mobanmarketAfter talking with a number of exhibitors and attendees, I’d have to call the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest’s daring move to a new and very different venue—a controversial if also inevitable move—a success. Everyone I spoke to was happy with attendance, and the sound in the hotel rooms was generally excellent.
For people who stayed at the hotel, food in the two restaurants I visited was quite good, if pricey. The Marketplace had some excellent salads and enough goodies and caffeinated beverages to keep everyone happy. The amenities, including a large gym and pool, were excellent. So was the service. Friends and I discovered an excellent Indian restaurant just a short Lyft ride away, and a decent Chinese restaurant and huge supermarket not much further. Others loved the Italian pasta place near the airport, which thankfully was also not far away at all.
Yes, the venue was large—so large that the above photo together with the one that follows only begin to give a sense of the size of the 1500-room Gaylord Rockies Hotel and the adjacent convention center. The distance between the never-crowded, ultra-efficient hotel elevators (which served my hotel room) and the convention center (which hosted the biggest rooms, headphone area, and marketplace) was such that making the trek was like moving from one airline terminal to another. Another challenge was the acoustics of the largest rooms; I expect that exhibitors will learn to deal with that far more effectively in the coming years. Yet, despite the show’s September dates, which made exhibiting impossible for some companies heading to next weekend’s CEDIA—RMAF changes back to October next year—the exhibitor turnout was sizable, and included a goodly number of major brands.
Logistics and schedules being what they were, I was the only person from Stereophile who covered the show. Yes, I entered fewer than half of the rooms and had to skip the headphone area and marketplace. But instead of running from site to site, I took enough time in the rooms I visited to sample most of them with a range of music chosen to reveal both strengths and weaknesses. The result, I hope, is better coverage.
My one regret is that I did not have the opportunity to evaluate many lower-priced systems. Perhaps I should have spent less time in the big rooms at the Convention Center and focused on entry-level rigs instead. The good news is, I managed to cover just about every premiere for which we received a press release.
I wish great success for the very dedicated Marjorie Baumert—the show’s organizer—her coworkers and family members, and the volunteers from the Colorado Audio Society. RMAF overcame the obstacles it faced over the last year (and more). It has managed to remain a friendly, manageable show in a very special part of the United States. May it grow and prosper.
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