Lone Star Audio Fest 2013 Show Report
Report By Various Exhibitors

 

  The Lone Star Audio Fest (LSAF) was held May 3rd through 5th, 2013 and to quote the show promoters who feel that "...it felt like a plateau had been reached. LSAF was once a small gathering of passionate enthusiasts (and still is). But it has now reached a size that attracts a larger audience. Most of the audio press was there, and a large number of exhibitors were there to wow them with their wares. As always, the DIYers and kits companies were in full force, as were many high-end boutique manufacturers and dealers." Manufacturers simply booked a guest room directly with the hotel. Show up, then they set up their exhibit within the room. Yes, it really was easy! Attendees simply showed up and enjoyed the LSAF 2013 for free. No hassles and no registration or ticket required. 

For this year's coverage we decided to do things different at Enjoy the Music.com. We felt it was time to hear from manufacturers / exhibitors themselves! Thus they can give their show impressions, room results, goals, etc. It is a different angle, yet one where we finally get to hear from those who put in all the effort for these rooms to speak their mind. For those of you curious what was here in the past years, then please see Enjoy the Music.com's coverage of the LSAF 2012 and LSAF 2010. And with that said, here is our LSAF 2013 coverage and we will be adding more coverage as it flows in.

 

Pi Speakers Room Goal
High-quality, high-efficiency loudspeakers with uniform directivity have been the Pi Speakers mainstay since 1980.  From the constant directivity cornerhorns to the matched-directivity two-way speakers, Pi Speakers is the leader in the audiophile market.

Room Occupants
Wayne Parham wayne@pispeakers.com , www.PiSpeakers.com

Gear In Room
Four Pi main speakers and three Pi subwoofers, driven with OddWatt KT120 amplifiers.

Impression of their sound at the show
Our room was smooth and balanced this year, in spite of the horrible acoustics of hotel rooms. We attribute this largely to the uniform directivity provided by our waveguide speakers and the use of flanking subs to smooth room modes.

What could have been better?
Room acoustics are always a challenge in any hotel. Embassy Suites have particularly strong modes because all six walls are rigid (concrete).  While room damping would be welcome, it would need to be something like panel absorbers to be effective. Nothing that is portable like absorbent wedges would be helpful. It isn't high frequency reflections that are a problem, the rooms aren't too bad at high frequency, believe it or not. It is the room modes that are strong. Fortunately, the use of flanking subs helps us out a lot, so the room is smooth in spite of its lack of damping in the modal region.

Submitted By
Wayne Parham

 

 

Brines Acoustics Room Goal
Information and Sales

Room Occupants
Bob Brines bob@brinesacoustics.com, www.BrinesAcoustics.com and Bill Currier

 

Gear in room
Brines Acoustics M12-A12 and T7-A7

Impression of their sound at the show
Clean, clear sound for single-driver speakers for polite music to include classic rock.

What could have been better?
A directory of rooms.

Submitted By
Bob Brines

 

 

Departure Audio Room Goal
Showcase an affordable, high value/high performance system that gets to the heart of the music.

Room Occupants
Julian, www.DepartureAudio.com, Julian@departureaudio.com, (214) 494-2495

Gear in room
Featured: Green Mountain Audio Chroma loudspeakers ($2995 per pair), Blue Circle Audio CS2 integrated amplifier ($2000), various Audio Magic cables, also used a Blue Circle BC 507 DAC and Yamaha CDS-1000 as a CD transport.

Impression of their sound at the show
Lots of positive comments from attendees, many remarked on imaging, "big" sound and "emotion" conveyed by the system.

What could have been better?
Roach free room, AC that actually cooled things down, more participation.

Submitted By
Julian

 

 

Affirm Audio - EMIA Room Room Goal
The room goal is to reproduce recorded music and present it in a believable and enjoyable manner.                       

