, Aeon, and Aeon C headphones.

If that were not enough, their third system had Mojo Audio's Deja Vu music server/streamer with Mystique v3 DAC, yet for amp duties was the Exit Level Audio prototype electrostatic headphone amp mated with another set of MrSpeakers electrostatic headphones. As i recall, i gave a listen to the third system and between the top-flight digital front-end and prototype amp, the new MrSpeakers very very very impressive planar headphones sang and danced brilliantly! Yes, this system (pictured above) earned my Best Sound At RMAF / Personal Audio System.

Daedalus Audio, ModWright, VPI, Stillpoints and Skogrand teamed up at RMAF 2017 and wish i had more time to listen. Presented by Skogrand Cables, Daedalus Audio, ModWright Instruments, and VPI Industries, with supplies from Tweek Geek, Stillpoints, J -Corder, 2L Records and Soundsmith.... So there's a more complete list for those curious:

Skogrand Cables SC Vivaldi speaker cables - 750 USD (2m pair)
SCI Vivaldi interconnects- 750 USD (2m pair)
Daedalus Audio Apollo: Three way full range system 
featuring the new Daedalus 10"woofer. 96.5dB. Price TBD.
Daedalus isolation Devices (DiD): Starting at $480 a set.
Two models for electronics and for speakers available in black or silver.
ModWright Instruments KWA 150SE Signature Edition 150W power amp: $8,995.
Ambrose One Balanced, Dual Mono, Tube Preamp: $ 11,995
PH 150 Reference Tube Phono Stage: $7,900
ModWright Tube Modified Oppo UDP-205 Universal Player /DAC: $2,500 (mod only)
VPI Signature Prime Rosewood Edition with Soundsmith Hyperion cartridge.
Tweek Geek supplied Stillpoints ESS 28-20-3 Grid Rack:  $8,620 each.
2L Records supplied vinyl and SACD recordings
J-Corder Technics RS-1500 Ruby Red: $9,750

This room featured Skogrand's world premiere of their SCAC Stravinsky - their new SOTA AC power cable with 3 x 6mm2 + 24 AWG OCC 7N copper wires spiraling throughout the cable length. It has 50% less polyolefin inner core heat shrink plus a new inner core framework structure re-invented from the ground up to further improve ease of use, maximize durability and with even more effective energy transfer. There's more to this new design, yet to sum this up, Skogrand feels the most important changes are the use of the company's new Ultra Low K dielectric material for the core framework and "that it enables us to maintain the dielectric framework throughout the complete cable length. The new core framework has also allowed us to use 3 x 6mm OCC wires for the Stravinsky cables".

PureAudioProject and Whammerdyne make an incredible dynamic-duo in pretty much every sense of the word. PureAudioProject Quintet15 Horn1 modular open baffle speakers ($9990) were powered by the hand-built Whammerdyne Truth 2A3-based 4 Watt SE amplifier ($15,000). Delivering digital audio playback was Exogal's Comet1 DAC ($3700), with stand being by Salamander Designs. Sure show condition are challenging and yes it sounded very good, yet i highly recommend you reading Rick Becker's review of PureAudioProject's Trio 15 TB open baffle speaker to really get a sense of how good their speakers designs are.

Furutech is widely known for their excellence in high-quality cables, connectors, and audio tweakers. Here at RMAF 2017 Furutech showcased their refined variety of analog, digital, video cable and accessories, plus they debuted new phono cables, a new power distributor and their ultimate Cable and Connector damping solution. This solution features Furutech's 'revolutionary' NCF sound enhancing material. Furutech's NCF Booster lifts audio cables off the floor to minimize their points of contact with the floor, thus reducing electromagnetic interference while also excelling at providing NCF damping support for connectors and cables at points of connection.

Furutech also introduced their e-TP809E NCF and e-TP809 NCF sophisticated power distributors. These seeks to eliminate many problems caused by poor connections, contact resistance, EMI, RFI, and lack of resonance control. Central to their success at controlling resonances are the extreme high performance Furutech FT-SDS NCF Pure Transmission Schuko sockets and GTX-D NCF Pure Transmission AC Outlets. With a further eye to resonance control and tight, secure connections they are equipped with patented Axial Locking Screws. They're hand-torqued at the factory and measurably reduces socket and receptacle resonance by a factor of ten! Lastly, also new from Furutech is their AG-16 Phono Cable series. The Ag-16 Phono Cable is claimed to "achieve its remarkably quiet soundstage and transparent presentation with silver-plated a OCC conductors, three-layer shielding and external ground wire, even a specially engineered cable clamp to improve grip and avoid any potential distortion".

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