As one who normally attends several audio shows each year, I have developed a few “tricks” I use to maximize my time. Most audio shows are too large to see every room in a weekend, and for those who need to return home on Sunday, perhaps two and a half days at most. First, go the the show’s web site and see who will be exhibiting. RMAF has a downloadable spreadsheet that can be modified to show the most important rooms. I usually download the list, clean it up a bit, organize it and highlight the rooms I want to see most. I usually only plan to spend about five minutes in each room. It seldom works out that way but that is the plan. Be forewarned, many shows, and RMAF in particular, are too large to see every audio room, every headphone display and every vendor in the marketplace. So make a plan.
Another trick I use is to go the the top floor and work my way down by the stairs. The Marriott in Denver where RMAF is held has two parts, the Tower and the Atrium. The Tower has audio rooms that start on the 11th floor and go all the way down to the 2nd. The Atrium, on the other side, appears this year to only have audio rooms on the 5th floor. The elevators, especially on Saturday, are very crowded and very slow so using the stairs to move from floor to floor seems to work best. I start on the top floor as it is easier to go down stairs as opposed to going up. RMAF also has rooms on the main lobby level as well as a Mezzanine just above the lobby so they can be seen pretty much any time. If you want to bring your own music most rooms will play a song or two, but don’t expect to play and entire album or CD. In the past, I have downloaded several songs on a zip drive which is very easy to carry.
I would also suggest staying at a nearby hotel rather than the hotel housing the show. I once got stuck beside a room showcasing subwoofers and on Friday night they were “tuning” them until about 1:00AM. The time change alone requires me to get a good night’s sleep and that does not help. So I stay close by. Most nearby hotels have shuttles if you don’t want to rent a car.
If you want to shop the vendors selling LP’s and CD’s (or anything else) it would be best to visit them first. They usually sell out of the good recordings early. I will typically start my show experience in the marketplace and buy any albums or CD’s I may want. I always rent a car so I store them there so I don’t have to carry them around all day. You can also probably check a package at the front desk. Or just carry the music with you.
Lastly, as there are limited places in the hotel to dine, the coffee shops, restaurants and any similar place stay very busy. Plan on standing in line if you want to eat lunch at 12:00. I usually try to eat a really big breakfast and just skip lunch. I may have a bottle of water and a “snack” about 2:00 to tide me over. The local area around the show has a number of good restaurants so an early dinner and maybe seeing some friends back at the hotel afterwards seems to work well. I have also gone for an early dinner and back to my room and an early bedtime.
However it may be done, RMAF, like most shows can bee a really fun experience. As an audiophile, you will never see so much gear in one place, at all different price levels. RMAF will have systems that retail from $1000.00 (you read that right) to over one million. Tubes, solid state, analog, digital, it is all there. If you have never been, I suggest going just once.
And if you see me wandering around looking lost, say hello!
Happy Listening!
Paul Wilson