Room Occupants
Affirm Audio www.AffirmAudio.com

Impression of their sound at the show
We had a great room and great time this year. The Lumination loudspeakers were playing beautifully; very detailed, coherent, and musical, thanks to the superb upstream products provided by the above co-exhibitors, including the KR Audio VA-340i (18 watt) hybrid tube amplifier soon to be reviewed in Ultra Audio (May 15, 2013). Thank you all for attending LSAF. It was great to renew acquaintances from many previous years' shows and to make new friends. (and Barrett's beer was awesome)

What could have been better?
Bass was augmented this year with a Brue Edgar Seismic subwoofer. The Bass at times was a bit overpowering for the small room, but fun. ("Dave, who keeps turning the Seismic subwoofer up?")  The horn loudspeakers with the large horn loaded subwoofer would have been better suited for a larger room.

 

Stereo Clarity
Room Goal
Use innovative technologies to ensure a simplified setup that yields audiophile sound at an affordable price.  

Room Occupants

Gear in room
LA-50 Line array speakers ($5500)
2 Channel OneSource amplified media server (as priced $5000)

Impression of their sound at the show
I was quite happy with how our room sounded this year. After setting up we realized the room had an incredible bass suck out (room mode) right in the center position. After moving things around, we were able to solve the problem and get the sound right. One thing I like about our room is I feel like all frequencies in the audible spectrum are equally represented (no lack of top end or bottom end). Although the LA-50 line arrays are my own personal set of speakers in my home, they never cease to amaze me with their outright clarity and detail. Whether it was Diana Krall showing off the low distortion tweeters or the 1812 Overture making the subwoofers work for a living, the room never skipped a beat, and neither did the music.

What could have been better? 

Submitted By Steven Solazzo

 

Rob & Mark's Hangout!
Room Goal
Enjoying good music, beverages and great dialogue on audio in the company of friends old and new.

Room Occupants

Gear in room

TRIODE Corp of Japan Integrated, Totem Arros, BELMonoBlocks, B & K, Arcam & Jolida

 

 

Impression of their sound at the show
Dave Slagle: "Those little speakers have no right sounding as wonderful as they do for their size….AWESOME!"

What could have been better?
Seemed like fewer exhibitors this year…a Room Directory and Current exhibitor list online would've been nice….all else was fantastic!

Submitted By

 

Soundfield Audio / MG Audio Design
Room Goal

Room Occupants AND Greg info@mgaudiodesign.com

Gear in room
Sys1: Computer audio, AE (Cary) Lightning DAC, AE Constellation Preamp, AE Hercules Power Amp, Unison Sinfonia Power Amp, Soundfield VSFT2 speakers , MG Planus III speaker cables, Planus AG ICs

Sys2: Computer audio, Nuforce UDac-2, MG Audio Pascal class d monoblock amps, Sounfield 1812 Overture speakers, MG Planus II speaker cables, Planus CU2 ICs

 

Impression of their sound at the show
Good, but much better in living room dimensions/furnished room

What could have been better? 

Submitted By Ammar Jadusingh

 

Brad's House O' Tunes – room 214
Room Goal
To share music and talk audio gear, plus give away free beer, while proving good sound is possible from a simple, relatively inexpensive system .

Room Occupants

Gear in room
Integrated Amp – Scott 222c   ~$200 in 1961 dollars, recent rebuild by NOSValves
Marantz SA-8003 Cd/SACD player     $800 several years ago
GoldenEar AON 3 bookshelf speakers    $1000 list
PI Audio UberBuss power conditioner    ~$1000
PI Audio power cabling Mapleshade speaker cable

Impression of their sound at the show
The system sounded terrific with late 50s Jazz, mostly on SACD.  I also played a wide mix of music – rock/folk/metal.   Tom Russell's Blood and Candle Smokewas introduced to quite a few folks.  Lots of favorable comments on the sound/tone of the Scott amp and the synergy with the GoldenEar speakers.

What could have been better? 
A full directory of rooms/participants, plus more time to see and hear all of the rooms. I liked the planned technical discussions held at previous events – would like to see that return.

Submitted By Brad